Musicians can learn a few tips from business when marketing themselves with a website

WIIFM - me is the centre of the universe (illustration - National Journal)

Your music website can be a place to promote your business or an Arctic out-post that only your family visit.

Here are a few tips to making your music website work.

1. What’s in it for the me

Unless your site screams WIIFM, no one will stop by more than once.

Believe it or not, your fans only care about meeting their own wants and needs, with wants coming first.

This may be a shock to your ego but no one cares about your music (or any business) except to the extent it helps them get through their day.

Effective marketing and advertising must meet the WIIFM test for the visitor – what’s in it for me.

That’s a tough question and if you don’t have something for fans (or customers), go back to the drawing board.

Self-serving statements about what you are up to are boring, boring, BORING.

You gotta give the audience something – make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, or make ’em dance.

You can read about WIIFM in a gazillion places – here’s one and it’s free.

Tomorrow – Tip 2 Hit them with the music first

PS – I was in technology sales and marketing for 20 years and learned the hard way how to sell intangibles and make money at it. Jerry Goodis (At Speedy you’re a somebody) taught me the WIIFM golden rule.