4 Steps to a Successful Music Career in 2011

Via Cyber PR Urban
 I’ve put together four steps to follow that will help you map out a successful social media marketing campaign to attack in 2011.
Step 1. Identify your goals.
Identify your specific goals on why your creating an online strategy Write them down! Usually physically writing something from pen to paper gives you a sense of responsibility. Post this up somewhere that you and your band can see it on a consistent basis. The worst thing you want to do is jump out of the gate blindly. That’s when you get overwhelmed, and frustrated. It always important to have a vision of what you want to achieve. This vision is really solidified by having actual visual representations of your goals.
Example:

1. Have 100,000 plays on You Tube
2. Increase online awareness
3. Get more downloads on Itunes
4. Build and grow my email list

Determine when you will achieve the goal.
Give it a deadline. Setting a deadline provides something for you to shoot for. If the date is off it can be changed, but are indicators that help you to track your progress.
Step 2. Create and Implementing your Plan of Attack
For each goal you have created clearly write a plan of action to achieve this.
Example:
Goal: My reason for creating a social media strategy is to help build and grow my email list
Plan:

• Creating a Fanbridge page that gives me a place to create a way to capture email addresses and store them
• Post the email opt-in code on all of my social networking sites
• Send out a personal emailed thank you to everyone that opts-in to my email list with an exclusive downloadable mp3
• Send out a newsletter every month to email list.

Step 3. Get EVERYONE involved
Think reasonably and understand you can’t do it alone. Delegate to other band members, ask your biggest fan, get an intern, or hire someone to help. Identify the resources you will need. Chances are you will require the assistance of certain people to see your dreams fulfilled. Who are they? How should you approach them? Some goals may require the assistance of professional helpers. Once you’ve given it some thought, you will find that there is much help available for you to accomplish great things.
List what benefits this goal will bring you!
Understand that this is a Marathon not a Sprint. When you list the benefits of the goal, you stay motivated to stick with it. Artists usually want INSTANT results. Depending on your specific goal you may be able to instantly see results, but most of all this will take time! The internet is about directly connecting re-connecting, and interacting with your fans. It takes massaging, it takes patience, and it takes consistent attention to get to your goal. In the end you will be more than happy when you see the results that do come from it.
Step 4. Move into Action!
List what specific actions you will take in the next 24 hours, week , and month. Understand that there will be work that will need to be put into achieving this goal. I love working with artists who have taken a stab at doing their own PR and promotions, those are the one’s that truly understand the work that is put in to get one CD sold or one online mention.
Once you have each plan of attack plotted out it makes it much easier for you to implement the attack seamlessly. Make action commitments. Set up a schedule. Everyday at 5pm I will send out an email to all of our new friends on MySpace, or every 3rd Friday I will write our newsletter. Create a schedule and STICK TO IT! The effort you put in to this will speak volumes into what you will get out of it.
With these things in place, I’m sure the Social Media Strategy that you create to market and promote your CD will work more efficiently, become less overwhelming, and give you the results you are looking for!