If you’re posting updates on Twitter exclusively, well, not all your fans are on Twitter.

Not all your fans are on Instagram.

Not all your fans spends three hours a night scrolling TikTok.

Lots of your fans check email, though.

• Prospective employers email them when they get the job.
• Banks email them when the direct deposit clears.
• Merch companies send them tracking info when their vinyl ships.
• Ticket companies email them receipts to your shows.

Everyone’s checking email.

Remember, social media employees want to stay employed. They get raises and promotions by keeping you on their platforms.

Writes Sara Eckel:

“Social media companies don’t want you to go out and have fun with your friends—they want you to look at pictures of your friends having fun without you.”

I remember a conversation I had with a show promoter years ago. They weren’t able to reach everybody with their Facebook Events like they used to, and they wanted my advice.

I told them to start an email list. Our phone call ended soon after.

Meanwhile, Sprout Social (one of the biggest social media management platforms out there) has said “brands see a median engagement rate of 0.064% across all industries” on Facebook.

Not even 1%, hell, not even 0.1%.

That’s 0.064% that can be bothered to click “LIKE.”

So yes, you can say “I’m just gonna stick to posting on Twitter and Facebook, show up or don’t.”

But think of who can’t even show up because they don’t have an account on either platform.

Update your website.
Send out a newsletter.

Every time a band makes a tour announcement, the replies pour in:

What, no Louisville?
Skipping Columbus again?
Come to Brazil!
East coast tour?

But every artist, band, and performer is making a deal; on this night, we’re playing this venue in this city.

Show up or don’t.

I believe the same to be true online.

Build a website and a newsletter. That’s your venue and city.

Then you drive traffic to both with one or two social media “billboards.”

Put on a great show.
Make a great product.
Offer a great deal.
Maintain a great website.

They show up or they don’t.

We’re quick to post our biggest moments on social media.

The “SOLD OUT” marquees. Massive crowds from stage. The plaques. Photos with our heroes and fans and friends.

We take photos of ourselves standing in Times Square with that big Spotify digital ad in the background.

We’ll share those slick DSP images on social media, showing off our placement on a cool playlist (like mine, below).

It’s the same even if you’re not in a band: we post all our most interesting photos, the imagery that shows off our unique, creative spirit, the videos that capture our spontaneous, magical energy.

We won’t put any of those cool images on our website, then complain that nobody goes to our website.

Don’t spend all your effort on the “billboard,” then neglect your own establishment.

Playlist placements are amazing. All that hard work. The songwriting. The recording. Years on the road.

All posted on platforms we don’t own, just so 10% of our social media followers can see it.

“All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain.”

I’ll keep repeating this – your fans don’t see all your posts.

And you have fans that aren’t even on social media.

But every smartphone comes with a web browser and a pre-installed email app.

Update your website.
Work on your email list.

You should listen to Cody Cook-Parrott talk about how vital an email list can be to your creative work, and then marketing your work.

Cody says to use social media, of course. Use the tools that are available to you.

But I love saying that you should use social media like a billboard (h/t Dino Corvino), pointing your fans to your website, where you own your content, and where you can get people on your email list.

“Tech companies make money each time we view an ad, and each time we provide them with sellable data via our clicks and swipes,” says Sara Eckel.

Every live photo we upload.
Every song snippet.
Every tour announcement.
Every behind-the-scenes video.

Every bit of “content” we upload in the hopes of reaching our fans is being monetized by Elon and Zuck, all while they throttle reach and charge us money to reach a small percentage of your followers.

Time to formulate your SOCIAL MEDIA ESCAPE PLAN.

If you’ve posted an update on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, you can send an email to your fans.

If you’ve written an email to a friend, a co-worker, a family member, a prospective client, a label, a photographer, an art director… you can do the same with your supporters / customers / audience.

1. Write a subject line.
2. Include a photo at the top (like a social media post).
3. Write a bit.
4. Maybe write some more.
5. Include a link to your store, your website, the big important place on the internet that you call home.
6. Wait an hour. Or a day.
7. Come back, make some edits.
8. Hit send.

With each email, you’ll get a little “better.”

Week after week, you’ll find a rhythm.

Just like with each song your write, or each product your release, or each photo you take, you get a little better each time.

This week; use social media like a billboard, while you still can, and direct your followers to your website, and onto your email list (here’s ‘25 things you can post to get people to subscribe’).

Get your fans where you can reach them directly, without playing the algorithmic chess game.

“There’s nothing that drives book sales like email. It’s a direct line of connection to your most passionate supporters”

Yeah, I know it says “book sales,” but almost every idea and principle from this Substack article can apply to whatever you’re promoting, including albums, shirts, concert tickets, workshops, and more.

Because social media ain’t gonna make it any easier to reach your fans in the second half of 2023.

Got a big release lined up for August or September?

Start working on that email list TODAY.

The SOCIAL MEDIA ESCAPE CLUB is where a few of us get together on a Zoom call to talk about, well… escaping social media.

It’s scary, of course, because we’ve all been doing it awhile, and we see other people doing it. Like, we literally see people doing it – they’re posting videos and photos from the studio, from stage, from back stage and side stage, from meet and greets, from flea markets, and truck stops.

We all bought into the story that if we’re online enough, posting and engaging, more people will find us, and then we’ll catch that big break.

But the whole thing is falling apart.

Substack recently wrote, “at the start of the year, Twitter on average drove less than 3% of all views across Substack. Today, it accounts for less than 2%.”

I wonder how much traffic Twitter drives to Bandcamp or Spotify?

All these social media platforms profit by keeping you on their site. None of them exist to send you free traffic. And none of it is free, anyways, because we’re all paying with our time and that shit is always running out.

All that time on socials that could be spent writing, recording, mixing, crafting, learning, spending time with friends, being fully engaged with the world around us.

That’s why I’m such a big proponent of the email newsletter.
Of your newsletter. It’s your direct line of communication to your biggest fans.

You can write a newsletter every week, and it’ll do the job, letting your fans know about your latest work, your new projects.

If they miss last week’s newsletter, they’ll get the next one.

Like Professor Pizza of Axe Slasher said in one of our SOCIAL MEDIA ESCAPE CLUB hangs, “why should I give my best material to Twitter?”

Text memes to your friends.
Call an old pal.
Go to that art opening.
Update your website.
Send a newsletter week.

Then we get back to the real work.

I cry when I see a social media post like this:

This might be the only post a fan sees this week. Or month.

And even so, then what?

We can’t stop at just reaching our fans on social media, oh no.

We have to help our fans escape. To unplug from the system.

It’s not easy, though, like Morpheus says in The Matrix:

“You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.”

We are at war, and our mission is to reach our fans without appeasing algorithms, making dance videos, or hopping from one new social media platform to the next. No.

So, the next time you’re thinking about posting something to get your fans talking, figure out a way to get those fans subscribed.

Once they are subscribed, you have a direct line of communication with them.

First, set up a landing page. This is where people go when you ask them to sign up for your email list.

🚫 Don’t ask people to DM you their email address
🚫 Don’t ask them to email you, and you’ll add them to your list later

Set up a landing page. Trust me on this.

Using Mailchimp? Read up here, here, and here.

Using Substack? Read here.

Using Squarespace? Read here and here.

Still no clue? Get in touch.

Once you have that sorted, make a social media post like this:

Once you’re ready to release your magic to the world, you send it to your email list first, and skip the rigged game of attention roulette that you play when you post on social media.

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Oh yeah, here are 25 things you can post to get people to click the link to your shiny new landing page:

1. New track is done, who wants to hear a snippet?
2. New product coming to the shop next week – get on my email list and I’ll send YOU the link first!
3. I’m writing a new piece on something near and dear to my heart – subscribe to my email list and I’ll send you my hand-written notes.
4. Working on a new photo project with a friend, and it involves a ladder and 30 gallons of red paint. Get on my email list for a sneak peek.
5. Shooting a music video next week. Want to see all the behind the scenes photos and silliness? Click to get on our email list.
6. Someone stole my guitar two months ago at a gig. Want to know how I recovered it? Sign up for my email list.
7. We’ve got like 20 ideas for the name of our next album. Help us narrow it down.
8. My writing isn’t just about opening the laptop and tapping on the keyboard for several hours. Let me show you my writing space, and how I maintain my creativity.
9. Love nu-metal? Our drummer has a shrine to nu-metal, complete with sealed vinyl, signed posters, and, well… get on our email list to see it!
10. I visited some creative friends this past weekend, and we had such an ah-hah moment, that we nearly cried. I’ll tell you all about it in my next newsletter.
11. We hit 23 cities on our last tour. 17 diners. 12 truck stops. 10 motels. And five… well, subscribe to our newsletter. Next week we’re gonna send out a big tour wrap up.
12. Thanks for all the love and support! Next week I’m hosting a Zoom call with you, my amazing fans. Get on the email list and I’ll send you the details.
13. Next week will be the two year anniversary of the release of my first book. Sign up for my newsletter because next week I’m sharing everything I’ve learned about releasing a book in those two years.
14. Over the last four years of running my podcast, I’ve asked every guest their biggest piece of advice for anyone just getting started, and I’m sharing my favorite bits in my newsletter next week.
15. I was 17 when I played my first show, and I told the sound man “fuck you” on the mic. Yeah, don’t ever do that. I’ll explain in my next newsletter what he told me after the show.
16. I’ve got over 200 effects pedals, and every week in my newsletter I talk about one with a quick video.
17. I found a store that sells horror movies on VHS, and I’m in love. Full story in my newsletter next week.
18. Did you know I broke two bass drum pedals on my first tour? It’s true. Sign up for my email list and I’ll explain how to not break all your gear when you’re on the road.
19. I’m halfway down with my new book, and want to celebrate the milestone with a rough draft reading. Get on my email list and I’ll send you an audio snippet.
20. The theme of my radio show this week was sad songs, and I had a hard time limiting it to one hour, so next week’s newsletter will have the songs I left off the show.
21. My favorite poet just celebrated their 60th birthday! Subscribe to my newsletter because I’ll be talking about my favorite pieces from them over the years.
22. Summer is coming up and that means SUMMER TOUR SEASON. In my next newsletter I’m sharing the story about the time I got left at a truck stop (without my phone).
23. When I was a kid I worked this summer job and made friends with this older kid who played in bands, and he gave me a worn out copy of Slayer’s ‘Hell Awaits.’ Ten years later I ran into him and you won’t believe what band he’s in.
24. I’m visiting my favorite record shop next week when I visit NYC. Make sure you’re on my email list, because I’m planning on spending lots of money there, and I want to tell you all about it.
25. I make sleepy time metal mixes every week. For some people it puts them to sleep, others say they’re great for working or studying. Subscribe and listen for yourself!

Use these as inspiration, or copy and paste them as you see fit. These ideas are your now.

A great point came up on Saturday’s Social Media Escape Club video chat – this idea of “being bored.”

We pour energy into our art, and white knuckle our marketing efforts, but sometimes we just gotta get bored.

I signed up for a half-marathon that’s on an abandoned highway and goes through two pitch-black tunnels. Though I consider myself a runner, I’ll admit I’m not really in “half-marathon shape.”

So this weekend I ran for an hour, turned around, and walked back to my car, just to get time on my feet without beating up my body too bad.

The walk back took an hour and a half.

With no music. No podcasts. Just me and this:

Get bored. Get out of your element. Get yourself in uncomfortable places with your art, your goals, your casual running.

The act of being bored sometimes requires action.

Get in touch with someone you haven’t spoken to in awhile.

Send fan mail.

Mail a package.

This all starts when you let go, and get bored.

It’s okay to admit you don’t know all the answers, and accept that it’s okay to ask your community for help.