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What No One Will Tell You about DIY Publicity, But What You Really Need to Know\nBy Guest writer Christopher Buttner, President, PRThatRocks.com<\/p>\n
What No One Will Tell You about DIY Publicity, But What You Really Need to Know
\nBy Guest writer Christopher Buttner, President, PRThatRocks.com<\/p>\n
In my last article, I gave you my top ten DIY publicity tips for bands<\/a>.<\/p>\n In this, my long – yet fashionably – overdue (as the lovely and talented Mr. Michael Brandvold keeps reminding me), follow-up, I am going to give you some pertinent advice that, I believe, is the most appropriate addendum to my Top Ten DIY Publicity Tips for Bands<\/a> list\u2026 But, this is only 5 of what will be 15 tips\u2026<\/p>\n What No One Will Tell You about DIY Publicity, But What You Really Need to Know \u2013 Tips 1 through 5:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Your Breath<\/strong> \u2013 brush your teeth, use breath mints, floss, use mouthwash, and get a supply of those really great disposable tooth brushes made by Crest\u2026 Don\u2019t smoke, drink coffee, or eat onions when you\u2019re about to go face-to-face with a reporter or editor.<\/p>\n What are you, a dental hygienist, Buttner? \u00a0Let\u2019s be real: \u00a0First impressions mean everything and bad breath, and body odor (and yes, I have war stories on the latter), are a sure way to cut any opportunity with a reporter short, leaving a very bad impression with that person.<\/p>\n I\u2019m neurotic about my breath\u2026 must have been from all those years being subjected to commuting on the subway when I lived in New York during my 20\u2019s… A million people must have breathed their meals on me over a decade, in where some of them actually felt like they were sticking to the roof of my mouth.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also worked a million trade shows. \u00a0When people are traveling (okay, think \u201ctouring musician\u201d here), sometimes dental hygiene has a tendency to start lacking after the tour starts or if you\u2019re on the road for a prolonged period of time (like the start of day two).<\/p>\n Plus you\u2019re eating all kinds of crappy convention center or fast food on-the-fly and you were out late drinking and smoking cigars last night and you got up late this morning.<\/p>\n Not only did you forgot to floss and brush your teeth last night, you\u2019re forgetting to do so in the morning, but now you\u2019re running late to 16 30-minute press appointments scheduled for the day.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve guessed it\u2026 the analogy? \u00a0A day\u2019s worth of bad dental hygiene smells like you\u2019ve been on the road for a month without brushing. \u00a0Be happy there\u2019s not a \u2018scratch-n-sniff\u2019 plug-in for this blog of I\u2019d really be driving the point home right now.<\/p>\n 2. Don\u2019t be a jerk<\/strong> \u2013 it\u2019s all about developing long-term POSITIVE relationships with all media contacts.<\/p>\n Journalists and reporters can be jerks to you, but you can\u2019t and never will be a jerk to them. \u00a0That\u2019s an order. \u00a0Never take anything personally. \u00a0Just let it go. \u00a0I have been respectful to some of the most condescending and obnoxious journalists for years. \u00a0For some reason, a journalist might not like you or your band, but they A) won\u2019t be in that position forever or B) you just might hit them at the right time with the right story and endear yourself to them for life.<\/p>\n As it\u2019s said in professional sales; the most loyal customer is always derived from the most hard ass, negative prospect that resists you and your efforts with the most objections.<\/p>\n If you burn a bridge with a journalist, you\u2019ve essentially burned your bridge with that media outlet, especially if that outlet only has one music journalist on staff. \u00a0You have to continually go back to that well every time you have a new story lead, and if you\u2019re disrespectful, contentious, and combative \u2013 or simply \u201con the outs\u201d with a journalist, you\u2019re dead in the water.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re really having a hard time with a journalist and you can\u2019t seem to make headway with them, make the investment and offer to take them out to a business lunch as a means of formal and professional introduction to discuss your band, clients and company services and how you can be an asset to his role with the outlet. \u00a0That should work. \u00a0A journalist\u2019s favorite food is my favorite, as well; FREE.<\/p>\n 3. Be honest and respectful to clients, editors, fans\u2026 everyone.<\/strong><\/p>\n In this era of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and \u2013 if you have any notoriety at all \u2013 TMZ, you\u2019re only that nice, warm and fuzzy, \u2018I bet he loves baskets full of puppies\u2019 persona until some damning bit of video footage of you acting like total, drunk dickhead to a girlfriend, fan, manager, service worker, basket full of puppies, etc., emerges\u2026 next month, in the fall, or in three years. \u00a0And then it goes viral in a day.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re in the public eye, and in front of a crowd, you have to be consciously respectful of everyone\u2026 and this is a hard one if the credo of your line of work is \u201cSex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll.\u201d<\/p>\n Remember: The Internet Never Forgets.<\/p>\n 4. Therefore, be polite. \u00a0Say thank you\u2026 a lot, and keep a positive attitude always.<\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a few tips for dealing with, not just a journalist, but any professional or acquaintance that can move your career forward. Say \u201cThank You\u201d, \u201cPlease,\u201d \u201cMay I,\u201d and it\u2019s amazing how far simply, honestly and respectfully calling a journalist \u201cMa\u2019am\u201d or \u201cSir\u201d \u2013 especially if they are older than you \u2013 will get you. \u00a0Politeness is a lost art.<\/p>\n When you get a writer, editor, or a reporter on the phone, ask permission: \u201cDo you have a minute to talk?\u201d<\/p>\n Do you know how infrequently stressed-out and deadline-crunched journalists get this question? \u00a0Never. \u00a0Therefore, 9-out-of-10 times it\u2019s the consummate decompression question that gets you the \u2018pitch time\u2019 you so desperately want. \u00a0If it can work for me on David Fricke at Rolling Stone, it will work with you.<\/p>\n Respecting someone\u2019s time is the most important \u2018pay it forward\u2019 bit of respect you can give to a potentially important professional you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n Be sincere, humble and consistent in your recognition and acknowledgments of others, and these little attention-to-detail tributes will pay out big dividends.<\/p>\n And when it comes to keeping a positive attitude, especially when you\u2019ve done a crappy show, your girlfriend dumped you, or your guitar was stolen, and you still need to go face-to-face with a reporter: Shake if off. \u00a0Smile. \u00a0Get yourself into a frame of mind that this interview you\u2019re about to do, or the call you\u2019re about to make, is going to be big for you, be grateful for the opportunity, and exhibit that in the interview. \u00a0The interview is \u201cShowtime, Baby.\u201d \u00a0And, what? \u00a0That\u2019s right: The show must go on.<\/p>\n 5. When it comes to following up on press releases: No reply to three follow-up emails or voices messages in a week means the journalist is 99.9% not interested in your story.<\/strong><\/p>\n Four, five and six follow-up messages in the same time frame\u2026 you\u2019re a stalker. \u00a0There\u2019s a fine line between being persistent and pestilent.<\/p>\n See you next month.<\/p>\n ### What No One Will Tell You about DIY Publicity, But What You Really Need to Know By Guest writer Christopher Buttner, President, PRThatRocks.com In my last article, I gave you my top ten DIY publicity tips for bands. In this, my long – yet fashionably – overdue (as the lovely and talented Mr. Michael Brandvold […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,12],"tags":[663,664,510,511],"class_list":["post-3071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marketing","category-music-marketing-2","tag-diy","tag-journalist","tag-press-release","tag-publicity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFor more http:\/\/www.prthatrocks.com<\/a> or email Christopher Buttner at chris@prthatrocks.com<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\nFounded in 1994 by Christopher Buttner, PRThatRocks.com<\/a> is an award-winning publicity agency specializing in the representation of Indie to internationally-recognized and award-winning entertainers, composers and recording artists, national and regional concert tours and events, legendary recording studios, and some of the best-known entertainment technology and musical instrument brands in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"