Music - Songs - Life

Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest Myspace Linkedin Google+ About.me Instagram

With the exception of Myspace, I have an account on every single of these sites (plus a few more sites I’m sure I’ve forgotten about). On Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, I have more than one account: I have my business pages plus my personal pages. 

How is one person (or even a whole band for that matter) supposed to manage all of those accounts without: a) Losing their mind b) Spending every waking moment updating

The truth is you can’t. 

This is where artists start to make mistakes. They (or their labels/management) hire outsiders to take over updating their social sites. This is a big mistake. Even if you hire the most sophisticated social marketing expert to run your pages, you fans will be able to tell that it is not you posting and will get bored. 

So then, what is the solution?

Relax, Prioritize, and simplify. 

1. Figure out what sites you NEED. For most, that includes a Facebook page and a twitter account. (Yes, you DO need an actual website; that’ll be covered in a later post). Two well maintained profiles are better than ten that are only rarely update. 
2. Decide if you have time for other accounts and what sites they should be. It all depends on where your fans are. Take a poll on your Facebook page and/or in your next newsletter asking what their favorite sites are. *Limit this to one or two extra sites. 
3. DON’T try to be everywhere. That is how we got here in the first place. 
4. Create a Schedule. Life is crazy and updating on a regular basis can get tedious and just downright annoying at times. Blogs/Pages are really easy to forget to updates and grow cobwebs in record time. Setting up a schedule AND reminders for yourself (thank you iCalender) are a good way to keep yourself on track. 
5. If you’re short on time or patience, go quick and dirty. Instagram is a quick and easy supplement for Twitter and Facebook. A picture is worth a thousand words; a thousand words your fans will love to hear. 
6. Ask for help. While you need to be the primary updater on your pages, that doesn’t mean you can’t have help. If it did, Dawn would still be the only author for this blog, and I wouldn’t get to share with you all. The key in choosing someone to help update is choosing someone who is close to you and knows you and your brand and is with you frequently. This person can help supplement content on your profiles in between your posts.  
7. Don’t jump on every hot new site. That’s how we got here to begin with. Stay on top of the new sites through technology reports. If your fans start raving about one you think you should join: go ahead, try it. After a month decide if it is really all it’s hyped up to be. If you decide to stay, you need to reassess your time allowances. My recommendation is: One comes, one goes. If you decide that this new site is better than one of your old secondary sites, sacrifice it in favor of the new one. Don’t just add on. 
8. Reassess. Every year go back through this process. Poll your fans and decide where you really need to be spending your time and effort.  

This can be a daunting process at first, but once it is done you should find that social networking has become far less of a nightmare.  

-Devin