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When starting out as a singer, you need to build a fan base to follow your music. They will be the people to support your gigs and releases and without them your struggle to go far!
Increasing your fan base
The key to increasing your fan base as a singer is gigs, events and social media. With the emergence of social media in some respects makes it a lot easier to reach out, engage and connect with a fan base. Here are some pointers of on social media to how to about growing your fan base from the ground up!
• Make sure your act is sorted! You have the right sound, the right image and any recorded material is up to scratch. You have to be the complete package worth promoting.
• Create your social media accounts. Facebook and Twitter are the essentials. Google+ and Tumblr will be beneficial to have as well. If you are uploading video content consider creating a YouTube account so you can have your own channel on that. Ensure all themes, display pictures and such are synchronized across all platforms. You need to be sure people will look at each profile and know they are on your official page.
• Create your own website. This is where you want to direct online traffic to from your social media pages. This will be your main hub of activity. This should have everything about your act and should be accessible to the public. It should contain information such as a biography, photo galleries, videos, contact information, an option to sign up to a mailing list etc.
• Consider writing blogs. Sites such as Tumblr or WordPress allow you to do this. Write about your personal experiences or give tips you have picked up to try and help out other singers/musicians. People will read it and take an interest in you and check out your social media pages.
Using social media properly
The most important thing when increasing your fan base is to know how to use each different social media platform properly.
Aside from your website, this is essentially the hub of all major activity. It is where the news gets posted, where gig dates are announced, all the longer, more important stories.
This is where you post updates on smaller activities. For example, something funny that has just happened or what instrument is being recorded in the studio as you type. Twitter is about more frequent, smaller stories than Facebook.
YouTube
YouTube is one of the most interactive ways of promoting yourself. Videos of yourself can easily get spread around the Internet and you can gain fans from all across the world not just your area.
This is for sharing snapshots of what’s happening in your world. EP artwork reveal? New stage costume for your next show? This is where they are best off being posted.
Tumblr
For your blog writing. This is the site where readers will want to read the longer, more informative posts as opposed to short statements.
Engaging your fan base
Avoid spamming your social media. Fans dislike spam and it could have a negative impact on your following. If fans get annoyed with your posts, they will un-follow you. Through word of mouth, this could harm your ability to get your fan base bigger if people here negative comments about you. Keep it professional and don’t post the same thing over and over!
Make sure you connect with your fans through interaction. If word gets around that you answer fan queries and engage with them, it will draw people to you. They will see you are in touch with treating fans how you would want to be treated by artists you like and this will paint you in a good light. Establishing a connection with fans and showing an interest in them will grow your fan base and introduce more people to your music.
It’s not always about the music, fans want to know about you as a person too! One of the best ways to get fans engaged is through competitions. Ask them to post parodies of your songs or design some kind of artwork for you that you will use in the future. Little things like this will generate a lot of interest in you once word gets around via other peoples news feeds and get you out to a broader audience. Always remember to keep your posts interesting and engaging!