Yes, You Can Actually Jam Online With This App

Have you heard of Sub.live? It's an app that boasts the ability to host online live rooms with super-fast sound.

Having been separated from my band because of the pandemic, I looked everywhere for a platform like this. There were a many that popped up, claiming latency free jamming capabilities, but they all sucked. Some took hours to set up, and they still sucked.

I was skeptical when I heard of Sub.live, but I tried it and it works! Best of all, there's no set up (other than downloading it), and it's free.

Check it out: Sub.live

I was able to play with my band online, separated by hundreds of miles with no to super low latency.

There are a some kinks, but it's the best program I've every tried of its kind. You could practice together, but because of the momentary periods of internet noise, it's probably best used for co-writing rather than fine tuning your super-fast chops.

TIPS:

• You can change the bit rate to optimize latency. 96k worked best for me.

• You can click on the image/video of any of the people in the "room" and change their volume or panning.

• You can click on your own image/video to add delay to your own signal as a way to "smudge" the sound of the combined mixes so as to reduce the perceived latency.

Hit reply and let me know if this was helpful to you or if you have any tips to share about your experience. I'll pass them along to the DIY crew in a follow up email and in the DIY Music Mgmt Facebook Group.

// James

If You're Hard on Yourself, You Need to Read This

I have a coaching client who I love working with. He's motivated, heart-centered, genuine, and believes in himself enough to work hard, invest in himself, and release a lot of music.

But he, like so many of us hustlers, battles with putting unrealistic expectations on himself. I know that battle. I've been there. I think so many of us have.

He recently sent me an email telling me that his to-do lists were piling up and he was feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work he created for himself and his looming deadlines.

What follows is my response to him. I asked him if I could share it with the crew because I felt like we all need to hear this.

Here it is:

Dude, it takes a lot of courage to have these types of honest conversations with yourself and to share them with others. Good shit. Here's my perspective:

1. Acknowledge and forgive yourself that you have limitations

First off, the amount of work you're doing is normally handled by a team of multiple people. For one person to attempt to handle everything would be to deny the fact that we're human, to deny that we have limitations. To accept and acknowledge your limitations is to celebrate your human-ness. Being human is the best, so it stands to reason that having human limitations is also awesome. I see you though, the feeling of overwhelm is real and I'm sorry you're feeling it. I've felt that too, and continue to struggle with it, for sure.

When I've reached my multitask threshold, it's because I'm trying to do too much in too short a time. Think of [the amount of tasks] and [time to complete the tasks] as being directly related. The higher [the amount of tasks] the more [time to complete the tasks] you'll need. It's like a law of physics, it can't be broken (unless you figure out time travel, the equivalent of hiring another team member).

2. Choose your highest priority goals and set more realistic timeframes

If hiring team members isn't an option (good work isn't cheap and cheap work isn't good), then the best thing to do is make the tough decision of prioritizing your goals. Instead of 5 goals, choose 2 or 3. Know that you'll eventually get to the other goals in due time, but only if you avoid burnout by creating a more sustainable workload for yourself.

This can be a tough thing because all our goals feel important. If you truly feel that all your goals are vital, consider giving yourself more time to do them.

Hit me back, this email doesn't need to be the end of this convo. Sometimes it can help to ping pong the thoughts back and forth, with the real breakthroughs happening a few volleys down the line.

You're doing good work, keep it light, don't put unrealistic expectations on yourself. Rock on, dude.

// James

Are you struggling with overwhelm? Leave a comment if you can relate. Sometimes just voicing it can help.

Take care.

// James

Multiply Buzz with the Power of Collabs

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

You pour your heart and soul into a track. You record it, mix it, master it, create artwork for it, upload it, promote it, hinge your hopes and dreams on it, release it and...

What the actual fu*k?

On this "Quick Hits”-style episode of DIY Music Mgmt, James talks about how the power of collaboration can multiply your buzz... all in less than 4 minutes. 

As always, submit your own questions regarding managing your artist project to james@forestparkdiy.com for a chance to have your question answered on the air.

Be sure to join the Forest Park DIY mailing list to not miss a beat when it comes to learning how to manage your indie artist project so you can go from the garage to the national stage. Head to www.forestparkdiy.com/newsletter and sign up today.

Super Successful People Think Backwards. Do You?

Have you seen the "Start with WHY?" TEDxTalk video? I remember seeing it for the first time last year and it blew my mind. I’ve pasted it at the end of this post.

The idea is that the people who've achieved great success in any endeavor/organization/project think differently than the rest of us. There's a code or sequence they use that sets them apart and it’s backwards from how most of us think.

I'm not going to summarize this too thoroughly because I hope you'll watch the full video below, but the gist is this:

Start with your WHY.

The the HOW comes next and the WHAT comes last.

Many of us in bands or artist projects get this backwards. Too often, we fill our days with tons of WHAT (busy work, social media, etc) without having specific goals in mind.

Before you start your next "office day," ask yourself why you create music.

To lift people? To create a better life for your family? To live out your dreams of traveling and exploring the world?

WHY do you do it?

Next comes HOW. That's where goal setting and creating a step by step plan comes in. Use the energy and inspiration you get from your WHY and channel it into a kick-ass roadmap.

(I recorded an entire podcast episode on how to create a Career Roadmap)

Listen to "How to Create Your Own Music Career Roadmap" podcast episode here.

After you know your WHY and your HOW, you can move on to your WHAT.

Your WHAT would be the specific actions steps you take to achieve the HOW. These items are vital, but without a plan, it's just busy work that leads to exhaustion, frustration, and disappointment.

Discover your WHY, envision your HOW, execute the WHAT... in that order.

If you'd like help discovering your WHY, building your HOW (Career Roadmap) or finding better, quicker ways to execute the WHAT through one -on-one coaching, hit me up. Just hit reply and and we'll chat next steps.

// James

PS - Here’s the full video. Definitely worth a watch!

PLUS whenever you’re ready… here are a few ways I can give you clear direction and simple next action steps so you can grow your artist project faster so you can finally be heard…

1. Check out my free musician’s training resources.
I love sharing the stuff I’ve learned from my collaborators, coaches, and mentors. It doesn’t matter what stage of growth you’re at > this stuff will give you some great insight.
Click here

2. Courses to help DIY musicians thrive (COMING SOON)
Go from the garage to the national stage faster by following the tested strategies that artists have use before you. You’ll discover systems that evaporate confusion, give you a clear sense of direction, and boost your confidence.

If you’d like to access the Beta Version of these courses and hop in at the “Founders Level”, you’ll get all the value for a fraction the chedda.
Join the WAIT LIST here

3. Work with me One-on-One
My forte is helping musicians gain clarity, solve challenges, give direction and simplify the process of making a plan. Book a FREE 20 minute Clarity Call to get real direction/value and see if we're a good fit to work one on one together.
Click here for more info

A New Way to Blow Up on YouTube: SHORTS

Hey, James here. Since I'm always trying to keep the Forest Park DIY​​ crew (that's you!) up to speed with the latest music industry developments, I have a quick news flash for you.

YouTube finally introduced a short for video format to rival TikTok and Instagram/FB Stories​.

Their new format, called Shorts, comes equipped with a few cool features that'll make creating quick and engaging videos on your phone easy to do.

Here's the quick review:

- Only can be created on your phone
- Running time is 60 seconds or less
- You can splice multiple video clips using their built in editing software
- You can sync your video with YouTube approved music ​
- YouTube will only share announcements of new Shorts with your subscribers who typically watch Shorts.

Check out the full official video overview​ from YouTube below. Happy creating!​​​​​​​​​​​​​

// James

PLUS whenever you’re ready… here are a few ways I can give you clear direction and simple next action steps so you can grow your artist project faster so you can finally be heard…

1. Check out my free musician’s training resources.
I love sharing the stuff I’ve learned from my collaborators, coaches, and mentors. It doesn’t matter what stage of growth you’re at > this stuff will give you some great insight.
Click here

2. Courses to help DIY musicians thrive (COMING SOON)
Go from the garage to the national stage faster by following the tested strategies that artists have use before you. You’ll discover systems that evaporate confusion, give you a clear sense of direction, and boost your confidence.

If you’d like to access the Beta Version of these courses and hop in at the “Founders Level”, you’ll get all the value for a fraction the chedda.
Join the WAIT LIST here

3. Work with me One-on-One
My forte is helping musicians gain clarity, solve challenges, give direction and simplify the process of making a plan. Book a FREE 20 minute Clarity Call to get real direction/value and see if we're a good fit to work one on one together.
Click here for more info

BUILDING SUPER FANS PART 3: ENGAGED TO COMMITTED

My friend and fellow DIY musician, James here with the final installment of the Building Super Fans series. 

Before we dive into how to move Committed fans up to Engaged fans, I want to give you a quick real-world example of how this ethos can make a huge difference for your career. 

My band TEOA has always been fan-centric. Though we now play indie-folk, we came from the punk scene, where there was no separation between artist and fans. The stages weren’t raised above the audience, we played on the floors. When we toured, we’d sleep on show-goers’ couches. When members of the scene experienced loss or hard times, we’d throw benefit shows. It’s just the way it was. 

That ethos has carried over with us to the indie scene and we find it so surprising that people are taken aback with how “approachable” and “down to earth” we are. Isn’t that the way everyone should be? It’s the way our punk rock heroes were to us. 

We’ve always gone the extra mile to make sure that anyone who wanted to interact with us felt honored and appreciated. Shit, we know we wouldn’t be making a living playing music it if weren’t for them! And now, because of that mutual respect, there’s a thriving community surrounding our band that carries us emotionally and financially.

And here’s the thing: behaving this way and putting your fans first isn’t only the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do. 

If you plan on paying your bills with your music, you better not be an asshole. The industry has changed and now 80% of your income will come from 20% of your supporters. Today, we’re selling less, but earning more per transaction. 

In an economy like this, the need to create super fans, or Committed fans is vital. 

But it’s not easy because you’re not actually creating fans at this highest and final level, you’re developing relationships…

… and with this type of relationship comes responsibilities from both sides. 

What are your fans’ responsibilities? Well, that’s easy: to attend your shows, share your music, purchase your goods, and upgrade to the premium offers. 

What are your responsibilities? In other words, how do you turn Engaged fans into Committed fans (and keep them there)?

Here are some tried and true methods:

1. Respect your fans’ time and energy by becoming outstanding at your craft.

Yes, stand out from the rest of the pack by going above and beyond with your music. Hone your playing, your singing, your song writing, your stage banter, your branding, your presentation, and every other artistic aspect of your project. 

Think about it, would you become a super fan to a band that doesn’t care enough to get their shit together? People only want to support things they believe are on the rise. Be on the rise by making sure you are outstanding at your craft. 

As an aside to this concept, don’t just be outstanding at your craft. Be outstanding at every touchpoint with your audience. Throw personalized notes in your merch orders, reply to emails quickly and warmly, hang longer at the merch table, remember peoples’ names. This energy will pay off in spades, which leads me to my next point…

2. Create genuine friendships with your most committed fans. 

For my band, TEOA, when we roll into a city on tour, we already know which of our super fans will be at the show that night. That’s because we’ve taken the time to actually become friends with these people over the years and we now communicate through personal email or text. 

This may be one of the most important concepts in this blog series: You aren’t really creating super fans, you’re making real friends. Decide to go deeper in the conversations you have at the merch table or through email. Ask questions, be genuinely interested. You are providing something vitally important to these people and they want to repay you for it somehow. When they don’t know you very well, they can’t be as generous with their support. It just doesn’t feel socially acceptable. 

3. Give your Committed fans a way to be more generous in their support. 

This is a basic retail concept and it applies to your music career as well: offer goods at multiple pricing tiers so that the people who want to be more generous with their financial support can do so without feeling like creeps. 

How can we musicians do such a thing? 

Create a price range of offerings so people can drop tons of money if they want to. Create a Patreon page so people can become investors. Create a tab on your website that let’s people know they can book your for house shows for $1000. Offer premium ticket packages that include pre or post show access to the dressing room. Host exclusive Zoom hangouts where your fans get to interact with you and get to know you personally. There are tons of ways to offer people the opportunity to support you more generously, and when you’re outstanding at your craft, this structure just feels right. 

Before we close out here, I want to overstate my point: the way to make it in the music industry is to focus on creating Committed fans (quality over quantity). 

You do this by helping people see the truth about themselves: they are unique, they are special, they are valuable. It’s not blowing smoke up peoples’ asses to make them feel this way. It’s reality. 

Don’t misread me, you’re not making fans pay for you to be nice to them. Yes, you will earn more money this way. Awesome. But you’re also offering them the opportunity to show you how much they appreciate what you do and in turn, you give them the energy and time they deserve. 

Don’t ever feel like offering higher priced / increased access options is cheesy or immoral. Musicians are fucking miracle workers and people are dying to find an artist that makes them feel like they belong and to support them so they can continue making their magic.

It’s your responsibility to create a sustainable career so you can continue to afford to make the art that changes peoples’ lives. It’s your responsibility to create super fans.

// James

Thanks for following me over these last few blog entries on how to create super fans. If you like  what you read, please consider signing up for my weekly newsletter AND my podcast, DIY Music Management, where I share tips and strategies for the DIY musician. 

Plus, if you’re ready, I personally coach DIY musicians so they can get a plan, increase productivity, and achieve their goals faster. Click here to find out more and schedule a FREE 15 minute consultation call. 

Don't Ever, Ever Give Up

So you're a serious musician. You're really going for it. Do these statements sound familiar?

"You wanna be a musician? Good luck with that."

"Oh, musicians don't make money."

"Being an artist is a hard, hard road."

Hey, if anyone starts spouting shit like that, cover your ears and run the other way.

You know why people say crap like that? Because they were too scared to reach for their dream and they're projecting those fears on to you.

Maybe they're jealous. Maybe they love you and don't want to see you get hurt.

But you know what? If you fight for your dreams, you'll get them.

Here's what I'm constantly saying to my friends and clients:

"You fuckin got this."

"It's tough, but the world needs your voice right now. You owe it us all to fight to be heard."

"You are a bad ass. Don't look back, don't listen to the haters, don't ever, ever give up."

So many musicians are living their dreams, having their voices heard, earning a living. They're thriving.

There is absolutely NO reason you can't do the same. In fact, it's UNLIKELY you'll fail if you really give it your all. I'd venture to say it's almost impossible.

In a world of negativity and fear, I hope this sounds refreshing.

This email isn't about how to make those goals happen. I'm writing this email because I hope to stoke you up so you identify why you want to make your dreams a reality.

The how is so much less important than the why.

Do you have a message? Do you feel strongly about certain issues?

Do you want to make people's lives a little better through great music?

Do you want people to get fired up and really live?

Why do you do what you do? What kind of life will it enable you to live? Who can you support with your success? What kind of adventures would you have and who would you meet?

Think of these things when times get tough. They'll carry you through when you feel like you can't go any further.

Remember that you are unique and the world needs your voice now more than ever.

You have a duty to keep fighting. And guess what? You'll be rewarded for it.

If this email seems fevered and incoherent, it's because I just had to get these feelings out quickly.

I hope they reinforce you if you're feeling strong. Or if you're feeling tired, I hope they lift you up.

Please, don't ever, ever give up.

// James

PLUS whenever you’re ready… here are a few ways I can give you clear direction and simple next action steps so you can grow your artist project faster so you can finally be heard…


1. Courses to help DIY musicians thrive (COMING SOON)
Go from the garage to the national stage faster by following the tested strategies that artists have use before you. You’ll discover systems that evaporate confusion, give you a clear sense of direction, and boost your confidence.

If you’d like to access the Beta Version of these courses and hop in at the “Founders Level”, you’ll get all the value for a fraction the chedda.
Join the WAIT LIST here

2. Work with me One-on-One
My forte is helping musicians gain clarity, solve challenges, give direction and simplify the process of making a plan. Book a FREE 20 minute Clarity Call to get real direction/value and see if we're a good fit to work one on one together.
Click here for more info

Building Super Fans Part 2: Passively Interested to Engaged

We’re back with another installment of the Building Super Fans blog series. 

We’ve talked about how your all fans fall into one of these categories: Passively Interested, Engaged, and Committed. 

We discussed the fact that your ONLY job is to love on them and help them move from Passively Interested to Engaged, and from Engaged to Committed.

So how do we move our fans up the pyramid? Let’s start with some basics on moving people from Passively Interested to Engaged. 

1. Hone your branding.

Know your demographic so you know how translate your image in ways that’ll be magnetic. This will result in posts that feel like they’re speaking directly to your target audience and their sensibilities. 

You can make people feel like you’re speaking directly to them by creating posts that are: age appropriate, politically aligned, and culturally relevant (skateboarding in the city vs. playing banjo on a farm, singles trying to party vs. introspective adults thinking about deeper topics). 

Having honed branding will make passively interested people see aspects of who they’d like to become in you. They’ll start to like the person they’re becoming when they interact with your project. This is a very good thing!

2. Communicate your “why.”

Your “why” is the reason you make music in the first place. Perhaps you create music because life is just too damn short not to have fun, or because you’ve been through emotional hell and music can help you (and others) heal. Or maybe you create music because it makes you feel powerful and you want other people to feel their own power, too. 

Whatever the reason, be sure to communicate it in various ways across your platforms. You could write it in your Instagram bio, mention it explicitly in posts from time to time, or post content that shows you living out the “why” in real time. 

Your branding is the attractive sidewalk sign. The “why” is the good food that gets people wanting to come back.  

3. Understand that you are having a two way conversation.

This tactic will serve you in moving fans up from Passively Interested to Engaged as well as Engaged to Committed. The best way to make a fan more engaged is to help them not feel anonymous. 

If you notice engagement from someone who doesn’t usually like your posts, go to their profile and like/comment on your favorite post. Try to start a conversation. If someone comments on your post, reply quickly and in a manner that may illicit a response. “Thanks for the kind words! I love this guitar, too. Do you play?” Something like that. Even better, share one of their cool posts in your story feed. The spotlight will make them feel appreciated and valued. 

With these three ideas in place, you’re well on your way to lassoing some of these rogue satellite fans and placing them securely in the Engaged orbit.

In the next installment of the Building Super Fans series, we’ll talk about ways to move your Engaged fans up a wrung to Committed. This is the level where 80% of your emotional and financial support will emanate from. This is where you want people to be. 

If you have any questions about this process, or would like customized one-on-one coaching to help you achieve your music career goals quicker, hit me up at james@forestparkdiy.com today. 

Be well, keeping rocking. 

// James

Building Super Fans Part 1: The Fan Journey

If you read my previous blog post, Building Super Fans Preface: You Have ONE Job, then you know building a fulfilling music career can be simple as hell. But only if you prioritize your energies. 

Sure, there are a million rabbits to chase, insane tactics to study, concepts to learn, but none of them mean shit without this fundamental idea. 

If you didn’t read it, here it is restated:

If you don’t treat your fans like royalty, you’ll be practicing the smartest, newest tactics in an empty auditorium. No body will be there to care.

Alright, so we’re cool with that concept? 

Now, let me take this one step deeper by sharing a powerful vision of how to look at your fanbase. 

First, understand that all your fans are on a journey through your world and not all fans are at the same stage in that journey. 

From least dedicated to most dedicated, think of your fan’s journey as being divided into three phases:

Passively Interested

These fans know who you are, they may follow you, though they may not interact with everything you post. They don’t come to your shows, they don’t stream your music. When you don’t post, they don’t miss you. When you do post or share news, it’ll require a bit of hubbub to get them to take any action. 

But, don’t write them off! They may only be passively interested, but they are on the fan journey, and that’s a start! 

Engaged

These are the fans whose social handles you probably recognize. They regularly like your better posts, they may have attended a show, they’re watching your new videos, streaming your new music, and pre-saving your tracks. They may be on your mailing list (and actually open most of your emails), and they may tell their friends about you. 

These fans may not be contributing much to your financial bottom line, but be sure to love on them like crazy because they are only one step away from the next and final tier…

Committed 

Ah, yes! The committed fans (aka super fans), the people that make your career possible by adding to your bottom line. They are the people who support you on Patreon, buy your merch online, purchase the VIP tickets, evangelize your message, and give you the positive feedback you need to keep going. 

These people will comprise less than 20% of your fanbase, but they’ll provide you with 80% of your financial and emotional support. Do everything in your power to support them back. 

Understanding that all your fans are at one of these phases in this journey is critical. What’s even more critical is knowing that their position is fluid. That means they can move up and down, depending on your actions. 

So, we come to the crux of this discussion: your job is to move your fans to the next highest step in the journey with the ultimate goal of having them end up as a super fans. 

Just knowing this framework is so valuable, but even more valuable is knowing how to move them up a rung, which is what we’ll be covering the next time we chat. 

Until then, treat all your fans with the care they deserve. Remember that they could be supporting a thousand other artists, but they chose you. Respond thoughtfully and genuinely to every comment. Write your mailing list emails with empathy. Show them how much you appreciate them. 

If you do, you’ll be on your way to the career you’ve always dreamed of, the one you deserve. 

In solidarity, 

// James

Building Super Fans Preface: You Have ONE Job

You have ONE job. You even know what it is?

You wanna make shit happen. 

You want your name on marquees. 

You want to feel supported and fulfilled by your music career. 

If those statements ring true for you, then there’s one aspect of your job that’ll help you get there quicker than almost anything else. 

But first, lemme ask you…

Who supports your Patreon? Who buys your merch? Who comes to your shows? Who streams your music? Who likes and comments on your posts?

Your fans. Your supporters. 

So here’s the ONE thing you MUST do in order to thrive at this musician thing:

Love on your fans like they’re royalty. 

This statement might inspire you to say “No shit, James,” but I’m asking you to think about that for a second. 

Your fans have millions of other artists they could be supporting, but they chose to run with you. How wild is that? 

Please, please, please remember to think of these supporters as people, not stats. They’re real humans that get something vital from your art. They’re healed by the thoughts that come from your brain.

They are your family, your tribe. 

These are the people that understand you. They’re like you. They rally to you because you’re shouting the same message they would shout if they had a public voice. 

These are the people who you’d want on your side in a fight. 

So, next time you get a new Patron, a new mailing list subscriber, a new follower, or a new comment, show your respect, share your good vibes. 

In the next few messages, I’ll be sharing a powerful vision of how to look at your fanbase. This vision will show you that all your fans are on a journey through your world, and not all fans are at the same stage in that journey. 

You’ll see that fans at certain stages of the journey will be more willing to support you. You’ll see how to move your fans towards the stages that best supports both you and them. 

Keep an eye out. 

Much love. Keep creating, keep stirring shit up. 

// James

How to Expand Your Audience Without Spending Any Money

Do you feel like your audience has hit a ceiling? Like you're promoting to the same group of fans month in and month out? You ever wonder how to break out of that bubble and reach new people who will love your music?

On this episode of DIY Music Mgmt, James chats with Universal Music Group's Jordan Wolf about a great way to expand your audience, in the right genre, without spending any money.

Shout out to this episode's guest caller, Jeho. Check out Jeho's artist project where you stream music.

As always, submit your own questions regarding managing your artist project to james@forestparkdiy.com for a chance to have your question answered on the air.

Be sure to join the Forest Park DIY mailing list to not miss a beat when it comes to learning how to manage your indie artist project so you can go from the garage to the national stage. Head to www.forestparkdiy.com/newsletter and sign up today.

3 Tips on Increasing Your Band’s Mailing List Email Open Rates

Imagine this scenario: You’ve got a new single coming out, you’re stoked to share it with your band’s mailing list, you draft an email in MailChimp and send it to your 1000 subscribers… and almost no one opens it! 

Wtf? Didn’t people sign up for this mailing list of their own free will? Why the hell is no one opening the email? Such a drag.

The good news is that there are some really simple things you can do to increase the chances that people will open your band’s emails. I’ve outlined a few secrets you can employ right away:

Tip #1.

You can increase the open rate of your emails by as much as 35% if you simply use a specific personal name, like dan@yourband.com, rather than info@yourband.com. 

Tip #2.

People tend to open their emails less on the weekends. Don’t send your important messages on Saturday or Sunday.

Credit: SuperOffice.com

Tip #3

People are most likely to open emails with subject lines that contain 6 to 10 words. 

Credit: SuperOffice.com

This all might seem like tedious bullshit, but think about increasing your open rate by 5% on an email that was sent to 1000 subscribers. That’s 50 more people that’ll know you’re selling a hot new tee in your merch store, or that your livestream tickets are now available. 

Most of the people on your email list signed up because you offer them something unique. Don’t deny them the opportunity to enjoy your art. Use this knowledge to your advantage and be heard. 

If you truly like to punish yourself with details, you can read more about this subject from this article: “THE SCIENCE BEHIND EMAIL OPEN RATES (AND HOW TO GET MORE PEOPLE TO READ YOUR EMAILS)”

In solidarity, 

// James

Solved: Easy Solution for Keeping up With Your Socials

“How do you keep up with the socials? …things like that are just... well, hard for me because I am unorganized in many ways, but also hard for me to commit to. Advice?” - Flynt

Thank you for the question, Flynt. You’re absolutely not alone on this issue. Socials can be the bane of an artist’s existence, especially when you feel like you’re posting and no one gives a shit (stick with it because your regularity is what will build your future audience!)

Luckily, I have a very simple solution. But first, I want to review a concept that’ll be relevant to the rest of the discussion:

Types of Posts: GIVE vs. ASK

I think of the posts I make as being divided into two categories: posts where I'm asking people to do things (spin a track, buy a tee), and posts where I'm trying to provide entertainment. Basically ASK posts and GIVE posts. 

You should be making GIVE posts (sharing interesting parts of your personality, your creative process,  your hobbies, sharing other artists' work, etc.) once a day. ASK posts should only pop up when you really need them to (if you're releasing something new or have a show to promote). For a deeper dive on the concept and ratio of GIVE/ASK posts, check out my podcast episode here.

Ok, now on the the very simple solution I was talking about…

Organically Gather Content

Develop the habit of keeping your eyes open for GIVE post material. Your GIVE posts should reflect the honest and interesting parts of your personality. Everyone is interesting in one way or another. Every week, keep an eye out for engaging things to snap photos of, or make sure to film a song when you practice, or take a few pics of any artwork you’re creating, etc. Your goal is to organically capture enough material to make an interesting GIVE post every day in the coming week. 

If you haven't harvested enough GIVE posts by the end of the week, look back into your timeline and grab one or two of your most engaging photos and repost with newer, more insightful text. 

Schedule It

Sit down on Sunday PM or Monday AM and use the Facebook Creator Studio dashboard to schedule one post for every day of that coming week. If you don't know how to do that, I created a blog post about it here.

Pro Tip!

Download the Facebook Business Suite app for your phone and set it to send you notices when people comment on your posts. Try to respond to these comments ASAP, and try to keep each comment thread going by asking questions. The comments count will build up which will help give you social proof as well as please the algorithmic gods. 

Conclusion: Get In, Get Out, Repeat Once a Week

Some people really go deep on creating spreadsheets for their socials, but this simple way of curating works for my bands. There isn’t a week that goes by where one of my peers doesn’t tell my we’re “killing it” on social. The honest truth is, I probably spend less time curating than they do! Which brings me to my last and most important point: set a 1 hour time limit for uploading and scheduling posts in the Creator Studio. Setting a time limit will force you to get it done quicker. Get in, get out, repeat once a week. 

As I said, this is a very simple solution. I believe it’s the simplicity that makes it sustainable week after week, month after month. I hope this helps you curate social profiles that’ll have your buds giving you high fives, but ultimately, I hope it reduces stress and admin workload so you can get back to being a real artist.

// James

PS - Please hit me with a comment, let me know you’re here. Or, email me a question of your own at james@forestparkdiy.com

Don't Get Scammed Like I Did

Musicians and artists, watch out for this social media scam. They got me, I don't want it to happen to you!

Please click the logo in the TOP LEFT of the video to SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel. and leave me a comment below to let me know you're here!

How to Create Your Own Music Career Roadmap

You know what's the worst? Having enough energy to move mountains but not knowing how to channel the energy. Or worse, using your energy to do things that don't help move your music career forward.

If you relate to this, you need a roadmap!

On this episode of DIY Music Management, James walks through how to create your own music career roadmap so you can have confidence that you're hitting all the vital components of building a successful project. 

As always, submit your own questions regarding managing your artist project to james@forestparkdiy.com for a chance to have your question answered on the air.

Be sure to join the Forest Park DIY mailing list to not miss a beat when it comes to learning how to manage your indie artist project so you can go from the garage to the national stage. Head to www.forestparkdiy.com/newsletter and sign up today.

Leave a comment below to let me know you’re here.

3 Steps to Get out of Your Own Way (and Do the Things That Matter Most)

Ever feel like you just can't get down to writing music? Ever feel like you know what's most important but you just can't seem to get down to business? On this episode of DIY Music Management, James walks through a 3 step process that'll help you get out of your own way so you can do the things that are most important. 

As always, submit your own questions regarding managing your artist project to james@forestparkdiy.com for a chance to have your question answered on the air.

Be sure to join the Forest Park DIY mailing list to not miss a beat when it comes to learning how to manage your indie artist project so you can go from the garage to the national stage. Sign up today.

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel!