Nice to see you here. We know you are here because you want to start a music blog, right? It is a great idea and we pat you on the back for thinking of it. There are a number of benefits to starting a music blog from receiving FREE tickets to concerts to being offered new merchandise as it releases and sometimes BEFORE it releases.
Yes, that is right. Many music bloggers are able to receive hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in items each and every month. And why? Simply because they blog about music. Pretty gnarly, huh? We think so.
Now that you have decided this is the right path for you, it is time to learn just how you should start your actual blog. Unfortunately, the easiest part is already done and that was to decide you want to blog. Everything from this point on will require a bit of focus and attention to make sure it is done right.
Ready to learn more? Okay, let’s take a look.
Step 1: Choose the Platform You Want to Use
The first step in the process of starting a music blog is to decide on what platform you want to use. It does help to choose a platform that is going to assist you throughout the process. For example, WordPress is a great option because you can choose from self-hosted or FREE. Both work wonderfully and provide you the opportunity to post what you want and you can edit all of your posts whenever you want.
If you are scared to start off with a blog on WordPress, you can always choose another platform such as Tumblr or even Blogger.
Step 2: Choose a Hosting Company
You now need to choose a hosting company to host your blog. For instance, if you go with WordPress, you will need to find a host that supports the platform. You can choose GoDaddy, BlueHost, or any other one that you prefer. Once you have paid for the hosting, you can install WordPress or switch to your chosen platform and then get ready to build.
Step 3: Settle on a Focus
Will you be an all-around music blogger or will you be an expert in just one genre? This is an important step because this will determine what you do from here on out. The choice really is up to you and you should choose whichever option you are most comfortable with. Therefore, if you know that you can talk about rap and rock without a problem, go for the two of them. However, if you are only an expert in country music, try to steer clear of other genres.
Step 4: Start to Blog
This will be the hardest part for you and it is one of the most difficult for all new bloggers. You will need to start somewhere though, so do not allow yourself to be scared. Your first blog post can be an introduction to you and what your goals are with the blog. Your readers will want to learn about who you are and they will start to connect with you the more they learn about you, so do not be shy.
After you have your first post up, you will need to make sure you post on a regular basis. This means you should post at least a few times a week, if not every day. You can setup different accounts to help you post automatically, such as Hootsuite.
You should focus in on what you plan to do with your blog at this point too. Do you want to write music reviews, do you want to go to concerts and review them, etc.? You can choose to do all of them, but it will be much better for you if you can focus on one.
Step 5: Connect with People
Your readers will not just find you. After all, if they have never heard of you how can they find you? You need to network and advertise your blog as much as possible. But, wait! Make sure you do not forget to blog, as this is an important part to keeping your readers once you have them.
You will find that the easiest place to advertise your blog is on social media because you can share your page and talk about your business. You should also reach out to local radio stations and concert venues to find out if they would like to work with you. You will find that many of them will ask you to blog about an upcoming event or they may ask you to come in for an interview. Always seize these opportunities and use them to your advantage.
Step 6: Giveaways!
Lastly, if you want to attract a bunch of people, offer a giveaway. This is a great way to drive traffic to your music blog and you will find that everyone loves to win something free. The best part about having your own blog is that you do not have to purchase the tickets and then give them away. You can easily network with other radio stations and they will provide you with tickets to give away. This is a win-win for you because your music blog gets exposure and the radio station gets some credit. Awesome, right?
A music blog is a great idea and one that will allow you to have fun while you do something that you love. Music means a lot to people and if you are able to connect with them and provide them with reviews and information about new songs and upcoming concerts, they will look to you for advice and refer other people to you.
Keep Promoting your Blog
Your blog is like a no man’s land if you do not promote your blog/website. You need visitors and fans. So put lots of effort in blog promotions. Here are some of the strategies that you can start right on.
Offer FREE Music
If someone has never heard your music before, it is unlikely that they will simply go out and purchase your CD. This is just the way it is. You need to get your name out there and people need to know who you are.
To make this possible, you should offer FREE music to your fans and those who do not know you. There are a few ways that you can offer free items to help promote your music.
For starters, you could run a giveaway on your social media page and offer a free CD to a select few people who share your page or whoever brings in the most likes for your page.
Secondly, you could offer a few songs for free download on your website. This way, people who head to your website can sample your music and hear what it is that you have to offer.
Hook Up with Other Artists and Online Radio Stations
You can promote your music by connecting with other artists and radio stations. Other artists will promote your music in return for you promoting them. There is a strong music community and you will find the support system is large and wide.
Once you have made a few connections, you may even be able to get other artists to appear in your music videos or sing a line or chorus in your songs.
You can also work with radio stations to promote your music. To do this, you should call up a local radio station and provide them with free CDs or free tickets to an upcoming concert. The radio station will hold giveaways and people can win your CD or tickets this way.
Make Your Fans Important
Who wants to listen to a musician who does not care about his or her fans? No one. Remember, you are never too busy to talk to your fans and spend some time with them. You should sit down a couple of times a week and answer emails and comments from your fans.
You could also host a live chat even where you stream video of yourself and talk to your fans in real time. Fans like this kind of stuff and they feel that they are able to connect with you on a personal level.
Make Sure People Can Buy Your Music
It would be pretty pointless to go through all of these steps and then find out that no one can purchase your music. If a fan goes to your website and cannot buy your music, they will lose interest in you. You do not want this to happen, so it is important that you make sure your fans can purchase your music and that there are no problems when they attempt to check out.
Also, you could offer something in addition to the purchase of the CD. For example, if your fan purchases a CD, maybe you could sign it for them or you could offer a free poster in conjunction with the CD.
Before you start your music blog, make sure you take the above steps in and soak them up. This way, you will not find yourself lost when you try to start your blog and drive traffic to it.
Go on ahead now and rock on!
