Episode 13
You and Your Niche
There’s a market and audience for anything thanks to the World Wide Web. Like your aunt or aunt, who keeps selling out of her kitten pattern wall quilts on Etsy. Or That 70s psychedelia resurgence band that is killing it on YouTube with their focus on a heavy saturation of envelope filters or is it envelope filters?
0:00:00.0 S1: I walk in to show that explores the methods and strategies on rock and the financial side of your music business with over 40 years combined experience. Here are your host, Chris Webb and Dave Tamale to musicians. HipChat, we talk about musicians and money, so we highlight how you can take your obsession of mash prints and the bad video games and create a successful music career in Nintendo co. I'm your host, Chris web, joined by my co-host, and the guy always taking it to the next level, Dave Taman niches gets ditches Chris Webb, that should be the name on this option, everybody, when I first texted me, he pronounced or spelled niche. Right, and I just wrote back, Nice, get stitches, and he said, No, Dave, it's pronounced and just the same word again and right there, and then I knew... I can hear Chris web in my ear. He said, niche.
0:01:00.9 S2: There's a marketing audience for anything, thanks to the world wide web, like your aunt or an who keeps selling out of her kitten pattern wall Quill on Etsy or that 70 psychedelia research in span that is killing it on YouTube, but they're focused on a heavy saturation of envelope filters, or is it Envelope... You can't let the semantics of how you define yourself black your game while putting your uniqueness out there, tomato or tomato, it's still what's in the sauce that matters, your uniqueness is your secret sauce, so whether you prefer niche or niche, let's serve it a hot... Right after this.
0:01:42.2 S1: Looking for a way to elevate your music, grow your brand and establish credibility within the industry, public relations company pressed PR powers, independent creatives, do just that with a fresh, personal and intentional approach, promotional and branding services, working with clients all over the world. Press PR execute strategies that have landed their clients and the pages of Billboard affecting post squire American songwriter and no depression among many others, more than just placing clients in the media, press PR also works to help creatives elevate their brand through content and copy creation collaborations, experimental events and communicating with their target audience through various platforms, if you have a release coming up or simply wanna develop a long-term strategy to help your brand grow, visit pressed fresh PR dot com for more information. Welcome back everybody. The Sweets non-profit is love light and not the Aruna children by amplifying their stories, inspiring hope for them, the music, art and sports and transforming their lives through education. This was started by Brad Cornish TCH to raise funds and awareness for a community of children living and working in trash dumps in the community in Nicaragua. It's an unbelievable trailer.
0:03:03.9 S1: If you have the opportunity to check out love light and melody dot org.
0:03:10.1 S2: And make sure you read, subscribe to this podcast, leave us a comment or go to our website and sign up for a free weekly newsletter. We will deep dive into the week's topics even further, you can also connect there with other related articles and provide other helpful resources for you and your music business. Our quote of the week this week comes from an unusual source of Sam Walton, not known for any sort of music, anything actually, but I thought this was pretty endpoint, if everyone is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going exactly the opposite direction, he... Niche is defined as a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service by focusing on your niche in music, your unique sub-section of a bigger umbrella market, you have the opportunity to explore and create content beyond just your music by incorporating your unique passions and interests into your content, into your posts, and your conversations with your followers and your fans, this is what will make you stand out, so the first place to start is asking what you have done that represents you well, you need to take inventory...
0:04:31.7 S2: Look back at what you've done, some will have more than others in this topic, but you need to ask from the things that you've done, what's your current way in your message, is that coming out clear in your music and in your brand? You need to learn from your successes and your failures. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. That's a quote from Rita may Fulton.
0:05:00.4 S1: It's also important to acknowledge, what have you done? That doesn't feel right anymore. And what are those reasons? I think the longer you're in the music career, it's easier to look back and talk about all your accolades and all your accomplishments without focusing on the future and we change... Human beans can change. So one thing when I was living in Chicago, I was definitely a different audience, and it is out here in Colorado. I think I play more list rooms now than I did back then. That's for sure, I did. So playing in a jam band and trying to keep every song up be to go over the sound of beer bottles, it's not the same right now and doesn't speak to me like it used to, so it doesn't feel right anymore. Once you've really analyzed and gone through that rabbit hole of all your past records and music that you've created and answered that question of, does it still fit your why and what your message should be or what you want it to be? The next place to take this is to... Who is doing what you want to do now? And how are they doing it? One of the first things you can do is get to know the top people in your niche, start local, who's in your community, where can you go to hear these bands or hear these artists, where can you get on a bill with them as well, or even if an open mic has a niche that's unique to its own sound, that's where we met...
0:06:41.8 S1: I went out that night when I first moved here, 12, 13 years now, we got along right away, you being from the Midwest, and both had acoustic guitars, so easier for us to share contacts and talk each other up with gigs, or you hook me up with gigs.
0:07:00.9 S2: Well, and that's the other benefit of finding that community that fits the same, close enough, at least to a niche that you're trying to aim for, is that you can immediately spread to both of your audiences and both of your contact lists and share shows and fans. So finding a very specific niche will help grow your fans faster, just within your community, by being able to identify who do you want to also sound like, or who's influencing you in your local community as you find people within your community. Another thing to consider is, Can you get one of them to mentor you? This can help in a lot of different ways, and we talk a lot about having mentors in the show, because it's one of the best ways that a person can get direction and feedback from another expert within the community, 'cause each market is different. And if you are focused on a smaller market, it's helpful to have somebody that's been around for a while, but also within the sound that you're trying to create, someone that can help guide you to fill the seat that you're trying to sit in. So asking others around you if you can share your music together or get together and talk about your business plans, so that you can kinda see what's similar, what's different, and how they can help and give you contacts and help each other find the connections that you need.
0:08:31.0 S2: And as maybe, I mean, towed you... I'm just kidding, I didn't do that. But we definitely did become part of a community instantly, and instantly all of the same other acts in the area we were both affiliated with, we all just became one big a community, and it just continues to grow and audiences grow organically by sharing shows and opening up for each other, different opportunities and playing on stage together whenever possible, and so getting to know someone in your niche and they've been asking them to mentor you is a good way to also get a little head start on areas that perhaps... Otherwise, it would take you longer to find another way to help define what it is you want to present is to create an avatar for yourself, for your stage presence, for your sound, for your brand.
0:09:29.2 S1: And what are you song, dream board? I cut out the magazines, like, These are the things I want for 2021, but instead of like, These are the things that I want, this is how I perceive myself in this niche.
0:09:44.4 S2: Exactly, and I think the more we can define and actually see it with our eyes, the easier it is to create it...
0:09:55.7 S1: Are you saying cut out like gang jackets? Magazines with deserves and Uncle board.
0:10:03.1 S2: Well, sometimes the easiest option is to Google, what's cool
0:10:08.3 S1: Is a one thing... I wanted to get this huge tattoo on my right arm, and I started looking at all the tattoos that I loved and put them on Pinterest, and that was one place I can go so I can visually see what kind of art I wanted. So even if you think you fit into a certain niche and start looking up those attributes and put them in one place, Pinterest is a great way to do it.
0:10:39.1 S2: Make sure that your online brand and your sound Unified...
0:10:45.0 S1: So if I switch from posting my music and the upcoming shows, two pictures of Whitley, my three-legged dog, and I'm starting to get more followers because of it, is that something that should not be to
0:11:02.1 S2: Don brand is the big question.
0:11:06.0 S1: Well, I don't know, I think I might just turn into a dog walker, she's dreaming and she's just with one leg or a number, but people at home can't see that. I forget sometimes I start... I have my music page is also my personal page, and I can go one way or another, but it is something to consider if you have a lot of followers, what is your message? And I think we're gonna go into that, but it's important to be real with that and have it represent you and all of you...
0:11:41.3 S2: Yeah, you must find a way to be more valuable to fewer people, so the more that you can keep your online brand and sound unified and specific, the more that you can show value to the smaller audience that might prefer or obsess about that particular sound. So let's set some parameters and get going on this, pick your lane and stick to it after a year of this process, you can review it and change is needed and repeat...
0:12:11.9 S1: I know every episode, I bring up the elevator pitch that you should have it down what you think... You sound like I still don't have a Chris. I still don't have mine down, I was just as the other day.
0:12:23.1 S2: So I'm gonna give out some ideas that I came up with quickly here for just examples, but the main point is to do not bore them, make it interesting, make it a little unique so that it gives a little bit more than just the sense of sound, it actually can help a lot, so for example, instead of a rock band with some disco vibes, you could say something like, We're burnt hair band with flare of bell bottoms.
0:12:52.5 S1: So both their hair and their parents are on fire, that's what
0:12:56.0 S2: Is... But you certainly do get a little image of what that might sound like... Right, yeah, absolutely. Or if you have a band reference that makes them contrast each other to give this kind of creative curiosity out of your description, like Dave Matthews sitting around a campfire with Pearl Jam, you can definitely take both of those sounds and mash them together.
0:13:22.0 S1: When I see that, the first thing I think about is, Glen Phillips is a songwriter from to to were 95 is when I first heard that album fear. And throughout the years, to continue to follow him and watches just where he's playing and try to get to the shows that I can, and watch his songwriting just continue to progress. And I had the opportunity to see and flips around a camp fire, and right before he went there, I could see he was out of coconut water, and all I could do was just like, Oh, I can get you more coconut water in Phillips, whatever you need in Phillips and I got to sit there and watch him around a fire, and now I can say I sound like Dave man, he's around a campfire with Glen Phillips and drinking Coke to a well.
0:14:13.6 S2: And we did run into him a few years later when we were hanging out at... It was actually earlier when we went to the songwriter fest, and I remember... What did he know what? He came in, came up to me after my performance at the conference and said, Hey, do you know my manager's name is Chris lab too. And then before that, I was just like, Oh, they're so I talk to him.
0:14:37.6 S1: Is I say anything and you're like, Yeah, no, I do. I'm not gonna think I'm just gonna sit here and then you walked it up to you and said that I talk to you.
0:14:46.9 S2: But it is important that no matter how you describe yourself, that you define your requests with specifics... And this is, when I say Define your request, I'm referring to how you want to present yourself, I like to equate it to how you'd order a sandwich, you wouldn't go into the restaurant and say, I'll take sandwich, please. Right, you'd go in and you'd be like, Yeah, I wanted on whole wheat, I want it with Leticia on it, put all few onions down there and not too many... You know what I mean? You have a very specific way that you want that presented, so when you're requesting yourself and how you're gonna present yourself, make sure you're specific about it, make sure you place that order correctly, and if you don't create an opinion... And when I talk about this a lot with my students, I say it has to be a strong opinion, or at least a strong reaction from the sound you create, it needs to have such a niche to it that it creates a division in different people's opinions. So that some people are going to not like it, that's actually something you want, because it's telling you that your sound is defined enough that there's gonna be others that are gonna be obsessed with it.
0:16:04.5 S1: It's a great point. You can't please everybody, nor do you want to...
0:16:08.5 S2: This is something that happens in all other business, and the way that they define themselves, and we all have their or opinions on them all too, if you think about which same app you're gonna go... You already have an opinion, which one you wanna go to it because you already know which one you don't like.
0:16:25.6 S1: Absolutely, I work with the tear drop company and they make their very unique it's made with certain materials that no one else makes them with... What is it? A
0:16:37.5 S2: Camper, when you say it in the test a musician's podcast, it sounds like you're talking about gangsters at too... My nest, I don't know. So I was just trying to clarify.
0:16:51.6 S1: No, that's good that you do that. 'cause every time I bring up to my sister, she's like, Why are you working with people that are always crying? That's why I love my sister. But it's very unique what they do for these campers, just the Wild them, who they're made for, they focus on families, lighter cars because they pull lighter trailers and now they're doing different things just to keep the moisture outside of it, so they go into details of every... Type of camping situation you can go into and why this is the best for you, and there's tons of these out there, and not everyone's gonna pick the same one.
0:17:31.1 S2: And you try to keep the moisture in your audience to dance
0:17:35.8 S1: The fewer times I can have moist in any word that I used, the better
0:17:40.2 S2: Grasso of my action points here, ways for you to implement what we're talking about, I like to simplify them down to three, as you probably know by now, so I'm gonna give you three steps that you can take and try to make some headway on defining your niche, first, what have you done that represents you well, make a list of the things that you think still communicate the message that you want as an artist. Number two, who is doing what you wanna do and how are they doing? Pick three artists, write it down, give different attributes for each, take a look at it, start a Pinterest page, and number three, set your parameters and go, make sure that you'd order up exactly what you want so that when you get it, you get what you asked for, your direction will change and develop and then change again, this process should be applied and be applied over and over for best results, and if you wanna contribute to other ways that you have found your niche or wanna ask questions about others and find some more within our community, what's the best way to contact his date?
0:18:52.7 S1: You can not reach us at musicians pcar dot com or send us an email at musicians are at gmail. And if you haven't yet already, please make sure you do rate, subscribe and comment as always, thank you for joining us and remember, there is already enough for everyone, you just need to know how to get it until next time, on behalf of Dave Hampton and myself, Chris web, please stay safe. Stay healthy and take care of each other.
0:19:19.8 S2: Targeting your niche should never be ready, fire aim
0:19:25.3 S1: Is his musicians, tepco.
0:19:28.2 S2: Nothing on this show should be considered specific personal or professional advice, please consult an appropriate tax, legal isles or financial professional for individualized advice. Individual results are not guaranteed, and older cat strategies have a potential for profit or as those are operating on behalf of musicians, tip jar, LLC exclusively in Alabama, to win a spear-shot block and a writing resolution, the brand of the region and the purple while in blackwa. I Blackwater. I bring the baby in, a-B. A gift given to a given Jost as you can amiodarone a haroo. So I backseat