Chris Garrett is one of the better bloggers on the subject of blogging.
Regardless of what business you’re in, the act of being an authority — or, as I’ve put it elsewhere, being thought of as an opinion leader — is a very strong driver of traffic, builder of loyalty and securer of careers. More so than pretty much any other online strategy you might care to name.
As an independent music industry professional, musician or related entrepreneur, ‘what you think’ is hugely important – perhaps an even more important asset than ‘who you know’. As long as a) you tell people; and b) they think you’re right.
Chris is running a competition on his blog. It’s a really great opportunity – and I’d like for you to win it please.
The competition
SOBCon08 is a conference in Chicago in May. Think of it as business school for blogging — or blogging school for business. It’s small and focused on genuinely beneficial and actionable information. A series of mastermind meetings. You’ll get quality time with real experts giving real, applicable knowledge.
These are people who can genuinely be useful for your online music business.
Now, I can’t say this strongly enough:
We need independent music industry professionals at SOBCon.
People who can attend, absorb, report back and become true authority bloggers in the music sector. People who can ask the stupid questions, bridge the gap between the music industry people and the technology crowd. People who can apply that authority, communication and business skill to their own music enterprise – and share the knowledge with others in the sector.
And, of course, the more you can learn about being an authority, the more people are going to come and hear what you have to say… and get the chance to hear, like and buy your music.
But wait… there’s more
If you win, and you’re a New Music Strategies reader — I’ll add to the prize too.
Follow the instructions on the competition page, get the $2000 worth of blog consulting and conference support – and I’ll personally throw in an hour of consultancy for your online music enterprise… and give you a guest blogging spot here on New Music Strategies so you can share your newfound wisdom.
Of course, if three days of blogging seminars and a really valuable bit of consultancy on authority blogging is not your cup of tea, then of course, I’d be delighted to head to Chicago on your behalf, and (naturally) blog everything I learn there here on the site.
But actually – I’d be over the moon if you took the prize. There should be more people talking about this stuff, discussing the changing media environment and how that affects the music business – and if you can do that from a grass roots level, and spread the word for your own music endeavour at the same time – then so much the better.
Good luck!