When I first commence talking about this whole <a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091119/1634117011.shtml”>CwF+RtB body</a>, I tended to focus more on the “RtB — Cause to Acquire” part of it, since I naturally assumed that was the huge difficulty. After all, the huge body we kept hearing was how creative folks weren’t able to constitute money any more. However, the more I’ve been discussing this with human beings, the more I realize that many, many folks outside there have serious problems with the first part, the “connecting with fans,” part. I recently got an email from an artist who seemed upset, saying that he was giving outside all of his music for autonomous of charge, however fans weren’t interested. Similarly, I recently got into a <a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100823/03333010729.shtml#comments”>analysis</a> in the comments with someone from a newspaper who insisted that I was incorrect in saying news organizations demand to bigger enable their community. His argument was that newspapers place up comments, just like we have at Techdirt, so they’re doing the exact same body as we are.
<br /><br />
Both of these appear to be cases of <a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090827/0353036021.shtml”>cargo cult copying</a>, where someone tries to copy just the <a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100331/1538058817.shtml”>superficial</a> outwardly obvious aspects of what others are doing, without taking the age to know (1) the deeper underlying reasons why they employment for some or (2) recognizing how that might (or might not) apply to what you’re doing yourself. Connecting with fans isn’t about “oh just give away content for autonomous of charge,” or “oh, place up some comment forms.” It’s about really figuring outside what your community wants, interacting with them, and giving them what they desire. It’s about really participating in some manner.
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I was thinking about all of this as I glance at an fascinating blog advertise by Marcus Taylor, where he <a href=”http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/why-you-should-learn-to-build-fans-by-being-a-fan.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter” target=”_blank”>clarifies the action by which he became a fan of the singer Jason Mraz</a>, who had that catchy hit single at the end summer that many of you probably heard. However just hearing a catchy hit song being played over and over again isn’t enough to constitute someone a fair fan. Taylor points outside that it went path beyond that, and took him not just listening to much more of Mraz’s music via various online offerings, however then coming across some interviews with Mraz, where his personality shines through. Taylor points outside that it took some age, however he finally realized that he didn’t just like Mraz’s music, however he liked Mraz — and that made the jump imaginable. From there he comes up with a small list of “ways to constitute fans fall in like with you”:
<ul><i>
<li><strong>Be yourself</strong> — Most human beings despise a fake personality and can smell it a mile off, be your self and human beings will appreciate that.</li>
<li><strong>Be transparent</strong> — don’t hide the circumstance that you’re a small community band if that’s what you are — if you’re honest and likeable then your fans will be more inclined to aid you get to the following step.</li>
<li><strong>Be professional however not also serious</strong> — After all, lifetime’s also small for being also serious and worrying about everything, have fun however remain professional.</li>
<li><strong>Leave breadcrumbs everywhere</strong> — bigger yet, leave breadcrumbs that exhibit off the points above and give your fans a excellent cause to like you. Remember not all fans react to the same mediums as strongly so keep producing images, videos, and words content to bait them.</li>
</i></ul>
Obviously, this doesn’t apply for everyone, and there is no “magic formula” for figuring outside the best path to connect with fans, however it’s certainly about doing a abundance more than tossing outside some autonomous of charge content and a comment form and wondering why fans aren’t rushing to you. You really demand to be a part of that action, and really let your personality come through. Being human really counts for something, and it’s a mark that’s ignored all also often.
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Along those lines, this upcoming Tuesday, at the a2n conference in Berlin, I’ll be leading a <a href=”http://a2n2010.sched.org/event/b92ef257328da13c8a96276fe7dadf73″ target=”_blank”>brainstorming session</a> generating thoughts for musicians to bigger connect with their fans.<br /><br /><a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100830/01563410815.shtml”>Permalink</a> | <a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100830/01563410815.shtml#comments”>Comments</a> | <a href=”http://techdirt.com/article.php?sid=20100830/01563410815&op=sharethis”>Email This Tale</a><br />
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