Jeff Johnson hailing from Kentucky is a BEAST!  Not just lyrically, but from a business and music marketing and promotions standpoint as well.  He has a new mixtape coming out called “Marketing Genius Branding Tycoon” with KYMP KAMP and Hustle Squad DJ, DJ Slikk.  The moniker “Marketing Genius” definitely fits him well.  Jeff Johnson is innovative and is a SHINING example of how artists can do it themselves.

Check out these quick marketing videos he did below:

For more Jeff Johnson check out his website www.MakingMyName.com

-Eric “Fuse” Phillipson

Popularity: 97% [?]

About a week ago I made a status update on facebook that said, “Logging on just so I can hit ignore, ignore, deny, ignore, mark as read, deny.”  Funny, I know, but its true.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t deny, ignore, or mark as read everything I get, I confirm things I’ve seen elsewhere or am familiar with, I attend events that are relative to me.  This brings up a few points in Social Media and how artists are using it in music marketing and promotions.

With social media you cannot focus on one place. There is no reason, as an artist, you should be on Myspace and not on facebook and twitter, or even youtube.  These sites work together to build your brand recognition.  Myspace is great for use as a second electronic press kit (your first should be your own website).  Youtube allows fans to connect with you visually, twitter allows fans to see the day to day, and facebook is a great avenue to just keep that crowd up to date.

A good social media campaign for an artist will have all of their social sites working together to build the brand.  As an artist you are a brand and if you don’t think of yourself as such, you need to start.

Beyond keeping social sites in sync, many artists are failing at creating a targeted fan base.  Why am I receiving event invites for parties in New York when I am in Michigan?  The best thing about the internet, from a marketing standpoint, is that it is measurable.  You can measure where traffic is coming from, with ease.  So why take away from these measurable stats by not focusing in on your target market.

Here’s a tip for new artists, instead of spending countless hours adding a bunch of random people, why don’t you invest those hours into targeting potential fans in your city? Once you gain a following in your city, and you’ve captured them through your social sites as well as created your “street” exposure, then branch out to capturing those in your state, from there branch regionally.  If you start small with baby steps, you’ll be able to run eventually.

So why do most artists fail with music marketing through social media?

A) They don’t allow their social sites to build off of each other or run in sync

and

B) They don’t target potential fans

If you think of yourself as a business and make your moves based on business decisions rather than whats easy, you’ll see your career move in a better direction.

-Eric

Popularity: 7% [?]

When we were kids, and we wanted something from mom or dad, we asked.  A lot of us, if mom said no, we’d ask dad.  If we wanted to become a King, we became kings of our own imaginary worlds, we created our own castles out of chairs and blankets.  A lot of times we got in trouble for this, but we continued going after our goals the best way we knew how. Imagine if you knew then what you know now about making your money work for you.

When we are kids, we’re naive, we don’t know any better and taking risks are just a part of every day life.  Entrepreneur’s every day life is also about risk, and managing that risk. I would venture to say that if us as kids saw how hesitant the us of now are in chasing our dreams, we’d laugh and then continue to rule over our newly created fort.

I understand that the risks we take today are usually far greater than those we take as kids, but the thought process we have today is usually what keeps us from achieving our dreams.  As kids we’re eager to meet new people, when we fall down and get cut, sure we cried, but we probably did the same exact stunt that caused us the pain the next day… and you know, we likely succeeded.

Some of us spend countless hours on the planning phases assuming that this means we’re putting in work.  Then when it comes time for action, suddenly we are too busy and don’t have the time.  Don’t be afraid of action, embrace it!  We all fail, and those that give you a hard time for failure never succeeded themselves and honestly, they don’t matter.  Every successful person understands the value of failure and the value behind becoming actionable.

Do something great, take that dream or that goal you have, and act on it.  Take the first step of many in achieving something that you want.  The only thing that ever truly holds us back from success is ourselves.

-Eric

Popularity: 47% [?]