The Lebron of SEO: Content!

Content is King. That’s been the driving force of SEO since search engines have ruled the online world. Nothing has changed. You can link build all day, use your great flash skills (said like nunchuck skills form Napolean Dynomite), or whatever new strategy that is the hotness and the talk of message boards from Warrior to whatever else. What everything comes down to is content. What does your page say and does it say it better than your competition.

So what can you do when you are starting from scratch? Here’s some quick tips I use everyday when writing bios, articles, ads and posts for companies across a gamut of industries form small businesses to musicians to large corporation and beyond.

-Write a damn good bio or about me(us) section! Write about yourself. Include everything that you can think of that you have accomplished with your company, business, band, music. Do not overlook anything as too small or irrelevant to write about yourself. Yea some people don’t wanna read every detail about your life or business, but you know what, that one person that came across your profile and sees the non-profit you volunteer for, or band you opened for, etc can become a reader, customer, ally for life!

-Start up a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Page or a Statistics Type Page. FAQ’s are great pages because they address every facet of your business from a customer’s standpoint. Bands can put clubs or bars that they frequent, or bands that they love playing with. Restaurants can have questions about hours, their staff, how their menu is put together or how they prepare the food. The list goes on and on and is super huge is relative content.

-Write a blog. Google that. Amazing results if kept up, consistent and has relative content for your readers.

-Write articles. Writing articles shows expertise in areas that are relative to your brand. These articles can further be used for press stories, press releases, on free article sites like freearticels.com for other website owners to use (which gives you an incoming link btw) and so much more. Writing isn’t hard, it’s just the start that is difficult.

-The more you write the better the chance to find long tailed keywords that you previously didn’t even know exist. On one bog I write for, someone found us from google with the search query “Orlando jobs with car benefits and green.” I swear!

The more content the higher the possibility of being found. No gimmicks, no get rich quick shit. Get out and start writing. You might find out that a) you’re good at it or b) you enjoy it. For me it was both and business has never been better!

-G-Ro
grollett@tmail.com for on the go access

Internet Music Marketing with Bedlight for Blue Eyes

Back in late July I had the pleasure of speaking with Bedlight for Blue Eyes at the Orlando stop on their headlining tour. The show was brought to Orlando by Endagon Entertainment. These 5 guys from Berkley Heights, New Jersey rocked the crowd at the Haven. Before their set, they gave me some time to chat about their online marketing plan, how their label (Trustkill) promotes their album online and through digital distribution (i.e. iTunes). Bedlight for Blue Eyes will be back in the Orlando area tomorrow night at the Social in downtown Orlando with guests Permanent Me and Scenes From A Movie.

Check the video and don't sleep on the show!!

Visit the Bedlight For Blue Eyes Myspace Page

-G-Ro

It Just Doesn’t Stop: Social Networks Are Everywhere and Growing

It’s like that old commercial for a kid’s product I believe that said “10 million strong, and growing.” Only this time it’s '100 million strong and growing'! With Social Network sites taking top rank in Newsweek last week (Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg on the cover) to Myspace’s ever growing numbers to more sites with crazy names that are popping up everyday (just look at how many blog entries Mashable.com makes in a single day), the general public is finally realizing that these sites are not just for kids.

It’s not that I like to rehash these points everyday in this blog, but in the early stages of Rollett Marketing, I have had a hard time explaining social networking sites to a generation that didn’t even have the internet in their youth.

Us Millennials are spoiled! Just look at my survival pack for a meet and greet with a recent client:
-Sidekick with accompanying Bluetooth
-iBook
-iPod
-Oh, and some papers in a binder in case someone actually wants to see that!
-I'm just missing my iPhone (which won't happen until Apple gets out of its AT&T contact

What most people beyond their college years are starting to understand is that major players like Google, Yahoo, MTV, Viacom (parent company of MTV), Microsoft, Apple and more are starting to back these sites (and these sites aren’t cheap either!).

What is starting to happen is the capitalization and monetization for small businesses and large corporations on sites like Myspace, YouTube and Facebook. The great thing about these sites is their price to get in the game. Nothing! Yea that’s right, these sites are free to use. No more monthly hosting fees, no need for expensive merchant accounts, no flash design!

From a recent Fortune online article:

“The reason social networking matters is simple: people do things together, and this new software promises us the means to engage the social aspect of our lives in everything we do online. Among other things, shopping, consuming media, researching, planning our time, and of course communicating can all be done more efficiently if we have manageable information about what our friends are doing. It goes way beyond high school and college kids sharing photos and exchanging gossip.”

As you look to get your marketing plan going this fall, don’t overlook the social networks and their potential. A great feature to their pricing is that you can experiment with more than one site to see which fits your business model best. Bands are just now embarking onto Facebook and utilizing the new open platform applications to sell their tracks virtually royalty free to anyone but PayPal. Real Estate offices are opening their doors to the prospect of 100 million 17-24 year-olds who need a place to live when mommy and daddy throw them out on their own (and they get that ‘real job’ making Facebook applications!). Restaurants are sending out daily specials through Twitter and posting videos of what’s happening at their establishment. The possibilities are endless and it starts with your imagination.

Social networks are here to stay folks. The Millennial Generation is growing up fast and you might have to adjust. I write a great blog over at www.orlandojobspot.blogspot.com where I touch on the growing trends that social networks are having on hiring, training and development. Employee Evolution is a voice to that very group as well.

Explore your social graph. Explore some creativity in your marketing. There are 1 million bands that sound like you and have a Myspace page. There are millions of people making t-shirts. There are more houses for sale than being sold. Make a move, be bold and be a part of the next great movement in Marketing! Yea I think I like my job!

-Greg “G-Ro” Rollett

Trying to Rent out a Property? Have you considered YouTube?

It seems more and more realtors and property managers are using video as a way to promote their properties. It seems a photo just isn't as effective as it was only a few days ago, lol.

Wired reports that sites likerentthisjoint andReelProperties are using YouTube to effectively market homes, apartments, condos and more for rent.

ReelProperties has even produces PUPS (Pop-Up Properties) exclusively for Prudential Douglas Elliman. These videos cost $150 and apparently work, getting one property rented out in less than a week after the video posted.

Some of the comments from the post confirm that this is being used and working: "I did this to help sell my 36ft motor home on Craigslist. I did a 30 second walkthrough the inside to get a feel for the place. It was super easy to upload to YouTube. I got about 3,000 views since I posted it."

See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjdWAI7mdXo

Another ranted: "we turn user-submitted footage into fully produced video tours for either homes for sale or rentals."

Seems like an obvious next step in the progression of online promotion. These videos, once uploaded to YouTube, can easily be embedded onto your blogs, myspace pages and websites.

I don't see why this cannot cross into other fields. Short videos have never been easier and cheaper to film and produce. Editing software like Windows Movie Maker and others are free downloads and offer cut and paste style editing that most anyone can pick up in a few minutes. Uploading takes 15-30 minutes but is a painless and FREE process. If you are worried about embedding the code, that's just a simple copy and paste.

I'd love to hear of other businesses that are taking the leap into video as a promotional outlet. Obviously YouTube is not the newest technology but finding new ways to use it is.

Look for video from us at Rollett Marketing very soon, including tutorials, interviews and mini-commercials advertising our services. Keep in mind the millennial generation's short attention span and keep the videos short and to the point. Always remember to use good keywords in the titles, descriptions and tags and do note that YouTube is owned by search king of the mountain-Google!

-Greg Rollett
grollett@tmail.com for instant communication
greg@rollettmarketing.com for package and company information
www.rockforhunger.org to visit a great cause in the Orlando community

Calling all Local Business! Still Wasting Your Budget with the Yellow Pages?

For local businesses with a tight advertising budget, the battle between print and online advertising has become somewhat of a title bout (think Tyson-Hollyfield I-when we all cared). What’s going to happen, is a dominant champion will arise and internet is that new champion.

Print still controls the bulk of money spent for local business advertising (Yellow Pages, etc) but the Internet is rapidly on the rise and gaining ground. A recent study done by TMP finds that shoppers are now more than ever researching online and buying locally.

"Offline local search, White Pages and Yellow Pages directory advertising is a $15 billion market and fairly static," said Stuart McKelvey, CEO of TMPDM. "Online local search is a $1 billion market and growing. The fact that two thirds of our online panel use online search as their primary source of local business information suggests that advertisers should consider the allocation of offline vs. online local search investments.”

The internet will continue to gain ground as marketers find new ways of implementing strategies into websites, blogs, social networking, online directories, bookmarking sites and more. The rise in popularity of sites such as www.yellowpages.com mean that even the phone book companies are making a huge effort to reach the people searching online.

Most individuals who search online still buy and visit offline merchants and services (brick and mortar sites). In the study mentioned above, 33% still consider print yellow pages as their primary source of local business info.

If you tip the glass over this means that 67% are using the internet and other means for getting their information.

The change is a coming people! The only question now is, how far behind the train will you be?

Why is your business not Facebooking or Myspacing again? Just Wondering!

Today is a busy day at the Rollett Marketing offices. First off, I do have to confess that I finally gave into the Holy Grail and bought an iBook. And let me tell you I couldn’t be happier! Way overdo if I say so myself.

Getting into the Marketing world today I really wanted to point out some information about the Myspace generation. First of all when I say Myspace generation, I mean the Millennial Generation (i.e. Generation-Y) and it is not solely confined to Myspace. This encompasses the whole social networking, Web 2.0, widget and application world. I think that 'Myspace Generation' is a fitting categorization for the largest class to enter colleges this fall. With university education getting back in motion yesterday here in Orlando (Go Knights!) I needed to share some valuable information with you.

First, if you are not marketing to this generation, you are clueless in your business approach (unless you are selling prune juice or V8). Secondly, if you are not focusing at least 25% of your efforts where we hang out, then you are even more lost. Where do we hang out, what do we do? You don’t need to move far from where you are right now! The computer encompasses more of our time than anything else and needs to be your key focus to hit this demographic.

Look at this:
- 93 percent of students report that they own a cell phone
- 58 percent of students own an MP3 player
- 27 percent of co-eds cite choosing to stay in touch with friends via social networking site over face-to-face communication or over phone
- 54 percent of college students (ages 18-30) visit a social network in a typical day
- 66 percent of students are learning about brands, products and services from their friends

You want numbers for Facebook and Myspace! Well here you go!
-Myspace bought by Rupert Murdoch for some $580 million
-YouTube bought by Google for just under $1 billion
-Facebook just turned down Yahoo $1 billion offer

Myspace boasts 60 million active users
Facebook boasts 27 million active users

Even more disturbing is that over 3.5% of every American (or 7.5 million people) with a mobile phone has visited Myspace, Facebook or another social networking site on that mobile device.

If this post hasn’t convinced you to get off your ass and get moving on social networks, then I don’t know what will. Everyone knows that us Millennial kids have the attention span of a 2-year old, so if you wait too long you are going to miss out on the biggest marketing opportunity of your lifetime!

This isn’t to say that you need to spend the big bucks to get on the home page of Myspace, they won’t even write you a reply if your budget is less than $50,000, but it is to say that you need to effectively market your product on a profile and spread the word. Don’t chase cool, blend in and let cool find you, even if you are prune juice or V8! 

For more information on how Rollett Marketing can help get your feet wet in Social Networks please email greg@rollettmarketing.com or grollett@tmail.com for instant access.

Greg’s new book “Myspace Band Fund” will be available worldwide in October. Check back for more information and to get special bonuses from our pre-sales!

If you are feeling generous, please make a donation to Rock For Hunger.

Myspace Names New Head of MyspaceTV

MySpace (Rupert Murdoch's virtual playland) named Internet video veteran Tom Bosco VP and head of sales for MySpaceTV. In this newly-created position, he will oversee sales of video advertising across all of MySpace.

Bosco was a key player in the high-profile launches of both MSN Video and AOL Video.

"Tom has been on the frontlines of online video advertising for two of the major players in the space," said a spokesperson from Fox Interactive Media, MySpace's corporate parent. Video is a top priority for the company and monetization is key to maturing the business online."

MySpaceTV launched earlier this summer and quickly became the second most visited video site on the Web. The vids.myspace.com domain attracted 17.9 million visits in July, according to data from Nielsen//NetRatings, compared with YouTube's 55.1 million.

Current monetization on the Fox-owned property includes custom advertising, standard media buys and sponsorships. "Custom profiles have provided brands with a great way to reach consumers in a two-way conversation that they've never had before," said the FIM spokesperson.

The nature of MySpace's social networking profiles, and user-generated videos has been a challenge to monetize. The sheer volume of random videos has been difficult to sell to advertisers, said Emily Riley, analyst at JupiterResearch. "Before they start offering premium placements, they'll need to determine how to categorize video, increasing the importance of different video channels."

Videos on MySpace TV include both produced content and user-generated videos. MySpace recently made deals with content partners including the Onion, LonelyGirl15, Sony Minisode Network, NBA, NHL, The Producers Guild, National Geographic, the New York Times and Reuters.

It will be interesting to see the direction Bosco takes as he takes over at MyspaceTV. I only hope that this media giant doesn't take drastic measures to capitalize financially on the over-popularity of the site. As a Myspacer 4 Life here at Rollett Marketing, we are seeing more and more defectors, (including a page by myself) to Facebook. I love the fact that people are making money on Myspace (that is my business by the way) but I am hoping that the corporations find a way to advertise in a non evasive and in your face way!

Myspace keeps making the big moves, so we'll see what happens in the next few months as the Myspace/Facebook war wages on!

Slice the Pie Puts Local Music into Fans Hands

I stumbled across Slice The Pie today, and thought it was an interesting concept. It looks to be in the direction of a band's fans acting as their record label. The fans put up money for recording, touring, products-similar to an investor and the band goes and makes the product.

From their about us page:

Slicethepie enables artists to raise money directly from their fans to professionally record and release an album.

How? We turn every music fan into a record label.

On Slicethepie:

o Artists can raise money directly from their fans to professionally record albums
o Fans can become emotionally and financially involved at all levels of the music industry - scouting, breaking, investing in and influencing real artists
o Investors can gamble on, trade in and profit from the success of these artists
o Artists who secure finance pay Slicethepie a small royalty on album sales but keep all their copyright and publishing rights

Looks interesting. Any bands that have tried this out, please let me know and I'll be sure to post reviews about the site. I think this is a great move for indie bands with really great supporting fans that are looking to jump to the next level.

The only problem I see, is if too many fans donate and too many people want a "slice of the pie." I have sent over an email to Slice the Pie and hopefully will get a great insight into the company and its future!

-G-Ro

So Not Cool! Crackberry and Sidekick Users Beware!

Sprint has an ongoing experiment where 7 of their employees have been stripped of their cell phones for a week! They are now blogging about the experience day-by-day!

Oh, I couldn't even imagine. My wife steals my Sidekick on vacation and it drives me crazy. Imagine not having it during the work week. Sprint is crazy, cold turkey may be the way to go too.

Check out the blog here:Spring Speed Blog

Oh and for those that can't get enough G-Ro, you can now send me info on the go: grollett@tmail.com-crazy yea I know (wife is going to kill me at the movies now!)

Finally Advertising on all those Free Facebook Widgets

I'm still a "Freshman" in terms of using Facebook, but as a marketer, the network is taking off like Lebron from the free-throw line! When Facebook opened up its platform to allow 3rd party widgets, it opened up the gates for all the low budget tech kids to test out their products. Some of them are really good, too. Problem though, is that there is no money in free sharing of applications.

Along comes VideoEgg!

Whats up with VideoEgg you ask? They have developed a new way for advertisers to jump in on the widget bandwagon, and for the wiget makers to make some much deserved and NEEDED cash!

Here's how it works so far: When the widget is being launched, an ad will play. Simple, harmless, and gets the ad to their target market, the widget maker some money and the user gets to use the widget and maybe some new information about a new product.

Sounds simple, I'm all for it. For the full write up visit Business Week.

Keep getting your Web 2.0 on people and we'll keep feeding you with new ways to use it!

-G-Ro

5 Reasons Tattoo Shops Need to Blog

Jumping into Web 2.0 strategies can be as easy or as difficult as you make it. For the technology stumped individual, a blog may be one of the easier ways to get your tattoo shop online. You can set up a generic blog for free, with free hosting. In the beginning, it is very easy to just write up posts and keep it current. As your strengths and comfort online get better, there is a world of opportunity to get great traffic to see your shop and more importantly your artwork!

So here goes 5 quick tips or reasons your tattoo shop should enter the blog world!

1. To create an online journal or portfolio of your work. Blogs do not have to be super long, boring rants about a break-up or bad service. A post can be as simple as a picture of a finished piece, or maybe a new addition to your shop, or before and after work. Maybe you have a unique story about how the artwork came about or a client’s personal situation. If done regularly, you can create a huge online portfolio and time line of your work.

2. Using 3rd party widgets like Twitter, you can post instant updates about openings in time slots, or maybe a party your shop is having in real time, from your computer or your mobile phone.

3. Build relationships and create a network. Use your blog to advertise other businesses that have helped you out, write posts on other blogs and get people to guest post on yours. Musicians that have gotten ink from your shop are great people to network with and almost always are willing to trade banner links or general links. It’s free publicity! Building a network of people and readers has never been easier.

4. Money: Can’t beat that right! Sign-up for advertisements like Google’s Adsense or Kontera’s in-text advertising. This won’t help you quit your day job, but could give you an extra $100 every month or two. E-mail me for more information on how to set this up and who some of the better companies are and how they pay out!

5. New traffic. The more you post, and the more keywords you use, (location, styles, etc) the more frequent your blog will show up in search engine results (google, yahoo, ask, etc). Search engines love blogs for their fresh content and the amount of quality link trading. The more traffic your site receives, the more clients you have an opportunity to meet up with. Also, more traffic results in more individuals seeing your advertising, which equals more money!

There you have it. Putting together a blog for a tattoo shop is easy and makes you an even better expert in your field. Talk about your work, what separates you from your competition, your clients, etc. Have fun with it and it will become fun for you to write and keep current.

If you have any questions or would like our assistance is setting up your blog, please contact us at rollettmarketing@hotmail.com. Keep up the great artful expressions!

Web 2.0 Overload! What would you do if the Internet Went Down?

A friend sent me this video and I just had to share. Imagine using all 100 social networks, download sites, video channels at the same time.....causing the internet to crash. Have fun with this one!

This video comes courtesy of The Onion which coincidentally is now owned by Myspace.com, i.e. Rupert Murdoch's play world. How ironic!

5 Myspace Tips for Real Estate Agents, Brokers, Offices and Branches

In getting off the ground in our new expansion, we have had great success with in the real estate field. We have built and marketed blogs and myspace profiles for a handful of companies, investors and local agents. Myspace is an amazing tool to reach a good number of individuals in your demographic. For those of you just getting your feet wet with myspace or have a page but have had limited success, here’s some quick tips to get you back on the ball.

1. Make sure your URL resembles your business title, name or organization. If your professional site is www.myname.com/, your myspace profile should be www.myspace.com/myname. If you are a company, examples would be www.myspace.com/orlandometrocenturty21 or something of the like. This makes your page name easy to remember. You only have one shot at naming your URL on myspace so make it count. A myspace account of myspace.com/jenlikesflowers will get you nowhere fast.

2. If you use your page for real estate, keep the page relative to real estate! This should be pretty obvious, but the first site I helped out had pictures of the agent sipping coronas on the beach. Keep this private to your clients, unless of course you’re selling beach front property on an exotic island. There is nothing wrong with looking human, maybe a family picture in your picture section, but this is your profession, make yourself look as professional as possible and people will treat you that way.

3. Blog! Blogs on myspace are spidered and crawled more than any other aspect on Myspace except for maybe the pictures. Provide relative content on a regular basis. For more advanced internet real estate agents/brokers, post blurbs on your Myspace blog linking to your official blog that has been monetized. (Remember that content is KING!)

4. Make your Myspace page user-friendly. It is no longer acceptable just to have links to your professional site or your MLS listings. You need to provide access right on myspace to search your catalog, view properties (there are millions of picture sharing and slide show sites that can be used for FREE), request information, sign-up for your mailing list, etc. No one likes to click 100 links before they find your email address. The less step the better.

5. Monitor comments. If you are worried about spam, porn, bands promoting their shows, etc then monitor your comments. There is a setting which allows you to approve which comments go live and which comments go bye-bye. This is common practice now on Myspace and will cut down on the clutter on your page. For every large club flyer that is posted on your comments, the slower your page load time will be.

For hundreds of more tips or to get Rollett Marketing services for Real Estate Myspace pages and blogs, email us at greg@rollettmarketing.com or rollettmarketing@hotmail.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible to discuss the possibilities that Web 2.0 can do for your business. Have a great weekend and best of luck prospecting!

-Greg “G-Ro” Rollett

Professionalism on Myspace

Myspace is awesome, right? Don't get me wrong, I'm the biggest Myspace fan there is, and spend way too much time logged in looking for new business and new fans. I have a pretty big friend base and am known as a booker, artist, manager, marketer, friend and more. I receive my fair share of emails asking for my help, whether it be for booking, to get a free beat, or for some help promoting their band or business.

Most of these are done in mass email formats and that's okay with me. I use mass emails for some of my promotions as well. What bothers me is an email that I received last night. It went something like this:

"Hey G-Ro, this is "manager x" an i represent superstar "artist y" I need you to book my artist a show for $"x", with paid hotel and travel. My artist is going to be big and I'll get you a cut. Hook me up man, I got you, ya feel me!"

So.........getting 3-5 of these a day is awesome. I usually get a little nosy and check out their artist's page and see what they have going on. Usually it's the worst 3-4 songs I have ever heard, have pictures that were taken with a sidekick camera phone, the titles of the songs are "holler at a gangster, biaaatch!" and they have absolutely no show experience. Then i check out so called "manager x's" page. In not one sentence on this page does it even mention that he is in the music business, has no contact information listed and has pictures of himself in his boxers drunk at a frat party!

Needless to say, they will not be getting a show from myself. Sometimes I forward the message on to other booking agents, but most of the time they get a nice and respectful 'no' response.

The point that I'm trying to make is that even though Myspace is geared towards our generation, the generation of smiley faces, camera phones, Meebo, text messaging and slang like lol and rofl, when sending a business email, send it professionally, especially if you do not personally know the person whom you are contacting. You want to grab the attention in a positive light so they eventually do put you in their blackberry or sidekick!

Do your research as well. It's common sense but if you read my page and knew about my events, you would know that I book rock bands at bars and indie hip-hop groups for charity shows. Country singers and Crunk music need not apply. Not to say that I dislike the music, but it's not my business. By reading someone's page you can get a lot of info, usually enough to start up a conversation that leads to a great networking connection and ultimately getting you one step closer to making your music a business reality.

So keep sending your emails, but treat it as a business and we'll be here to help you out in any way that we can.

A little side note is that this blog will no longer be solely on Music Marketing, but marketing in general. I have had amazing offers to market business opportunities, real estate agencies, clothing companies, small offices and the such, and thought that the same guerrilla and internet marketing tactics that work for bands can work in the real world. Starting now, Rollett Marketing is now "Outside the Box Marketing for the Millennial Generation."

All of our packages will be up and running by weeks end and expect a sneak peak at my new e-book, 'Myspace Band Fund' this weekend! Free chapters will be given away in a first come, first serve basis!

Qoute of the day from Akon and DJ Khalid, "We taking over, one city at a time!"

-G-Ro

Social Networks Impact Music Downloads; Piracy Growing

While music piracy rises and legal downloads of music allegedly slow (that is, unless you're iTunes), social networks boast a growing impact on the way users consume music.

This news comes per a survey by Entertainment Media Research (EMR) and law firm Olswang, MarketingCharts reports.

The survey interviewed 1,700 music consumers age 13-60 and found that music is important to social networkers: 39 percent have embedded music in their personal profiles.

70 percent said they embed music to show off their taste; half said music is a good way to reflect personality.

Some other survey findings:

• Some 53 percent of people actively surf social networking sites to find music.
• 30 percent said they went on to buy or download music that they had discovered on a social network site (for MySpace, the proportion is 36 percent).
• On popular sites the numbers of people who use sites to find music increase - for MySpace and Bebo, 75 percent and 72 percent, respectively, and 66 percent for YouTube.
• 46 percent say they wish it were easier to purchase music they had discovered on social networking sites - for example via a "buy now" button on the site.
• The number of those saying they illegally download music tracks has increased, from 40 percent in 2005 and 36 percent in 2006 to 43 percent in 2007.

MarketingCharts provides more charts and data.

5 Tips for Myspace Music Page Optimization

Rollett Marketing is a full service Marketing firm that specializes in the promotion of bands, musicians, artists, small businesses, product launches and more. Located and rooted in the Orlando, FL area. We have been in the music scene, promoted shows, worked for venues, booking agencies, indie labels, start-ups, internet marketing companies and more. With this experience we have helped a good number of bands and programs get their plans focused both online and off.

Our most successful package has been our Myspace Optimization Package, where we go into a Myspace profile and get it ready for optimal viewing. The following 5 tips are not an all-inclusive list and will not get you 1,000s of plays and millions of new fans. What it will do is get you on the right track so when that traffic comes, your page is ready to handle them. These tips are geared towards bands and musicians but can be applied to any field that has a Myspace page.

Feel free to comment and add more tips, tricks, suggestions, feedback, etc. What works for one page, mught not work for another.

For a full Myspace diagnostic by Rollett Marketing, please email Greg at rollettmarketing@hotmail.com and we will set you up with a package to get your page ready for the views and also target qualified fans to get you to the level that your music/business should be seen/heard at.

1. Keep it simple and up to date. Don't overdo your page. Get your info on the page, keep it clutter free and update weekly if not daily. Google, fans, venues, and major labels love updated content, whether it be blogs, new songs, new shows, whatever.

2. Blog! The best way to add content to your page is to blog! Keep your fans in the know. Fall Out Boy blogs everyday so people know what they are up to and millions of people read those blogs!

3. Use your sounds like and influences section to put your influences and what you sound like! Google and Myspace can search these features, so someone looking for a band you sound like could run into your page and love your tunes!

4. Put your best (read: NOT newest song) first! I want to hear your best song when I get on your page, not the song you made last night. ONly randomize plays if you have 4 strong singles. If you don;t have 4 great songs, only have 3, 2, or just 1 song on your player. Nothing turns me off more than 1 great song with 3 crappy demo tracks following.

5. Use your top friends to your advantage. Don't waste these spots with band members. Put good networking people in these top sections. Also, don't have a Top 32 if you don't have 32 good contacts to showcase!

That's it folks! Hope this helps you get started making your Myspace page a better place to visit instead of a bunch of html code that doesn't equal anything but slow loading time(which means I've already clicked off your page).

If you need help, Rollett Marketing is here for you. Email us today to get started on your next project. Don't lose another potential fan. Have a plan online, Rollett Marketing can help you get that plan.

Have a great night folks and those of you in Orlando, you need to be at Hip-Hop 4 Hunger tomorrow night at the AKA Lounge on the corner of Pine and Magnolia. I will be hosting the event and the proceeds will be going to the 2nd Harvest Food Bank and the Rock For Hunger projects around the Orlando community.

iTunes Reaches 3 Billion Downloads-1 Billion in the Last 6 Months

Yesterday the iTunes store announced the sale of its three billionth song in four years.

A mere six months ago, the popular online music store surpassed two billion songs sold. The company's success flies in the face of ongoing piracy concerns and attempts to reduce the flow of copyrighted music with DRM protection.

(information courtesy of the MarketingVox)