On September 15th, 2007 I rolled out my Internet Marketing and Web 2.0 BootCamp for Musicians, which I co-presented at my office with Melanie Van Orden of Van Orden Media Consulting.I chose Melanie because of her long history utilizing Internet marketing to help businesses grow (something the music business barely knows a thing about)
She and her husband Jason Van Orden is one of the foremost experts in Podcasting and together they consult large and small businesses in Internet Marketing Mastery.

The BootCamp was jam backed with information including a full overview of Web 2.0 and a step by step guide on how to make yourself Web 2.0 friendly starting with the easiest applications in the social media realm and working up to the most technically difficult.

We went over:

• How to make a musicians website an interactive and potential money making machine instead of a static portal that includes the same information every other musician includes.
  
  
• The nuts and Bolts of Web 2.0
  
  
• Why every musician should start Twittering ASAP
  
  
• Newsletters vs. email list and how to build them
  
  
• The ins and outs of Blogging & Podcasting
  
  
• ...and discussed a ton of cool websites that artists can utilize to help create evangelists that will spread the word about their music now just passive fans
  
  

I learned so much by just teaching the course about how indie musicians think about these emerging online trends which as a social media junkie I tend to feel more comfortable around and it was eye opening and wonderful to have them all participate.

We had 3 guest speakers who really added to the conversation by sharing their experiences. They were:

Rachel Barton Pine – Rachel is the first classical musician I have ever represented in my 12 years of doing music publicity! Rachel talked about her new Podcast and what she has noticed about her overall web presence through hosting her own Podcast and how she feels a direct correspondence to upping her Internet presence and going to # 12 on the Billboard charts

John Taglieri – A friend and client for many years who discussed how he identified his niche market and worked every angle to exploit it by using tactical strategies, goal setting and excellent customer service techniques that he learned at his varies day jobs (before he quit them to become a full time touring artist). He also shared how he figured out a way to tour the entire United States of America on someone else’s dime while building his own fan base and playing his original music for twice as long as he can play in any venue at home.

Michael Gillboe – Is the programmer, producer and DJ for two wildly popular podcasts Next Big Hit which has 40,000 listeners and features a unique way of presenting Independent artists called “Dressed Up and Stripped Down” where he showcases artists by playing the studio versions of their albums, interviews them and then has them play the stripped down versions in his studio. Broadway Bullet is a theatre podcast, which presents the best of Broadway and Off Broadway. Michael shared tips on how to approach podcasters as independent artists that were invaluable and he really shed some light on what it looks like on the receiving end of the new media spectrum. Michael also gave many practical tips on how to simply get noticed.