One-on-One Conversations

This training will be full of metrics, data, engagement, talk of automations, blah blah blah…

I mean, if you know us by now, I’m sure you expected this.

But one thing we absolutely cannot forget, especially throughout THIS training, is that everything we’re doing is in service of a real, living, breathing human fan.

That’s why I want to take this video early on in the training to talk about...talking.

Everything that will come up throughout this training is a low resolution analog to actually standing in front of that fan and having a conversation with them.

This is extremely important to keep in the back of our minds. The more we can uphold this as a tenant of our marketing, the more natural and specific our efforts will feel in the Education phase and beyond.

If you are a newer artist, you may also be new to the concept of people directly messaging you on Facebook or Instagram on their own accord. You might be really new to the concept of these fans wanting to message you just because they thought your song was awesome.

If this is a new concept to you, then I would say get ready - because it WILL happen to you. And, it’s honestly the best feeling ever.

But before we can get into some more tech-oriented “automatic” skills, we will want to know the feeling of having these actual conversations. We will want to know what kind of people message us, what they respond to, what their sense of humor is like, etc - because otherwise, we will not be able to develop said skills with a good design philosophy MADE for our fans.

So, there’s not much to this video other than the importance of your first DM conversations, and best practices for how to have them.

Here are my main tips for how to have your first 20 fan conversations:

1. You are not ‘too good’ to converse with fans.
   We do things a little differently here at Indepreneur. We don’t believe that mystique and retaining a sense of ‘fame’ are key to success. We simply believe that finding the fan and continuing to delight them is what builds our music business.
   
   So when a fan messages, that is a proverbial customer in your proverbial restaurant. You want to make them feel at home, make them feel seen, and get them everything you can to show them you care that they care.
   
   
2. Be grateful.
   When your fan chooses to DM you out of the blue merely to tell you that they enjoy your art, they are being brave and putting themselves on the line. They don’t know if you’ll respond and they don’t expect you to. Be extremely friendly and grateful to them for their interest in your output and thank them for their message.
   
   Your goal here is to secure this fan and let them feel free to continue talking.
   WE WANT to have a conversation. We want to know what our fans are like and what their common interests are.
   
   
3. Don’t be afraid to have an actual conversation.
   Our goal is to learn about our fans - so extending the conversation to ask more questions and pick up on more cues is the goal. Answer your fans’ questions. Be forthcoming with information, and don’t take days to respond.
   
   
4. Let them feel “exclusive”.
   If the conversation naturally leads to a point of intrigue or a natural “next step” of the funnel, let them know about it. Keep a variety of links/hidden content/surprise resources available and pass them to fans you’re conversing with if they show interest.
   
   Share fun facts and information about you that they wouldn’t be able to discern through your average bio or interview.
   
   
5. If you need to set boundaries, do so.
   There will come a fan that doesn’t understand that your time isn’t simply theirs to sop up with conversation. If you need to simply say you don’t have time to talk all the time, do so. An example could be “hey, I’m not on here all the time because of recording commitments and other things, but I do try to reply once a day.”
   
   You may want to set a reply schedule so that fans don’t think that you’re ‘on demand’ for them and them only. Set a block every night after work to reply to DMs, for example.
   
   If you need to block someone, do it. A fan is not worth feeling scared, disrespected, or threatened, ever.

Attracting REAL conversations is a fantastic sign that you are making an impact. Capitalizing on this occurrence is invaluable to us and will inform the design of every conversation we have henceforth, whether it be through a webpage, a chatbot, or an actual, real conversation.

I highly recommend that you have a good number of conversations while abiding by these tips before you move on to the rest of the videos in this training - but this is not a necessity. I just want to highlight the importance of genuine human connection.

Now that we know all about “why” we’re doing what we’re doing in Education, let’s move along to the next set of videos.