Want to immediately improve your marketing materials—so you can book more and better work? If your bio, email pitches, grant proposals, or cover letters could use some help, then this message is for you. Let’s tackle Musician Self-Promotion: 8 tips for editing your promo materials like a pro.
Tip #1: Practice empathy: focus on your reader
Before editing any marketing material, I try to put myself in the shoes of the person I’m writing to—the concert series presenter, contractor, conductor, search committee member, or grant officer—whomever the piece is aimed at.
When working on your own promo materials, get used to this exchanging of roles. Practice imagining that you are the person you want to reach. This means setting aside your own ego and thinking about what your intended reader would most likely want or need to hear about.
For me, the way this works is that as I read any promo piece, I monitor my own reactions. I have a kind of internal interest-level tracking device—an EKG screen running in my head. It tracks when my interest is piqued, when it’s nose diving, and when it’s flatlining.
I also have a highly sensitized bullshit monitor. It indicates any places where there are unsubstantiated claims, sweeping generalizations, an overuse of adjectives, and of course, the thing that automatically turns readers off: clichés. You, too, can sensitize yourself to all of these, so you can write more compelling copy.
Tip #2: Get real feedback
Once I’ve read a promo piece from one of my clients, I give honest and direct feedback. I say what captured my interest and where the most energy in the piece is centered. I’ll point out the places where I wanted more detail and what made me want to keep reading.
But I don’t sugar coat my feedback. I point out whatever is unclear, what’s missing, where the problem areas are, and at what point I’d stop reading because I was bored.
I also ask the musician what’s the overarching impression she wants the piece to convey. And then what’s the main point she wants to make in each paragraph or section. I tell her honestly whether or not the intended messaging comes across and say what the overall impression the piece leaves me with.
If you’re working with a coach, that’s the kind of honest, detailed feedback you want. If you’re not working with a coach, maybe it’s time you did.
Tip #3: Don’t be scared to go back to square one with your draft
Can you handle the truth?
Here’s the weird thing. No matter how detailed I am with clients in giving feedback, most musicians respond with questions like, “So should I just start with this sentence instead?” or “Should I just delete this one paragraph?” They often think that they can “fix” a piece with a few quick tweaks.
They think that the revising I’m recommending is cosmetic and minimal.
It’s not.
Somehow, we imagine that writing about ourselves and our work should take less time and effort to prepare than our music does. But the truth is you need to apply the same care with your promo materials that you use to shape a performance.
Whether it’s your bio, a cover letter, your website text, or grant proposal, it’s what others encounter BEFORE they meet you or hear your music. Your promo materials are your introduction—so they should present you at your very best. Because you only get one shot at making a great first impression.
Tip #4: Set your expectations appropriately
How much editing do you need?
Keep in mind, a promo piece is not something you can knock out in 20 minutes. A strong bio (or a strong cover letter, CV, or grant proposal) is the result of multiple revisions.
Most of writing is, in fact, re-writing. It’s typical for musicians to write 7 or more drafts before any promo piece is finalized. Having effective marketing materials is well worth it. So start weeks before your deadline, not the night before.
Tip #5: Get started right: Mind map your material
Mind mapping is an efficient way to brainstorm on paper to help you capture ideas and find connecting threads. There are computer programs for this but I like to go old school with pen and paper. It helps free up your thinking. You can use mind mapping for drafting and brainstorming just about anything. Including workshops or presentations.
(My messy mind map for a piece on the psychology of music entrepreneurship)
Mind Mapping 101
In the middle of the page write down your main topic: the overarching idea you want to convey. In the example above, I was drafting a talk I gave at a conference in Oslo. So you’ll see the topic in the middle and my brain dump around it of subtopics I was considering covering (what I believed my audience would find interesting). In a few spots, I drew connecting lines and arrows indicating the possible sequence of related ideas.
Making that mess helped me sort out the muddle in my head of possible subtopics and tangents so I could narrow things down and figure out a sequence to use in the talk. The mind map helped me shift from confusion and overwhelm to working with a rough plan and feeling hopeful that I was up to the task. And yes, the talk came out fine.
Try using a mind map the next time you have something to write. It will help get the mess of conflicting ideas out of your head and onto the page so you can see your options clearly. Once you have your mind map sketched, think again of your intended audience. What subtopics are top priority for them? Which would be second and third priority? Then, with your subtopics chosen and a planned sequence in mind, write a “shitty first draft.”
Tip #6: Don’t go for perfect, just get it going.
Don’t get hung up on finding the perfect phrases, sentences, or starting points. I like to aim for what author Anne LaMott calls the “shitty first draft.” You need to get your content down before you start reworking it. So just get your material on the page in simple and direct language.
When I’m feeling overwhelmed with the writing, I remind myself to breathe and take just one step at a time. That’s another bit of Anne LaMott wisdom. It’s the advice her Dad gave her brother when as a kid he had a big report due the next day on birds and didn’t know how to get started. Anne’s Dad told him, “just take it bird by bird, buddy.”
Once you’ve got your shitty first draft completed, then you can work on improving it. For the actual editing process . . .
Tip #7: Read your draft out loud slowly
Read loud enough so you really listen to how it sounds. Listen for awkward phrases or transitions, redundancies, and run-on sentences. Your ear will pick these up faster than your eye.
Then, ask a friend or colleague to read it aloud to you so you can listen even more carefully for where it loses energy, anything that seems oddly worded, or out of place.
Tip #8: Ask yourself, “What are you REALLY trying to say here?”
For clarity of message and content I also like to read one sentence at a time. After each sentence I pause and ask myself, What am I really trying to say here? Because 9 times out of ten, when I think it over, there’s a more direct and concise way to make my point.
The small improvements you make after each reading will make each draft yet more compelling.
I hope you put these 8 tips to editing your promo materials to use so you can upgrade the first impression you make. And if you’d like further help with this . . .
The good news is you don’t have to go it alone
For expert help with upgrading your promo materials so you can book more of the work you love, check out my Get the Gig program.
And for expert help overhauling your application materials so you can start getting interviews for college teaching jobs, check out my Land The Job program.
Here’s to your brighter future,
Dream Big, Plan Smart, Live Well!
