One of my favorite things about my role at Strategic Blend is keeping up with clients, and seeing what they’re up to, how they’re using their digital properties, and watching them grow!

Some examples of recent innovative uses come from Drivin N Cryin, Karli Whetstone (and her new site theme), and The CO

DNC

Drivin N Cryin is a great example of motivating your community in a time of crisis/tragedy.  In a blog post dated Sept 13th, Drivin N Cryin took to their website with the following message:

Between 3:45am and 6am on Saturday September 11, Drivin N Cryin’s tour trailer containing their stage gear was stolen from the La Quinta Inn at x-169 on I-75 in Macon, GA. The black Quicksilver Racing 5×10 trailer held the band’s guitars, amplifiers, drums, merchandise and stage production gear. A complete list can be viewed here: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=5912085821&topic=15178#topic_top and photos can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=235150&id=5912085821. 3 items have since been recovered at a pawn shop in Atlanta, GA. The person responsible for pawning these 3 items has been identified as Atlanta resident Reginald Ellis. More information on Ellis can be found here:http://www.drivinncryin.com/thief/.

Drivin N Cryin would like to thank their friends, fans, the Georgia music community and the Atlanta/Macon media for the outpouring of support and assistance. For 25 years, you guys have been the best fans. We are truly grateful.

Not only is this horrible for a touring band, but especially for a band that’s been on the road for 20+ years.  Taking a look at some of that gear will make any music fan tear  up.

Using social media (and not to mention craigslist, hilarious!) to showcase the gear stolen, adding a page to the site to help catch the theif (that rotten bastard).  The general response has been overwhelming.  Bringing an entire musical community together in the search for their stuff, and, more importantly, getting the word out that they’d been robbed, someone was pawning their shit, and THIS IS THAT DUDE.

A great use of WordPress, a great use of facebook, and a good strategy in a time of panic.  DNC, may all your stuff be found, may it all be in one piece, and may they put Reginald Donta Ellis in a cell UNDER the jail, and never let him loose.

Karli Whetstone

Karli’s career has been steadily progressing, and she decided to give the site a new look!  What I feel is a more grown up / sophisticated look and feel.

In addition she’s also begun blogging.  And unlike this blogger…. she’s diligent.   Rarely missing a day to update you on what’s going on in her world.  It’s very “daily diary” in nature, and is currently the most popular section of her site.  Between that and a persistent twitter feed, her fans know what she’s up to every day… and that will pay off in spades!

A loyal, devout, and connected following is a very powerful thing!

The CO

The CO are one of my favorite artists we’ve worked with.  They just GET IT!  They have integrated every portion of their digitally owned properties into a really robust site.

Troy’s Blog is filled with some great video updates, quick quips and stories… and most importantly, his passion for giving back to the world around him.

Collin’s Blog has great introspection, and images.

Not to mention the great video blog on the general band blog page

Much like Karli’s site, you really get a sense of who these guys are, and what they’re up to!

So here’s to you guys…. I hope to continue learning from you, growing with you, and helping find success with you.

The Billboard Site

There’s the Billboard site, it’s informational, doesn’t really ask you to do anything, but tries to convey information in a concise and direct manner.  Sometimes it will walk you through the ins and outs of a product service.  It doesn’t pressure you to act immediately, but hopes to leave an impression, like driving by a billboard on the highway.  Their hope is the imagery and information stay with you long enough to a) visit their establishment, b) tell someone else about their business, or c) make you aware of their business so that you think of them next time you’re in need of their products/services.  Think of it as a multi-page ad in a magazine.  These sites should always gather an email address of those that are interested in the product, and give the brand an opportunity to reconnect with interested visitors.

The Sales Site

Most Billboard sites think they are Sales sites, but they fail at one crucial juncture.  To transform the user visit into a transaction.  The sales site drives you to action, it describes the product, but asks you to buy, or sign up, or act at every turn.  These sites, if poorly designed can seem overbearing and pushy at times.  A well designed sales site can be a great revenue stream (and sometimes the ONLY revenue stream) for an organization.  Well crafted messaging and product description are critical, where to place sales pitches are important as well, but most important is turning a casual visitor into a customer.

The Content Site

This site is heavy on, you guessed it, content.   The main purpose of this page is to inform consistently with new and relative content each post.  Much like this blog that you’re reading right now.  We rarely ask you to act and purchase anything, we occasionally call out our services, but the inherent reason you’re here is to read our ramblings, get some ideas, and potentially put them into practice.

The Issue with these Three Site Types:

Most sites want to do ALL of this stuff.  They want to thoroughly inform you of their product, hopefully get you to spread the good word about what it is they do.  Not only do they want you informed, but they’d LOVE for you to make a purchase of some sort.  They want action, follow through, and they want to know who you are so they can reach out to you and keep you coming back for more.  Moreover than just selling you on something, they want to PROVE to you have a great deal of knowledge in their craft.  They want to tell you how to use their products/services and build a rapport through consistent updates of content.

When you try to put all of this stuff on one site, it can become distracting and confusing.  I could call out hundreds of sites that have been constructed asking you to “check out my band” and also “buy this album” and also “check out our blog” and also “look at our tour dates”, etc.   These are all great aspirations, but what is MOST important to you.  What do you want featured?   Is it most important for people to know about you and what you’re doing?  If that’s the case then the blog/journal is your vehicle for your brand.

The primary focus of your site can be a vehicle to promote other aspects of your business (i.e. you can promote your product/service at the end of your blog, read a little further and you’ll see this in action).

Similarly you can use the promotion or sale of a product/service to reach out to your customer base and let them know about your content.  Every site should incorporate a method of capturing email addresses, building a list to reach back out to loyal customers.  When you begin producing enough content to garner followers, it may be a good time to reach out to this customer base via email and let them know there is a new way to keep up with your business.

As you can see, setting up this type of site is not impossible, but the concern becomes content layout.  9 times out of 10 this type of site becomes a disaster area.  There is no streamlined layout to tell the user, “hey, check this out first.”  It’s no surprise that most sites want to have it all.  To do that effectively you’ll need a great plan, a better sitemap, and seamless execution.

If you’re interested in our assistance in building a Billboard, Sales, or Content site, please let us know. (ah-ha, there’s a call to action)

Moreover, if you’re looking to “have it all,” we’ve mastered the art of focusing on one element of your business and connecting those pieces to the other (equally important) pieces.  Focusing on what your most viable hook might be, and then continuing the product/service experience with the other elements of your site.   If you’re in this boat…please let us know, we’d love to make your web presence a viable revenue stream, and create a great experience for your site visitors.

But then it happened.  The form letter stating they were no longer a welcome client on the server.  Their hosting was to be cut off, no site, and no way to transition their current site to a new host (due to a proprietary platform on which their current site was built).

This brought up an interesting discussion here at “The Blend”.  Part of our solution for clients was giving them the ability to run the show, first we thought that only from a content perspective.  But in the long run, we’re learning that setting them up with their own hosting is equally as important.  When you own your own hosting solution, there is no doubt that you’ll have an active site (as long as you pay the bills).  It’s the difference between renting and owning.

No matter how secure you think your web solution may be, when you leave it up to another company… it’s only as secure as that companies future.  You’re merely renting that server space.  If the company goes, then, too, goes your site.  If that company decides to refocus assets, change direction, or sell outright, your website could be a casualty.

So the Strategic Blend solution is to set you up with your own hosting.  It’s cost effective, 99.99% up time, and best of all… only you can turn it off.

Own people, the time of renting is over.

We can’t stress this enough OWN YOUR CONTENT, own your site, own your hosting…. don’t leave it up to a company that could go out of business.

If you need help setting that up.   Shoot us an email.

Perhaps I woke up on the wrong side of the couch this morning. Maybe my coffee is too strong. Or maybe SonyBMG is so stupid about their online marketing efforts that they deserve to be ridiculed first thing the morning… every morning, until they stop damaging their own artist brands.

Case in point:

I’m a new superfan of a band called Low vs. Diamond. They played ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ last week and just plain knocked me out. (This is why God invented TIVO, by the way.) They have a decidedly English vibe about them a la The Verve and/or The Kooks, but hail from the good ole US of A.

But to my point- I became a fan, wanted to learn and hear more, and made the mistake of visiting their official website to do so.

The first thing on the page is a banner promoting, not my new favorite band, but Epic Records. Clearly, they want me to click on the dropdown lists of artists I DIDN’T just come here to learn more about. Next is a link to “Videos.” “Low vs. Diamond videos?” you may ask. No. It’s a link to the “Videos” page on MyPlay.com, where Bow Wow, Daughtry and Alicia Keys are currently making an appearance, but not even a mention of the band I’m here to see.

Wait! There’s more!

Next up is a link to “Shop.” And you guessed it… It’s a link to the MyPlay store, where Michelle Williams is front and center. John Mayer, Neil Diamond and Billy Joel all make the list… and again, the band that sent me here is no where to be found.

Get the point? There are also links to contests, newsletters and an invitation to surf the web courtesy of Google. They make money on those searches, by the way. Sending visitors to ‘not this site’ is a very profitable business for young artists, I’m sure.

All of this and I haven’t even made it 5 centimeters down the page.

I won’t speak to the design aesthetic of the site as those things tend to be more about personal taste than “right vs. wrong.” I will note, however, that the links in the middle of the page that display news, tour dates, bio, etc, are not the same links, with the same headings, as those that appear at the bottom of the page. Those links take you back over to “MyPlay,” where the band’s bio reads, “… iTunes offers fans an opportunity to purchase the band’s upcoming self-titled album months before its release this summer.”

10 brownie points to the person that can spot what’s wrong with that statement. (Hint: the band has already released their album, summer isn’t months from now, and biographies shouldn’t contain date-relative statements if they aren’t going to be updated frequently. Obviously it’s been at least “months” since this version was posted.)

And as if all of this weren’t enough to convince labels to get their heads out of their arses, the band’s site contains banner advertising, which I guarantee doesn’t earn them enough money to justify the dilution of their brand. Kenny Chesney literally takes more screen space on their Dates page than the promo of their own album up top. (Screen shot below.) I can’t make this stuff up, folks. It’s such an insult to the artist’s own brand it should go without saying, but it doesn’t help Epic, either. How much do you think they spent on the market research that led them to believe that Low vs. Diamond fans had any interest whatsoever in Bow Wow, Alicia Keys or Kenny Chesney? I’m guessing they spent zero dollars on that research, but did pay a high six figure salary to the marketing executive that thought this label-wide strategy was a good idea.

I’m probably not doing myself any favors by railing on a company affiliated with my past and potentially future clients, but this stupidity MUST be stopped for the sake of these artists and their fans. Why bother having an “official” site at all if you’re just going to spam it up, neglect it and insult the people visiting?

And to think… they truly believe that “copyright infringement” is the reason artists have a harder time making a living in today’s world than they did just a decade ago… but that’s another can of worms.

Visit Pinky’s latest venture: http://musicmarketing.ning.com