Today I get to introduce you to Dave from Shinobi Ninja. If you have been reading this site for a while you know about these guys and their genius marketing and innovation. From iPhone games to NES Cartridge shaped CD sleeves they know how to create an entrance. Dave is going to be sharing some of what they are doing to promote their music as well as music industry lessons he has learned over the years. Today he shares a quick, but very effective method to getting one piece of copy onto multiple sites on auto-pilot.
These days, having a number of social networks is the Indie musicians best bet at interacting with their fans. The more you network and connect with your fans, the more they will respond to your calls to action and/or opportunities to buy merch from you. Its simple really:
Connect With Fans + Reason To Buy = $.
When connecting with fans through your networks, your message should the same throughout. If everybody sees the same message at the same time, you have a much better chance of getting the desired effect. I do this constantly with my band and have set?up a way where I make 1 post that cycles through all my linked networks. Here’s what it looks like:
Tumblr -> Facebook + Twitter -> Myspace
How To Link
1 . Set up a media “dump” page.?I use www.Tumblr.com because it’s the easiest way to blog. Making an account and your first post takes literally 5 minutes. Here, you can literally create a post with as much rich media and text as you want and send the link to that post through your networks. This is the origin of the message you’re trying to link to the rest of the networks.
2 . Link your Tumblr to your Twitter account
- Click the “Account” menu on the top right of your Tumblr dashboard and select “Preferences”.
- Enter your Twitter username + password and you’re good!
- When making a Tumblr post, you have the option of sending the post to twitter.
- Just click the box on the right of the page next to “Send To Twitter”
3. Link your band member’s personal Facebook accounts to the Tumblr
- While logged into your or your band member’s account of Facebook, install the Tumblr app by going to this url: http://apps.facebook.com/tumblr-feed/
- Allow Tumblr to access your Facebook page.
- Enter the url of your tumblr page. Usually its (username).tumblr.com For Shinobi Ninja, its ShinobiNinja.Tumblr.Com?Click “Start Importing” and you’re good!
4 . Link your Myspace to your Twitter
- In your myspace home page after you’ve logged in, click “My Account”
- Click “Sync” in the menu items under “My account”
- In “Sync to Other Services”, click “Get Synced” next to twitter
- Check the box that says “Update My Status From Twitter”
BAM!!!!! YOU”RE GOOD!
5 . Double check your networks to make sure that they don’t double up. If your facebook is connected to twitter AND tumblr, then you’ll have duplicate posts every time you post something through Tumblr.
6 . THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP!!!!! After you post on Tumblr, cycle through your networks and respond to those that interacted with your post.
Complete the equation: CwF + RtB = $
If you don’t understand this, go here: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/02/video-trent-reznors-new-model-for-music-business-?profits.html
What Does It All Look Like?
Here is a live campaign from Shinobi Ninja announcing our EP Release Show on each of the sites:
Tumblr
Myspace
Everybody has their own networks and results will vary across platforms. Remember that although this is one way to link your networks, its not the only way.
Customize your posts to be the most effective they can be with respect to how your audience consumes them.
This post was written by Dave Machinist, an experienced musician with 10 years of DIY grind as a Drummer and DJ. When he’s not playing drums or hustling with his band Shinobi Ninja, Dave is attending Grad School at NYU Steinhardt, getting a Master’s Degree in Music Business. He also runs a recording studio, The Sound Machine in Manhattan.
Top Image by andyzweb
These guys are fresh. Maybe it’s because I still draw on my days in a hip-hop-rock band and still love the genre (Gym Class Heroes, Atmosphere rocking with a live band, etc). Today I got wind that Shinobi Ninja, a hip-hop hybrid from Brooklyn New York has released an iPhone app / game that takes fans right into the action of the group.
