Author Tim Sweeney is head of Tim Sweeney & Associates, who are entering their 18th year of being, "the only true artist development company in the world."
Tim is one of the music industry's most sought after experts and consultants, and has written several influential books including "Tim Sweeney's Guide To Releasing Independent Records".
Send comments or questions to Tim Sweeney.
© Tim Sweeney
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Click here for a printer-friendly version of "Why Giving People Your Email Address Is A Mistake".
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One of the most common mistakes that I see artists make is that after
they talk to a music fan or even someone in the industry about their
music, they give them their email address. Most artists also make the
mistake of including their email address on their CD or business card.
Obviously, you never want to put your email address on your CD simply
because you might want to change it later. However, it is important that
you understand that you don't want to give people your email address for
one simple reason.
If people have your email address, they will communicate with you
directly, instead of visiting your web site. Your web site should be
specifically designed to represent you and in essence, speak for you,
when you can't. You have spent the time, effort and money designing it.
Now use it!
If people want your email address simply say that you don't know what it
is right now because of the amount of "spam" you get, you have to keep
changing it. People will easily understand that. Tell them to go to your
web site @ ______ and they should be able to easily find it. Believe me.
People won't zip to the contact section, they will look around first.
If you have spent the time actually designing a "proper and effective" web
site, one which encompasses the key elements of your Artist Profile (not
your press kit) and the insights to your songs and made sure that your
music section does not focus on MP3 files, then by all means give out
your web site address. If your web site is not properly designed and
structured, get their email address so you can email them when you have
your site corrected. A poorly designed web site won't even yield the
national average of 25 CD sales per month!
If you send people to your web site where they can be entertained and
won over by the content, you will get sales. If you give people your
email address instead of your web site address, you won't see any sales.
More unique Internet marketing ideas can be found in the new book, "The
Complete Guide To Internet Promotion for Artists, Musicians & Songwriters" by Tim Sweeney. You can read the first chapter of the book at www.tsamusic.com.
Additional Columns by Tim Sweeney
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