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Ideas for marketing a new site

by matt5409
15 replies
Hi everyone

I recently started a directory-style website aimed at musicians to find one another in their local area. So for example a guitarist can find a singer, or a singer can find a band.

This is nothing new but I believe I've developed a site which is better than most (if not, all) competitors out there. But I'm stuck on how to get it off the ground. I've signed up to Twitter and gotten 80-ish followers. Others have retweeted me through their own initiative because they like the idea and I've received many compliments on the site. I *really* don't want to have to register a load of dummy accounts just to make the site *look* popular but it's starting to seem like I will have to

Should I go the AdWords route? The site is not setup to generate ANY revenue (at the moment) so I'm reluctant to put money into it.

The site I speak of can be found here.

It's aimed at a UK/US audience to begin with. I really love the idea and potential, and would be happy to run it for free for at least the first year. I just want to help musicians find each other! Any advice you have on launching community sites would be great.

P.s. I've not been on here for like a year, hello again!
#ideas #marketing #site
  • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
    If you have some budget, PPC is a great way to start.

    Other techniques to consider are SEO, social media, video and top related sites.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan Curtis
      I looked at your site.

      On the one hand I believe it has potential. But I think you are face some huge hurdles.

      Yours site is a sort of "all or nothing" site. If you have musicians listed in all areas, then everyone will use it. And if you only have a few musicians in scattered areas, then almost no one will use it.

      I think you need to define your goals. If you want a site that really covers this topic it you are going to have to sign up thousands of musicians. That is going to take some real promotion.

      I think the order of magnitude is something like banner ads on every major music site. Or pay-per-click ads on every music search. And that is many, many thousands of dollars.
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  • Profile picture of the author pinacolada
    Flyers & Craigslist are some free ways that come to mind.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarketingJessie
    Work with other sites that are similar to what you have now. Build clients from there.

    Also start with just a few cities you can focus on. Find bands FB and other sites. Eventually those bands will start posting your link on there fan pages and you will get some great quality backlinks.

    I wouldn't suggest PPC just yet until you have other clients on there.

    To start off you are going to have to grind it out and get clients on your site manually.

    Hope that helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author Aouragh
    I would definitely go for social media, that's the easiest way for this website. Try to get some press releases, as they tend to help quite well.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarketingJessie
    Very true.. A press release can get you good name recognition and build your business quickly.
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  • Profile picture of the author matt5409
    thanks guys

    yea I really am focusing on social media but also want to build up relationships with others - music fans, bands and related sites like music shops.

    @dan curtis - you're right about the focus. at the moment it is not focused toward any area in particular, but having said that it needs to be scalable (which is it). i am hoping to build it out - promote it in my own city, and hope that the ball continues to roll from there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Freddie Worrall
    Matt,

    I think you should start in where you live with people you know, maybe leaflet drop at local music schools, get names of a few people there, ask around, add people on facebook, get it going where you love and expand bit by bit from there leaking out to cover the cities that are around you until you can do most of the country. Then possibly consider trying to get your hands on some of the american market when you've got the resources to do so.

    Just sayin :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author matt5409
      Originally Posted by Freddie Worrall View Post

      Matt,

      I think you should start in where you live with people you know, maybe leaflet drop at local music schools, get names of a few people there, ask around, add people on facebook, get it going where you love and expand bit by bit from there leaking out to cover the cities that are around you until you can do most of the country. Then possibly consider trying to get your hands on some of the american market when you've got the resources to do so.

      Just sayin :-)
      Thanks Freddie - music schools, I actually had not thought of that!
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  • Profile picture of the author manicmethods
    I would go for some offline methods. Maybe focus on where you live at the moment and try and build up a solid base in your area and then start to move further afield.

    I would also focus on the UK or US only initially.

    Like others have said, you don't want handfuls of musicians scattered around. Try and build a solid base of users in one local area first and then branch out.

    Perhaps try Facebook Ads for this sort of thing if budget allows it?
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  • Profile picture of the author betterwtveter
    If you have a budget, I would recommend facebook ads, but I do not like paid advertising, so I would recommend blogging, craigslist, and forums to get started. It may take a month or so, but the results will pay off big time.
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  • Profile picture of the author sahilwb
    Social marketing is the best way for your website.
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  • Profile picture of the author thedanbrown
    I would recommend shooting a few videos and marketing them to musicians on youtube in different areas. You can also place classified ads.

    If you want to use PPC I wouldn't recommend adwords because it's become pretty expensive lately. If you want to go the paid route you should look into bing or yahoo advertising and see if you can negotiate some media buys with popular websites in your niche (musician forums etc.)
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  • Profile picture of the author perfect
    If you have the budget easy way that comes to mind is PPC in different platforms.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheWPHowToBlog
    The best way to promote your new site is through SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The great thing about it is, that most of the time, its free. True that it requires hardwork, but its the best option you've got. Alternative options include using adwords, affiliates etc. which maybe more costly to handle at the start.
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