You’ve been beaten up by the now nine-month long pandemic. You feel ignored because everyone is focusing on the homestretch leading up to Christmas in approximately a week-and-a-half. And you feel lost in a sea (or, more like, ocean) of others doing exactly what you do.
Welcome to the world of being a creator in 2020.
Whether you’re a recording artist or a podcaster, this can feel like a great time to go into hibernation – if you let yourself crumble under the aforementioned molehill that has become a mountain taking the form of the Grinch.
Alas, there is help, however. And it’s found in the fact that you are a creator, which looks a lot like the word creativity, which is what is required to get some lights flashing around your notice to people that you’re still around and still doing what you do.
I loved seeing exactly that being done by the sister duo REYNA, who I just interviewed last month for Episode 353 of my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast. They have a song called “7’11” and demonstrated their creativity in the way they’ve gotten people engaged with it. Heck, yours truly fell for it yesterday, I don’t mind admitting.
They simply told people to screenshot their smartphone’s home screen when the time displayed 7:11 and post it as an Instagram story – with their song by the same name playing over it – and to tag them. In return, they would send you a Christmas card. Brilliant. I say, ‘Bravo, ladies,’ because I love this idea. (And I’ll be anxious to get my Christmas card from them. Wink.)
Some artists might be saying, “That’s great, but I’m on the clock, here. I’ve got a Christmas song that I’m trying to push through all the others so that people will purchase and stream mine!”
Here’s my suggestion.
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While it would be ideal if your song were called, “(Ugly) Christmas Sweater,” do a spinoff on what REYNA did. Ask people to post a picture on their story of themselves wearing an ugly Christmas sweater (or drinking something – maybe a hot drink – out of a Christmas mug), put your song in their post, and in exchange you will (insert gratuitous gesture here).
Now more than ever when opportunities are scarce to go out to perform live and hope to get attention and thus sales for your music, you need to get creative as to what you can do from home.
Recording artist Natalie Duque posted over the weekend that if you sign up for her mailing list, starting in 2021 you will get access to her new releases one week before they’re available to the world.
See? No one is reinventing the wheel here, per se. Instead, much in the same way that you would challenge yourself to write a new song or give your podcast a refresh, of sorts, it’s a matter of digging deep to pull out something that – again, just like the content you’re creating – will not only get people’s attention, but move them to take some kind of action, whether that’s streaming, purchasing, liking/following, or whatever desired result you want. If you gain ten streams, okay. If it’s a hundred, even better. But I can assure you that if you do nothing and hope that fans will magically interact with what you’ve put out, it will be a long, cold winter. Have a good nap.
What clever tactics have you employed or seen others doing lately that are great case studies? Tweet them to me via @NHT_tweets or through Facebook or LinkedIn. Too long to post about on social media? Email me about it instead. Or, if you need help with your challenges and want a one-on-one, confidential video consultation with me, book it here.