WRITE ME OR FIGHT ME

No one signs up for a social media account and says, “don’t worry, I’ll only post once a month, I don’t wanna be too spammy!”

So why do we act like that with email newsletters?

Maybe because when you donate to a political campaign they start emailing you twice a day?

Or when you buy from an online retailer they bombard you with emails a few times a week?

Well, you’re not them.

The stuff you post on socials – the photos from shows, the work-in-progress videos, the rants, the albums that you love – could all go into an email.

Remember these two facts:

  1. Not everyone follows you on social media.
  2. Even if they do, algorithms will prevent them from seeing your posts.

So your live-action shots and clips from the studio go unseen – mostly (probably) by your biggest fans.

The ones who buy your albums, your prints, you shirts, your art.

Yes, if you email once a week with just PURCHASE NOW or BUY TICKETS messages, people are going to unsubscribe.

So don’t do that.

Your fans subscribed because they love you, and want more of you. Give them more of you.

You can literally scroll back through your socials from each week, see what resonated, and copy and paste that into your email.

Write more about some of your thoughts from the week.

Post some photos from your art opening on your site, then mention them in your newsletter. “Hey, click here to see more.”

That’s not a hard sell. That’s not trying to get anyone to pull out their wallet when they’re in line at Dunkin Donuts.

It’s a passive ask, friend to friend:
Here’s the lyrics to our next single.
Sneak peek at our next shirt design.
This is the inspiration for our next album.

Yes, include your album art and a pre-order link. Below the fold. Think of it like an ad in a magazine. You read the interview, then notice the full page ad on the next page.

Your fans aren’t ATMs, they’re your friends, followers, people who gave you their email address and said, “yes, I want more from you.”

Give more of you.

PUBLISH TO YOUR WEBSITE

It happened again. Another person was suspended from Facebook, and then they couldn’t reach their fans.

Zuck deactivated me for a few days (was mildly mortifying) but it sparked some thoughts on what I feel insta is doing to our creativity / individuality

I’m also in the process of backing up every post, story, caption I’ve ever written and publishing it on a WEBSITE. It’s very 2010, would recommend 

@shopedelano on Instagram

Another app or service is not going to come along and magically replace Twitter or Instagram or whatever. The open web is here, as it’s always been. No lock in, no “walled gardens,” no algorithms.

But we’ll miss the likes and the RTs, the acknowledgment when we can post just a few words about a movie or a sports event and then at least 5 or 7 people will hit the like button, and we’ll feel like we’re not alone, or just shouting into the void.

I know this, because I’ve been writing on this blog since early 2018. It can feel pointless just writing all these words over the years, and not seeing some sort of acknowledgement.

Though I liken it to a conversation with an old friend. There’s no ROI. There’s no hack for a good phone call. No algorithm to crack with a best friend.

You just write, in public, for everyone to see. If it resonates, great. If it doesn’t, well, you have an excellent online journal that won’t suddenly disappear when Facebook’s server short circuit.

HEAVY METAL EMAIL IS CHUGGING ALONG

From my newest project, HEAVY METAL EMAIL:

Every interaction with a fan on the internet could be the last – so do what you can to make it memorable. Use your “thanks for signing up” page to drive fans to your latest single or video, your upcoming tour dates, or offer a discount to your online store.

From ‘EMAIL AUTOPSY: GUS G, SHE SHREDS, AND MASTODON‘

Today was the fourth email I sent, since switching from a community site focus to the newsletter format just a few weeks ago. Feed back has been great, and folks are subscribing, and it’s led to a few fun conversations online.

I’ve done two interviews already, one with Jeff Gretz of Zao, and then one with Professor Pizza of Axeslasher. It’s sort of wild that here I am in 2021 talking to band dudes about… email marketing, but here we are! Got three new interviews lined up, too. So the next three Mondays are set with some pretty cool features.

SELF-PROMOTION CAN BE SANE

Oh my goodness, this from Delon Om, in an interview with Authority Magazine, talking about the ‘5 things I wish someone told me when I first started.”

Meritocracy is a myth. I always believed that my art would speak for itself- that its merit would earn recognition and validation. Unfortunately, I have learned that is not the case.

It really does feel like the loudest people, or those who devote the most time to social media, are the winners. Like @DonnaMissal said:

“Color me bitter but im tired from yrs of begging for money to pay other artists like directors even half their rate while teens with ring lights are signed for millions.”

Yes, “putting yourself out there,” or doing “self-promotion” is needed, but it doesn’t have to look like what everybody else is doing.

Sure, in the short-term you can build an audience like that, but as Professor Pizza said in a recent interview with me at HEAVY METAL EMAIL:

“The mental math equation went from ‘What do I think our fans would like?’ to ‘What do I think will break through the algo that our fans will tolerate?’ The short answer is you have to start looking at and leveraging trends, which by-in-large, are fucking lame. We’re a thrash band comprised of ghosts of vengeance. We shouldn’t be doing funny hand dances, or the running man.”

I fully believe you don’t need to get on TikTok. Why? Because you’ve already got fans that you’re not reaching on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. Not because your content sucks, but because of algorithms!

Now you have a choice – play the algorithm game, or don’t play the algorithm game.

Make your thing so good that people will type your domain name into a browser to see what you’re up to. Have an email list, so you can send an email to those people every now and again.

This is how we did it pre-2006, before Twitter came on the scene. And the internet is still here. People still go to websites to buy things.

They can go to your website and buy things. It’s possible.

GOOD SONGS DIE WITHOUT GOOD PLANS

“Write good songs.”

This is the advice one of my close friends (whom I work for) gives to bands asking how to “make it.”

Of course, this is leads to further discussion.

“Great songs with a bad plan fail,” says Amber Horsburgh.

How do write good songs? Write bad ones. And you write bad ones by writing a lot of songs.

Yes, inspiration may come from the heavens and bless you with a hit.

But even then, you still need to know how to craft and mold that idea into an actual song.

So you gotta work.

That doesn’t even mean posting something everyday. You can do this quietly, without sharing with the world.

Write as often as you can. Do your thing as often as you can.

As I wrote about a year ago:

So don’t look too far into the distance. Make your mistakes now, get your bad stuff out of the way this year. Your work today is to keep piling up your art, your work, your magic.

Learn Your Lessons Each Step of the Way

DONE WITH GUILT

I got lost recently, digging through the Subtle Maneuvers newsletter archive. This quote struck me.

“As an artist and freelancer, there’s a lot of ways you can feel guilty on a daily basis. Guilty for not having enough free time, guilty for having too much, guilty for loving your job, guilty for not loving it. I’m trying to eliminate as much of that guilt as possible, because it’s totally useless. Since quarantine, I regularly sleep until 10. I have dessert every single day. I exercise when I feel like it. I relish my free time when I have it, relish my work when I love it. I ask for an extension if I’m just too sad to meet my deadline. I don’t care anymore. I’m done with guilt. Life is too short.”

Hallie Bateman

YOU NEED DATA

Photo by Kris Møklebust from Pexels

TikTok hit one billion users globally in September, while Facebook still as almost three billion.

Yet here we are, in 2021, and there are fans of your band who still don’t know about your latest release, tour, or merch drop.

Imagine if you had the email address of everyone that bought a ticket to see you play over the last five years. You could then email them the next time you’re coming to town.

Guess who has that email?

The website they bought the ticket from.

Not you.

Imagine if you had the email address of everyone that streamed your song on Spotify or Apple Music.

Guess who has that data?

Not you.

Sites like Spotify, Ticketmaster, Amazon – they have SO MUCH FUCKING DATA, and they make so much money from knowing who buys what at every hour of the day.

Meanwhile, you put out three albums, went on seven US tours, and you can’t email a single person who paid you money for the honor.

You don’t need to be on TikTok. Your friend of 10 years who supports you and loves you, but doesn’t go to shows much anymore doesn’t even know about your new album. You think being on TikTok is gonna help?

You need data. You need an email address. You need to know who bought your fucking EP last week, and three years ago.

That information is so important, there’s no way that Spotify, and Facebook, and Ticketmaster will share it to you. It’s valuable data, and they make money on the back of your hard work.

They hold the power, you don’t.

Start an email list.

A TEAR IN THE FABRIC OF LIFE INDEED

These six songs from Knocked Loose pack more menace and grit than some bands entire discographies. A monster step forward for the genre.

The band also made a video to accompany the entire release, too. Amazing.