The 10 Hip Hop Website & Blog Commandments | @micvicious

by Mike Trampe

Maad Management

“I been in this game for years, it made me a man,

It’s rules to this shit, I wrote me a plan,

A few good tips for you to get,

Your content online, not thrown into spam”

These are in no specific order, use them, as you would like.  They do not have to be used from 1-10.

Rule # Uno: Always send your best work, make sure it is recorded properly, mixed down right and sounding crisp.  Nothing more online personalities hate is when someone sends material and says, “This isn’t even my best track”, then why did you send it?

Rule # 2: Build sincere relationships.  Treat hip hop relationships like the girl/guy your in love with.  You would put in time and work for that person right? Not just expect some the first night you meet.  Be sincere when building your relationships, ask them how their day is, don’t always seem like your trying to jam product down their throat.

Rule # 3: Be respectful.  Approach peoples how you would want to be approached.  Saying “Yo fam, you need to post my music” probably wont get you anywhere.  Respect, Respect, Respect!

Rule # 4: When emailing content make sure you send a hi-res picture, one song that is attached and a file share link (ex. Limelinx, sendspace, etc…).  If we do not know who you are why would we want to hear a whole mixtape of you?  Gain us as fans by sending over individual songs that we can check out, make it easy for us to listen by just clicking play in our emails.  We do not want to have to go to a secondary site to listen.  If we like it and want to post we have the D/L link as well as a hi-res picture.  You can also send website and social media links.  My best advice is to have them in your email signature.  If we want to check out more on the artist, its there for us to do that.

Rule # 5: When sending emails, try to send individual emails to each blog/site.  If you do want to send a “mass” email make sure you use an email company, but if you are sending on your own make sure you BCC everyone!  There is nothing more that people hate then when someone sends an email to 200 people showing everyone’s email address.  BCC, BCC, BCC!

Rule # 6: Build a fan base.  I tell people this all the time, have the sites come looking for you!  Do shows, press up merchandise, do meet & greets, perform anywhere you can (even if its not paid), do features with artists, utilize all the online tools and build fan bases outside of your city and overseas.  There are tons of tools online for you to use, social media programs to help you build your network.  Build that support system, its very important!

Rule # 7: Build your brand and team.  Make sure you have people around you with the same common goals.  Have weekly or monthly conference calls or meetings.  Make sure everyone is on the same page.  You do not want to have your manager say one thing while your saying another.  Try and add a good graphic designer, videographer, web designer and photographer to your team.  Visuals are very important nowadays, and it reflects your music.  Setup your own site/blog.  Post people’s music you like, that the general public likes, as well as yours, it’s a great way to pull traffic in. Make sure your social media and website are “uniformed”.  Ex.  HipHopDx.Com, Twitter.Com/HipHopDx, Facebook.Com/HipHopDx.  Make it easy for your fans to find you.  You don’t want a website that says www.doperapper.com, a twitter that says twitter.com/hotrapper and a facebook that says facebook.com/flyrapper J

Rule # 8: Do your research and be organized!  Make sure you know whom you’re contacting.  Do a little research on each blog/site and person you are reaching out too.  There is nothing wrong with knowing the history of the person or their site/blog.  Make a spreadsheet with their name, email, site/blog, brief history (how long its been around, traffic, etc…) You can look up a sites traffic at www.alexa.com.  Being organized can really benefit you down the road!

Rule # 9:  Have patience.  Don’t bombard people with numerous emails, tweets and messages.  If you have done the majority of stuff listed in this “plan”, you have a high chance of getting a return email/message.  If you do not hear anything back still, wait a week or two and politely follow up.  If you still do not get a response, mark it down in your spreadsheet and move on to the next site/blog.  This doesn’t mean you give up on that site/blog; you just don’t keep hounding them about the same track.  You can send them something again down the road, and follow this same process.

Rule # 10: The work doesn’t stop when you get a post!  Congratulations, you got your song posted on the worlds largest hip-hop website.  So what’s next? Most sites/blogs that do not sell products make their money off of advertisement space.  The more people that come to a site/blog, the more traffic they get, the more traffic they get the more ad money they receive.  With this information, an artist should know that once they get a song, video or news piece posted they need to push traffic to that site/blog that posted it.  Utilize your team that you built, friends, and family to help push those links.  You’re not only helping yourself but you are helping that site/blog.  They will recognize that and will take note.  It is a great way to build a better relationship with them.

Got to go, got more emails to check on, word up!

Mike Trampe is a Philadelphia, Pa native with over 10 years experience in the music industry.

Mike is the Marketing Director for the world renown www.hiphopdx.com.

Mike owns & runs www.maadmanagement.com, a company that focuses on Music, Artists And Distribution.

Mike is the marketing director for the #1 independent industry artist showcase & site www.getyourbuzzup.com

Mike has recently started contributing to www.newindustrytips.com.

Mike can be reached at various online platforms:

Twitter.Com/MicVicious

Facebook.Com/MicVicious

Email: Mike@MaadManagement.Com