Help others, help them as much as you can, as often as you can and without expecting anything back from it.

by J.P. Kallio

Here are this week’s musician quick tips, part 22!! In my nearly two decades as a full time musician I have learned a thing or two about this business. I also have become very fast at assessing what works and what does not when it comes to promoting, recording and performing your music.

These quick tips are simple actions that you can put to use straight away

Also you check out my full blog for more HERE:

Periscope

Some of you are on top of your “whats hot in the tech” and already know about Periscope. Some of you might have heard about it, but that’s about it. And some of you might have no idea what it is.

Periscope is a live streaming app for iOS and Android. It was purchased by Twitter in March and take my word for it when I say it is growing fast! About three weeks ago I downloaded the app to my phone, set up my account and forgot about it. Few days ago we were rehearsing and I decided to mess around with it. To my surprise I had 350 followers… I had done nothing else than set up the account!

So in the rehearsal room I decided to film Brian messing around with his electric banjo. To my surprise people started to view our silly broadcast. It lasted bit over one minute and we got 16 viewers. This happened without us doing any promotion for it, so you can only imagine the potential if you actually make an event out of it, advertise it on Twitter and Facebook.

I believe Periscope has a massive potential and you should go and download it straight away after reading this post. I’ll be testing it out more in the near future, so if you are already on Periscope, follow me @jpkalliomusic

Content Marketing

I’ll simplify this for you. The most powerful free form of advertising is content marketing. In the past year and half I have put it to the test, and can I tell you it really does work. Many musicians might not be familiar with the concept, so let me break it down to you.

You create content that has some value to the people who you want to follow you. This can be video, blog posts, pod casts, or many more forms. You offer advice, or interesting information. It could be gear reviews, music reviews, music lessons, music business advice, information about your local music scene, or even something that might be outside music. The secret is to provide this information selflessly. What I mean by this is you offering the information from your heart without expecting anything in return.

But what if you don’t get anything in return, why would you do it? Well, as crazy as it sounds, the universe has a way of taking care of the ones who care.  This is not just some spiritual crap, this is a tried and tested business format. By offering quality, we create loyalty, and when you need your fan base to help you they will gladly do so.

So what can you offer your fans today?

Diversify

“I just want to play music” I hear you say. Recently there was an article looking in to music business and especially PR in music in one of the major newspapers in Ireland. The article pointed out how “not every act is as savvy as Amanda Palmer, who has to sell experience and ephemera to a hungry audience for each project”. I was little bit disappointed on some parts of this article as I am a big fan of the author and his work. What I would like you to notice here is the emphasis on “has to”. Artist like Amanda Palmer, who has really set her own rules in music business, it is highly unlikely she does things because she has to.

That’s the thing, trying to find that “I just want to play music” place is waste of time. It does not exist, and has not existed in a long time in the music business. You need to be involved in all aspects of your “business”, or you are going to get eaten alive! That’s why I keep saying you need to love the business. If you don’t, save your self some time and make a music a hobby you actually will enjoy.

If you want to succeed, you need to diversify. You need to understand the business. You need to learn the language of web design. You need to understand music royalties, recording process, tour booking, music technology, social media, marketing… I know for many this sounds like a lot, and that is why I say you need to love the business. If you do love it, you naturally hunger for the information and a lot of this does not even feel like work.

Focus

“How do I get as many people to like my band’s page on Facebook?” Ever heard anyone ask you this? Or have you ever been advised to build large following in Facebook? I just googled “How to get more Facebook likes”. There are a whopping 729 million results!!! Is it really so hard to see the past this silly idea?

The same goes in real life and every aspect of music business. If you try too hard to get everyone to like you, You probably will just annoy everyone. If you try too hard to get people to like you, it becomes forced. And people smell fake from a mile away.

So what should you do? Focus on the right thing. Instead of trying to get people to like you, create music, videos, concerts, content of any kind that people will like. Concentrate on the content, make it the best you can, make it something you truly believe in. If you are genuine, and your content is consistently high quality, in time people will like it. They will genuinely like it. This is organic growth, and the only way to build long-lasting career in music.

Help others

This here quick tip in a way sums up many aspects of promotion I have talked about in the past. This is where you offer value, become an influencer, genuinely get people to like you. In away this one thing is a key to so many aspects of success in your career, that most of us work years to achieve.

Help others, help them as much as you can, as often as you can and without expecting anything back from it. Being nice to others pays off in a long run, and being an ass will come back to kick you in the nuts, when you least expect it. By helping others, you are taking all of this to a next level. Just because something does not have instant payoff, does not mean it will not pay it self back years to come.

Have faith in people, help them in anyway you can. If you help another band in your local scene to promote their show, you can be sure they will return the favour someday. Just don’t expect it, let it happen naturally. Who can you help today?

J.P. Kallio is a singer-songwriter Facebook / Website / Twitter

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