Guerrilla Marketing, Music and You

Guerilla Marketing is the use of unconventional marketing techniques intended to get maximum results from minimal resources, which let's face it; most indie musicians have minimal resources. Today, guerrilla marketing is a non-traditional, low-cost, and highly effective marketing endeavor, which when used properly can reap many rewards for the diligent user.

So what can you do to use guerrilla marketing to help further your music career? The first piece of advice I can give you is to think outside the box. Don't do what everyone else is doing. Here area few ideas to get you started:

•Use podcasts to broadcast your music, helping to expose your music to a lot of people who may have never heard it before. Make sure that you plug your website and where they can purchase your products.

•Why not go to your local library and see if they will allow you to do a free concert there in exchange for a percentage of your sales of product after your show. Libraries are in dire need of funds.

•Another easy and free way to get your name out there and seen is to write reviews on every product your own, have used, read or heard. Then post the reviews on places like amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Make sure to put a small two or three sentence bio at the end of each review that has the name of any CD projects you have done. You can't post your URL there; they will delete your bio. When you post your reviews, put your vanity email address inside your "real name." While those sites won't allow you to post your URL, if your URL is part of your "real name," they don't say a word. Check out amazon.com and look for one of my reviews. This is what you will see: "Jaci Rae - The Rae of Hope. raeofhope@jacirae.com." (Don't use a real email address or you will end up with a lot of spam. That is my website, but the email address if fake.) Why is this an important step? Because people will read your reviews and you get your name out there. Most consumers are Internet savvy and if they are interested in you, will check you out.

The Indie Guide to Music, Marketing and Money by Jaci Rae

Credit: Albert Garcia

Copyright: Jaci Rae and North Shore Records