Marketing Matters:
What About Bob?

by William Charles Grisack III 
(Mr. Billy)

We live in an incredible time; information on just about everything imaginable is out there in one form or another, even marketing music. When I first started out in the music business (1970s—yikes!), sales and marketing information was pretty much limited to “traditional” business models, corporate stuff, closing the sale and such. One of the best places to get that type of information was a business called Nightingale-Conant, a personal development company (still going strong today). So I read the books and listened to the tapes and I took what I could to further my career. In 1978 my life changed when I discovered a book called Making It With Music: Kenny Rogers’ Guide to the Music Business, the first all music business related book I had ever seen. It was a great book for the time, but by the 1990s the rules of music marketing changed drastically and a new DIY (do it yourself) or “guerrilla” mindset began to replace the old tried and true methods.

Several years ago I found a cool book called The Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook by Bob Baker at my local music store. I was instantly hooked, and have referred this book along with Bob’s many other projects to my clients, peers and friends. Even though he is considered by many to be the godfather of music marketing, I am totally blown away by how many people don’t know about him yet. So I decided to introduce one of my heroes and mentors to you with a short biography followed by a batch of your best marketing questions, which I recently posed to Bob. I hope you will enjoy reading the answers he gave and will become a fan too. So without any further ado: Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I give you Bob Baker! (And the crowd goes crazy!)

WHAT ABOUT BOB?

Bob Baker is a man on a mission. His purpose may not be to rid the world of war or hunger, but it’s a significant goal nonetheless. He is on a mission to inspire and empower musicians (and other creative people) to express themselves and share their talents with the world.

History shows that the most advanced societies have a wealth of music, art and literature. Therefore, according to Bob, if more people expressed their creativity and found an audience for what they do, society as a whole would benefit.

Here’s his bio from the Web site of the Berklee College of Music (http://www.Berkleemusic.com), where Bob teaches the online course “Music Marketing 101,” which he developed:

Bob Baker is a widely hailed music marketing expert, as well as an author, indie musician, and former music magazine editor. He dedicates his career to showing musicians of all kinds how to get exposure, connect with fans, sell more music, and increase their incomes.

He is the author of Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook, a book that has become the Bible of music marketing….He has published several [other] successful books…including MySpace Music Marketing, Unleash the Artist Within, and Branding Yourself Online.

For 10 years he published Spotlight, the Midwest music magazine he founded in 1987. For five years, Bob served as director of the St. Louis Regional Music Showcase, an annual music conference he started in 1993. He’s been featured on NPR and in magazines such as Music Connection, VIBE, American Songwriter, Canadian Musician, and Electronic Musician, among others. Bob is also a frequent speaker and panelist at [major] music conferences….

A three-term past president of the St. Louis Publishers Association, Bob is a full-time author and an advocate for independent publishing and creative expression of all kinds. He has been a working musician on and off for more than 30 years.

You can visit Bob at www.thebuzzfactor.com and www.bob-baker.com as well as on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and many other places on the Net.

And now for your questions…

What are the best marketing/promotional items to invest in?

For starters, your own artist Web site. Not a MySpace or Facebook page (although you want those too), but your own YourName.com home on the Web. It doesn’t have to be flashy, but it should look good and have essential elements, such as: a mailing list sign-up form, a way for people to hear and purchase your music, a basic bio, photos and video of you in action, contact info, details on your live shows and how to book you. Also, cool four-color business cards with your picture and a clear description of what you do. You can order them locally or from any number of online sources.

The main thing to invest in, especially early in your music career: your time. There are few shortcuts. You simply must be willing to put in the time to promote yourself, make connections, determine who your ideal fans are and where to find them, etc.

What are the main differences to consider when promoting kids’ music as opposed to other musical genres? What’s the Number One Rule for marketing in this genre?

The main thing that sets apart children’s music is that you have two audiences you must cater to: 1) the kids who consume it, and 2) the parents, teachers and grandparents who buy it. Most artists must simply focus on one type of end user consumer. But children’s music has that added challenge.

The Number One rule? Focus your music on the kids. Focus your marketing efforts on the parents, teachers and grandparents. In fact, have a separate page on your site for each group: one for parents, one for teachers, etc.

Also, create some interactive activity on your Web site that kids can do. Take a look at what Webkinz and Build-a-Bear Workshop have done to get ideas. If you can get kids to repeatedly ask their parents if they can go to your Web site and play, you will be “top of mind” when the next birthday or holiday rolls around.

And that’s the main question you should ask yourself: “How can I get the idea into a parent’s or teacher’s mind that I am a good resource for their kids?”

Also, at your live events, offer something that kids can take home with them. Even if it’s a simple sheet of paper with quizzes or cartoons. And make sure your Web site address is on it. Better yet, create a list of fun questions, and make it so that the kids/parents must go to the Web site to get the correct answers.

What is the difference between sales and marketing?

Good question, because these terms are often mistakenly used interchangeably. Marketing is creating awareness—the “getting your name out there” part of promotion. Sales is creating offers and generating income.

It’s much harder to ask for the sale if you have not done a good job of creating awareness. People buy things from people they know, like and trust. So if your potential customers don’t know you, or don’t like you, or don’t trust you—yet—they won’t be eager to make a purchase—yet.

So put your attention first on creating awareness and getting those kids, parents, teachers and grandparents to know you, like you and trust you.

Who can help me guide my career?

Easy. First and foremost, You. Stop looking outside yourself for answers. There is no Music Success Fairy Godmother who will come down and sprinkle popularity dust on you. You must be self-reliant first before anyone else will want to work with you.

Of course, being an “independent” artist does not mean always working alone. You will partner with other people—schools, libraries, distributors, and more. But it starts with you and works out from there.

As far as career guidance goes, start with books, magazines, blogs, podcasts, and online articles. There is no shortage of information on how to get things done. Google is your best friend when it comes to research.

Beyond that, slowly get to know other kids music artists and people involved in the genre. Send e-mails, attend conferences, do whatever you can to make friends with others doing what you aspire to do.

How do I determine what type of work I should do and keep in mind what there is a demand for?

Success with anything is really about finding the intersection of your passions and strengths with a need or hunger in the marketplace. That’s often hard to predict. Many of the most successful people end up doing something they didn’t originally plan to be involved in.

That’s why it’s important to take action, try lots of things, and be open to new possibilities. Then stay aware of the feedback you get from people. As Rev. Run of Run-DMC says, “Go where you’re celebrated, not where you’re tolerated.”

It’s quite often the happy accidents that reveal where the demand is and what you should be focusing on. But those accidents won’t reveal themselves unless you try a lot of different things first.

What trend do you see as the “next big thing” on the horizon?

The use of multimedia online will continue to grow. So you should get familiar with it and start adding audio and video greetings to your Web site in addition to photos and text.

Also, live streaming video is becoming more common. Take a look at http://www.ustream.tv and think about how you can use it with your music.

Any last thoughts for those of us in the kids’ music biz?

Keep the kids in mind as you create and record your music and create the interactive features on your Web site. But focus on the parents, teachers and grandparents when it comes to marketing and sales.

William Charles Grisack III, known nationally as “Mr. Billy,” is a full-time dad, singer/songwriter, children’s music marketing guru and all-around nice guy. CMNers can find additional marketing advice on his Web site,