2010-02-16dated from the article

How to be Remarkable

Written February 16, 2010. Platforms and services described here have changed. This is kept as a record, not as current advice. For a related workplace reference on how many work hours are in a year, see learn more.

One of the most important lessons in online marketing is Seth Godin‘s concept of remarkable. Is your product worth remarking on? If not, why are people going to talk about it? How is it going to spread? 3 years ago, in an article from The Guardian, he described 10 simple steps to becoming remarkable. I’ve listed them all below, let’s read through each one and see how it can apply to the musician.

Here, in 10 easy steps, is how to grow. How to stand out. How to get noticed, make a difference and have a shot at the big time. 1. Understand the urgency of the situation. Half-measures simply won’t do. The only way to grow is to abandon your strategy of doing what you did yesterday, but better. Commit. This is remarkably applicable to the music industry.

The old business model of selling music on plastic discs is dying rapidly. The new world is one of zero distribution costs, the economics of which forces price down towards zero. The cost structures and revenue models of the future are radically different to those of the past. Trying to cling onto the strategy of yesterday will only hold you back from creating the business of tomorrow. For a current video-platform reference, see YouTube for Artists.

2. Remarkable doesn’t mean remarkable to you. It means remarkable to me. Am I going to make a remark about it? If not, then you’re average, and average is for losers. Think about your next blog post or email to your fans. It doesn’t matter if you care about the content, only that your fans do. “Hey, come vote for our band in this competition!” No thanks.

“Hey, here’s some exclusive backstage pics / a cool new video / a sneak peek at our album artwork” Yes please. 3. Being noticed is not the same as being remarkable. Running down the street naked will get you noticed, but it won’t accomplish much. It’s easy to pull off a stunt, but not useful. Or as Trent Reznor remarked, If you’re going to perform a stunt, have something remarkable to back it up with.

If there is a big bang of publicity for your new record, make sure that the record itself is worth talking about, worth sharing with friends. 4. Extremism in the pursuit of remarkability is no sin. In fact, it’s practically a requirement. People in first place, those considered the best in the world, these are the folks that get what they want.

Rock stars have groupies because they’re stars, not because they’re good looking. Have a look at OkGo’s latest video (or better yet, have a look at the making of their next one). They became a viral hit with their running on treadmills video, but they’re not resting at that level, they’re constantly pushing themselves to make bigger, better and ultimately more remarkable videos.

5. Remarkability lies in the edges. The biggest, fastest, slowest, richest, easiest, most difficult. It doesn’t always matter which edge, more that you’re at (or beyond) the edge. Even in the mainstream this is true. Look at Lady Gaga, everything about her is remarkable. Her music, her fashion, her overall bizarreness, it all gets talked about.

Compare this to most x-factor contestants over the last number of years. None of them have taken off (with one or two exceptions) because none are very remarkable. 6. Not everyone appreciates your efforts to be remarkable. In fact, most people don’t. So what? Most people are ostriches, heads in the sand, unable to help you anyway. Your goal isn’t to please everyone.

Your goal is to please those that actually speak up, spread the word, buy new things or hire the talented. Now, more than ever, this is true for music. Critics still matter to an extent, but in a world where good music can spread rapidly through blogs and social networks, the importance of pleasing “the industry” is dwindling. Pleasing your fans is all that matters now, they’ll be your publicists.

They’ll spread the word. 7. If it’s in a manual, if it’s the accepted wisdom, if you can find it in a Dummies book, then guess what? It’s boring, not remarkable. Part of what it takes to do something remarkable is to do something first and best. Roger Bannister was remarkable. The next guy, the guy who broke Bannister’s record wasn’t. He was just faster … but it doesn’t matter.

This is one of my favourite points, because it’s the one with most promise for any musician hoping to be remarkable today. Social media tools are still relatively new and every week we see another original example of someone inventing new ways to connect with fans, engage them with their music and give them a reason to buy. The opportunity to be first will never be bigger again, all it takes is a touch of creative thinking.

8. It’s not really as frightening as it seems. They keep the masses in line by threatening them (us) with all manner of horrible outcomes if we dare to step out of line. But who loses their jobs at the mass layoffs? Who has trouble finding a new gig? Not the remarkable minority, that’s for sure. 115,000 new albums were released in the U.S.

last year. Of those, fewer than 6,000 sold more than 1,000 copies. That should be what frightens you. The odds are stacked overwhelmingly against you. You can’t afford not to be remarkable. 9. If you put it on a T-shirt, would people wear it? No use being remarkable at something that people don’t care about. Not ALL people, mind you, just a few.

A few people insanely focused on what you do is far far better than thousands of people who might be mildly interested, right? This is the head in The Long Tail of Music Fans. This is Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 true fans. The internet might take away your ability to sell 10,000 albums at €10, but it presents the opportunity to earn €100 from each 1,000 core fans.

10. What’s fashionable soon becomes unfashionable. While you might be remarkable for a time, if you don’t reinvest and reinvent, you won’t be for long. Instead of resting on your laurels, you must commit to being remarkable again quite soon. This is as true for your marketing as it is for your music.