Summary: This week Blasko and Mike check out an article by Bobby Owsinski and talk about developing the image of your brand. http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2017/12/8-steps-to-brand-development-as-an-artist.html Make sure your brand image accurately portrays your music and personality. If you’re a biker band, you probably don’t want a website that’s all pink and flowery. On the other hand, the pink works great for Katy Perry. Likewise, if you’re an EDM artist you wouldn’t want your site to show the woods and trees, although that could work well for an alt rock band from Minnesota or someone doing music for meditation. Keep it honest and simple. Don’t try to be who you’re not, it’s too hard to pull off. You are who you are and people will either love you for it or they won’t. Best to keep things simple and be honest about who and what you are and where you came from. Differentiate yourself. While it might seem tempting to proclaim that you’re just like Coldplay, that doesn’t immediately make you their equal in the eyes of the public. The fact of the matter is, there already is a Coldplay, why does the world need another one? It’s their brand, not yours. The only way that a brand can be successful is to differentiate itself from the competition. A great example is the seminal punk band The Ramones, who decided that all their songs would be as short as possible and played without solos. There must be something that makes you unique in even a small way. If you can’t find it, it may be time to go back to the drawing board. Keep the look consistent. Consistency of product and image are the key to branding. That’s why you need to use the same logo and fonts and have the same general look and feel across all your promo for it to be effective. That includes your website, press kit, blog, newsletter and all social media. Create a remarkable logo. This is a requirement if you’re planning to promote your brand. You need this for your website, social sites, merchandise, press kit, promo and on your stage during gigs.. Great photos are a necessity. You need first class photos for posters, merch, website, social networks, press kits, and a lot more if you want to build your brand. Give away samples. Learn this phrase well as you will hear it repeated frequently.Your music is your marketing.That means that you can’t look at your music as your product. It may bring in some money eventually but not all that much in the grand scheme of things. Remember that 90 to 95% of the money that a major artist earns is not from recorded music. Cool is never declared. You cannot proclaim how new and unique you are. If such a statement is in fact true, people will find out soon enough and tell the world. You can use quotes from other people, but telling the world that you think you’re cool does not make it so. Rockabilia is your One Stop Shop for all band merch with the largest selection of officially licensed music merchandise in the world! Find merch from your favorite bands and use PCMANAGEMENTAL for 15% off at www.rockabilia.com Want more industry insight? Outerloop Coaching’s got you covered, head over to www.outerloopcoaching.com We want to hear from you so please don’t hesitate to email any questions or comments to askblasko@gmail.com Find Blasko on Twitter and Instagram: @blasko1313 Find Mike Mowery on Twitter and Instagram: @mikeoloop ManageMental is part of the Jabberjaw Media Network. www.jabberjawmedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
