Without a doubt, the undisputed best way to promote your band is to let everyone else do the promotion for you. (Yeah, I'm lazy...so what?). Nothing beats letting the 3^rd party marketing machine run it's course. You get the word out a little bit and then you can watch the word about your band spread like the AIDs virus. (Actually, imagine if you could spread the word about your music via sexual intercourse. I'll have to work on that product !). Seriously, it's totally possible to get an enormous buzz about your band or music by getting people to tell their friends. There is only one catch.....How do you get people to tell their friend?

Give Them Something To Talk About

I've never quoted a Bonnie Rait song in my life, and probably never will again, but she did say “Let's Give Them Something To Talk About”. If you can get that through your thick skull, you'll be able to sit back on your hammock with Playmates eating grapes. (Even if you are female). So the question you need to be asking yourself is “How do I give my fans something to talk about?” or “What can I do that will get my fans talking?”.

In almost every case, doing something crazy or shocking has been effective. This may not be effective for Jewel, but it has been effective for Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, KISS, and Maryln Manson. However, shocking people is not the only way to do something newsworthy.

Being On The News Is Newsworthy

In fact, being on the news is news in itself. So, maybe your band needs to feed the homeless or save a cat from a tree. If you can get on the news, no people can talk about how “Your band” was on the news. Just make sure you look as stupid as possible while being on the news, because you'll look really bad if your stupidity doesn't appear planned. In other words, you will look like an idiot.

When In Doubt, Make Something Up

Sometimes the most fun about promoting your band is making stuff up. It's up to you to decide your lie tolerance threshold, but I like the “no holds barred” method. Maybe take the tabloid approach and send out a newsletter that your drummer got Britney Spears pregnant. If done properly, it would at least be funny.

Do Something Funny

One of the biggest portions of the internet is the comedy sections. People are always forwarding jokes and videos to each other. Ebaumsworld.com is mega popular site because it is funny. So film your bass player peeing his pants and put it online. He may be scarred for life for it, but I bet he gets layed more often after he is a urine celebrity.

Be Ready

People will ask about your band when they see you around town. Be prepared for this. When people ask, have an exciting answer waiting for them. “Oh yeah, we just got back from Nashville or whatever”. Obviously, I wouldn't recommend lying in this case. (People will get confused and screw up the facts anyway). So if you don't have anything exciting going on with the band, maybe you need to do something exciting with the band!!

Conclusion

It's easy to get sucked into all the work your band has to do. Take a step back and have some fun with this promoting thing. I know that I have the same problem with my websites, sometimes. I get into ruts of writing articles like this one when maybe I should be doing something a little more “newsworthy”. You get the idea.