Facebook Band Pages

Lately, I have been inundated with requests to "Like my page" on Facebook. I get it, you want numbers for people to see and maybe, JUST MAYBE, one of the someones will be someone important, and will help you launch your career. We all have had the same thoughts, gone through the same motions, so none of us can fault you.

What I've been seeing lately, though, is beginning to drive me nuckin' futz! People are jumping the gun, trying to get numbers before they even have content. They quickly click the "Create a Page" button, give it a name, and immediately start saturating their friends list with invitation notifications.

Here's the problem with that strategy: THERE'S NO CONTENT TO TELL US ANYTHING! I can't tell you how many times I've gotten an "invitation" to like ACME Blowhards or something else just as vague. And you can't just click the About section to see what it is, because there's NO FRIGGIN' CONTENT! "Oh, I'll just go and check the Photos section to see if I recognize anyone." WRONG! The only image is some half-assed "logo" that's just as vague.

Since, apparently, there are no "reliable resources to help people learn the basics of marketing" (Hint: you're sitting in front of the largest known encyclopedia in the universe), I'm gonna offer some basic tips. All of these points should be completed BEFORE you send me an invitation to like your page.

1. Get a professional to design your logo. If you're even remotely serious in your endeavor (whatever it is, this is not limited to music), professional design will always win out. Yes, a professional designer can get expensive, but trust me, it's worth it.
   
   
2. Have some high quality photos of whatever you're pushing on your page. Camera phones these days are more than capable of taking nice pictures, and if you don't have an eye for photography, I'm sure you have a friend with a better eye. You know the friend I'm talking about. The one with all the practice at taking duckface selfies.
   
   
3. Fill in every field in your About section. And I mean everything. Your contact information is a must in this area. Oh, you don't want to put your phone number on your Page. How the hell is anyone gonna call you about that "cute little top with the fringe" when you won't give them a number? If you don't want to use your cell number, then get a land line (they still have those?).
   
   
4. If you are a band/musician, you should have a link to your website (a REAL website) in the about area, and you should also have a mailing list signup form and an Events section, just in case I'm interested enough in checking out your music.

Only after you have successfully checked off these 4 points may you press the Invite Friends button, and even then, you really shouldn't. It's not like anyone is going to see your posts anyway, since Facebook wants you to pay them to promote your page. Only a small percentage of the people who liked your page are even going to see one post, and most of them are going to absently scroll by. And what's going to happen to all those numbers when the next big thing comes along? Remember MySpace? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, these social networks won't be around forever. They most likely won't see the end of this decade! Put your time and effort into a real website and take control of your career.