Would you know opportunity if it slapped you in the face?
Okay so there are a million opportunities out there to help you in your music career. Are you taking advantage of any? Maybe one or two? The really smart ones take advantage of EVERY opportunity that comes their way.
Smart Rule of Thumb: Check your email at least once a day.
It's even better to check more often than that. Many people I work with miss out on great opportunities because they don't check their email regularly. Here is an example. Last year while producing a monthly GoGirls showcase series here in Houston, I got a call from the local newspaper wanting a 300 dpi photo from one of the bands who would be performing. They needed it by the next day. Keep in mind that Houston is the 4th largest city in the U.S. Getting into our newspaper is huge! So I emailed all of the bands who were playing the show and none of them got back to me in time. Not one could get me a 300 dpi photo within one day! We missed the paper's deadline and these bands lost a great opportunity to get their picture in the newspaper. Our show still got mentioned. I was happy with that. But just think about this for a moment. One of these bands could have been seen by millions! Would you give up free advertising like that? Didn't think so.
Now I know some of you are saying "I can't check my email daily". Well I have solutions for you. Most of you have a cell phone. Did you know all the carriers offer web and email services on them? I've had email access on my cell phone for years! Now I have to say it's not very easy to reply to messages on a cell phone but at minimum you can at least read them and know what is going on. You can be connected. Trust me, it's worth the price. Another alternative is using web-based email like Yahoo or Hotmail so you can check it from any computer that is connected to the Internet. You don't have to be at YOUR computer to stay in touch.
Okay back to the 300 dpi band photo. How many of you have one on your web site? Yeah, I thought so. When I couldn't reach the bands for that photo, I went to their web sites hoping they would have one on there. Not one did. As a matter of fact, most bands I know don't. And no, you cannot use a regular photo off your web site. It's only 72 dpi and will not suffice for print. I have an important mission for you right now. If you choose to accept this mission, you will be rewarded one day for doing so. Trust me! Go get a 300 dpi photo of your band and place it on your web site. If you don't have it in a digital format you can just scan it. Be sure to save it as a .tif or .jpg. For the best example of this, go to The Locals "press room" page at http://www.localsrock.com/pressRoom. This band is smart by making it easy for the press/media to access their information. If you need any assistance, let me know. I can help you at affordable rates. After all, I also do web design in addition to everything else.
I hope this information is helpful to you in your quest to be the best you can be in the biz side of the music business.
Rock on,
Madalyn Sklar
IndieMusicCoach.com
~providing one-on-one indie music consulting & coaching~
Smart Rule of Thumb: Check your email at least once a day.
It's even better to check more often than that. Many people I work with miss out on great opportunities because they don't check their email regularly. Here is an example. Last year while producing a monthly GoGirls showcase series here in Houston, I got a call from the local newspaper wanting a 300 dpi photo from one of the bands who would be performing. They needed it by the next day. Keep in mind that Houston is the 4th largest city in the U.S. Getting into our newspaper is huge! So I emailed all of the bands who were playing the show and none of them got back to me in time. Not one could get me a 300 dpi photo within one day! We missed the paper's deadline and these bands lost a great opportunity to get their picture in the newspaper. Our show still got mentioned. I was happy with that. But just think about this for a moment. One of these bands could have been seen by millions! Would you give up free advertising like that? Didn't think so.
Now I know some of you are saying "I can't check my email daily". Well I have solutions for you. Most of you have a cell phone. Did you know all the carriers offer web and email services on them? I've had email access on my cell phone for years! Now I have to say it's not very easy to reply to messages on a cell phone but at minimum you can at least read them and know what is going on. You can be connected. Trust me, it's worth the price. Another alternative is using web-based email like Yahoo or Hotmail so you can check it from any computer that is connected to the Internet. You don't have to be at YOUR computer to stay in touch.
Okay back to the 300 dpi band photo. How many of you have one on your web site? Yeah, I thought so. When I couldn't reach the bands for that photo, I went to their web sites hoping they would have one on there. Not one did. As a matter of fact, most bands I know don't. And no, you cannot use a regular photo off your web site. It's only 72 dpi and will not suffice for print. I have an important mission for you right now. If you choose to accept this mission, you will be rewarded one day for doing so. Trust me! Go get a 300 dpi photo of your band and place it on your web site. If you don't have it in a digital format you can just scan it. Be sure to save it as a .tif or .jpg. For the best example of this, go to The Locals "press room" page at http://www.localsrock.com/pressRoom. This band is smart by making it easy for the press/media to access their information. If you need any assistance, let me know. I can help you at affordable rates. After all, I also do web design in addition to everything else.
I hope this information is helpful to you in your quest to be the best you can be in the biz side of the music business.
Rock on,
Madalyn Sklar
IndieMusicCoach.com
~providing one-on-one indie music consulting & coaching~
Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent over 15 years helping independent musicians and music business professionals achieve greater success. Her motto is: working smarter not harder. She also founded GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest + largest online community of indie women musicians.
"Madalyn not only gives me marketing strategies during our consultations, but she gets me thinking in a whole new direction."
"Madalyn’s high-energy, can-do attitude was the shot that I needed to get me going!"
"Madalyn has played a key role in helping me build a strong foundation for my music business."
"In just one session, Madalyn was able to answer tons of questions we had about the music industry and making a living as an independent artist."
