Wednesday, November 21, 2012

10 Things You Should Stop Doing On Facebook Small Business Trends


You’re on Facebook to communicate with your customers and increase social interaction. But are you unknowingly falling victim to some of the most common Facebook blunders business owners make and actually sending customers away?
Below are 10 Facebook mistakes to avoid while marketing your business.
1. Using a personal profile instead of a business page: We’ve all seen it. You’re eating at a new restaurant, enjoying it, and you want to go to Facebook to like the page and make it “Facebook official”. Only, when you finally get there you realize the business has set up a personal profile instead of a business page, leaving you unable to Like it or interact with it at all.
Ouch.
Nothing screams “I have no idea what I’m doing” like assigning your business to the wrong category.
As a business owner it’s important you create an official Business page for your brand,not a personal profile. This allows you to take advantage of much richer functionality like fan likes, checks ins, deals, full analytics, and better advertising options. It also ensures that Facebook can’t take your page away from you for assigning it to the wrong category. That can happen. If you’re currently using a personal profile instead of a business page, go migrate it.
2. Not filling out your profile completely: Facebook gives you a place on the Web to advertise your business and help your customers learn more about you. To aid in this goal, you need to completely fill out your business page so that users can find you and they see that you are invested in this community. When completing your profile take time to include your hours, phone number, your site URL, and all other relevant company information so that a user can find the information they’re looking for. Don’t make them hunt for it. Because they won’t.
3. Using Facebook as a broadcast medium: Using Facebook to blast out your latest press release or post a link to your latest blog with absolutely no conversation? Yeah, you’re using Facebook wrong. While all social platforms are intended to be social, Facebook is perhaps the most social of them all. In order to see any benefit, brands must put a focus on creating conversation and giving users a reason to want to engage with their brand. In fact, too many posts where users don’t engage and Facebook will simply stop showing your updates in their News Feed altogether. That’s how seriously Facebook takes user engagement. You want to take it equally as seriously.
4. Ignoring comments: Knowing that Facebook is all about engagement, it’s a bad idea to ignore fan comments on your wall or messages users may choose to send you privately. Of course, it’s not because of Facebook’s algorithms that you shouldn’t ignore your customers, it’s because they’re you’re customers! Your business is built on people. By fostering those relationships, you show customers that you care about their needs and, in the end, build a better business.
5. Leaving spam on your wall: Of course, not all comments are created equal. Don’t create your presence and then walk away. Monitor it! If you see Facebook users throwing garbage on your lawn, remove it. Delete spam comments. Don’t allow people to harass one another. And make sure everyone is playing by the rules. This page is associated with your brand. You have a responsibility to take care of it.
6. Using hashtags: Hashtags are for Twitter. Using them on Facebook makes you look like you’re not sure what platform you’re using.
7. Liking your own posts: We know you liked your post. You posted it. You don’t have to hit the like button. It makes your customers wonder if you have any friends.
8. Ignoring Facebook Insights: One of the perks about creating a Business page is the free analytics information. Facebook Insights provides business owners with important page data like how many users are seeing your page, whether or not they’re interacting with it, who is talking about your page, where they’re located, etc. You can even export the data to use it for your own benchmarking. As a business owner, you want to be looking at and using this information to better understand your audience, what they like, and how you can better reach them.
9. Using a bad avatar: Your avatar represents your brand on Facebook. Use something that will be clear, recognizable, and grab a user’s attention when it scrolls by in their News feed. This may mean redesigning your logo or creating a logo that is social media-friendly (meaning it works as a square). Don’t use an avatar that is text-heavy or which doesn’t scale well. Remember, most users won’t visit your brand page after they’ve Like it. Instead, they’ll rely on their News Feed to get your updates and information about your brand. Make sure your avatar is one they’ll recognize.
10. Not customizing your cover photo: Your Facebook cover photo gives you a valuable opportunity to showcase what you do in your top header. Select the photo you use wisely and have a little fun with it.
Above are ten common mistakes brands make on Facebook. But this certainly isn’t a complete list. What Facebook mistake do you see most often?

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Grind Mode Cypher Vol. 13 | Shameless Self-Promotion

Respect to the homie Lingo, Shameless Self Promotion & Brawlers Inc. The Grind Mode Cypher has ascended to lucky number 13 and features MORE Rhode Island/Southern New England wordsmiths!



www.grindmodecypher.com

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

PEACEFEST w/ Edo G. & Chachi | October 6th at King Park | Newport RI



On October 6, 2012 rhymeCulture & Ampedsounds bring you “PEACEFEST” w/ Boston’s Edog Boston, Rhode Island’s Chachi Carvalho, DJ sounds from DJ Tone (hip hop), DC Roots (reggae), Kellan (funk/everything), and additional performances from DirtyDurdie Emcee’s, Mayhem of EMS, Erik Andrade, Rebel International Sound, Jessica-Patrice Dorsey NinesnamesCoulter in this Multicultural music & arts showcase! Outdoors, family friendly with live music, live DJs, food and also a Tribute to the life of Teddy Oliveira at 4PM. Official after party with live band Soldiers of Life – location TBA.


Monday, September 17, 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Royalties Waiting? Find out in SoundExchange's Database!


 

There are over 50,000 unregistered artists and labels who have earned more than $31 million in royalties. Are you on the list?
On first impression, we often hear that the digital performance royalties that we have for artists and labels sound too good to be true. That’s completely understandable – I’m not sure we’d believe it ourselves! But, for nearly a decade now SoundExchange has been promoting the fact that we have digital performance royalties waiting for recording artists and record labels to claim. In fact, we have dedicated a team to artist and label outreach, with its main focus to get them  to register with us.


Find out more about Sound Exchange HERE

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

How much should it cost to acquire a fan and how do you know when it’s too much?



What most call “promotion” is really just another way of talking about the time, effort, and money spent acquiring fans. Aside from making great music, building an engaged fan base is probably the single most important thing you need to do as an independent musician. Only then will you have true financial independence and artistic freedom. You should change the way you think about promotion and you must invest in developing a fan base. -Mike McCready
In order to know how much you should spend to acquire a new fan (I’m talking about engaged fans, not the random Twitter follower or Facebook “liker”), you should have a rough idea how much an engaged fan is worth to you over the first year, and perhaps over the course of your career.

I realize that can sound unrealistic. But, while not exact, you can make some fairly easy assumptions; like what if 30% of your engaged fans buys each of your new songs or begins listening to them on heavy rotation on Spotify (or the other streaming services)? Then, what if 50% of your fans show up to at least one gig per year. What if 10% of them buy a T-shirt or some other merch item you sell? If you hone your assumptions to the point where they are somewhat accurate (is it really 30% or is it a bit more/less?), you should be able to predict with at least a little precision how much revenue you’ll generate in a given year.

While you’re doing that, you can also estimate your costs that are directly the result of having the fans (amount to make and buy the merchandise, cost of your CDs, cost of distribution to the digital platforms etc.). The amount of money you have left is your margin. As a general rule, as long as you can acquire each fan for less money than you earn on average from each fan, you’re not paying too much. This may sound cold and unlike the warm and fuzzy relationships you actually build with your fans, but this is how you must think of it because it’s your business. You must think about it kind of like you would think about any investment. But the awesome thing about this investment is you have a high degree of control over how it pays off. If you keep making good music, sell creative and quality merch and hold events which your fans can attend (and all sorts of other things), you can create a much more valuable business with fewer fans than another artist might despite having more fans.

Now, imagine you could go into a record label, a publishing company, or a group of independent investors and you were able to tell them how much it costs you to acquire each newly engaged fan and how much an engaged fan is worth.

Imagine being able to say to yourself,

“My band has 100 engaged fans.

“We net about $70 per year on average from each of our fans.

“So, right now, we have revenue of $7,000 per year.

“But, in order to pay ourselves, record the new music, buy some new equipment, and rent a touring van, we need to have $300,000 of revenue in a year.”

If you do that math, you see that you need about 4,185 more engaged fans to generate that kind of money.  What should you do? I do realize this is a simplified equation, but you get my point…

Music Xray’s new service, Fan Match was built to help answer this question.

Let’s say you invest $100 in a new Fan Match campaign. The song of your choice will be sent to 300 potential fans – people who have already told us they like your style and your genre. Then, once they’ve heard your music, we give them the opportunity to become a direct fan of yours at the click of a button. When that happens, you receive their email address and can get directly in contact with that fan. You can manage that relationship however you generally manage your engaged fan relationships.

Now, let’s say that your music is compelling enough that 30% of those who hear it like it enough to become a direct fan. That means that for $100, you would acquire 30 engaged fans. In other words, each fan cost you $3.33 to acquire. That’s a really good deal if each engaged fan is worth $70 to you over the course of a year, not to mention the value of an engaged fan over the course of your career.

Remember though, in our scenario, you need 4,185 additional fans to reach your revenue goal. At $3.33 each, acquiring 4,185 fans will cost you $13,936 via Fan Match.


READ MORE HERE

Friday, July 6, 2012

rhymeCulture presents IslandLife @ Easton’s Point | SATURDAYS in July 2012


rhymeCulture presents IslandLife @ Easton’s Point | SATURDAYS in July 2012

#IslandLife

The rhymeCulture family will be at Easton’s Point Pub & Restaurantevery SATURDAY in July 2012..real Hip Hop for Aquidneck Island.
07.07 –> AfterlifeKeewords, Sense One & Sheezac

07.14 –> RipshopDox Boogie & Big City Bumpus

07.21 –> Black SandPresent Rhymes & Mao

07.28 –> AsylumSlim PickensSquare OneHy-RainDomo

FREE before 11pm. Open mic @ 10pm. Strict 21+ and DJ Tone on the wheels of steel every week!! Also we’ll be taking donations for theEast Bay Met Center‘s after-school music program so come chill with us and support a great organization at the same time.

Easton’s Point

116 Aquidneck Avenue | Middletown, RI | RSVP on fb

Sunday, June 24, 2012

The 4 biggest mistakes Artists' make online

The 4 biggest mistakes Artists' make online... 


Sending People to a Website That's Not a Website 


Promoters, bookers, venues and fans - they all know the difference between a free web page (MySpace, Facebook, Bandcamp, Tumblr) and a professional artist website (www.YOU.com). Social media sites are super-important, but they are not your home base on the web. Get your own domain name and build a website where you have complete control. It's one of the first steps to becoming a professional musician. 


Spamming Fans 


You can scream "Buy my album!" from a rooftop all day long, but you'd have better luck politely knocking on doors with a piping-hot apple pie and a smile. Every time you approach someone online and say, "Buy my album" or "Check out my music," you are essentially spamming them. On the other hand, if you first build a relationship with your online followers by offering something of value (friendship, information, free stuff, apple pie) then you establish a relationship--a relationship that will lead to many selling opportunities down the line. 


Not Staying Up-to-Date


The quickest way to get ignored online is to let your website gather dust. Nothing says, "My band broke up, or I don't care about self-promotion" like an out-of-date website. Make sure your last blog post wasn't in 2006. Make sure your gig calendar is up-to-date, and make sure your photo gallery is filled with recent pictures. This way your fans can get to know you and your music better.

Not Maintaining a Fan List 


Your fans want to connect with you. They want the inside scoop. They want special offers and they want to feel a part of something. Give them a chance to sign up to your newsletter on your website. A Facebook post might only reach 2-5% of your Facebook fans, but an email newsletter will land in almost every email box you send it to. Email will always be the most personal way you can communicate with your fans. 

info provided by cdbaby.com

Friday, June 8, 2012

@SPLIFTOUT PRESENTS #SPLIFSTRUMENTALS



Musicians alike looking for some dope Non-Exclusive beats to shine on checkout #SPLIFSTRUMENTALS from @SPLIFTOUT!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Freddie Black | New England Get The Chowda | Recipe Rap Vol. II

Peep the latest installment of Freddie Blackskin's Recipe Raps! In this display Freddie doesn't miss a beat putting together a culinary concoction world renowned throughout the globe. Good ole New England Clam Chowder is on the menu. Watch the video after the jump and learn a thing or two on how you can replicate this classic New England staple.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Musicians, 77% of Your Fans Prefer Email Marketing

Well actually, you should be communicating with your fans in many ways– albums, singles, social media, blog posts, on-stage announcements, etc. But according to a recent study conducted by ExactTarget, when it comes to your marketing messages (“get my new album,” “come see us play this Saturday,” etc.), your fans are most receptive when they receive a good old-fashioned email. MarketingLand.com says of the data: “ExactTarget asked almost 1,500 US online consumers (age 15 and up) about how they prefer to get permission-based marketing messages and a whopping 77 percent said email — a number that dwarfs all other options in the survey. Direct mail was second at nine percent and text messaging was third at five percent…”
Read the rest of this article HERE

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

FREDDIE BLACK & B LUV - HOW WE DO

Be sure to PURCHASE the new single released by @GhosTownMusic! This song is of the forthcoming EP by @FreddieBlack401 & @MarathonaJakk aka B Luv entitled "Everybody Luvs Black"! This joint, produced by SpliftOut features banging delivery, rhyme flow & production brought to you by some of the 401 illest!!!






FREDDIE BLACK & B LUV - HOW WE DO

Monday, April 2, 2012

Time Machine - Cocktails [VIDEO]


"Time Machine (Jaysonic, Comel, DJ Mekalek) are preparing to drop "Vicious Experiments", thier first mixtape after a four year hiatus. Enjoy the Juan Deuce and Falside directed visuals for "Cocktails" while you wait. For more info check http://facebook.com/reallytm"

TIME MACHINE has toured Japan, Australia, Europe, the UK, and almost every major city in North America with artists such as EDAN, PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS, and GYM CLASS HEROES. Their discography includes SLOW YOUR ROLL (2004), TM RADIO (005), LIFE IS EXPENSIVE (2008) and a host of singles and remixes, all released on their own GLOW-IN-THE-DARK RECORDS.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

LB SKATING FAIL



He needs to work on his shredding but Lil Bear is more than on point with the music!!!
Check out the sounds >>> Lil Bear on Reverbnation!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

FREE D/L BLACK BEAR - HIP HOP IS MORE THAN RAP




The Black Bear Project brings together the minds of LB aka Lil Bear and Freddie Blackskin! Having recorded together on various compilations as well as solo and group projects, the pair saw it fitting to come together and create a masterpiece and throwback in the same vein as "Nice & Smooth" but for the new millennium. Starting with the lead single "Spread Love" produced by upcoming producer Skilla P out of Germany, the duo show uncompromised resolve and creativity. Black Bear: Hip Hop Is MORE Than Rap is HERE! Share this, tweet this, whatever u gotta do! DOWNLOAD HERE

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Lil Bear + Freddie Black + Fete + Supreme Royale


Féte, located in Olneyville, RI is celebrating hip hop and all it's elements on Thursday nights!! This video is a portion of the Lil Bear showcase with Freddie Black that took place on 1.26.12