This is a really great and extensive report put together by Derek Sivers of CDBaby. It contains a bajillion tips on how to present and market your music. These ideas can be applied to any small business. A couple of the key concepts are:

Don’t be afraid to niche yourself to find your real audience. It doesn’t pay to try to please all people all the time because it ends up blocking you from makin clear statements about your music/business and therefore leaving people with a vague impression of what you’re all about. This is the opposite of what you want – you want to intrigue people and arouse their curiosity.

It’s better to have a lot of friends than “contacts”. Develop your relationships, and help out other people in a selfless manner – don’t just try and push your band/business/brand down people’s throats unrelentingly because you will turn them off with your impersonal manner. When people are your friends, not just your contacts, they will be more naturally interested in what you have to offer, and more willing to help you out just because they want to.

Download it here:

http://derek.s3.amazonaws.com/DerekSivers.pdf