By Heather McDonald, About.com






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Ah, the internet. There's no denying it has turned the music industry upside down. File sharing and the increased popularity of MP3s have both left labels scrambling to update their business models, and musicians have discovered that they suddenly have a lot of tools at their fingertips to take advantage of their own careers. Sure, that's a good thing for musicians - when it's managed properly. The downside of the musician's life online is that the internet is a minefield of scams and opportunities to make some really bad decisions. Here's a rundown of the top mistakes musicians make on the internet


Musicians' Top Mistakes Online


Can MySpace, Twitter, blogging, etc, be very important for your music career? Sure they can. But way too many musicians and music related businesses let these social networking tools become their jobs instead of the music. If you're devoting hours a day to making MySpace friend requests or adding people on Twitter, you're going about this all wrong and have gotten off track a little bit.

The bottom line is that you're not going to win many new fans by being their virtual friend. You're going to win new fans by writing some good music. Social networking is a promotional tool that you can use to let people know about the things you're working on to keep them interested and engaged, and an important part of managing it well is exercising some restraint when it comes to how much time you spend on it versus other things you need to do for your music career.

If you're still unsure, take a good listen to some of the musicians on social networking sites that have tens of thousands of friends/followers - you'll see pretty quickly there's no real correlation between number of friends and musical prowess. Remember why you're online in the first place - to promote your music. Make your offline work the priority.

Paying People To Do What You Could Do For Free

Someday, when you're selling millions of records, you'll be able to pay someone to tie your shoes, pour your coffee, carry your water bottle and any other activity you find downright objectionable. When you're trying to get your music career off the ground, however, you have to spend your money wisely. You can find plenty of people on the internet who are making a tidy little living selling musicians information they could easily find themselves for free if only they devoted an afternoon to the Google. Don't encourage these people (who I find downright objectionable) by using their services. You have better things to spend your money on. A turkey sandwich would be a better investment for your music career than paying someone to copy a label's address off their website and send it to you.


Learn More About Building Your Own Contact Databases:


Build a Press Database

Make a New Music Industry Contact


Musicians' Top Mistakes Online

The internet gives a platform to, well, anyone with an internet connection. When it comes to the music industry, there are A LOT of people weighing in on the discussion. That means you have to become a smart consumer. You're bound to encounter conflicting advice about your music career online. That's not intrinsically a bad thing - there's no one way to do something, and even people with plenty of music business experience disagree on the best approach to getting the job done. Further, different websites are geared towards different audiences, so the advice is different. You can use this disparity in advice to your advantage. Take it all in, weigh it all up, take a little from column A, a little from column B and come up with your own best plan.

That's the good side of the democracy of music industry advice on the internet. There are a few downsides. Here are just a few things to watch out for:

*The All Business, No Music Approch: Sometimes, people with a business background, but no MUSIC business background offer advice on the industry. Musicians can almost always benefit from listening to words of wisdom from someone with some business management know-how, but many people who have not worked in a creative industry don't appreciate the differences between the arts and "regular" businesses. As a musician, you ignore these differences at your peril.
*The Philosophical Approach: Brainstorming strategies is one thing, but don't get so wrapped up in convoluted conversations packed with business buzz words that you don't actually do anything. It's easy to run down this road, but look for solid, clear, actionable advice and try not to get distracted by lofty musings. It's fun to puzzle over aspects of the music industry, but just make sure you strike a balance between staying part of the conversation and accomplishing something concrete.


Paying for Questionable Advice

Even worse than getting bogged down in questionable advice is paying for it. There are A LOT of people out there who have enough understanding of the music industry to recognize that there is a knowledge gap and to know that there are many people who would pay just about any price for a shot at making their music business dreams come true. And so, they charge you an arm and leg (in some cases, two legs) to give you vaguely inspirational, business buzz word filled advice that either has little real world MUSIC BUSINESS application or is just plain wrong.

Please, please, PLEASE don't pay people hundreds and hundreds of dollars to tell you things you probably already know yourself. There are plenty of places online where you can get good, free advice. If you want some real insight into making it in the music industry, check out some interviews with people who have gone down the same road that you're on. Soak up their stories and learn from their successes and failures. It's free, and it's worth way more than most of the advice these people who charge you tons of money to tell you to set up a MySpace page can give you.

Now, I'm not saying here that people shouldn't be compensated for working for you, and if someone comes on board and helps you out with your career, then sure, they should be paid. How can you tell the difference between legitimate opportunities and people who are trying to sell you common sense? The less than legitimate people will tell you that anyone who disagrees with them doesn't know what they're talking about and that anyone who doesn't sign up for their program lacks vision or isn't really committed to making in music. Come on now, you know better than that. The music biz is risky, and a lot of people lose money in it. That's a fact. Just don't lose it to these people.

Not Considering The Source

If you were buying a car and the salesperson proclaimed to you that the future of automotives rests with the car they happen to be selling, you'd take that with a grain of salt, wouldn't you? Well, if there's one thing the internet is not short of it is proclamations about the future of the music industry. Many of the most forceful ones are made by people with a vested financial interest in seeing the future turn out just the way they're saying.

Back to the notion of being a smart consumer online: consider where you're getting your information. If you read a blog that argues passionately that music platform X is the wave of the future, that happens to have been penned by the owner of music platform X, you have a little more research to do before you make up your own mind.

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It seems everyone is constantly raving about all the social sites and just how vital to your business they are. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon, I’ve been running tests on them…and I have to say the majority are greatly over hyped in value.

Some of them are very good resources for contacting potential JV partners or generating a few incoming links (we want those links for the search engines). The majority simply generate unqualified traffic that doesn’t convert and doesn’t buy.

There have been a few exceptions.

One of these is Twitter. In my tests on Twitter I noticed a profit pretty quickly. While most of the time you point to good valuable resources and content, you can tweet about some of your offers. And these tweets have converted into sales.

So the one social site I recommend to everyone now is Twitter.

I don’t have any materials about it yet as I’m still in the learning process. I’ve seen quite a few materials come out on Twitter, but none of them have been good enough to recommend until now.

This past week I received my copy of “Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time!” by Joel Comm.

It’s excellent!

While many books in the internet marketing field are self published, Joel’s new book is published by John Wiley Publishing, a major business book publisher. And it shows in the presentation from beginning to end (although I did notice some typos so far).

Instead of trying to go into detail about each element of the book, here is a list of the chapter titles to show you how every major element is considered and covered from a beginner’s point of view:

An Introduction to the Social Media Landscape

What is Twitter and Why Is It So Powerful

Getting Started the Right Way on Twitter

Building a Following on Twitter

The Art of the Tweet

The Magic of Connecting With Customers on Twitter

Leveraging Twitter for Team Communication

Using Twitter to Help Build Your Brand

Leveraging the Power of Twitter to Drive Behavior in Your Followers

Beyond Twitter.com: Third Party Tools You Will Want to Know

Building Powerful Solutions on Top of the Twitter Platform

Play Nice: Legal Considerations

Putting It All Together: A 30 Day Plan for Dominating Twitter

Power Twitterers

As of right now, I haven’t finished the book yet (it’s 245 pages including the full index at the back). I’m looking forward to getting all the way through it soon.

If you want to grab your copy, pick it up from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Twitter-Power-Dominate-Market-Tweet/dp/0470458429/

Right now Joel is also providing a 4 Week Online Social Media Bootcamp as a bonus which you can register for here:
http://twitterpower.com/workshop/

Neither of those are affiliate links. If you’ve ever considered using any type of social media…I’d recommend Twitter first.

Joel’s book is the best resource I’ve seen on Twitter so far.

When I checked the price on Amazon, it was listed at $16.47 so you can’t beat that price.

If you’re not using Twitter, you’re leaving money on the table. It’s as simple as that.

If you’re experienced with Twitter, you may want to only skim over the first couple of chapters to get into the meat later on in the book as Joel does start from a raw beginner’s viewpoint.

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Today I’ve been checking out Andy Beal’s latest venture - Trackur.

Trackur is an online reputation monitoring tool that has been developed for companies and individuals wanting to take a serious look at what is being said about them in the blogosphere. I can also see the possibilities for using this tool for higher end bloggers who want to track what’s being written about them and/or their niche topic.

The best way to get a handle on Trackur and what it does is to signup for the free 14 day trial. The second best way to understand it is to watch Andy Demo Trackur in the following video.

There are of course free tools that you to monitor the blogosphere (including Google’s News Alerts and Technorati’s Watch Lists) but Trackur is a much more integrated package that is sure to appeal to a higher end user. You can see how it compares to Google News Alerts here:



The importance of such tools to bloggers is significant. Not only do they allow you to monitor what is being said about you and your company in the blogosphere - but to be able to set up tools to monitor when keywords in your niche are being mentioned is very important - particularly if you have a blog with a news focus.

Starting at $18 a month and ranging up to $188 a month I suspect that a lot of ProBlogger readers will stick with the free tools - however for those looking for a more feature rich package Trackur will be a real option.

PS: Speaking of Google News Alerts….
Just as I was writing this post an email hit my inbox with one of my News Alerts. I set up one for “Darren Rowse” and here’s what it sent me today (click to enlarge):



It’s great to get news results and blog results like this each day - however….

1. The first result (highlighted in green) is actually for a post written in May 2007
2. The second result (highlighted in red) is actually for a scraper site that picked up one of my own posts. What I find interesting is that Google News found the scraper site and ranked it and it didn’t find my own site’s version of that post. This is something I see every day in News Alerts - they attempt to cut out the duplicate content but in doing so seem to be promoting scraper versions instead of the original content.
3. Lastly I’m a little confused as to why they sent me an email with 5 search results for my name when their Blog Search Results for my name show 20 or so results in the last 24 hours.

Don’t get me wrong - Google News Alerts rock and are an important part of my own monitoring of keywords that are relevant to me - however they’re not perfect and I know they miss a lot and put up flunky results from time to time - I guess you get what you pay for.

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There is no doubt that marketing on MySpace has become harder. That is not necessarily bad news, as it means that those who take the time and trouble to adjust to the new circumstances will have a far greater chance of success.

It is no longer possible to just blunder onto MySpace, make every mistake in the book, and then expect to make friends and profits. It was inevitable that as MySpace began to enjoy great success, the spammers and exploiters would try to use this to their advantage. It was equally inevitable that MySpace would react by passing tougher regulations to counter this.

Where this leaves us now is that MySpace marketing is still possible, but it needs to be done in a far more subtle way. Even the objectives have fundamentally changed. Instead of promoting products or services, the main task of modern MySpace marketing is self-promotion. By creating a profile which shows you off as being reliable, trustworthy, and knowledgeable about your subject, you can attract other members to you who can become customers or even business associates.

With the huge numbers of people using MySpace every day, most of whom are full mature adults, there is almost limitless potential to turn your time on the site into business leads. The vast majority of people on the site will be interested to some degree in any business opportunity which you can prove will change their lives for the better.

Many of these people will be of the same mentality as you. They will be looking to use the near-unlimited potential of the social networks to build up their own network of contacts. If you can recruit someone like this into your downline, you are obviously setting yourself up for a great deal of potential success.

As with any other form of marketing and promotion, you need to adjust to prevailing trends and keep abreast of the market. MySpace may have changed dramatically, but that does not mean that it is not still an extremely useful tool, which should form part of your marketing campaign. If your business deals with people, then MySpace should be a part of your overall strategy, for no other reason than the sheer numbers of potential leads you can reach.

Scott Geertsen Is An Expert Internet Marketer Who Teaches Other Network Marketers How To Use Cutting Edge Technology To Generate Huge Profits and Endless Leads In Their Business At: http://www.MySpaceSecretz.com

Order Book Here

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Get Paid For Videos

Paid for videos is a new concept of making money on the internet. The idea of paying people for their videos was brought about by the multibillion dollar expansion of YouTube and the rising popularity of watching videos online. YouTube is a video sharing network that has been built up by internet users submitting their videos for free. This gave websites the idea to split the revenue from their videos with them to pull them away from YouTube.

Video sharing networks make all their money from the ads you see on the side. Instead of submitting your good videos to YouTube submit them to a network that will share the ad revenue from your videos with you. That is only fair. MetaCafe, a paid video sharing network, will probaly pass YouTube in the upcoming years in terms of popularity.


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Best Paid For Videos Platforms

MetaCafe is by far the best paid video program on the internet. MetaCafe has millions of people on their site viewing videos every minute of the day. When you upload a video to MetaCafe your video is likely to be viewed by a lot of people. MetaCafe pays $5 for every 1000 times your video is viewed. When you post a new video it is displayed on the MetaCafe home page. The videos I post usually get more than 700 views within the first 10 minutes of being uploaded. After that views slowdown or speed up depending on how good your video is.

Motion.tv is a good paid for videos website. Users get paid to submit videos by getting a share of the ad revenue their videos generate. They have fair pay. It is hard to get page views because they lack in traffic. You can make that up by submitting your videos to social networking sites. For a complete list of social networking sites go to social poster. The minimum payout is $20.

Find more videos like this on motion.tv



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More Paid For Videos PlatformsRevver
Revver is a decent video sharing network. They display targeted google ads next to videos. They split the money 50/50 with the publishers of videos. Revver is a professional looking website with a nice high tech look, but lacks in traffic. They have a user friendly affiliate program. You can embed their videos on your website if you have one. In that scenario the money is split three ways.

Si-Mi
You can sell your videos, podcasts, music, photos, and ebooks at So-Mi. You get 90% commission on everything you sell. Their platform encourages people to upload their digital products with a convienent easy to use platform and fair commissions.

ExpoTV
ExpoTV pays you $.01 each time your video is reviewed. That is equal to $10 per 1000 views. They give a $5 reward for submitting movie reviews plus ongoing royalties. You get a bonus for submitting a certain amount of videos per month.

luluTV
luluTV is a unusual video sharing network. You have to create a shareholder account. After that you get a portion of the revenue from the advertisements placed next to your videos.

mytvbiz
Mytvbiz allows user to upload any type of video. You set a price on your video for people to buy. You earn 70% commissions on every video you sale. The minimum payout is $15. They pay with Paypal.

OnlyStage6
OnlyStage6 is a video sharing network similiar to mytvbiz. You upload videos for sell. You set your own price and earn 90% on each sale. There is a small processing fee on each sale.

SuperIndieFilms
SuperIndieFilms is a platform for selling full movies opposed to making money off short clips. In order to sell a full movie on the website you need to create a movie trailer. You earn 90% commission on each movie you sell.

FlixYa
FlixYa is similiar to revver. You make money off targeted google ad being placed by your videos. You can also make money by referring friends to the website. If you don't have videos of your own you could upload some from YouTube as long as they are not copyrighted.

AtomFilms
AtomFilms encourages users to submit short original films, start your own webshow, or create a original cartoon. If you get approved you will sign a professional contract that states the royalties you recieve from each video.

Current
Current is one of the few sites where pods are popular. Pods are short videos or stories about whats currently going on in the world today. They pay a flat undisclosed rate on each submission. Current even has their own channel on DirecTV. You might be able to get a podcast on national television.

Blip
Blip is only looking for people interested in starting their own web show. If you are interested in starting your own web show do it somewhere else. There is not sufficient traffic on their site to get the most out of your time.

Break
Break is a paid for videos website that has paid over 1 million dollars to members. You can get paid up to $2000 if your video makes it to the frontpage. They will also pay you for pictures. They pay with Paypal.






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Tips To Increase Earnings
Start Your Own Web Show
Starting your own web show is a great idea if you are interested in making videos for money. Some people make a career out of this. People have even landed professional acting jobs for their performances on web shows.
Submit Your Video To All Paid For Videos Websites
The more websites you submit your video to the more money you are going to make. Upload your video on MetaCafe first. All platforms accept MetaCafe and YouTube inclusions. Don't use YouTube because they don't pay you anything.

Add Your Videos To Social Networks
Social networks recieve tremendous traffic and the potential to market your videos. MySpace is an example of a social network. Others include Digg, FaceBook, Twitter, and Propeller. This is another way to get paid for videos.

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