If you’re intending to make money as a musician, then you have to have know the purpose of your website. You must understand that your website isn’t a stage or a platform to show off. It’s a marketing tool. It’s a vehicle through which you engage and nurture relationships with your fans. And, you have to grab that attention quickly, because you may never get it again.
Why do you have fans? Some folks may do so just to feed their ego, but you can’t survive for long on pride. You have to eat at some point. You have to pay bills. You need to get paid eventually. If you’re in a situation where music is just a hobby for you, and you already support yourself through other means, that’s great! Perhaps making money with your talent is inconsequential to you. Maybe you just want to share what you have with the world – give it away so to speak. That’s fine. More power to ya.
But, if you are seriously intending to make money – specifically a living, then you can’t afford to take such an approach. You need to understand how to market yourself online.
Your website is like a storefront. Can you imagine people walking into Walmart and walking out without paying for anything? Can you imagine your grocery store just giving everything away for free? Well, if they were, I would imagine it was all spoiled.
What I can imagine grocery stores giving away is free samples. They do it all the time. Matter of fact, that’s how the Simpsons would eat lunch on Sundays after church.
Winning fans through your website takes as much marketing strategy as a grocery store needs to get folks to come in, buy and remain loyal customers.
This isn’t a one-and-done situation. Learning how to market yourself or your band effectively through the aid of a website is a constant learning experience. It starts, though, with the right perspective of what a website is intended for.
Since your website is one of your main marketing vehicles, it’s important that you take action every day towards using it more effectively. Whether that’s learning a new way to use it or implementing something that you just learned, do something everyday. After all, that’s what your music instructor told you, right? You gotta practice every day if you want to get good!