It seems like social media tips are all the rage this week, so I thought I would throw in my two cents -
I know I have spoken before about the true value of using all the social media available, Twitter, Myspace, Facebook etc...and some of you are on it and some of your are still non-believers, but what I want to focus on is some of the etiquette and expectation in the music industry, and well anywhere really, and for anyone using social media, especially as a business or marketing tool.
At the end I'll link to a great little blurb from Derek about being polite, but now I just want to try and decipher how maybe some of this etiquette got missed....maybe that can help find a way to remedy a bit of the rudeness that goes on out there in Internet land.
First of all, I should state what I am talking about in terms of 'etiquette'. It means 'good manners' people. And as it relates to social media as - returning emails, saying thank you to compliments and favors, finishing what you start....etc etc I am sure I can think of more, but these are the ones that really get me.
All I can come up with, is that maybe people are not aware that these are skills people in general should posess. Possibly there is some deficiency out there in the teaching of communication skills? Perhaps someone who has never had to work face to face with people has never had the chance to develop these skills? I am not making excuses, just trying to justify these behaviors in my mind and give people the benefit of the doubt..
Imagine you have a store on the corner of the street. Lots of people want to shop at your store, but you just keep the door locked and only let your friends in. Your business licence says you are open to the public, but you only like dealing with people you know. Hmmmm...
Or -
Imagine you are in an important business meeting, people are relying on you for work, or important input, and you suddenly get up, walk out and disappear, never to be heard from again. Hmmm...
Or -
Imagine someone goes to the trouble of helping you out. At any time, for any reason, you take what they have to offer, but never say thanks and just walk away. Hmmm.....
These are ongoing events in the music business, venues never responding, people setting things up and then never following through, people taking what you kindly offer, but never giving a word of thanks, even the most simple thing of never responding to an email....
If this was in the real world people, given the examples, it would seem terribly rude, would it not?
Anyway, I can understand if you are busy, if so, put an email responder on your mail program. It's easy to add something that says ' Hey -I got your mail, I'm busy but will get back to you soon!', and then you know, do it! Get back to someone soon!
And maybe emails are going into your spam folder, that's even easier, check it out once in a while!
And you know, if you decide not to follow through on a project or idea, it's not a difficult thing to let the other people know, no hard feelings, just own up to it, otherwise it's bad business and it's not doing much for your image.
And lastly, a really basic one, remember your Ps and Qs. Easy peasy - say please and thank you. Just because you are on-line and people can't look in your eyes, does not make this little gesture any less important.
If you want to get ahead in this business, or any business, every little thing you do goes a long way.
And here goes my two cents about using social media:
~ do not post your gig dates up on twitter during the playoffs, Olympics or other major events - they will probably get missed.
~ do not use a world wide tragedy as a time to post info about your band just because there are lots of people on reading news and updates, same thing, probably nobody will look, and if they do see you there, it seems like you may be taking advantage - uncool.
~ on FB, it's good to try not to post up questionable photos when you are just starting out...it makes pr a lot more difficult.
It's common sense.
Ok Derek's link - such a good one - pass it on - Here it is.
Please and thank you for reading this......
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