You're Doing It Wrong

           Facebook and Twitter have become the number one social media sites used by musicians and artists to promote his or her music. Who would not want to reach 900 million individuals on Facebook and 175 million users on Twitter? It’s easy: Sign in, construct a status or tweet, and press send. Easy enough, right? We have all experienced the Facebook band campaign where the individual artist or band request fans to like their page but leave them with nothing to look forward to in the future. Granted, there are a couple of posts here or there, but that is not enough. Let us not forget the artists who are over infatuated with themselves. So how do effectively use social media to avoid the pitfalls of it becoming frustrating?

According to Indie Tools, musicians and artists make three common mistakes that make these mediums ineffective:

1.    Self-Promotion is the Only Form of Communication

To ensure that your fans do not get bored with you and your social media page, the artist must change the content frequently. Give the fan something to look forward to when he or she visit your page. Post a video saying thank you for supporting the music of the band. This then makes the fan feel appreciated, and he or she will more than likely retweet or repost the video. This brings more publicity to the artist or musician. Ariel Hyatt even provided a Social Media Pyramid that gives ideas on how to change the posts.

http://arielpublicity.com/files/2012/03/Musicians-Social-Media-Pyramid-11x17-1.pdf

2.    Lack of Branding

In the entertainment industry, image is KEY! This goes for your website and social media pages. Always be consistent across the board to avoid any situation that may confuse the fans. The same picture or logo should be used on every site. Therefore, everyone can identify the artist or musician.  Who wants to look bad? This says something about your brand and could result in a bad impression.

3.    No Newsletter

In order to be a successful artist or musician, you need fans to support your endeavors. This newsletter is a way for you to get e-mail addresses in exchange for anything you give to the fans.  Believe it or not, this is where a great percentage of the revenue will be accrued.

Take heed to these three mistakes and make your social media site worth visiting. Remember, you have millions of people looking and following you. The first impression is everything, so be sure to: change it up, be consistent, and always stay in contact.

The Words

Recently, I had a chance to attend the movie “The Words” starring Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana. I was very apprehensive about this movie because I did not think I would enjoy it, but this movie had many lessons that many aspiring artists and writers could learn.

            This movie was about a guy who aspired to become a published author, but many publishing companies rejected his work. Does this sound familiar? After he and his girlfriend sought support from his parents, he was forced to get a daily job at a publishing company. A sense of complacency came over him because he started to live a regular life. However, he finally received the call he had been waiting for, but the publisher informed him that he believed in his work but there was no market for his type of writing. He and his girlfriend got married and honeymooned in Paris where he found a vintage briefcase with a manuscript inside. The story that he read identified with his current situation, and he copied the outline word for word. In this story, a man was stationed in Paris for war and met the love of his life. They married and had a child together, but the child became ill and died. The wife was distraught and left the soldier. In order to keep his sanity, he wrote a book about his life. The author gained publicity and fortune, but an old man, who originally wrote the manuscript, confronted the author. The author was very disturbed by this encounter and offered the soldier money and rights to all of the royalties. However, the soldier did not accept anything from the author but challenged him to accept his mistake and move on. These actions caused a great deal of trouble for his marriage, relationship with the publishing company, and his life.

            As I pondered about the messages in this movie, these teachings will help you along your path:

1.     Don’t fear rejection. This is a chance to continuously perfect your gift or work. In addition, you want a publishing company to believe in your work not just accept you. Rejection means “not yet”.

2.     Don’t become complacent. Although your dream of writing may not happen when you want it to, it will happen in due time. Until that time, gain all the information you can about publishing and distribution companies and how they work. Keep in mind that your current situation will not be forever.

3.     Be original. One of the worst feelings is to know that you plagiarized or infringed on someone’s intellectual property. This can turn into legal trouble and is something you want to avoid. Let your work come from the heart because many people will be able to identify with the many triumphs and trials you have endured.

4.     Accept your failures. It is guaranteed that you will not reach your dreams on the first try. You will make mistakes that may cost you, but you must find it in yourself to make things right and move on. 

Unconditional The Movie

           How far are you willing to go to make your dreams come true? If you don’t accomplish your dream the first time, will you give up? What if your dream causes you discomfort by putting you in a place where things are uncertain? Will you still believe?

            I have had the chance to work with individuals who could answer these questions without hesitation. The producers of Unconditional, a movie starring Michael Ealy and Lynn Collins, sacrificed time, money, personal lives, and sanity to produce a movie that has unfolded to be their divine purpose. Being independent filmmakers is not an easy task because the individual does not have the financial backing of a major movie company. Therefore, these individuals have to work diligently to get into theaters. To add more to a tedious process, the movie is a faith-based film, which is one of the hardest films to market to a mainstream and secular audience. Being a part of this marketing process has been most rewarding because you know in the end the movie is going to be an impactful feature and lives will be changed. Seeing Bishops, Pastors, and leaders from all over the country view this movie and support shows the urgency and need for a movie of this caliber. Hopefully, after much success, major companies will choose to do movies with Harbinger Films.

After seeing this movie, my life was change forever because I could relate to many of the characters. At first, I thought it was going to be a typical faith-based movie, but as the movie progressed, I was very intrigued by the suspense and storyline. Papa Joe, played by Ealy, is based on an individual from Nashville, Tennessee whose life and anger lead him to prison, but he was able to turnaround and help youth in the projects. After suffering from an illness, it threatened his ability to care for the kids, but he kept hope alive. Sam, who is played by Collins, is faced with a tragedy that stripped her life away, but strategically, she is placed on the course of finding her childhood friend, Papa Joe, who helped her get on the road to forgiveness and healing. This movie teaches about selflessness and forgiveness. Unforgiveness blocks us from the truth and the ability to live life freely.

Support Unconditional by purchasing tickets at your local theater opening weekend, September 21^st through September 23^rd. To find more information about theater locations and times, please visit the Unconditional website. Also, listen to the personal greeting from Michael Ealy inviting you to his new movie. Take my word, this film will change your life, and it is worth every dime.