Grow Your Audience - Step 3: Spread YOUR Virus!
Although I'm a fan of e-mail, nothing beats getting a card or a letter IN THE MAILBOX from your favorite band. It's the kind of thing people tell each other about: ("I got this COOL postcard today!") You can even outsource your mailings to a specialist (every city has a few), or handle them online with a service like Eletter (http://www.eletter.com).
You'll obviously want to give tour dates in your mailings, but you should also find ways to add value to your audience's mailbox. Toss in a quick blurb from your road journal, or mention something you think your audience would find amusing. Again, anything that puts you in personal contact with someone makes them more willing to tell their friends about you.
Once you've got your mailing list up and running, set yourself a regular publication schedule. Most bands I work with prefer to do this monthly, since most venues book their gigs about 4-8 weeks in advance anyway. Get your mailings out on time, and as far in advance as possible. That way, the person who signed up for your list has time to round up a posse of friends to bring to your next gig.
3. Getting your virus out on the web...
Would it surprise you if I told you that most indie band websites are designed with the WRONG audience in mind? Web designers work for clients, and not always for audiences. So I see a lot of sites that cater to the band's ego, but not to the real needs of the audience.
Sure, there will always be a place on your website for political diatribes, or scans of your grade school report card. But you really should just hand your website over to your audience. Give them a venue to talk about you - put up a bulletin board, and make some postings there! Give them the opportunity to generate content for you - even if they post a review that's bad! And give them (and yourself) the opportunity to talk about other bands that you like.
You may feel that this isn't really accomplishing much. But turning over the reins of your site to your audience will attract more listeners. When you build a forum for someone, they'll bring other people to help populate that forum. If you're worried about controlling your public image, and that's a legitimate concern, then build two websites: the "official" and the "unofficial." Nobody
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