What is TIM?
TIM is an acronym for the independent musician.
That’s you. You are TIM.
Celebrate The Launch Of TIM Talks
Could you use a some free money to invest in your musical pursuits?
With the launch of the new podcast, I’m doing a drawing for a $100 gift card to Sweetwater Music. Head on over to freemusicgift.com and enter the drawing to win.
If you’re using the podcast app on the iPhone phone right now, just tap the TIM Talks podcast image and the link will pop right up. The drawing closes on Thursday March the 26th, and I’ll be announcing the winner in the 12th episode of TIM Talks, which will go live on Monday March 30th.
So make sure you enter soon!
Again that’s freemusicgift.com
TIM Talks: A New Podcast For Musicians Who Don’t Like Traditional Music Marketing
Here we are in the very 1st episode of TIM Talks. I’m fired up!
As we kick things off here at TIM Talks, I want to share with you somewhat of an aha-moment that I had a few years ago.
But first, if you’re not familiar with who I am, my name is Nate Fancher. I am an unsigned, self-published indie artist, songwriter, and indie artist coach.
I started my first podcast two years ago called the CMB Podcast. Many of you listening have probably come over from that podcast, but many of you may be brand new listeners and don’t know a thing about me.
I have a personal blog at natefancher.com where I’ve been blogging about music, spiritual life, family, art, and all kinds of other random stuff since about 2006.
A few years into my blogging journey, I began to notice an uptick in my traffic – thanks to the wonderful people of Google – but I didn’t take it seriously until around 2011/2012 when I was introduced to the world of mediapreneurship. I was immediately fascinated with guys like Cliff Ravenscraft, Pat Flynn, Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, David Siteman Garland, Corbet Barr… Guys like that.
I know I’m dropping a lot of names right now. You might have heard of some of those guys, or maybe none of those guys, but they inspired me to take all my online stuff to the next level.
So I took action started my first podcast in 2013 with consistent episodes until last year, and the process I’ve been through over the last two years has really led to this moment.
During this journey, like I said, I had an aha moment. well at the time more of a question, but this moment set me on a journey that has been quite a wild ride….
It’s no secret that the music industry has dramatically changed since the advent of the digital revolution. The music business has been in constant flux trying to adapt as fast as they can to the almost daily changes in the digital music world.
And so my question was simple. Could an independent artist build a platform with an “internet first” approach.
The guys I mentioned earlier had started real businesses online that served real audiences…
They were using their blogs, social media, podcasting, email marketing, video production, etc. These guys simply started building an audience and a tribe completely on their own. No major publishing deals or massive corporate endorsements in the beginning. Pure entrepreneurship.
Could an indie artist do the same thing?
I’m sure you’re thinking UH “Nate what rock were you hiding under?” The answer is an obvious YES.
Look at bands like Pomplamoose who sold over 100,000 downloads in 2009 because of going viral on YouTube, I mean there are several examples of groups that have exploded on the scene because of this non-traditional independent digital music phenomenon.
Or Nate c’om man…. let’s go way back to, Ani Defranco or The Dave Matthews Band. You know groups in the late nineties early 2000s, who were challenging the status quo and forging their own paths completely on their own without any major label help, even before the huge changes with the internet happened….. This is in fact the story of most successful artists in the beginning.
You might be thinking… Nate you’re late to the game dude!
But that’s not what I’m talking about.
Yes that’s a huge part of indie music success. Challenging the status quo, forging your own path, doing something that is so great that it’s contagious and people share it with whatever tools they have at their disposal. I’m not at all discounting that.
I’m talking about guys like John Osjaca over at the music marketing manifesto who as an artist has built a career from doing things that seem less sexy… Placing adds, writing blog posts, and generating web traffic.
Or David Nevue who is an amazing pianist that composes and records his own instrumental piano music and has grown a business from his website, making 6 figures consistently every year, and hardly any touring.
Or take author Jeff Goins who was able to build an email list to a little over 100,000 subscribers over the course of about a year and a half.
There are many more on the author side like Jeff (who by the way is a musician himself) but on the recording artist, songwriter, indie-band side there doesn’t seem to be much of this.
Most musicians are still trying to play the music marketing game according to the old rules. They’re still thinking too heavily about radio, touring, traditional media, record labels…
These things aren’t bad, we’ll talk about some of them here…..
But I wonder if it’s possible to turn it around, where it’s an online game being served by the offline efforts.
What if there’s another way entirely to build a real, engaged audience of people who love your music and art, using the internet?
That’s what T.I.M. is all about.
And let me say this….
This podcast WILL NOT BE for everyone…. I make no bones about it.
The strategies that I’ll be diving into with TIM aren’t for every artist… This stuff isn’t for everyone.
Who T.I.M. Is Not For
You’re A Hermit Artist
If you are disgusted with the thought of being a business person, and all you want to do is write songs in a remote cabin all the time, then this is definitely not for you. I’m not saying there’s something wrong with you. You should be true to yourself. The only thing I would say is that if your art is awesome and no one gets the chance to hear it, that’s a waste.
You Don’t Enjoy Learning New Things
Much of what I talk about will have a learning curve. I will try to teach in such a way that you can easily grasp the concepts, but there will be some stretching for sure. Especially if you’re not used to technology.
You don’t have to be a coder or anything that fancy. All you need is a hunger for learning. If you don’t have that, then this new podcast will not be for you.
You Think That Technology, Computers, Social Media, and the Internet Are Necessary Evils
I’ve heard several artists say that before. They look at all this online stuff, and begrudgingly do certain things online because they feel like they have to, since guys like me are saying you should.
I’ve honestly been in this boat before. I can’t count the number of times I have said something like “Oh man it’s been forever since I’ve posted something on my blog… I should probably write something soon.”
I would drag myself to the computer and try to force something because it was a “necessary evil”.
Evil is never necessary.
Here’s Who T.I.M. Is For
Indie Artists Trying To Forge A Real Career Out Of Their Art
If you’re working to produce something of value that the world will be served by, and put food on the table in the process, then you will be served by this new podcast.
If you want to make a real, sustainable career with your art, then you must be online. Yes there are a lot of different ways that can look, but if you want something that scales and keeps you from starving, the internet has to fit into your business plan at some level.
Musicians Who Don’t Want To Be On The Road All The Time
David Nevue is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. He has been able to bring in a healthy income with little to no touring.
He’s not the only example. There are many more that I’ll be talking about on the podcast, but this is an important issue.
Artists Who Are Wondering If There’s Another Way To “Make It” In The New Music Economy
This is tied to the previous one, but would you rather do it the old way, touring 200 dates a year and making 50K, or would you rather stay at home with your family and make twice or even three times that much?
Seems like a no brainer.
Artists Who Aren’t Afraid To Talk About Money
It’s about to get real.
Why is money such a touchy subject for artists?
If Jesus talked about money as much as he did, then it must be an important subject. When it comes to business, how you handle and view financial matters will either make or break your pursuits.
If you’re with me on this, then this new podcast will resonate with you.
Action Items For Episode 1
Take the “TIM Marketing Health Check”
This will help you get an honest look at your online efforts. It’s pretty great. It will give you a little grade at the end and everything…
Give it a shot here:
Episode 2 Preview
In the next episode I’ll be talking about what I consider to be the 4 pillars of the indie musician online. I’ll be diving in to the core pillars that all this online stuff is built on… At least for this particular era of the internet.
The four pillars are simple but vastly important…
And really everything I’ll be talking about on the podcast falls into these 4 categories at some level. So definitely don’t miss the next episode.
Alright guys, that’s a wrap for today. We’ll see you next time right here on TIM Talks.
Rate And Review The Podcast!
Please consider leaving a review for the podcast! If you’ve never done the iTunes podcast review thing, I’ve put together a nice little step-by-step how-to-leave-a-review, instruction page HERE.
iTunes reviews really help out the podcast. It’s not only a great way to show up more consistently in iTunes searches so that more folks like yourself find us, it’s also really important for me to know what’s helping and what’s not helping. That feedback is very valuable to me so please head over to iTunes and leave a review. Again that’s theindependentmusician.com/itunes.
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