Branding yourself in music is not as easy as it may seem, but it will be done with your promotion regardless of your knowledge of or lack of knowledge there of. One of the first things you want to do is think about the way you want the public to receive you or your brand. In other words how do you want the public to see you. Do you want to brand yourself as a controversial artist? What about branding yourself as a musician that has a deeper love for the music? One way to brand yourself or your sound is to think of a signature word or way of saying a word. For example Young Jeezy used to drag out the word yeah. Lil Jon used to scream the word yeah. Master P said ugh a lot. T.I. says he's king of the south. all of these things have been proven when it comes to branding yourself in music.
Another thing to think about is logos, business cards, shirts and any of the products you sell. They all need to have your band name and your website on them. One of the most uncommon ways is to have videos or DVD s that you sell. This is costly but it's proven to work because people keep videos and watch them over again. One of the most effective and very inexpensive ways to brand yourself is Google's pay per click. You can have your logo and face plastered across thousands of websites and you won't pay unless you get a click. It's a great way to get your face out there. Honestly you may not get a ton of clicks but you will get a ton of exposure. Once people get used to seeing you, you'll be destined to win.
A great way of branding yourself in music for me is the social networks of course. There's so many to choose from, my space, twitter, face book, black voices, black planet, you tube and so on. Register with these sites and be determined to gain friends and tell them about your music. Create an audience. Don't worry if you don't get lots of followers the first week or so. Just write about things that interest you and the people will follow. Write articles for sites like EzineArticles.com and become an expert in your field. If you're writing articles, stick to a main subject. That way you'll be branding your name with that subject. Whatever your strength is stick to it.
Perhaps the best way to brand yourself is to do shows or speeches to help others. One mistake I see a ton of artist doing is not saying they're name enough at shows. You need to say your name at your show a few times. At least three times, once at the beginning, the middle and at the end. The announcer may say it twice but there is nothing like it coming from your own mouth. (Plus that's five times total the audience have heard you name.) Video tape these shows or speeches and post them on you tube. This will definitely put your face out there to more than just your home town. I've used people's videos from you tube and posted them on my site to over 18,000 people. You never know, one person could get you tons of exposure.
Be determined to brand yourself in music and be courageous. One day you will reap the benefits.
The author Trete Lo is the author of Street literature books and also writes for many publishers including his own music site http://www.undergroundsouthconnection.com. "I've been in the music industry for 10 years and the movie industry 5 years, I've worked with comedian Katt Williams to rapper Pimp C to name a couple.
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