If you have yet to hear of Hiive yet, they are a brand new industry network helping creative people showcase their work, help them get jobs and also give them access to educational resources. We’ve been chatting to their team recently and decided we would like to get involved by giving you some of our top tips for running an online music blog. We get asked all the time about this so here is your chance to learn a few tricks from us at HTF. Pen and paper at the ready? Good, let’s get cracking.
Quality Over Quantity
Back at the start of HTF we were all about getting as much content up as possible and that didn’t always do well for us. Due to the sheer volume that was being published sometimes we didn’t always have time to check things over properly and some articles would contain mistakes and some were just plain messy. It’s much better to take the time out and write one really good article and make sure it’s as perfect as possible than batter out five just because you can. One decent article can get the same views as five standard ones so always go for quality above all else and it’s going to ultimately bring in more readers and make you look better. Mistakes will always happen but keeping them to a minimum is key.
Be Original
Write your own original content and don’t just post the same things as everyone else. Think outside the box and get creative. Some of the most crazy ideas we have ever had have ended up being our most popular so let your brain run wild. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Really Make Use Of Social Networks
Unless you are lucky enough to nail your sites SEO then chances are most of your traffic will come from your social networks. Make sure you always have at minimum a Facebook and Twitter account for your site and keep them updated with every single article you do. Also look into tools such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck which can help you schedule things in advance and also help you connect with your readers in different time zones than you. Scheduling posts for times when people on the other side of the world may be awake could help boost your views.
Network, Network, Network
Get to know as many people on the scene as you can. Start local and get to know your local promoters, photographers, bands etc. From there you will probably get to know other people connected to them and so on. The more people you know the more opportunities that could come your way. A perfect example of this is a good friend of mine Tom. Tom used to be in a few local bands and used to design a lot of the local show flyers. Now he designs t-shirts for Katy Perry, Foo Fighters and The Rolling Stones and through our friendship I’ve been lucky enough to attend a secret Foo Fighters show and have AAA passes on the last Taking Back Sunday tour. Chances are, you now own one his band t-shirts that he designed. Networking not only connects you to other people in your industry but can also create life-long friendships so get out there and meet people.
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Hope those few tips are useful and remember to check out Hiive if you’re looking to kickstart your creative career. Hiive are also giving away a Wacom Tablet and Creative Cloud subscription for the most striking entries on their Photoshop Tennis Swarm competition that they have running, so if you enjoy making some crazy images then get involved.
