In my spare time, one of my interests is music and band marketing. Specifically, how to use video to increase exposure throughout the music industry. When it comes to music marketing, there is almost no one more knowledgable on the topic than Derek Sivers.
A week ago, Sivers gave a talk at South by Southwest. The point of this talk was to give advice to attending musicians about how they should spend their time at the conference.. The key takeaway: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! That’s right; all the networking and marketing that you do as a person, band, or business is successful only when you can turn the conversation in the interest of the person you are speaking with. Asking people about their lives is the only true way to figure out what they need, and how you can help them.
In a very key use of rich media, Sivers himself turned the tables and asked his fans to give their advice to fellow musicians. It was a very “meta” way to show how powerful his key point could be by putting it into practice on the spot. This made for a very interesting content-call on his blog where 60 or so participants filmed themselves dishing out their very own practical advice. Some, not all, of the blurbs were shown at the conference but a little bit of promotion was given to each participant afterward on his blog.
His presentation was a clear and powerful use of rich media. Sivers certainly has enough knowledge and experience to give the talk all by himself. But relying on his base to drive his point showed humility, wisdom and faith that the followers of his own advice were worthy to chime in with their own tips and tricks.
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