HOW TO START YOUR OWN MUSIC BLOG
posted in: Music News
Music lover/audiophile/MP3 junkie seeks interactive outlet to share news, downloads, reviews, videos, photos and whatever else strikes his/her fancy.
Sound like you? Then you’re probably ready to get serious with your own music blog.
Blogs can be great creative outlets for passionate fans. If done well, they can enhance your résumé, help you create a brand and even make you some money. The three most popular blog generators are Blogger, WordPress and TypePad. All three are free”the only cost is the time you invest. Here are some tips to help you get started to create the next Pitchfork.
1. Come up with your theme. Are you going to focus on concert reviews? MP3s? Polish electro-pop? Pick a name for your blog that is memorable and unique. Choose a voice for your writing style and stick with it. And make sure your logo/site skin rocks.
2. Commit to a schedule. Always update your blog regularly so that your followers will continue to check back. Once you fall behind on your posts, you may fall off the radar of your readers.
3. Make sure you know what you’re talking about. Do your research, stay on top of trends and industry buzz, and make sure your content is engaging and timely.
4. Trick out your blog with cool (yet strategic) tech geekery. A new blog is a blank canvas, but there’s a lot you can do to make it feel immersive and robust. Add share links for different social networking sites, embed players, upload widgets. Whatever the new technology of choice is for your audience should be represented on your blog. Visit some popular music blogs and see what kind of rich media is currently rocking the blogosphere. Keep in mind that whatever you implement should always enhance the user experience, not detract from it.
5. Tag every post. Tagging helps with SEO (search engine optimization) and makes it easier for your stories to be picked up by Yahoo, Google, Bing and other search engines.
6. Get the grassroots growing. Once you’ve got some good content on your blog, start recruiting readers. Email your friends and family and ask them to forward the link on. Post your URL on your social networking profiles, and leverage your status messages, news filters and relevant applications to promote new content.
7. Make it rain. When your blog starts gaining traction and getting traffic, you can begin to recruit advertisers. See who’s buying ad space on similar blogs and reach out to them with competitive banner ad rates. Make sure you know your traffic stats. (The Web site Alexa.com can help you with that.)
8. Publicize your work. If the band or artist you’re covering has a label, publicist or agent, send them the link to your post so that they can share it with more fans. Remember, your traffic stats are key, so be proactive on the PR front. Supplement your content with partnerships and promotions. It’s the easiest way to get new eyeballs for your blog.
Hopefully you can put these tips to use in your great interactive gig in the cyber-sky. Blog on, bloggers.
