2011-11-10dated from the article

How to Make the Most of Old Tricks for the New Year

Written November 10, 2011. Platforms and services described here have changed. This is kept as a record, not as current advice.

As we open up a blank 2011 diary and face into the brand new year ahead, the temptation is to focus squarely on the future; on all the new things we are going to do in the twelve months to come. Now, there’s nothing wrong with thinking this way, but the thing is, we can only do better in 2011 if we learn from our experiences in 2010.

A new year doesn’t present a blank slate, so much as a bigger one, with all the scribbles still on it from the year before. In short, there’s no point in forgetting all that we’ve gone through in the previous year just so we can start afresh in this one. The music industry is changing all the time and 2011 will no doubt be as challenging for artists as each year of the decade that has gone before.

But instead of looking into a scary abyss, I propose the way to start 2011 is to look backwards instead. Old Tricks Ideally the end of the year should be the time for a comprehensive overview of what and hasn’t worked for you in terms of your promotional activities over the course of the year. But with Christmas and the party season in full swing, coupled with the fact that the holidays are some of the busiest times for musicians, it rarely happens that there is time to devote to this sober task. For a broader current marketing reference, see Groover.

That’s why the beginning of the new year is a good time to sit down and take stock. Instead of rushing ahead with a ‘new year, new you’ approach it’s important to understand what has worked for you in the past and bring these old tricks with you into the new year. With this in mind, here is a list of questions that will hopefully help you to identify what you have learned in 2010 and what to bring forward in 2011.

What did I enjoy doing the most in 2010? This is a pretty important consideration. Yes, it’s true that working as an independent artist is a hard slog these days, but it’s also true that if you are doing something you love it doesn’t seem like such a chore. And if you really love doing something then you are far more likely to be successful at it than when to try to muster up enthusiasm for a task you’re not so passionate about.

Which brings me to the next question…. What did I hate doing in 2010? The flip-side is to list the aspects of the job you’d really rather not do. Humans are pretty predictable – we avoid doing what we dislike while spending time doing what we enjoy (see above). So if you really hate having to send out emails to fans or maintaining your website, chances are you just won’t do it.

But this could be a fatal error. Instead of just avoiding the jobs you hate, list them down and see if there’s a better way to get them done. Is someone else in your band more enthusiastic about this type of thing? Could you rope in friends or family to help? What about hiring a professional to do it? Divided over the course of a year is the money spent on hiring a professional worth it when compared to the time it frees up to pursue the things you love to do?

In what ways did I find it easiest to communicate with my fans in 2010? The easier it is for you to have a conversation with your fans, the more likely you will be to continue the conversation and the more you should prioritise that method of communication. If you find that you are getting the most out of Facebook and whenever you try to gather email addresses from your fans it falls flat, then don’t stress too much about fitting a square peg into a round hole.

You’ve learned that Facebook is your most valuable online tool – in 2011 capitalise on this by paying it more attention. How much content did I create in 2010 and what stopped me from creating more? The internet is a voracious consumer of content. When you are directly communicating with fans you need to have something to share with them and to talk about.

Photos, videos, blog posts, out-takes, rehearsals, trivia etc. all represent valuable content which can and should be collected and catalogued. Perhaps you took lots of photos in 2010 but no videos at all. Why was that? Maybe you didn’t have a video camera. Could you get one in 2011? What has made me the most money in 2010? Was it playing live or selling albums or merchandise?

Even though it’s an obvious question, not all artists know what their split between live income versus albums sales versus merchandise sales is. And I’m talking profit here too – you do need to account for the money used to rent equipment, studio time and printing costs! Spending a few hours calculating this can lead to some surprising insights that can be applied into the year to come.

New Year Let’s face it, planning for a new year can seem like a big challenge. But once you have had answered the above questions and looked back at what worked for you and inspired you in 2010 you’ll find a natural springboard for what you should be focussing on in 2011. From us here in Amp it only remains to wish you a happy (and musically successful) New Year!