Week 3: Optimising your website - Marc JB - Love Live Music case study

I am now in week 3 of the Music Success in 9 weeks programme.

Week 3 is about Optimising your website. 

Last week Love Live Music defined Part 1 of their social media pitch as:

"Helping musicians make money from social media". 

Love Live music helps artists to build their social media with the aim of increasing traffic flow to the website, building a fan base by growing an email list and creating two way communication with the fans through interactive sites such as Myspace, Twitter and Facebook. One of the values we have is "to earn money while you sleep". I like this value and unsurprisingly so do the artists that work with Love live Music. All the time we keep asking the question will this make money for the artist and promote their music to the fans?

This week I am going to look at what we have done with Love Live Music artist Marc JB - and how we have optimised his website.

Marc JB's Pitch:  

Music Producer, Remixer, DJ and multi instrumentalist, creator of Sainted Records & one half of Bimbo Jones 

Marc has had over 47 number ones in the US and UK Dance charts. He has remixed and co-written with many artists including Kylie, Pink, Britney, The Killers, LadyGaga, Kellis, Sergio Mendes, Christina Aguilera to name drop but a few AND with his own band - Bimbo Jones - a #1 in the USA with a dance track called "And I try" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZz7InUVBD8&ob=av2e

Marc JB wanted to increase his on line presence and be able to drive more traffic to his website and increase sales through itunes. Marc came to Love Live Music and asked if we could help him establish an online presence and help increase revenues through his music.

Initially we ran an audit of his online presence, his google rating and significant references to his work and downloads.  We set some goals of where he wanted to be and what he wanted his fan experience to be. 

Using the Music Success in 9 weeks model of optimising your website, we followed through the 6 sure fire ways to catch and hold on to your fan base.

1. Adding the Pitch to the homepage: We added this to his website, MySpace, Twitter and Facebook.

Marc JB's current pitch is: 

Music Producer, Remixer, DJ and multi instrumentalist, creator of Sainted Records & one half of Bimbo Jones 

2 Got the website to load in less than 3.5 seconds

3. Ensure no flash intro on the website

Recent studies show that website users have the attention span of a gnat, if they have to wait more than 3.5 seconds for a site to load, they move to another site. With Marc's main website, we decided to have music playing straight away and which ever track we were trying to promote that week, enabled to start playing immediately.

www.MarcJB.com

Marc's website was quite complex and very dark so we simplified everything, made the predominant colour white which has been proven to be the best colour for fans to read, navigate and feel comfortable with. This article by Web design tuts states:

White space allows for easier scanning of a website. It reduces the amount of text visitors see all at once and makes reading much easier. It allows for the visual separation of design elements without adding any new elements such as visible lines or boxes. It is clean, looks professional when used correctly, and gives a site an uncluttered and fresh feel. White space is sadly one of the most underrated elements of a strong web design. Just because it isn’t shiny or glossy doesn’t mean it isn’t important or essential to a website.

http://webdesigntuts.com/web-design/using-white-space-effectively-in-web-design/

Marc's site is simple but you get to instantly hear his music, and don't have to wait for any Flash intros to load. You can can easily view his twitter feed of his most up to date news and click through to his Facebook, Myspace and YouTube channel with ease to listen to his music.

Check it out: www.MarcJB.com.

4. Ensuring a consistent Marc JB Brand "look and feel" all over the net. 

Working with a stylist and photographer, we worked on Marc's look and style and these images can be seen on his Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Website, YouTube Channel and press shots.

Marc has a consistent look across all media platforms.

It is sometimes quite difficult to develop your own image from a visual perspective so either splash some cash and get some help from some professionals or enlist your friends and family (if you dare) to give you advice, dress you and get some great photos of your new look for all your sites. We get new designers to sponsor new artists and promoters of new make-up and styling to come and help on our shoots and always reference them on the album artwork.

Love Live Music works with some of the best creative types to create unique images and styling.

Max Ellis, Digital illustrator and Photographer extraordinaire has spent many years creating images for new artists and developing images for their online presence. Have a look at one of Max's photographic Blogs of Images of Musicians - this portfolio includes art work used for album covers and for PR purposes:

http://www.blipfolio.com/maxellis/artist#egypt

Marc JB and Lee Dagger by Max Ellis - the amazing duo that make up the Bimbo Jones remix team - a simple and fun image of Max and Lee.

Max is also an excellent live music photographer and these images are great for your website when you want to show what you get up to when you gig live:

http://www.blipfolio.com/maxellis/live-performance

Please give us a call in the Love Live Music office or email us if  you would like help and advice with your image and would like some professional images created to match and enhance sales of your music.

We will give you a fifteen minute consultation for FREE and point you in the right direction.

Please email us in the London office with FREE IMAGE CONSULTATION in the subject header.

Email: info@lovelivemusic.co.uk

5. Give away an exclusive Free MP3 to satisfy your Fan's needs to have your music playing from their music media desk top unit.

Fans love free stuff - actually we all love free stuff! Marc wrote a song specifically to entice fans to come and follow his MarcJB world. We advertised on his website and Myspace that we were giving away a free tune in exchange for the fan email address. An exclusive download widget was created on the Reverbnation website which then was installed on Marc's website, Facebook and Myspace and advertised though Twitter. Fans get a free download in exchange for their email address. This has helped grow the fan base, double Myspace fans and increase followers on all of MarcJB's social media sites - so a very effective form of PR and fan base growth.

Here is the Reverbnation link - http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/5777810

6. Make it clear and set them at ease 

Fans aren't stupid and it is important not to send spam or sell on email addresses. Fans need to know they are safe with you and that you have their best interests at heart. 

Creation of Social media channels is a two way conversation and in the same way you look after your real time in the flesh relationships, fans must be respected and their needs met, they must be listened to and you must make all income streams available from music, merchandise and downloads.

We hope you have enjoyed hearing a bit about our client Marc JB. Apart from being a super talented musician, studio producer, remixer and DJ, he is a lovely human being and that comes across in his music. So to finish off here is a humorous video that Marc made describing a normal day in his studio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnPnUSlJjc8

Go and check him out and let me know what you think.

Sally J Freeman

Love Live Music.

Marc JB's Social Media Channels:

www.MarcJB.com

www.twitter.com/marcJB

www.myspace.com/MarcJB

www.Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001023293580

www.Youtube.com/MarcJBtv

www.bimbojones.com

Week 2. Your Perfect Pitch

I am passionate about Live Music! One of the reasons why my company is called Love Live Music is that I genuinely Love Live Music and believe that something special happens when a musician plays live. I grew up surrounded by amazing musicians - here is a picture of my Grandfather playing trumpet, cigarette in hand on his day off. He split his time between the the Dorchester Hotel leading a big live swing band and hosting a Saturday Radio show on the BBC with 12 million listeners.

It seems though that Live Music is the greatest revenue generating sector of the music industry at the moment. I have been inspired this week by an article in the economist called "What's working in Music" - http://bit.ly/bugAaP

"The longest, loudest boom is in live Music. Between 1999 and 2009 concert ticket sales in America tripled in value from $1.5 billion to $4.6 billion. Ticket sales wobbled in America during the summer of 2010 but that was partly because some big selling acts took a break. One of the most reliable earners, U2's Bono was put out of action when he injured his back in May. Next year many of the big acts will be on the road again, and a bumper year is expected." There is hope for Live Music and the music industry and a living to be made!

With these thoughts in mind I have been defining my pitch for Week 2 of Music Success in 9 Weeks - Creating your perfect Pitch.

Love Live Music has three operational divisions and these are the pitches that I have created to describe what we do:

1. Love Live Music UK Events - 

"Creating memorable music moments for Corporate and Private Events"


Love Live Music works with corporate and private clients ensuring they get the best live music for their event at a price point they can afford. We have a packed address book of talented artists covering all genres and prices - from classical musicians to international pop divas to opera stars to function bands playing the latest hits. We have a rosta of internationally acclaimed club DJ's who each have live singers who can be hired for live PA's. We are proud of all the artists that work with Love Live Music and with confidence know that they will deliver only the best for your event. Please call the UK office 01923 284468 to discuss your needs.

2. Love Live Music UK Social Media PR  

"Helping musicians make money from social media"


Love Live Music specialises in Digital Marketing and PR for artists - helping artists make a good living from their songs, merchandise and live music events by effectively using all the Social Media Channels. It's simpler than you think but sometimes it's great to get help along the way. Love Live Music will point you in the right direction and help you put in place and use the right social media channels required to get the pounds and dollars flowing into your bank account. Please email info@lovelivemusic.co.uk for further information and discuss your Social Media and Digital PR requirements. 

3. Love Live Music UK Film and TV 

"Cast stunning Musicians for Video, TV and Film" 


Love Live Music has a large portfolio of professional musicians and performers who are available for your film shoot/Pop video. This year we have worked with the Award winning Partizan based in London http://www.partizan.com/partizan/home/ and Cannes Film Festival winner Casting Director Leanne Flinn casting videos for artists including Richard Ashcroft, Plan B and Olly Murs.

Please contact us in the London based Office:
Land Line: 01923 284468
email: info@lovelivemusic.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LoveLiveMusicUK

Week 2: Working on my Goals, thinking about my Perfect Pitch, Getting Inspired

First thoughts:
This week I am thinking about my Perect Pitch for Love Live Music UK.
This is so key in branding yourself online and offline so that you know what you are doing and your customers can buy your product.

The Past: Twenty years ago (in a galaxy far, far away), I used to help teenagers who were struggling with the teenage years, some were homeless, some in trouble with the police and some struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. I think I was very idealistic and had a great passion to get them back on the straight and narrow, with varying levels of success, most of the time it was just about being with them or listening to them while their lives were in turmoil. One of the character traits we used to encourage them to think about was their "USP" - instead of their unique selling point, their "Unique sense of Purpose", while they were here on earth, what were they going to do with this precious thing called life? A big question indeed and many felt overwhelmed with no sense of purpose at all. We encouraged them in the simple things about what they liked, what interested them and how they had something to contribute. Little steps to help them be positive and give them a purpose for living.

USP and getting Inspired So as I think about Love Live Music this week in a surprisingly sunny London town (I am English, I obsess about the weather). I am focusing on it's USP, its unique selling point and its purpose for being here. I have been inspired by the musings of a chap called Mark on twitter called @hardlynormal. He has created a great blog called Hardly Normal http://hardlynormal.com/blog/ which I have enjoyed reading and felt humbled by. Mark has been homeless and has essentially got his life back together and had a vision to connect and help homeless people using the power of social media - here let him explain:





Mark has a vision to use Social media as a tool to create conversation, make connections, get the homeless community visible, have fun and to create a supportive and helpful community. I like these goals and the way Mark has seen the power of social media to enable a homeless community to connect together and bring hope. Very Inspiring indeed, I hope I can integrate some of these values into the heart of Love Live Music.

Week1: Getting Mentally Prepared & Setting Goals - Begin with the End in Mind

In this first week I have been reviewing what's happened in the past years with my company Love Live Music, what I have achieved so far and new goals for the next 9 weeks. Let me just say this to start off with.... Life is and has been great and I am looking forward to all the new adventures ahead. I have a passion for all things Musical, I always have done, I love what I do and love the people I meet doing what I do! I feel very blessed indeed.


However.... life changes, difficult challenges arise and therefore it is essential to develop new goals to reflect the changing landscape. What I was doing yesterday may not be relevant to what I do today and tomorrow. So this next 9 weeks I am going to review all the different parts of my business, see what's working, what's not and get a new vision for all things "Love Live Music UK".


Goal setting - A Harvard lecturer assessed that only 3% of individuals write their goals down. Just by writing down your goals you have a much greater chance of achieving them, making them measurable and possible. A friend of mine has this saying which I like, "If your goal is nothing then you will achieve it" - it's true!


I have to confess I have done this process before with varying levels of success and this time thought "Why do I have to go through this whole process again? Lots of great things have happened in my business and my life, It's not my natural way to operate to document everything down and I do find it a difficult process". After all the internal excuses I realised I just needed to get on with it! This programme has come at a useful time for me in my business. We are in the middle of a double dip recession in the UK and so focus is essential in my business practice with  what I am going to do today, tomorrow, the next 9 weeks, year and decade to facilitate success.


So I am taking this time out to examine and define my goals, look to the future and ask the question what do I need to do today to make my goals happen.


About 15 years ago I read a book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which encourages you to go through a similar process of goal setting to become more effective in what you are doing. There are so many things that are so helpful in this book, some of them sound so obvious but they really are of great value. One of the most important things that I learnt which is so useful at this stage is "Begin with the end in Mind" - this is based on the principle that all things are created twice, there's the mental or first creation and a physical or second creation to all things. A dream house for example has to thought about, designed, plans drawn, permission granted to build the house even before a brick has been laid or cement mixed up. You work with ideas until you get a clear image of what you want to build. I am looking forward to playing with ideas, creating blueprints and getting builders construction plans. The carpenter's rule is "measure twice, cut once", you have to make sure that the blueprint, the first creation is really what you want before it becomes bricks and mortar. The blueprint according to Stephen Covey creates the marching orders for the day. "You begin with the end in mind...."
Covey states that the extent to which you begin with the end in mind often determines whether or not you are able to create a successful enterprise. Most business failures begin in the first creation with problems such as undercapitalisation, misunderstanding of the market or lack of a business plan.


I hope to look at all of these things with my business and create a cracking blueprint. Some things are working in my business really well, some things aren't and need some TLC. I hope I can stand back objectively, measure some of my goals and get on with the things that really do work and create a business that brings rewards on many levels.


As a postscript I remember my husband did this exact same process 15 years ago and stuck his goals up on the fridge door. The goals seemed so unachievable and inaccessible and so far from where we were at that time and yet today all of them have been achieved which is quite amazing. (He's a clever chap my hubbie!) Life doesn't stop though, so no resting on Laurels as there are always new challenges to embrace in Life and adventures to be had. My father is one of those amazing people who grabs opportunities and is still living his latter life with great passion and always new plans and goals. This year I was casting a pop video for Olly Murs - an X Factor contestant, the Director wanted a cool Jazz musician to be in the video. I sent my finest good looking Jazz musicians forward to the casting director but none of them were quite right. As a late addition I sent Dad's pictures and profiles in and amazingly he was cast in the video. Not bad for a Musician at 77 years old. Here is the Youtube link - it has currently had over 2 Million hits. Look out for a very happy man dancing and playing sax in the background! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4S9gQb9PjM&ob=av2e







The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People By Stephen Covey

Success in Nine Weeks New Blogging Challenge with Ariel Hyatt & the CyberPR Team

Music Success in 9 Weeks

Week 1 

Last May I was contacted through my twitter account Love Live Music Uk by Ariel Hyatt from New York who invited me to a seminar called "Music Success in 9 Weeks". I was flattered to be invited and with great excitement on a beautiful May evening went into a packed sweaty PRS Head Office in London (the English don't do air con so well!) hoping that Ariel could help me with lots of the questions,obstacles and challenges I was now facing with my clients getting them good PR and increasing their income streams.

I sat there for the next couple of hours, mesmorised, excited and eternally grateful to hear someone answering lots of the fundamental questions that I had to help make my artists make a real living out of their music. The recession in the UK has hit many artists who have been forced to get more proactive and I felt for the first time that instead of a couple of water pistols in my hands, Ariel had given me super charged weapons to become more effective in what I am doing and thereby helping my artists. So Yes I did buy the book, which I would highly recommend, but haven't bought the T-Shirt just yet! The Book is a step-by-step guide on how to use social media, getting your strategy going and how to supercharge your PR, build your fan base and ultimately earn more money! Click here for more information about this wonderful book and where to buy it: Music Success in 9 Weeks

So here I am sitting here today on a beautiful sunny Monday morning in London town, still with so much to learn, so much to implement in what I am doing personally but with a happy heart knowing that I am on the right path, enjoying every moment and making a living. I am really looking forward to the next 9 weeks, learning new practices in my business and being stretched in every which way.

Ariel Hyatt and Cyber PR Link

Sally Jackson Freeman

Love Live Music UK