Well.......not everything. Gone are the days of anxiously awaiting a letter in the mail from a friend, family member or loved one. Or that phone call on a 'land line' and the phone was only available in your home or in a phone booth. Between those two, you either wrote or told 'some' of your story to the reader or listener on the other end. The only way anyone new about your business was the nosey neighbour or the head gossip in town. And people who followed you - we called them stalkers. Today, it's a totally different story.
Through the wonderful world of technology came the internet, then came cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc etc and it all comes together under one umbrella called 'social media'. Now we want everyone to talk about us. Now we want people to share information about us. Now we want you to know everything about our lives! AND, we want people to follow us! What a wonderful yet wacky society we have become. But, this is the way it is and you can either jump in and get in the game or you can stay out. Many of my friends and family choose to not be the world of social media 'cause simply - they don't want people to know what's going in their lives. And there's nothing wrong with that. BUT, if you are self employed and need to get yourself known without going the old fashioned route of expensive advertising, then social media is where its at.
For almost two years now, I've been engaged in this social media phenomenon. Why? Cause I'm an independent country music recording artist. A self employed musician trying to build my career and make some money with my music. And if you want to try and make it in the world of the music industry, especially as an independent, you have to get with the times and do what the industry is doing. I have attended several conferences, workshops, seminars and researched on the internet what has to be done in order to get yourself out there. And my latest feat is that I signed up for the Music Success in 9 Weeks Challenge - to create or enhance your social media presence.
We are now into week #4. Participants are members of the Songwriters Association of Canada, and some are facing huge challenges because they had no website or social media set up at all. And others, like myself are learning a few new things along the way. Like I said, I've been engaged in this social media phenomenon for a couple of years now so my participation in this challenge was to perhaps learn a few new tricks along the way to enhance my social media presence. So far, I'm doing pretty darn good. I have my website www.shelly-dubois.com . And on my website, I have links to my facebook page www.facebook.com/ShellyDubois.CountryArtist, Twitter www.twitter.com/ShellyDMusic, Reverbnation www.reverbnation.com/ShellyDubois , Youtube www.youtube.com/ShellyDubois01, and iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/im-not-lookin-back/id323159888. And of course, I have this blog. I also have 'widgets' on my website that are automatically updated when I input information on the appropriate sites. My reverbnation site is linked to my twitter and facebook accounts, my twitter postings show up on my facebook page, I can share my blog on my facebook and twitter accounts and my reverbnation page, etc, etc. AND, not only can I do everything from my pc, I can also do it from my android phone! SO, you can follow my music career on a daily basis and sometimes up to three times a day! It doesn't stop there. I'm also on many other websites for country artists. How do I keep track? I have a spreadsheet with a list of all the sites I'm on along with all my log-in information. I bet some of you are asking - does it really help to be in so many sites? The answer is yes. Google my name and you'll see why.
I enjoy keeping my fans engaged in my music career. Yeah, sure, I add in some things about my life like what I had for lunch, our how I went for a hike with my dog. But for the most part, I talk about my music. And the more I engage my fans the more pumped I get about going forward with this career. Let's face it. Sometimes you wonder 'what the hell am I doing?' but then you get an encouraging comment on facebook, a new fan or a reply on twitter and it all makes it worth while.
All this social media definitely been a work in progress. Learning, researching, setting sites up, tweeking and re-tweeking to not only keep everything up to date but to also make it as effective as possible. And it took more than nine weeks to get it all set up. So I say to my fellow challengers who are just starting from the ground up, week #3 and #4 won't all get done in two weeks! The most important part is if you are serious about your music and want to make a career of it, your first step was taking this challenge. Keep working at it and you will see results!
Through the wonderful world of technology came the internet, then came cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc etc and it all comes together under one umbrella called 'social media'. Now we want everyone to talk about us. Now we want people to share information about us. Now we want you to know everything about our lives! AND, we want people to follow us! What a wonderful yet wacky society we have become. But, this is the way it is and you can either jump in and get in the game or you can stay out. Many of my friends and family choose to not be the world of social media 'cause simply - they don't want people to know what's going in their lives. And there's nothing wrong with that. BUT, if you are self employed and need to get yourself known without going the old fashioned route of expensive advertising, then social media is where its at.
For almost two years now, I've been engaged in this social media phenomenon. Why? Cause I'm an independent country music recording artist. A self employed musician trying to build my career and make some money with my music. And if you want to try and make it in the world of the music industry, especially as an independent, you have to get with the times and do what the industry is doing. I have attended several conferences, workshops, seminars and researched on the internet what has to be done in order to get yourself out there. And my latest feat is that I signed up for the Music Success in 9 Weeks Challenge - to create or enhance your social media presence.
We are now into week #4. Participants are members of the Songwriters Association of Canada, and some are facing huge challenges because they had no website or social media set up at all. And others, like myself are learning a few new things along the way. Like I said, I've been engaged in this social media phenomenon for a couple of years now so my participation in this challenge was to perhaps learn a few new tricks along the way to enhance my social media presence. So far, I'm doing pretty darn good. I have my website www.shelly-dubois.com . And on my website, I have links to my facebook page www.facebook.com/ShellyDubois.CountryArtist, Twitter www.twitter.com/ShellyDMusic, Reverbnation www.reverbnation.com/ShellyDubois , Youtube www.youtube.com/ShellyDubois01, and iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/im-not-lookin-back/id323159888. And of course, I have this blog. I also have 'widgets' on my website that are automatically updated when I input information on the appropriate sites. My reverbnation site is linked to my twitter and facebook accounts, my twitter postings show up on my facebook page, I can share my blog on my facebook and twitter accounts and my reverbnation page, etc, etc. AND, not only can I do everything from my pc, I can also do it from my android phone! SO, you can follow my music career on a daily basis and sometimes up to three times a day! It doesn't stop there. I'm also on many other websites for country artists. How do I keep track? I have a spreadsheet with a list of all the sites I'm on along with all my log-in information. I bet some of you are asking - does it really help to be in so many sites? The answer is yes. Google my name and you'll see why.
I enjoy keeping my fans engaged in my music career. Yeah, sure, I add in some things about my life like what I had for lunch, our how I went for a hike with my dog. But for the most part, I talk about my music. And the more I engage my fans the more pumped I get about going forward with this career. Let's face it. Sometimes you wonder 'what the hell am I doing?' but then you get an encouraging comment on facebook, a new fan or a reply on twitter and it all makes it worth while.
All this social media definitely been a work in progress. Learning, researching, setting sites up, tweeking and re-tweeking to not only keep everything up to date but to also make it as effective as possible. And it took more than nine weeks to get it all set up. So I say to my fellow challengers who are just starting from the ground up, week #3 and #4 won't all get done in two weeks! The most important part is if you are serious about your music and want to make a career of it, your first step was taking this challenge. Keep working at it and you will see results!
"It's important to be fearless.
You need to be persistent
You can't give up".
Dean Brody
