As an artist, I’m learning the hardest part of the gig is not figuring out my brand, learning the craft of songwriting, or singing, the most arduous element is the marketing. Without the support of a large record label with a hefty marketing budget, it’s really been an uphill struggle. I often see business owners claiming they have the secret sauce to gaining a huge social media following and new listeners without spending a dime on marketing. The irony is not lost on me as I sit through the 10-30 second ad, which they themselves paid for.

But what works in advertising anymore? Having never taken a course in the topic, I won’t delve into various facets of such, but I’m happy to muse at the crazy ideas that have worked for other people. After a quick search, I’ve learned that hiring a filming crew to film a company’s booth at a crowded conference caused quite a buzz for Footzrolls. The fake news film crew avenue also worked for Salesforce.com at one of their conferences which caused a big enough stir that real news crews started showing up. A sandwich shop in Las Vegas decided to launch a campaign to let their customers marry one of their sandwiches. My favorite tactic was employed by a radio station in Scotland who simply set up an empty guitar rack with a large sign above reading “Free Air Guitars” as well as the name of their station.

What am I going to do to advertise my music? So far my advertising ideas have been so basic that they could unclog a sink (chemistry joke). Sure I’ve had some cute video posts like the one with Louis and the dollar bills for Spending All My Boyfriend’s Money. But figuring out how to get strangers (and sometimes even friends) to click play has been a head-scratcher. This will be a blog I intend to refer back to once I have tried some new in-real-life methods. In the meantime enjoy the picture of a dollar bill with someone’s phone number written on it. Yes I called the number and no, nobody answered.