Hi Darren, Good question! I for one use social media as much as I can (twitter, face book myspace and youtube). The objective though is to try to drive traffic to your web site. I try to blog and or post news on my site as often as I can, but I haven't been doing the best job here of late... I go on absolutely every radio show, podcast or blog that asks me for interviews, or is open to having new artists join them. I have also retained a publicist and a radio promotions person. Neither of these folks are doing anything for me right now, but they will fire up about a month before my record is released... I can't afford to keep a publicists on retainer and working every month. That runs into huge money... If one can afford that expense that's the way to go... Also I have found the best promotion to be your gigs. So much of what we do is based on our live performance. The folks who listen to you because of word of mouth, are the best patrons. Those are the people who line your pockets... Having a person retained to promote you is the best and most sure fire way to go places... I use to want to do everything myself, but the truth is, I'm not qualified. What do I know about getting publicity? Not much! Sure, I get a fare share of stuff myself, but it always takes me longer, and its always smaller fish than my publicist gets. I have tried to stop doing things that I aint the best at, and focus on the things which I'm more competent... My stress level has went way down, and things get done more swiftly. Always keep in mind that old saying, "it takes money to make money." In the music business that is strong and factual information. If you have the money you can be on any label you want, and have some big hits. That's a promise and a fact. I know people who do it. I don't have that kind of bred myself but, I maximize the funds I do have. Shawn ----- Original Message ----- From: Darren H To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 7:36 AM Subject: [ddots-l] OT: How do you promote yourself? Hi folks. Interested to hear your thoughts on this one, and it's a pretty basic question. What do you personally do to promote yourself? How do you get yourself more fans, customers, whatever you wish to call it. How do you keep in touch with them? Do you use social media to its fullest potential? OK, I'll leave the floor open. I'll cross post this to MidiMag for more input. Cheers Darren