I’m going to be brutally honest and tell you what I was doing wrong — primarily on Facebook — that resulted in less people following me and some people even un-liking my page!
These mistakes really made it harder for me to reach my goals.
Luckily I’ve learned and now I’m sharing my blunders with you so you don’t need to make the same mistakes!
YIPEE 🙂
Here’s where I messed up — really quickly:
- I somehow thought my personal Facebook page would be a good way to get more followers. I ended up shooting myself in the foot! (I’ll explain later)
- I “invited” all my personal friends, family, relatives, kids I went to high-school with, acquaintances I barely know, etc to “follow” me
- I only posted 1-2x per week, and it was always my music or what I was trying to sell
- I constantly begged people to like, follow, comment or share my music
- I had no idea who would actually like my music, so I just blasted my music out there, hoping I might go viral and get discovered
Now let me explain why all this was really bad, and how I lost followers this way.
#1. I thought my personal page would be a good way to get more followers.
Why this was bad: You have a limit of 5000 friends on a personal profile. Eventually you’ll reach your max and have to either
1) create more personal profiles and confuse the HECK out of everyone, or…
2) reach your limit and then new fans can only follow you, but they can’t interact with any non-public posts… or
3) you’ll need to “transfer” over to a professional business page anyway.
At that point you’ll have to ASK all your followers on your personal page to migrate over to your professional page.
I see this at least 1x per day.
Problem?
Not everyone will see your post, most people are too lazy to migrate over to your now professional page, and you might not remember who is who and now you just have a mixed-up page full of people you don’t know, and you’ll have to spend hours “purging” your friends list.
The result? You’ve just lost contact with all those people you worked hard to connect with.
I’ve done this! LESSON LEARNED!
#2. I invited all my personal friends & relatives & acquaintances to like and follow me.
Why this was bad: In reality, our closest family support us but we don’t make them pay for our music, of course!
And our music is NOT going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
And that’s great!
But if we know this, why do we invite every single living person we know to follow us?
Most likely our neighbour from 10 years ago is not our superfan.
That kids you went to high school with are probably not going to buy your music.
So we need to stop inviting “irrelevant” people to our page. We only want fans who truly WANT our music and want to get to know us as artists.
#3. I only posted 1-2x per week, and it was always about my music or what I was trying to sell
Why this was bad: I realized after a while… this method was not working!
People do not log on to Facebook to be inundated with ads and people shouting, “BUY MY MUSIC PRETTY PLEEEEEASE!”
It just gets obnoxious after a while.
People unsubscribe.
People unfollow.
They don’t want to be pressured like that.
Maybe people follow us because they want to be supportive but they aren’t actually huge fans of our music.
That’s why I’ve learned it’s FAR more valuable to create a community of fans who are like-minded.
I mean, fans who are just like you, who like the same stuff as you.
THOSE fans will be highly likely to buy your music and support what you do.
#4. I constantly begged people to like, follow, comment or share my music
Why this was bad: Um, well, it looks really desperate.
It’s like when someone has a crush on you and they won’t leave you alone…. it’s a big turnoff.
The fact that they want you SOOO bad makes you like them even less.
Let’s not do the equivalent on social media, please!
I’m not saying never ask for people to share.
But when it’s every single post it really gives the wrong message…
…that we’re thinking all about US and not about THEM.
And in marketing that’s the #1 mistake.
#5. I had no idea who would actually like my music, so I just blasted my music out there, hoping I might go viral and get discovered
This was one of my biggest music blunders: I had no idea who my ideal fan was.
I thought if I made music, I should just throw it up on the interwebz and someone, somewhere over the rainbow would “discover” me and I’d go viral.
Yeah… right.
Here’s the truth: it’s not going to happen!
If we want real success — I’m talking pay-the-bills-with-our-music success — then we have to make a big mental shift: the ball is in our court.
–> Don’t wait for anyone to discover you.
–> Don’t wait for someone to hook you up.
–> Don’t rely on agents, managers, scouts, booking agents, or Santa Clause.
YOU and you alone are in charge of your music destiny!
The best recommendation I can give you in order to build a REAL fanbase — one that actually buys your music, shares your music with their networks without you begging, and will follow everything you do for LIFE — is to start with your music community and culture.
That’s what I teach in my new crash course “Facebook for Musicians.”
In less than 1 day you’ll learn everything you need to know to successfully launch a professional Facebook page that creates and engages COMMUNITY which will equal real superfans for life.
Contrary to popular belief, you DO NOT need thousands or millions of followers.
You only need a very small “tribe” of loyal followers to really make a living as a musician.
Once I made these shifts, I made back ALL the followers I had lost and gained thousands of REAL fans all over the world (over 76,000 and growing every day!)
Because you’re still reading this, you’re clearly the real deal!
I congratulate you for actually being serious enough about yourself and your music career to learn everything you can to go to the next level!
Here’s your reward:
Get 50% off coupon code for the “Facebook for Musicians” mini-course that is normally $97 for only $48.50!
===> FB4M
Type that into the “Coupon Code” spot at this link and you’ll get 50% off!
What I ask from you: that you’ll give me feedback about your results within the community on the inside.
This is a small but SIGNIFICANT step toward massive success in your music!
I know you’ll learn a lot, but if you only grasp 1 or 2 golden nuggets… it might be all you need to change everything you’re doing and go to the next level.
XOX,
Leah