GarageSpin

How Not to Buy a Google+ (Plus) Invite

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Yesterday, I listed four ways to get a Google+ invite.  One of the ways was to simply buy a GooglePlus invite in eBay.  I promised to give it a try, and report what happened.

You can buy Google+ (Plus) invites either via a bidding auction, or via a “Buy It Now” auction.  At a glance, bidding auction prices were around $5.00 to $25.00 with 20-30 hours left to go.  “Buy It Now” auction prices seemed to vary from $1.00 to $75.00. 

Since I’m both cheap and impatient, I opted to buy a Google Plus invite for $1.00 using the “Buy It Now” functionality.  The transaction took place, and the seller sent a message asking for the Gmail address I’d like the invite to be sent to.  However, after sending him the info, he sent the bad news:

“I’m sorry invite option has been removed due to reaching capacity.  They are supposed to open it up again here soon, would you like me to keep you posted and send one out when it re-opens or would you like me to refund your purchase?”

Is Google now rationing Google+ invites, or are eBay sellers taking advantage of desperate Google+ fans, hoping most people will just opt to lose $1 in the hopes of gaining an invite?  This particular seller had a large number of positive reviews, including happy Google invite buyers, so I believe Google+ invite rationing IS in effect.  [UPDATE:  It’s now fully confirmed, Google stopped sending out Google+ invites, due to insane demand.]

Have you tried sending, buying, or selling a Google+ invitation recently?  What was your experience?

How to Get a Google+ (Plus) Invite

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The Social Media world is all abuzz, scrambling for invites to Google’s  Facebook-targeting social network product, Google+ (or GooglePlus, or Google Plus).  Invites are pretty scarce — are you searching for one?  Here’s how you can get your hands on an invite:

1. Just Ask Google for a Google+ Invite.

When in doubt, just ask.  You can sign up for Google Plus here.  However, it may take a while, per their message, “We’re still ironing out a few kinks in Google+, so it’s not quite ready for everyone to climb aboard. But, if you want, we’ll let you know the minute the doors are open for real. Cool? Cool.”

2. Write for, or at least read, Mashable or Techcrunch.

Google has been using these social blogs to help launch their social media initiatives, including Google+.  As such, employees get immediate access, and readers can enter various contests for various related giveaways, including this one for a Google+ invite contest.

3.  Buy a GooglePlus Invite on eBay

Yup, capitalism is in full force, and eBay sellers are cashing in.  I’ve seen Google+ Plus invites being sold on a “Buy It Now” basis for $1.00, as well as in auctions that are up to $15.00 with 24 hours to go.  If you’re desperate enough to pay to play, head to eBay.  (I didn’t plan on it, but ended up shelling out a buck, just to see if I’d actually receive an invite.  I’ll let you know how it works out.)  [UPDATE:  I tried to buy a Google+ invite, and failed.  Google may be capping invites.  ANOTHER UPDATE:  Yes, Google had capped invites, but they’re now apparently back on.  Beg a friend to invite you to a “Circle”, and you’re in!]

4.  Wait a Few Weeks for Google+ Plus

I can guarantee this — anyone who wants a GooglePlus invite, will get one within less than three months.  The same was true when the Gmail invite rush took place.  Eventually, invites were worth less than Cold War era Rubles.  If you’re patient, and can suffer through a few more days of Facebook goodness,  just wait it out.

Best of luck to all you Google+ user wannabes.  My next question — is there a Google+ Plus Band Page in the platform?  And which music network (ReverbNation, Nibmit, SoundCloud, BandCamp, etc.) will be the first to develop a plugin for it?  We’ll see.

9 Online Tactics to Complement Your Band's Offline Presence

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This week kicks off with a guest post from Nick Lewis of Zimbalam, a European digital distribution company, giving solid tips around leveraging social media to build effective relationships with fans and influencers.  Take it away, Nick…

 A lot of bands make the mistake of treating their online and offline presence as completely separate entities, but actually, they should be used to complement each other.  Bands that gig a lot tend to have the most Facebook fans, and also tend to sell the most music online.

Online marketing is at its best when it’s used as part of a wider strategy, especially when used to maintain relationships that would otherwise have been lost.

Promoting Your Online Presence Offline

 The biggest part of social media marketing is building relationships with your fans. Of course you can build notoriety and establish a fanbase purely online by virtue of blog mentions and online PR, but your most readily available source of fans is gigs.

But think for a second, how many times have you seen a band at a gig that you really liked, but forgot about a few weeks later? That’s where your online presence kicks in, and why it’s essential to make sure people at your shows know where to find you on the internet.  So:

  • Put your Facebook/Twitter/website URL on all flyers and other promotional material where possible.
  • Provide a clear incentive for people to look you up and subscribe (e.g. ‘Free download forall Facebook fans’.)
  • Tell people about it over the mic. (No, it doesn’t damage your credibility, everyone’s doing it).

[Read more…]

Klout Crowns Bieber "King", and Rihanna a "Thought Leader"

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I swear, there must be hundreds of sites that claim to rank social media effectiveness based on social metric-driven algorithms now.  It’s a challenge to keep track.  Klout is one of the bigger ones basing its influence score (0 to 100) on Facebook and Twitter presence and influence.

Klout’s blog just posted about the the top 10 musicians with the most influence.  Bieber reigned supreme, scoring a 100, and is labeled a “Celebrity”.  Gaga is #2.  More interesting to me, however, was the assigning of the title “Thought Leader” to Rihanna and Nicki Minaj.  Really?  “Thought Leaders”?  Alarming?  Or the simple reality?  Both.  Anyway, here’s the list, FYI:

  1. Justin Bieber 100
  2. Lady Gaga 94
  3. Chris Brown 92
  4. Rihanna 91
  5. Joe Jonas 90
  6. Gypsy Heart Tour 90
  7. Selena Gomez 90
  8. Nicki Minaj 89
  9. Jasmine V 88
  10. Katy Perry 88

Btw, on a positive note, it’s reassuring to know where to look for guidance during the upcoming election.

Google Guitar Logo App: A GarageBand Killer??

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No, but a neato app nonetheless. Google continues it’s oh-so-amusing trend of messing with its logo on special occasions. Today’s celebrates the great Les Paul — a mouse-playable, recordable, and shareable Google Guitar app doodle. You can actually send a recording to someone else, and that person can jam along with you.

Granted, there are only three or four chords you can play, but hey, that’s not too shabby considering it’s just a logo. (But in answer to the post title, no, it’s not a GarageBand Killer. Check it out:

3 Ways to Expand Your Fan Base Using Social Media

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Today, we have a guest post from Andrew Charlton, owner of Gold Shore Records, that speaks to three ways to help grow your fan base via social media.   (Sure, there are 100’s of ways, but I couldn’t possibly ask Andrew to write about all of them in one guest post.  So he’ll touch on three.)  Take it away, Andrew:

What is a musician without any fans? Who will buy your albums? Who will attend your gigs? As a musician it is imperative that you are always thinking of how to extend your reach and with social media there are now platforms to share your music with a larger audience than you could ever dream of…

Social Media is most certainly not a fad, and if all your fans are there, it would seem a pretty good idea for you to be there too. You cannot expect to just create a Facebook or Twitter account and instantly have masses of people following you.  You have to interact, be personal, and lure them into your fan page. In this article I’ll share with you three ways you can effectively drive more fans to your social media networks through creating a good first impression, connecting with people who share similar interests, and using video marketing to build hype and personally engage with your fans.

1. Create an Enticing Facebook Landing Page

If Facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest in the World, so you have a free opportunity to share your music on a global scale. People who land on your page want to know about you immediately (the world of social media is an impatient one) so to increase your conversion rate from visitors to fans you should make the first page a visitor lands on as compelling as you can. [Read more…]

Crowdsourced Choir + Phat Video Editing

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Eric Whitacre, composer, conductor, lecturer, and model, invited anyone who felt like it to perform one of his choral pieces…via YouTube.  2,000 plus singers from across the globe later, and the Virtual Choir 2.0 video is almost done.

Below is a video of Eric at TED presenting a teaser of the project.  As good as the musical piece is, I have to say, it wouldn’t be nearly as compelling without the video editor’s incredible job mashing it all together.  Worth checking out.  (If you want to skip to the two videos he presents, go to 6:30 for Virtual Choir 1.0, and 12:00 for Virtual Choir 2.0.)



Best Facebook Song EVER?

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I finally finished the track and accompanying music video for the Mark Zuckerberg Facebook rap, Zuck, On Facebook. Check it out.  (If you like it, please pass it on — it’s just in time for Oscars and the Social Network.)

The TRACK:

The MUSIC VIDEO:

Even More Ways to Zuck-Out:

New Facebook Rap Almost Finished…

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After The Social Network won a Golden Globe for best picture, I was inspired to write a rap (a first for me) from the point of view of Mark Zuckerberg, in response to the movie, the bad press, the law suits, etc etc.

The poor 20-something billionaire deserves a voice, after all….so I thought I’d help with the next best thing — a phat beat.  Other song projects “Avalanche”, “In 9 Months”, and “Thank You” have since been placed on the back burner in favor of attempting to complete both a track and video for my new rap, “Zuck, On Facebook“. Amazingly, despite my long-standing history of taking inordinate amounts of time to complete tracks, I’m virtually done.  All that’s left is mixing in a guest appearance by Girl Crusade in the bridge, a last-minute collaboration we recorded just last night.

The mix should be completed tomorrow, and I’m hoping beyond hope to shoot and edit a basic music video as well, all by next Monday, in time for the Oscars a week later.  Is it possible?  Barely.  Wish me luck as a slave away in my attic…