BUILD TENSION, GET ATTENTION
Safe and easy ain't gonna cut it anymore
Seth Godin in 2011 on “Getting serious about the attention economy:
“Every interaction comes with a cost. Not in cash money, but in something worth even more: the attention of the person you're interacting with. Waste it–with spam, with a worthless offer, with a lack of preparation, and yes, with nervous dissembling, then you are unlikely to get another chance.”
Tweet another “new song” link, or post a static image to the Instagram feed when you should be posting a video (as IG boss Adam Mosseri said in this interview).
While the bar is low, there’s so much we can do, without a massive amount of effort.
Even with just plain old text:
🚫 "Hey, we're on Revolver's 6 Best Songs Right Now list." [LINK]
✅ "Djent riffage that rumbles like a chunk of glacier breaking off and crashing into the choppy sea," says Revolver Magazine [LINK]
Copy and paste what the established media outlet said about you, and then show it to your fans.
Do the thing that other people aren’t!
“Change comes from intrinsic forces, not extrinsic ones. If you think things are shit, you can — whisper it — stop making shit things.
We’ve be throwing “shit things” at the walls for so long it’s hard to notice the stink.
Now, do you have to chug Starbucks drinks to promote a new single, get 62K views, and covertly get 62K people to listen to track in the process?
Well, no.
You don’t need to make dance videos, or start a podcast, either.
But you need to do your thing, in a way that translates online, that your fans can actually view and get excited about.
Find a way to display your magic on these cursed platforms, and do it in a way that feels comfortable and sustainable.
The world needs you, and so do your fans.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Here’s some things I wrote in recent years:
Starting and running an email list will help you reach a higher percentage of your fans, who will then be more likely to check out your cool things, and support you in your wonderful creative endeavors.
Own the direct connection to your audience, or else white knuckle the chaos of the daily social media shit show and hope you never lose access to your accounts.
You’re an artist; get creative in repeating all the cool things you’ve done on socials, in your newsletter, and on your own website.
The multi-media world is busier than ever, so casually mentioning your latest offering once or twice ain’t gonna cut it.
I’m Seth Werkheiser.
I help artists reach their fans with email newsletters.
Email: seth@closemondays.com
Web: closemondays.com