Garage Band Publicist

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by a manager of a local garage band.  The band is gaining popularity and in order to take the next step they are considering hiring a publicist.  He wanted to see what columbus imPRessions could do for the band to generate more exposure and get them into magazines.

Because of my past life at Q-FM-96, my love for music - especially rock, and the fact that I almost left Columbus to work at a record label years ago (decide to choose stability and marriage over a rock-n-roll lifestyle), I was very intrigued to say the least!

Being a publicist is so much more than just magazine articles.  It's about taking the brand of the band and marketing it using a targeted approach to generate a buzz and loyal following in a niche group.  "Infiltrate and Plaster" - You must focus on the the niche, infiltrate their environment, then plaster the band's brand everywhere in that environment.  

Also, because of social media, generating exposure for a rock band has so many options. Sure band's have MySpace, but with Twitter, Blogging, Widgets, YouTube, ReverbNation and other social media platforms bands can get to the niche with the click of a button.  Bands can enlist their fans too.  Word of mouth marketing by fans on social media sites immediately becomes viral.  Traditional PR can still happen, but nowadays with savvy marketing and social media traditional media is taking a back seat.  By thinking beyond the box the possibilities are limitless.  Very exciting opportunity could be made available for this band and any other band.

I left the manager with some things to think about like: What is their brand? Who is their target demographic? What are their likes, hangouts, habits, patterns, etc?  What message do they want to relay to this group?  What are the band's goals? What social media platforms does the band currently use? How do they currently promote the band?   

I could have gone on and one but didn't want to overwhelm the manager too much.  Haven't heard back yet.  We'll see.  If I don't hear back at least for a few moments I got to revisit that rock and roll life I left behind year's ago.

Free Dunkin Donuts Coffee Delivered To Your House!

Too good not to spread the word.  When I saw this they only had their new dark roast left. There still is time to get your free sample.  Click on the widget below.

New Tunes

Just added new tunes to the site today via my Reverbnation widget.  A kick-off to spring, after all tomorrow is March!  Enjoy!

Alaska is on the Cluster Map

It didn't take too long.  With just a couple attempts we got our red dot on the state of Alaska. Scroll down to the bottom and see our Cluster Map.  

Thanks to our new friend in Anchorage!!

Did We Find a Friend From Alaska?

We still have yet to get our Cluster Map dot on Alaska.  But that might change soon.  We recently became Twitter followers with @Scribbit from Anchorage, Alaska.    She has a great blog site that we are now following Scribbit.

Let's see if we get that dot soon.  Fingers crossed.

Alltop of the World

We were just notified by Alltop that our site has been selected in appear in two of their categories - marketing and non-profit.

What is Alltop?  Alltop is a site the neatly organizes and arranges "all the top" sites on the web. They like to think of themselves as a digital magazine rack because the display the headline and top 5 stories from each site.  Alltop helps drive visitors to your site.  Isn't social networking awesome!

How do you get on Alltop - Google search results, reviewing the site content and the recommendation of the Twitter community (gotta love that Twitter - that's how we found out about Alltop - thanks Chris Brogan).

We're proud to display our Alltop Banner (right column).  In fact, we're Alltop of the World!

Thanks Giving

Giving thanks - We are so thankful for our clients and the friends we have made these last nine months!

Finished with your Thanksgiving dinner and searching the Internet before the tryptophan kicks in?  Why not rate your Thanksgiving.  We'd give ours 5 stars!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things to Love about Autumn on RateItAll

TweetsGiving

Another way to give this Thanksgiving thanks to social networking!

TweetsGiving - A Twitter celebration of gratitude and giving to demonstrate the power of the social web by raising $10,000 in 48 hours to build a classroom in Tanzania.

TweetsGiving will be held from Tuesday, 11.25.08 (12pm EST) to Thursday, 11.27.08 (12pm EST).

You still have some time this Thanksgiving morning. Click here to donate or find out more info.

Check progress with their widget below.

Unique Visitor from Alaska Wanted

Still no unique visitor from Alaska. We continue to look for that visitor to give us the red dot on Alaska for our ClusterMap (at the bottom of site).

Maybe these key words will help . . .

Sarah Palin, glaciers, Juneau, fishing, bears, salmon, caribou, Yukon Route Scenic Railroad, Iditarod, dog sled, snow, ice, gas pipeline, Glacier Bay.

Or, maybe if you know of someone from Alaska you can direct them to our site, sort of word of mouth marketing.

We'll give them a warm welcome.

Smokers You Can Do It - Great American Smokeout

Today is the 33rd Annual Great American Smokeout.  Having a hard time trying to kick the smoking habit.  Maybe today is the day you can do it.  

The American Cancer Society has created quite a few resources and materials to help kick the habit.  

For Windows users (sorry Macs - and we are Macs) 

they have created craving stopper game to distract you from your craving that you can download on your desk top.

Visit their web site for health tips, support and more information.

Need to talk to someone for help.  In Ohio call:

Ohio Tobacco Quit Line: 800-934-4840

New Gadgets

We added a couple new follow us gadgets on our site.

Follow our blog and Follow us on Twitter

We'd love it if you'd become a loyal follower of our site.  It's easy too.  Just click on "follow this blog".  That's it.  Watch as we build our online networking community.

To follow us on Twitter just click the Follow Us bird widget.  It will take you right to our Twitter page.  You can follow our tweets to get all the latest news.

Social networking is so fun!  If you haven't started give it a try.  We're sure you be addicted in no time!

Pandora Internet Radio

Pandora - A musical experience you'll love.  

Create your "stations" and the playlist filled with your favorite music genre.  

Very cool.  

Show Support of Favorite Cause with Ad Council Widgets

Share your voice. Select a cause and display a widget on your favorite social networking site. Ad Council created widgets for some great causes.  Below are just a few examples.

Grab yours at http://www.adcouncil.org/icare/  

Make your philanthropic footprint.

Non-profits looking for help

In-kind Connection is catching on.

Non-profits are streaming in and posting their needs.

Check out our newly created In-Kind Connection widget and visit the site to see which Columbus non-profits need your help.

Giving back feels great. Give it a try and support the greater good!

Site NOT Unseen

Did you ever notice the Site Meter icon on our website?  It's located on the right-hand column about 1/2 way down.  This icon is a great tool that we snagged for free from the wonderful world of the web.  

What is Site Meter you ask . . . Site Meter is a real time web tracking and counter tool.  With this tool we can see exactly who is visiting our site, exactly where they are from, what pages they are viewing, how long they are visiting, what they are searching, etc.  It is excellent data to have to see what posts are evoking reaction, what posts are attention grabbers, and what posts are being referred to others.

Sometimes we post on hot topics to see what type of attention it gets.  For example, we did a post about a campaign that was created by a NYC ad agency.  That day we had numerous unique visitors from the ad agency who created the campaign.  Seeing the immediate reaction was very cool.  Ahh, the power of the web.

Site Meter is free and we would recommend anyone, especially nonprofits to use this tool.  It not only keeps track of your traffic, it actually keeps accurate count of who is visiting your site and how many times.  This is a great benefit to share with potential corporate donors.  The more visitors you can show that come to your site the better chance you have of securing the title sponsor of your next event.

We check our Site Meter frequently and would like to give a social networking "shout out" to our frequent visitors.  We know who you are!

Fourth of July Widget Fun