Columns Who needs fans? The importance of building and nurturing a fan club
It seems that all too often bands come along and just expect fans to fall in line, buy up their music and merchandise and attend their shows. They seem to think that they can randomly add "friends" to their Myspace page and everyone who accepts their friend add request has not only taken the time to visit their page and listen to their music but actually liked it to you.
I hate to wake you up from such a wonderful and pleasant dream but it doesn’t work like that. It takes a lot more than a lofty list of "friends" to have and keep fans.
You might have thousands of fans on your Myspace page but how many of them are really friends or fans? I like the one in 100 rule. For every 100 people on your list, you have one real fan. It's an estimate at best but it's actually pretty accurate. The more popular your band is, you can drop that to a one in 50 rule. For every 50 people, you have one real fan. Shocking isn't it? But think about it. If you're in a band with 1,000 fans how many people actually attend one of your shows to see you? Be honest and don't count venue byproducts (ie. Bar regulars, other bands & their girlfriends.) Ten? Twenty? I bet I'm right. Those are your fans. What have you done for them lately?
Chances are you've sold them t-shirts and CDs. But what have you done for them? Anything? Little things count here. Did you remember one of their birthdays and send out a Myspace comment to their profile? Did you recognize one of them from the stage for driving a long distance to come to one of your shows? Did you give them something for free? Did you say hi to a familiar face? Do you value your fans as friends? I hope so because every time you do something even that small and seemingly insignificant you're earning a new fan. And let's face, it we're all trying to get new fans that will come to show after show and buy our music. But don't just treat your fans like wallets with eyes. That would be your biggest mistake.
I'd hope that you treat every fan like a friend. Sure, you most likely won't invite all your fans (or friends for that matter) to an after party or onto your tour bus but you would chat with them, take photos with them, and have drinks with them. You'd give a friend a demo track that your band has recorded and heck you might even give them a copy of your new CD for free just for being a good friend. Why not treat your fans the same way?
Bands that have rabid fans (ie. The Donnas & their fans, The Donnaholics) have figured out the secret to nurturing their fans and keeping them coming back for more. Aside from playing great music, bands like The Donnas offer their fans things that people outside of the fan club can't get. Exclusive music, free t-shirts, signed exclusive cds, dvds and posters; fan club membership cards, stickers, meet and greets, fan club shows, white elephant gifts, and interactivity like you wouldn't believe. Donnaholics get the opportunity to do live chats with the band via chatroom and sometimes even by telephone in addition to everything else they get. How many other bands offer things like that? It's no wonder that fans of The Donnas keep coming back for more.
But you don't have to be at the same level of success as The Donnas. Even as a fledgling band you can do a lot of these things with just a little foresight and thought. Set up a Web site and create a section for your fans to interact with each other. Set up a chatroom and a message board. Go there often and interact. Set up a band profile at www.reverbnation.com. You can offer exclusive tracks to fans to either stream or download once they register as your fans. Give away stickers at your shows. Hold contests for guest list spots. Post comments on your fans' Myspace pages and don't forget to respond to messages they leave you. Set up an artist profile at www.myxer.com and offer free cell phone ringtones and wallpapers for your fans to download for free. They'll do it, and they'll tell their friends.
Before you know it, you're going to have fans that come out to your shows and want to be involved. They'll want to post flyers for you about upcoming shows and they'll even be willing to shell out their hard earned cash for t-shirts. Just remember, once you earn a fan you must nurture that relationship. Don't stop treating your fans as friends. You're nothing without fans.
