4After using the elbow grease to actually get your music webzine up and running, you’re now facing the daunting task of getting your name out there. Never fear! Follow these steps to market your new webzine and help bring new readers to your little corner of the web.
- Be sure to alert any industry contacts to your music webzine. Make sure to email links to publicists when coverage of their artists go live. Not only will this let them know that you are covering the musicians/bands they represent (which leads to access to other acts in the future), they may also use quotes from your webzine in press clippings or advertisements or in further promotion of that artist.Set up profiles on MySpace, Facebook and other social networking websites. Not only are these sites a good opportunity to connect with readers, but they can also help spread the word. Also be sure to post daily or weekly bulletins listing what readers can find on the site that week. Befriend the artists you have coverage for and leave a comment when your articles or reviews go live. The same tactic can also be used at the band’s official website forum or message board.Check out that band’s Wikipedia entry and, if you can, edit it to refer to your webzine as a reference. You can also add a links to interviews or reviews at the bottom of Wikipedia entries.Peruse music blogs and leave comments—and a link to your webzine—behind. You can also ask bloggers to add your Webzine to their links, or, if your site has blogs, ask them to add them to their blogroll.Make sure that your music webzine comes up on search engines such as Google and Yahoo!. If they don’t come up, click on the “Suggest a Site” link on Yahoo or “Dissatisfied? Help Us Improve” link on Google. Type in the link to your webzine and it should begin to appear in searches.Don’t forget about the offline world. When funds allow, print out stickers. Many of your writers will be willing to leave them at local record and coffee shops or pass them out at shows. Pins, t-shirts and flyers are other options, but stickers work best.
