Blog placements can make or break an artist's career, but they're key to getting recognition in the music industry. Consider some of these tips, add them to your daily routine and you'll drastically increase your chances of getting awesome placements.
- Network: Like always, it’s important to rep your brand wherever you go. Speak to people working in the industry and be seen at local events around the city. The more you participate, the better recognition you’ll have with the individuals that have influence over the blogs. Follow up with the people that you meet and stay in touch until the next event.
- Stay Relevant: Keep your social media, websites and music sharing pages updated at all times. Stay consistent across different platforms and make sure people who visit your page know what you’re working on. There’s nothing worse than getting a good blog placement, then falling off everyone’s radar.
- Build relationships with bloggers: Building relationships with bloggers also comes with networking and it is essential to getting placements. When you attend to events, speak to the people taking the pictures and recording the events. Be genuine and not pushy. Speak about what you’re working on and build a relationship with that person.
- Start local, your local blogger is more likely to write about you than Billboard.com: Don’t think you’re going to land a big placement in the first few months of working. Research and make lists of blogs that are local and blogs that have smaller reaches. Find ways to reach out to the people already writing about subjects related to you. Although you don’t want to be on a blog that no one reads, you have a better chance of getting someone to write about you.
- Invite media and bloggers to your events and performances: Send out email blasts with press releases for the important shows and events that you make appearances at. Independent bloggers are always looking for cool events to cover. A personal invite might give you a better chance to have a feature on their site.
- Don’t pay for blog placements: There are many companies out there that advertise packages and tell you that they can place you on the top blogs within your format. Don’t be afraid of the ground work and be tricked into paying hundreds of dollars for “promised” placements. In the end, there’s no guarantee so don’t waste your money trying to take the easy way out.
- Have press releases, press kit, and bio ready on your website. Send bloggers information that would be interesting or of importance to the them and to their audience. Have your background information readily available for the writer to access. Full releases and press kits give the writers more to work with, and the less ground work they have to do, the better.
- Don’t force your music on people, let the music speak for itself: Introduce yourself and your music, but never get too pushy. Half of the time, people don’t care to listen and pushing them will only turn them off more. If your music is good and you’re doing the right ground work, it will make it to the right people.
- Understand how blogs monetize: Blogs monetize by advertisements, give them something that will get them ads. Give bloggers interesting content that can relate to what they already write about.
- Have a portfolio of professional pictures: Make sure to have nice, professional pictures available for bloggers to plug into their stories. Image is everything, if you get a good placement, you’ll want to make sure you’ll be taken seriously.
