Start by identifying appropriate forums that will have the most number of people who your band will appeal to. Use this list of forums, http://www.big-boards.com/, to find forums that you think will be best. Start with the largest and read through them to find the biggest possible ones. Try and find ones that were as specific to your band as possible, whether it be by the genre of music the site is about or the lyrical content of your music. If you sing about love or politics, registering on suitable forums will potential increase the likelihood of people connecting with your music once they hear it. Another possible type of forum is music festival forums because these are obviously music lovers but the admin on these forums work for the festivals so it is possible to build connections with people who may be interested in getting your band to play at their festival.
Once you've registered with between 3 and 5 forums see if you can make a signature for yourself. A signature is a bit of text or small image that will be placed below your posts in the forum and is an opportunity to promote your band. Try and use an eye catching image if you have one but most importantly you need a link to somewhere that people can hear your music. If there is no option to use a signature, use a weblink as your location in your account settings because often your location is displayed next to your posts and if its a link people will see it and hopefully click on it.
Next you need to find the introduce yourself thread which almost all blogs have and post on it. Read previous posts to see the type of posts people are making so you can understand what is appropriate and people respond well to. If no one is promoting their band or linking to their own sites then try and be more subtle about the way you do it or don't do it at all.
Now you need to read a few of the threads already on the forum to see what people post about and how they post. People on forums don't appreciate spam or obvious self promotion so avoid doing this. Instead you need to build a reputation for yourself on the forum and show people you are a credible source of information/opinion. Interact with people repeatedly by reply to their posts and post on a range of threads. Post a few times a day for a while and then when an opportunity arrives, promote your self. However you should not need to explicitly promote yourself unless it is appropriate because if people start to see you as a credible member of the forum they will want to know a little more about you and follow the links to your band.
This marketing is free and only requires a short time each day. Post while watching TV and its not even extra time you have to devote to it but if you post well and frequently it will become another avenue to reach a potential audience.
Once you've registered with between 3 and 5 forums see if you can make a signature for yourself. A signature is a bit of text or small image that will be placed below your posts in the forum and is an opportunity to promote your band. Try and use an eye catching image if you have one but most importantly you need a link to somewhere that people can hear your music. If there is no option to use a signature, use a weblink as your location in your account settings because often your location is displayed next to your posts and if its a link people will see it and hopefully click on it.
Next you need to find the introduce yourself thread which almost all blogs have and post on it. Read previous posts to see the type of posts people are making so you can understand what is appropriate and people respond well to. If no one is promoting their band or linking to their own sites then try and be more subtle about the way you do it or don't do it at all.
Now you need to read a few of the threads already on the forum to see what people post about and how they post. People on forums don't appreciate spam or obvious self promotion so avoid doing this. Instead you need to build a reputation for yourself on the forum and show people you are a credible source of information/opinion. Interact with people repeatedly by reply to their posts and post on a range of threads. Post a few times a day for a while and then when an opportunity arrives, promote your self. However you should not need to explicitly promote yourself unless it is appropriate because if people start to see you as a credible member of the forum they will want to know a little more about you and follow the links to your band.
This marketing is free and only requires a short time each day. Post while watching TV and its not even extra time you have to devote to it but if you post well and frequently it will become another avenue to reach a potential audience.
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