I DARE YOU TO GET CLOSER WITH YOUR FANS
They deserve your magical stories
“Last Saturday we drove by REI and I ended up with a new bike. Whoops.”
The quote above is typically not the sort of intro you’d expect in a newsletter from a music-themed podcast, but hey - why not?
Bryan Patton runs the As The Story Grows podcast, and his newsletters aren’t just links to his latest episodes. Yes, he links his latest interviews, but he also includes his thoughts about albums and singles and all the other things that make for an interesting character on the internet.
Because if you do something long enough - be it a podcast, a photo studio, a band, whatever - chances are you’ve got fans.
You want fans of your work.
Fans spread the word about what you do. They share your posts. Sometimes they buy your stuff.
If you did an interview with a media outlet discussing your work, who would you share that with?
YOUR. FANS.
You’d post that shit so fast on social media, wouldn’t you?
Well, don’t sit around waiting for that to happen. Take a few minutes and explain some of your process, your techniques, your magic.
Dive into the pain, the misery, the joy, the… everything that goes into your art:
“… I’ll be working on a memoir for Feral House, scheduled to be released around the same time that Love’s Holiday is. May or thereabouts. After reading every single memoir there is that touches on times I’ve been part of I’ve decided to do the one thing that none of the rest of them have done. Instead of simply describing events I’ve dug deep into thoughts and thought processes throughout without concern for feelings of those involved including mine.”
The above from Eugene S. Robinson, from his newsletter ‘Look What You Made Me Do.’
Your story deserves to be seen and read by more than 30% of your audience on social media, and that figure is very generous.
So go start an email list, get people to subscribe by offering them something worth reading, and go from there.
QUICK BITS:
“Create one piece of main content per week (for me it's a blog post), and then find ways to re-work that content to also work on your other channels or platforms,” says film maker Noam Kroll in his newsletter.
“There is value in focusing on the depth of your work, rather than just the breadth of its reach,” says Iam Vanagas in ‘You Don’t Need to be a Poster.’
“We can read every book, listen to every podcast, think all the good thoughts, but nothing changes until we do,” writes Jocelyn Aucoin.
“48% of freelancers said that client referrals are—far and away—the best way to bring in new clients,” says Mailchimp in ‘The Power of Referrals for Your Business (and How to Ask for Them).’
GOOD TWEETS:
I could just turn this section into ‘Sto’s Tweets,’ but for real, you should follow him (@BigSto) if you need some extra motivation to start a newsletter and website for your magical endeavors.
When I see stuff about “the next big thing for bands” or whatever, I just think about how most bands won’t even Tweet more than twice about their latest video, or learn how to include a link in an Instagram Story. But sure, Roblox is the answer!
I am so ready for PSL season.
DUE BY FRIDAY:
Here’s some prompts to get your moving this week.
Tell your email subscribers how you got started in what you’re doing now - most of them probably have no idea.
Get three people from social media to join your email list.
Write down ideas on how to get people to your online store this holiday season.
As always - get in touch via email (seth@heavymetal.email), reply to this email, or if you’re viewing this on the web leave a comment below.