In a world of free music, your job as a DIY musician is not only to to build an audience but then develop a relationship with that audience so they want to buy something from you (a tshirt, a gig ticket, host a house concert…that sort of thing).  Most DIY musicians don’t know where to start when it comes to developing and deepening a relationship with their audience.  Here’s are three tips to help you develop a special bond between you and your fans.

Give Them Stuff

Isn’t it great to receive presents?  That wonderful feeling when someone gives you a gift and doesn’t expect anything in return.  “Here have this, because I like you so much”.  That makes you feel not only special, but helps to foster a stronger connection between yourself and the person giving the gift.

So what can you give your audience to make that happen?  Well, you can gift them your music for free.  You can live stream performances of your music.  You can record videos for them when it’s their birthday, maybe even sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to them in a specially recorded video.  You can spend time with them before and after your shows. ‘Giving’ in this fashion will go a long way to help build a special bond.

Tell Them More About Yourself

Like any relationship the more you know and understand about a person, the greater affinity you will have for them  Here’s a little something from the 60MM archives.  When Adele released her last album in 2015, she posted this.

Once you read it, you know where she’s coming from, what she’s feeling and why she’s made the music she has made. You understand her a bit better don’t you? Job done. Do something similar when you are next releasing your music.  It could be a blog post, a video, even a podcast. The more your fans ‘know you’ the more they’ll like you.

Be Interested In THEM

There are two sides to every relationship, and I hate to break it to you, it’s not all just about you! If you want someone to be interested in yourself and your music, firstly you have to be interested in THEM.  You need to be reaching out to your audience, asking questions and taking an interest in THEIR lives.  What are they listening to?  What are their opinions on the topics that you both share an interest in?   Listen to a breakfast radio show and they will poll their listeners about the ‘topic of the day’.  They ask their listeners to air their views or share their own experiences based on a current news story. They reaching out and invite their audience to participate in their world.  You need to make sure you do the same and you can do that through social media.

Make sure you take a keen interest in your fans’ lives.

Got any questions about this post or how you can better market yourself?

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Make sure you take a keen interest in your fans’ lives.