This is a follow up video on outsourcing in the music business as an indie (or even major label) artist. After we shot the video, we received a ton of comments, ideas, concerns and a little resistance from the outsourcing subject (Bruce from Hypebot also posted the video and there were some good comments there as well).
In this video we take a look at:
What can you outsource other than web work, design, etc?
What about the economy and sending money overseas when we need to keep jobs in America?
When is the right time to outsource your music marketing or other activities?
What services I personally use
And then I ask for your help. More about that after the jump!
For more resources check out the previous post on outsourcing
Get Your Music Industry Outsourcing Questions Answered!
As I mentioned in the video, I am going to start compiling a new free musician resource on outsourcing in the music business. I want you to be a part of it! In the comments below, ask a question that you want answered and I will include it in the guide.
We will be reaching out to VA firms, outsourcing pro’s and lifestyle designers with your questions and others to come up with a nice 101-style guide for outsourcing. I am pretty excited for this, as I have been big on the concept for about a year now and am really getting great response for not only my company, but for the musicians and brands that we are working with. It really frees up time for big picture stuff.
So, let us know what you want to know. You will be credited in the resource with a link to your site and also a rock star answer!
Last week we started to drip out the release of the New 100 Resources For DIY Musicians. It has already been downloaded over 300 times and the respnse has been awesome. First some background.
Leaving a music conference in 2008 I was amazed at how many musicians were not aware of the resources that were available to them online. On the drive home I popped out the laptop and knocked out the original 100 Social Media Resources For Musicians. This free report has been downloaded over 5,000 times in the past year and a half.
A few weeks ago I noticed that the guide was pretty outdated as sites and startups have gone under and sprouted up like the celebrity gossip game.
I spent the last 2 weeks going over the report and finding some new sites and resources that were not just social media focused but were important aspects that you needed to succeed in today’s music industry. These included many of the tools and websites that we teach and use in Label 2.0 with all the musicians that are a part of our marketing training and development.
The buzz has been really cool for the release so far. Here is a quick video I shot about the feedback on Twitter.
I encourage you to signup and download the PDF and start looking it over (you can also signup using the form on the right of this page).
In addition to this announcement, I wanted to share some of the marketing we have done for the guide and how you can do some of the same.
Friends Looking Out For Friends
There are 2 sections in the resource guide dedicated to bloggers. There are music industry blogs as well as marketing and social media related blogs. We reached out to these bloggers and let them know about their inclusion in the guide. We told them to check it out and shot them a press release as well as a Twitter ready link. No strings attached.
You saw the video above with all the RT’s. Many of them originated from the links we sent in the emails. Others actually took the press release and created their own post or noted in on their site, including Hypebot, Digipendent, Plugola and Creative Deconstruction.
When you have something worthwhile, email your list. They signed up to get updates from you. For this release I sent an email to a small segment of my list and got some great results.
The screenshot above is from my Aweber account and shows that one of the emails we sent went out to 699 people. It was opened by 430 of them. That is a great open rate! Of those, at least 179 clicked on the link. So with one email, I was able to get 179 people to read the report instantly. Not a bad return on an email.
Make It Easy
When you are asking for favirs in promotions, make it easy for the people to promote it. In this care. I sent out a press release that could easily be copied and pasted into a blog post. I also sent links to check out the PDF before they wrote about it. This let them flip through it to give an honest review.
Lastly I went into Su.pr, a URL shortening service from StumbleUpon and created a unique short URL. This allows me to track my stats and also gives the people I emailed a quick and easy way to share on Twitter and Facebook.
Go Download It Now!
The new 100 Resources For DIY Musicians is a great little report to start thumbing through to get ideas and actions to start getting your music seen and heard by the people that can make a difference in your career this year. Get your copy by filling out the form on the right of this page or at the official 100 Resources For DIY Musicians site.
After you wignup you will have instant access to download the PDF and read it wherever and whenever you want. There is also an offer for a new course on teh New Music Economy. You can read all about it when you signup. This course is currently only open to subscribers and is at a very affordable price, before we realease it to the public in March. I think you are going to really like the content. If it’s not for you, no worries, just scroll to the bottom of the page to download the 100 Resources.
Shoot me your thoughts on the guide, as well as the promotion. This is the same kind of stuff we have been teaching musicians and is working wonders.
Last week we started to drip out the release of the New 
