Tag: Writing Tips

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Journalism Tips: 3 Tips To Prepare For The Big Interview

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the beginning of another week of music industry discussion and commentary here on the official blog of Haulix. It has been a few weeks since shared a Journalism Tips column, but we finally found a topic worth sharing and a fantastic professional writer to add their own flavor to the mix. Matthew Leimkuehler has contributed to this blog before, but this piece may be his best to date.

This blog exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

So, you’ve established yourself at a reputable publication. You’ve reviewed a fair amount of records, you’ve done some live reviews, you’ve interviewed the local bands, you’ve even shot a few photos. And now your time has finally come. One of your favorite bands is ramping up for a new record run and your editor just sent the email over saying you’re the lucky one from your publication who gets to interview the band before the album drops. It’s a “bucket list” interview for you, one of those artists you adored growing up — you’re nervous, you’re probably a shameful wreck. That’s okay. Take a deep breath and dive in. These people are human and you are, too. This is why you started writing about music in the first place, right? Here are three tips to consider when you prepare for the big interview:

1. Do your research

You want to do your best to make an impact during this interview. Stay away from redundant questions. Sure, it’s okay to break the ice with a generic question about the record or the recording process. But don’t stay on the surface for your allotted time. It’s your job to dig into this artist’s brain, to tell the world where his or her mindset is for this release. Read old interviews, watch old music videos, soak in every piece of media that has led up to this release. Don’t repeat questions that have been asked for a decade on end — find something you think needs to be talked about more and run with it.

2. Listen to the music

Make sure the artist’s representation gets you the proper assets before you’re heading into the interview. Get an advance of the new record, listen to the singles that have already been released. Don’t go into the interview blind (or, deaf?). The artist always knows. Listen intently and prepare questions about the record. This is new material for the artist, he or she should be excited to talk about the project and what they have created. But it always starts with you listening and preparing to ask the right questions.

3. Don’t be a “yes” man or woman.

It’s your job to tell a story, not to flatter the artist. It’s okay to be grateful and it’s okay to be complimentative if you like the music. This is an artist that probably has a world full of fans who preach his or hers greatness daily. If there’s something that’s questionable, don’t be afraid to hold the artist accountable. The last thing readers deserve is an extended arm of public relations. He or she pays people good money to make their new record sound good — it’s your job to deliver the truth. The artist will respect honesty over fake flattery any day. Stand your ground and enjoy every moment.

Have any questions? Feel free to tweet me @callinghomematt to discuss more!

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Journalism Tips #28: Something To Consider Before Firing An Unpaid Contributor

Hello, everyone! Our Journalism Tips series has been moving around a lot in recent weeks, but today it is back once again to help strengthen the music blogging community. This entry was created in response to an email received late last week, which we detail at length below. If you have ever had troubles maintaining a good team of contributors, this post may be for you.

This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

The old saying “good help is hard to find these days” never seems to go out of style. When applied to the world of blogging, I believe the phrase should be altered slightly to include the words “especially when there is not pay involved.” 90% of music blogs, if not more, are maintained by people who see little to no financial return for their efforts. The people who contribute to sites they do not own have an even higher likelihood of not getting paid, which is something that puts many blog owners in a very tough position. Editors want to motivate their team members, but when they have nothing to offer them except momentary attention from the internet and a few extra lines on a resume that can be incredibly difficult to accomplish. Everyone wants to believe that people get into music because they are passionate about art and promoting the artistic creations of others, but people also need to make a living, and there comes a point where that need begins to outweigh whatever desires one may have to pursue unpaid work.

The reason I tell you all this is because of a message I received just last week. A letter came in from a site owner seeking advice about letting go of a longtime contributor who was incredibly talented, but had in recent months become increasingly inactive. The individual in question would not participate in development chats, never offered to help others, and saw no problem in using the access the site had given them to pitch bigger outlets for paid work. The most recent example of this occurred when the writer asked the editor for credentials to a fest, which were granted. The editor was informed after notifying the contributor of their access that the contributor had taken their acceptance message and used it to get a paid writing gig from a bigger, more recognizable outlet. The contributor swore the editor’s site would still be the focus of their efforts, but when the event happened the contributor did their paid work and turned it in days before delivering a single message to the site that had originally granted them credentials to the event. In the mind of the editor, this was the final straw.

Having spent the past half decade running an entertainment news blog of my own, my immediate reaction to this message was to take the side of the editor. After all, it’s only because of their site that the contributor was able to gain access to the event, and even after confronting the person in question they were told something that was, in fact, a lie. The editor has every reason to feel betrayed, and if they feel they can no longer trust the contributor then they should definitely part ways as soon as possible. You have to follow your heart in these matters. Always.

That said, after my knee-jerk reaction subsided I began to sympathize with the contributor. It’s true they betrayed the site they signed up to help and there is no way around that, but if all their efforts in journalism up to this point have been to secure paying gigs then they must leap at whatever opportunities come their way. More importantly, an editor who is unable to pay their contributing staff must realize that if their team is talented they will eventually want to progress in their professional careers. Otherwise, why would they be contributing in the first place?

Any blog owner and/or editor who runs a site that does not pay its contributors needs to realize their publication is, at best a launching pad to bigger and better things within the music industry. Your site(s) may be great and they bring in a ton of traffic, but unless you have the finances needed to pay your team they will eventually need to move on to other outlets who are capable of better supporting their efforts. This is not a bad thing as much as it is a fact of life, and any site owner who does not understand that is only doing a disservice to themselves. The fact your staff may one day leave should be all the motivation you need to work towards finding ways to turn your writing efforts into a sustainable business. Countless magazines have come and gone in the last hundred years, and many more will do the same in the century ahead. There is no reason your site cannot be a profitable outlet, but until that time comes you need to realize that not every person needs your site the way you, the owner/editor, does. They can and will find other outlets, paid or not. The best you can do is support your team and work alongside them to promote a better, more financially beneficial future to anyone involved.

I’m not saying that blog owners and editors need to keep everyone, nor am I saying that it’s okay to slack off. Every contributor has deadlines and every deadline should be met, but editors need to be consciously aware of the fact that contributors have personal journeys they are on as well. They are people are with dreams and aspirations that extend beyond making your blog the next Rolling Stone, but for the time being they are willing to help chase your dreams as long as they can pursue theirs as well. If you support one another, both will succeed. If you do not communicate, or if you fail to understand the other’s point of view, everyone will struggle to get ahead.

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Journalism Tips #27: A Beginner’s Guide To Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Hello, everyone. If you have been a longtime reader of this blog you may recall that our Journalism Tips series used to run each and every Saturday afternoon. With the recent launch of our podcast, however, that column has spent the past few weeks on vacation. That is, until today.

This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

There was a time in the distant digital past when a writer did not necessarily need to understand search engine optimization (SEO) in order to be successful online. Today, that kind of digital ignorance will only lead to a writer’s continued ambiguity in the world of music. In order to be successful online in 2014 you must have at least a basic grasp on SEO, but if not there are many, many resources available to help get you started. We cannot claim to have mastered this process ourselves, but we have done our best to gather the basic information you need to know in order to start creating content with a higher likelihood of landing on the front page of Google, Bing, and whatever search engines rise in the future. I’m not sure this will be a series, but if response demands it we will certainly share more.

What is SEO and why does it matter if I do it well?

To phrase things in the simplest way possible, search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine. Sites with strong SEO often find themselves on the first page of Google’s search results, which in the world of blogging is kind of like winning the lottery. In fact, a 2013 study from ad network Chitika revealed that 92% of all search engine traffic goes to sites on the first page of results, with the top result receiving 35% of all clicks. Here is a chart showcasing the average percentage of clicks received by search results based on where they appear on the page:

[chart]

The findings of this report were similar to another report Chitika released in 2010. An excerpt from the latest report reads, “While being the number one result on a Google search results page is obviously important, these numbers show just how big of an advantage websites of this type have over any competitors listed below them. The importance of SEO for online business is seemingly quantified by these latest statistics, which, judging by their similarity to those observed as part of the 2010 study, are not likely to change significantly in the near future.”

What affects a search?

Good question. Ready for a bad answer? Only Google knows the truth. The search engine company has revealed that their system takes into account more than 200 different factors to help it determine the results for each query. The full list of factors have never been published, but seasoned professionals have made some great guesses over the last decade. Moz, for example, surveys the opinions of dozens of search marketers every two years to better understand the working of search engine algorithms. They use this data to aide sites in understanding what helps and hurts their site’s visibility in search engines. It’s not ‘proof’ to what search engines use when ranking, nor is it by any means a ‘hard science,’ but it does reflect the characteristics of websites and pages who rank highest in search engine results.

Moz competed their most recent survey in 2013, speaking with over 120 search marketers about their opinions on over 80 ranking factors. The top three factors for Google results were Page Authority, +1’s, and the number of Unique clocks linking to the individual page. Click here to view the full list.

What the heck is page authority?

You’re full of good questions today. Page authority, as explained by our friends at Drumbeat Marketing, is an SEO term used to describe the probability that a specific page from your site will be found on a search engine. Page authority is based on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100 and deals with the relevance of information and links within site pages to one another. Higher page authority means greater chances of your page showing up on search engines, and that your page will be placed closer to the top of the search results. Note that page authority is related to the pages within sites, not the site itself. You can learn more about page authority and how to improve the ranking of your site, here.

So how do I improve SEO through my website?

I thought you would never ask! Definition are kind of boring, I know, but in order to properly understand SEO you need to also understand the terminology associated with it. You’re here to learn about creating pages that will rank high, however, and that’s what I’m going to tell you about.

There are many factors that affect SEO when crafting a new article or page for your website. Fortunately for us, our friends at Spin Media have created a very easy to read and implement guide that should help you change your content creation practices in no time at all:

Title

• 70 characters or less is ideal

• Front-load keywords when possible

Description

• Keyword-rich summary of story in ‘Descrip-on’ field under All In One SEO Pack (if applicable)

• Use up to 350 characters, put keywords in first 160

Images

• File name descrip-ve of -tle, no stop words

• Hyphens between words in file name (no other special characters)

• Cap-on and Descrip-on fields same as file name

• Alt text: Slight varia-on on file name, no hyphens

Linking

• Internal link to relevant content in every piece

• External links to highly authorita-ve sources

• Link on keywords for anchor text, rather than source name

• Link with full URL, star-ng with hXp

• Use rel=“nofollow” in links to sketchy sources

(Ex: example)

Body copy

• Repeat keywords in first 1-2 sentences

• Fluid, gramma-cally sound wri-ng

Other

• Use bold and italics to emphasize key terms when natural

• Use keyword-specific tags

As I said in the introduction, this feature is intended to help you get started with your SEO efforts. There are literally hundreds of sites dedicated to optimization, and there are at least a hundred different thoughts on the best methods to properly optimize your efforts. In order to find out what works best for your site you may need to try a few different approaches. Watch your analytics and make changes wherever necessary. We will definitely post another SEO guide if there is a demand, but for now you can gain further insight through this free PDF on SEO released by Google earlier this year.

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Journalism Tips #21: ‘Making The Most Of Your New Music Coverage’

Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple readers in regard to how writers can make the most of their upcoming album coverage. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

New music is at the core of every writer’s efforts. Whether it’s reviewing, discovering, promoting, or generally updating readers, nearly every single thing we music writers post about in our day to day lives revolves around the idea of exposing more people to new music. Many sites, however, fail to properly explore every avenue for content creation when approaching coverage for a new release. There is far more that can be done than your typical review and interview column. So, with that in mind, we put together this handy dandy guide to maximizing your coverage of the next big release:

Album Announcement/News:

This is where it all begins. If you want to have the biggest return for your efforts you need to make it a point to follow the promotional campaign of new releases from the moment they begin. Response and clicks may be slow at first, but as you continue to cover the album you and your site will be a reputation amongst the fans of that particular artist and your overall following will grow. In order to become a site people frequent they need to believe you will always be on top of their favorite artist’s next move.

Album Review:

This is your basic ‘bread and butter’ coverage. If you want to talk about music you are probably already writing album and/or single reviews. Don’t stop. People may tell you professional criticism is dead, but it is not. With the amount of music available at an all time high it is more important than ever that the world have tastemakers people are able to connect and relate to. You and your site should be the lighthouse on the shore of an endless sea of content, each drop representing one artist hoping for mentions and coverage in the press.

Interview (email or phone):

Along with album reviews, this is the most common type of coverage to be created around new releases. Interviews are great because they allow you to connect with new readers by first forging a connection with a musician who is working as hard as possible to make creating art their career. These efforts forge relationships and networking opportunities that would otherwise be impossible to create.

Exclusive Premieres:

This is the holy grail of coverage, and it’s not hard to understand why. Partnering with an artist to premiere unreleased content from their album is guaranteed to bring a wealth of new visitors to your site. Artists will promote your content on all their networks, and in many cases their PR team will also send out a press release. Young writers and sites my have a hard time locking in big premieres, but with consistent posting and hard work it’s possible to position yourself to be among the first consider for an artist’s next big reveal.

Track-By-Track:

This could fall under exclusives, but it’s one piece of content that is often overlooked, especially with young/up and coming artists. Track-by-track features transform your website into the ultimate artist to fan digital engagement this side of streaming video. Lyrics are incredibly important when it comes to forging a connection with listeners, and as host to the secrets behind the songs your site is viewed as being close with talent. Artists trust you enough to host the true motivations behind songs that potentially change countless lives. It’s a big honor, regardless of the size of the talent’s fan base.

Listicle:

I call this the ‘Buzzfeed Approach.’ Create a list that correlates to the artist’s new release. It does not have to be deep or complex, but it’s never a bad thing to challenge yourself. Not everyone is a fan of the listicle, but in terms of generating more clicks for your site it’s easily created content that is easy to digest. I don’t know if anyone has cracked the code behind why people like sharing listicles, but it’s digital trend that shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.

Custom Editorial:

This is my favorite of the bunch. If you’re going to write about the music your passionate about it only makes sense to share the reasons you care so much with your readers. You can choose a single track or an entire record, either way the goal of these articles should be to share a piece of yourself with readers by leveraging the popularity of an upcoming release. Fans of that artist seeking others to be excited with will find your content and feel a connection with you and the work you do. In some cases, that alone can be enough to make them a reader for life.

Album Previews:

Last, but certainly not least, those fortunate enough to hear an album in advance of its release can craft content to excite fans for the record’s eventual street date. Some sites frame this content as ‘first impressions,’ but be careful to not cross the line and write a full blown review. There is a difference, and if your ‘advanced preview’ reads more like a ‘super early review’ you could risk upsetting industry contacts. 

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Journalism Tips #20: ‘Making The Most Of Your Summer Festival Coverage’

Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple readers in regard to how writers can make the most of festival coverage when seemingly everyone who calls themselves press is granted access. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Ahhh. The ever-so formidable task of mastering festival coverage. It’s not easy, running around like a chicken with your head cut off for 12-18 hours on end — making sure every must-see band has been seen, every must-shake hand has been touched and every must-interview act has been chatted with. Not only must you balance every minute of your time and energy, but you must focus that energy to make sure you are creating better content than every other writer on the scene. What does it take for you to stand out during this festival season? Here are five questions I ask myself when going into all types of festivals:

1. What story hasn’t been told before?

Every blog, ‘zine and YouTube account is going to give you the typical, “Must See” lists for festivals, and this is okay. It’s cool to give your thoughts on what the standout acts are. But why not push this idea further? Instead of the “Five Must-See Acts at the Vans Warped Tour,” why not the “Five Songs to Crowd Surf to at the Vans Warped Tour?” Centralize your ideas — make your thoughts unique and insightful. This doesn’t need to pertain to solely preview content — think about different angles for every aspect of the festival.

2. What questions haven’t been asked yet?

If you’re interviewing a band on a festival bill, odds are the act is going through an extreme press run. Don’t waste the band’s time with monotonous questions the likes of “where did you get your band name?” or “how did you all meet?” Goodness, what a waste of time. You [probably] have a smartphone…Google different interviews, visit Wikipedia, or at least read the band’s bio before stepping into the box. Dig into insightful conversation with the musician and you all might actually learn something from one another. And better yet — the artist might actually want to work with you again in the future. A good musician always knows when you’re skidding through an interview and it is a bad reflection on everyone involved. Always do your homework. Don’t be afraid to step away from even insightful and traditional interviews to have a little fun with the artists. Does the band want to talk about the best food to eat on the road? Great! Grab that opportunity and create the best damn “must eat places according to this band” piece possible.

3. What can I do to stay ahead?

Okay: you’ve done amazing preview pieces, you’ve locked in the best interviews, you’ve relentlessly prepared for those interviews and you’ve just landed at the festival. What now? Staying ahead and in your element is tough. Typically, festivals offer the best distractions possible. Food, booze, after parties and sideshows are all fantastic for fans, but you’re at this festival for generate content. Stay in communication with your publicists or tour manager. Embrace the notion of being a public figure. Live tweet sets and daily agendas, reach out to other professionals you know will be in attendance and do you best to not make an ass of yourself (it happens to everyone at least once). Do daily write-ups and reviews of what you’re experiencing at the festival to give the outside world an idea of what’s taking place.  Make the most of every second. Stay focused and make great impressions but don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the fantastic music you’re getting to cover.

4. How do I sum it all up?

Congratulations, you killed your interviews and you made it home safely. Now, time for post-festival coverage. Again – tailor to your audience and strive to be unique in your post-festival coverage. Everyone will have a photo gallery and everyone will have the “best of” lists going live. Try to step back and think about the bigger picture. What really was the best part of the festival? Embrace the entire community you were apart of, not just the music. At this point of your coverage, more than ever, it’s time to be a journalist and tell a story.

5. What about next time?

Be sure to send the required follow up message upon returning home and be timely in turning your interviews around. Never take on too many interviews or you’ll dilute your product and slow down the process. Five well-thought out interviews stand out against fifteen half-hearted interviews any day. Make sure all of the appropriate parties know you are turning your content around in a timely fashion and thank them for the opportunity. Always be humble.

Want to chat more about killer festival coverage? Tweet me @callinghomematt!

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Journalism Tips #19: ‘3 MORE Ways Writers Annoy Publicists’

Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple readers in regard to how writers can better themselves professionally. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Last week, we spent the entirety of our Journalism Tips column discussing three major ways music writers annoy publicists. The reaction to that post was so strong that we decided to run another, and if your response remains strong a third is not out of the question. The purpose of these lists is not to make journalists feel bad, but rather to highlight aspects of the way we all do business that could stand to be improved. Whether or not someone takes it upon ourselves to make changes is entirely up to the individual reading this article, but at least we can rest knowing you are more aware of the common mistakes so many of us make.

Without further ado, here are 3 MORE ways music writers drive publicists crazy:

1. Requesting event coverage within 72 hours of the event.

Music writers, especially those new to the industry, tend to get so caught up in the day-to-day events of the music business that they often forget to plan future coverage far enough in advance to guarantee they actually receive the accreditation they seek. Instead, they wait for an email or Twitter reminder to inform them of events happening in the immediate future and turn to publicists for last minute access, which in turn forces the publicist(s) to drop whatever they are working on to try and get an answer to a question they most likely should not even ask this late in the game.

No one believes bloggers and other music writers are lying when they claim to have very little free time for future planning, but it’s incredibly rude for writers to assume everyone else exists to help them whenever they find the time to put in a request. I am willing to go out on a limb and say every single person working full time in publicity today is far more busy than any single writer or blogger could ever pretend to be, and the fact anyone who isn’t Rolling Stone or Pitchfork is ever granted passes for a show, let alone access to artists, is a testament to just how hard PR people work on a daily basis. In order for them to perform to the best of their ability, however, they need writers they can depend on, specifically those who recognize their struggle and make an effort to place coverage requests in a more timely manner. If you can be that person for the publicists in your life, they will do what they can to make things better/easier for you. Remember: Everyone advances faster when we work together, and in order to do that we must respect one another’s role in this industry.

2. Delaying exclusive content to the point it must be given to another outlet, then turning around and complaining about losing the exclusive.

This one is a little more specific than some of the other grievances we have shared, but it’s something I see happen on a near-weekly basis, typically in cases involving smaller/unsigned/indie bands. Sites looking to boost the number of features they’re able to run agree to do an exclusive with a relatively unknown band who somehow managed to land decent representation, and in the time between that agreement and the negotiated launch date a plethora of additional, likely bigger opportunities arrive that cause the exclusive to be shelved or postponed. This may seem like no big deal to the writer, as they believe good content will perform well no matter what day it runs, but for publicists who have planned a specific promotional push for content expected to launch on a specific date it can be one of the most aggravating experiences they have face in their career. They have clients they want to make happy, and more importantly those clients have fans they want to make happy, but that cannot happen unless you hold up your end of the agreement as a writer and run the content on time. If you fail to do this and notice you exclusive appearing on another site, the only person you have to blame is yourself. Never blame publicists for your own lack of professionalism.

3. Sharing pre-release music/media with people other than the intended recipient

You had to know this point was going to be made eventually, right? Haulix specializes in digital distribution and fighting music piracy, which is a long way of saying we work with a number of record labels and publicists around the globe every day. When these professionals want to share unreleased/advance music with members of the press they upload and watermark the music using our system, then distribute those material to select members of the global writing community. By ‘select members,’ I mean to say they go through their entire contact list and select the individual people they want to stream, download, and otherwise engage with their content prior to it being made available for public consumption. What they do not intend to do in these instances, however, is share watermarked advanced music with someone who then turns around and shares that same music with the ten-thirty people they have writing for their music blog. This is not only breaking one of the very few stipulations agreed to by the writer when accepting the media files, but also dramatically increases the likelihood of music leaking.

Listen, we get it. We understand it’s incredibly simple to receive an email inviting you to something and then forward it to others you believe you can trust so that they too may enjoy whatever advance you have just received, but it’s also incredibly stupid. For starters, just because someone contributes to your blog does not necessarily mean they can be trusted with unreleased music. If they receive music from you and it leaks, they will not be held responsible. You, however, will be held fully accountable for the leak and may even face criminal prosecution as a result.

You know what is just as easy as forwarding advanced music to people who are not supposed to have it? Emailing a publicist or record label and requesting that a second copy of the record be sent to whoever on your site is covering the album/artist in the near future. This not only protects you, but it also allows the publicist to better track who has access to music and what type of coverage they are planning to create. It’s a win-win for everyone.

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Journalism Tips #18: ‘3 Ways Writers Annoy Publicists’

Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple readers in regard to how writers can better themselves professionally. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Over the past several months we have focused a lot of our efforts on ways to make life easier for journalists. From advice columns, to lists highlight how artists make writers feel crazy, we have done everything we could to help illuminate ways we can all simplify our efforts while simultaneously pushing our industry forward. Today we hope to continue those efforts in a whole new way by flipping the script and looking at the things writers do that drive the rest of the industry crazy.

In the coming weeks we will be looking at a number of ways journalists behave badly in the professional world. We know you all mean well, and if you had it your way you would quit whatever day job you have to write all the time, but that does not mean you always know the best way to handle this industry. In fact, more often than not it seems writers try to learn as they go, which can be exciting for them and incredibly frustrating for everyone else, especially those in publicity. With that in mind, we’ve decided to kick off this mini-series with a look at three things writers do that make pr teams want to tear their hair out and run screaming through the city streets:

Never reply to emails

The further engrained a writer becomes in music the more overrun their inbox becomes each and every day with press releases, pitches, and the like. At times, this avalanche of potential coverage can be overwhelming, and it’s not uncommon for writers to delete these messages in bulk. If you want to build strong working relationships with publicist, however, you need to master better communication skills. Press releases are sent to both inform and open the door for future coverage opportunities. Don’t just read and delete emails, respond and ask questions, talk to the people representing the artists you want to work with and devise original content ideas.

Request coverage for the same album/event again and again and again (and again and again)

Take a moment and think about how busy you claim to be running your own music blog. Think about all the time you spend working on a single post, and then all the time you put into upkeep, promotion, research, and all the other aspects of writing that goes into curating a solid music blog. Got it? Okay, now take that level of busyness and multiply it by 100 (or more). This is how busy the typical publicist is on any given day. Where you only have one site to worry about, they have literally thousands of sites to manage, each with their own list of wants/needs, and that does not even take into account the projects they are trying to land coverage for that bloggers are not crazy about.

If a publicist does not respond to you within a few hours, or even a day or two, do no panic. Unless you’re the top critic at one of the world’s top outlets the chances are probably fairly good that your needs are not at the top of an PR team’s to-do list. You also should not send the same request again, at least not for a week or more. Publicists may not reply to ever message they receive as soon as it hits their inbox, but that does not mean they have overlooked your request. Be patient. Take deep breaths and busy yourself with another set of assignments until a proper response can be created and delivered to you. The world will keep spinning even if you do not make it to that event you oh-so-badly wanted to cover. I promise.

Request and complete interviews that never run, or at least not in a timely fashion

Every writer that wants to cover an album or show has at one point or another offered to complete an interview in order to gain the access they desired. This is all well and fine, as long as writers make the effort to actually use the content they have claimed they wanted to create. The best intentions mean very little if there is no follow through, and that is especially true in the world of music journalism. If you complete an interview it should be published in a timely manner. This usually means within two weeks of the initial recording, if not sooner. The information exchanged during interviews is often time sensitive, and leaving great discussions to fill space on your audio recorder’s hard drive does nothing to help anyone’s career. If you accept a coverage opportunity, you absolutely should do whatever it takes to create the content you set out to make in the first place. This may require some sacrifice on your part, be it staying up late or skipping another big event, but in the long run following through on your commitments will forge stronger relationships within the industry than any amount of good intentions could ever hope to create.

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Journalism Tips #17: ‘The Irrational Fear Of Going On Vacation’

Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple reader in regards to taking time off. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Several weeks ago I wrote in this very column about the benefits of learning to disconnect from the digital world and embrace the chaos of reality. My intentions at the time were to address those that feel unable to walk away from their digital efforts for even a few hours, but a conversation with a relatively young writer this week made me realize I completely neglected one of the biggest causes for young writer panic: Vacation.

We have all been raised to believe that vacations exist so that people are able to disconnect from their work life and spend time with people they love doing the things they enjoy. For many young writers, especially those who have chosen to start their own music blogs, what actually happens when these so-called breaks occur is the furthest thing from rest and relaxation. Writers today are growing up in a world that has a never-ending demand for content and, thanks to the internet, a source to supply said content whenever the spirit desires. For bloggers, this means there is always a potential to win over new readers, and the allure of all those possible clicks can be too much for some to resist.

Here’s the thing too many writers do not seem to realize about those random clicks: They will still be there tomorrow. The anonymous IP address might change, but the likelihood of some random person coming across your site or content today is as high as it will be tomorrow, and the same goes for the Tuesday three weeks from now. More importantly, those clicks don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things unless they are converted to regular readers, and very few people have ever been swayed to regular subscribe to any one site just because a four sentence news story was posted within five minutes of a press release going out. Passerby to subscriber conversion happens when a connection is made through the content being shared. Time is not a factor.

When the opportunity to take a vacation presents itself it is easy to understand why many young writers begin to fret over what kind of negative impact any type of extended break may have for their site/content/brand. These are the same people have come up in a world where they know what all their friends are thinking as fast as those people can post their thoughts to Twitter, so of course they are going to feel pressure to share any new content as soon as it breaks. Getting the first or second post out about a major news items can be great for single day traffic bumps, but the shelf life will likely not extend past three or four days. News is disposable. Any one story is only hot until the next news item breaks, and then it’s forgotten almost as fast as the accompanying embed code was copy/pasted into the initial blog pot. Writers know this deep down, but for whatever reason they convince themselves continuously feeding the news machine will eventually result in a strong, dedicated following. That is entirely a possibility, as there are sites right now who thrive on such efforts, but for the vast majority of individual writers there is little-to-no benefit in forcing content creation efforts. It’s exhausting and offers little reward, especially over the long term.

Becoming a professional music writer requires individuals to be okay with taking breaks from the internet. The digital world changes quickly, but it does not move so fast that disconnecting for a few hours or several days will cause someone to be forgotten entirely. Will your traffic dip? Probably. Will they miss a few big headlines? Almost certainly. Will they also begin to think more creatively and have an easier time brainstorming ideas, which will ultimately lead to better content for their readers? Guaranteed.

Creative people need breaks. Writing content, even brief news posts, forces the brain to work incredibly hard. Over time that constant push to create results in mental exhaustion, which leads to lazy writing and bad grammar. This can be avoided, or at least made to not be as much of a threat against a young creative mind, as long as individuals can learn to step away from their work. They must embrace the true idea of vacations and disconnect fully, including shutting off their phones. The best ideas come from experience the world and determining what can be done to make it a better place. What do people need to know? Who do they need to listen to? What song will be the next to save someone’s life who is currently contemplating suicide? Individuals hoping to be professional writers do not have to seek out the answers to these questions as much as they simply have to spend time in the world, contemplate what they experience, and then share those observations with anyone willing to listen. That is the purpose of being a writer, after all. To take on the responsibility of not only keeping people informed with what they want to know, but discovering what they need and bringing it to their attention.

Take vacations. Seriously. Take them. There will always be a big story about to break and another two or three big headlines in the works no one sees coming. No one news story is going to make or break an individual’s career, but setting a standard for consistently strong and original content will lead to a prosperous career in time. The key, at least for those starting out, is accepting the fact success is a process and learning to settling in for the long haul. Work as hard as possible and take breaks whenever needed. Make the most of the time allotted for creativity and learn what can be done to allow the mind to relax. Success comes to those who are driven, patient, and capable of taking care of their own mental state.

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Journalism Tips #15: ‘How To Spend Your Summer Vacation’

Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple reader in regards to how aspiring writers can make the most of their summer vacation. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Many of our readers are wrapping up another year of school this month or next, and if they’re fortunate enough to not absolutely have to find work right away their are several weeks of childlike freedom ahead. It’s an exciting time to be young, and for the young it’s an important time to be thinking about the future. Advertisers will tell you to embrace the now or otherwise live in the present, but if you want to make a career for yourself in the music business you should see the arrival of summer vacation as a door to opportunity that only needs your drive and passion to be kicked wide open. I cannot tell you exactly what you need to do in order to make yourself noticed by the industry at large, but by following the follows tips you will position yourself for success down the line. Making the most of that positioning and networking with the people you meet through those efforts is entirely up to you.

Make a list of achievable goals and set dates for each task to be accomplished.

There is no real limit to what you can accomplish this summer, but if you do not have an idea of what you are trying to achieve from the start you are bound to spend days, if not weeks spinning your wheels with indecision. If you want to be a writer, this means setting goals for the amount of content created, as well as the dates that you plan to have certain festival/tour coverage complete. For example, those who plan to attend Vans Warped Tour on July 1 could set a goal to have all interviews and related live coverage published within 10 days of the event.

Find an internship.

The is no overstating the profound impact a great internship can have on your career trajectory. These internships does not have to be directly related to journalism, but it should be in an area of the music industry that interests you. After all, there is always a chance you will not ultimately become a music writer. Internships offer you an opportunity to explore other areas of music, such as publicity and digital marketing, where many of the skills used for writing can be leveraged. This not only gives you more options for your post education career, but it also provides you with a more well rounded understanding of how the industry functions.

Use Festival Coverage To Refine Your Voice

Summer music writing is synonymous with festival coverage, and in 2014 it’s hard to go more than 3 or 4 days without a major music event kicking off somewhere across the continental United States. Many of these festivals feature similar lineups, which will no doubt result in redundant coverage from blogs and magazines who were granted press badges just so they could spend their mornings summarizing the same set lists and performances delivered by at every festival that came before through a handful of hit-or-miss pictures and interviews. We will probably never reach a point where this type of coverage is not commonplace, but that does not mean that it’s the type of content you have to create in order to make an impact at these events. In fact, the content that typically gets the most attention are the articles that find a way to be unique in a sea of commonality. Summarize set lists and complete interviews if you must, but take the time to soak in the festival environment and convey it to your readers through editorial efforts. Write about what you saw, felt, smelled, tasted, touched, thought, and experienced. Tell them what it was like for you specifically, and don’t be afraid to tell the truth. If the festival was crowded or the sound was terrible go ahead and let the world know. Likewise, if something surprises you in a good way, even small things, highlight them as well. Every event has pros and cons. Don’t gloss over the experience.

Challenge yourself to write about something different

Writers, like musicians, have a bad habit of getting overly comfortable with material that works and hesitating whenever the idea of trying something new is presented. While there may always be a place in this world for someone who is the most well versed individual on one particular topic, the growing trend in entertainment writing is sites and magazines recruiting people who are well versed on a variety of topics. If you’re into music, that means being able to write about an up and coming country act with the same sincerity and intelligent voice as you would the next big pop punk outfit. It could also mean doing video interviews and writing album reviews, or otherwise switching the type of media you are creating while still speaking in an intelligent and welcoming voice. This summer, challenge yourself to step outside your professional comfort zone and surround yourself with material that will make you actually work. Find events and/or albums that require research, thought, and time to properly analyze, then go out and create that content. Buy a camera and take photos at every event you write a live review for instead of bringing along a photographer. Start a podcast. Interview a rapper. Whatever it is you have always thought you would never do, now is the time to toss care to the wind and give the unknown an honest attempt. You never know what you might learn about yourself.

Network. Network. Network.

No matter where you go or what you choose to write about this summer, you need to make it a point to introduce yourself to everyone you can and be as nice as humanly possible. You should also work on printing business cards as soon as possible, even if you have no real business to promote. You’re promoting yourself at these events, even if you feel like you’re only there to see a show. You’re not. In reality, especially at festivals, you’re representing your personal brand to every concert attendee, artist, manager, and industry professional who happens to be on site. Holding doors and buying drinks for the right people may open more doors than any well written article, and all it takes is putting others before yourself. Ask people who they are and what they do, but also do not be afraid to share your current activities and goals. Tell them what you are working towards and who knows? They may be able to help.

Build an online portfolio and remember to keep it updated

The internet has made it incredibly simple for people with an interest in writing to begin sharing their content with the world without spending anything at all beyond the basic cost of internet (which might not be a factor in places with free public wifi). Writers love free platforms and free promotion, but if you want to properly represent yourself online it’s worth finding $100 to spend on a custom domain and site hosting fees. Companies like Squarespace and Wix make it incredibly easy to build high quality websites in no time at all, and if you know the right phrases to Google you can often find offer codes to make those reasonably priced services even more affordable. There is a myth amongst writers in the digital age that if they take time off from creating content they will slip into the realm of forgotten people simply because the demand for new material is so high, but it is incredibly important that writers set aside time to carve out their own, professionally-focused corner of the internet. You need a place where people who are interested in working with you can find links to your work, as well as a resume, bio, contact information, and whatever else you feel obliged to share about yourself with the world. If you want an example, click here to see the portfolio of yours truly (Haulix James).

Whatever this summer, remember this: No one notices the aspiring professional who keeps to themselves and does the same thing every day. The people who makes big moves in this industry find the strength and courage within to make a change long before anyone else ever takes notice. Make this summer the time when you take life by the reigns and begin to truly leave your mark on this industry. The world is yours.

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Journalism Tips #13: ‘Learn To Disconnect’

Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple reader in regards to the best skill any writer can develop. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

In the age of social media and instant connectivity it can be hard to resist the promise of instant gratification that comes with being the first to post about a certain artist or topic. There is a seemingly endless demand for content in 2014, and the allure of grabbing a few new clicks by hopping on the next breaking items a temptation every music writer knows all too well. What professionals realize that amateurs do not is that no amount of mindless content will ever build a sustainable career. Breaking news and being on top of the latest headline may garner short term recognition, but lasting careers are built on original ideas and unique perspectives. You have to separate yourself from the deafening roar of blogs and writers that already exists so that people seek out your work. They will still want to hear about the latest and great music, but they specifically want to hear about it from you. Delivered in your voice with your unique phrasing and style. 

I am not sure I could ever properly explain how one develops their own style, but from my own experiences and witnessing others rise through the professional ranks I can tell you the path to setting yourself apart begins with learning to disconnect. I spent years of my so-called professional career waking up at the crack of dawn with the sole intention of churning out as much news as I could in the hours ahead. My blog was young and so was I, at least in the professional sense, and I fell victim to the idea enough quickly posted breaking news bits would establish either myself or my site as something special in the business. What I did not realize at the time was that the only thing my rushed posts amounted to was a slightly condensed version of whatever information was in the press release or separate site’s post I was using as my source. I was making a lot of posts, but creating very little in the form of actual content. My URL and whatever writing talents I had at the time were a thinly veiled promotion platform for whatever talent hit my inbox first. Traffic was good, but my voice was nowhere to be found.

Somewhere amidst my fourth year of writing I felt like I had hit a new plateau where I could write about anything that interested me and my readers would follow. I was writing more original content than I had before, but I was also still making as much time as possible for news. My site also had at least fifteen additional contributors at this point, and each of them were responsible for creating a minimum of three posts a day. If the sun set and we had yet to break twenty ‘stories’ I thought I had somehow failed myself and my audience. That audience, however, was not really mine to fail. They were news hungry clickers, jumping from Twitter feed to Facebook feed and back again in search of headlines that grab their attention. They were after the video, song, tour, or other media-related item at the center of the story and not my site or the voices of anyone writing for it. We were ubiquitous in music blogging, inseparable from countless other teens and twenty-somethings with a working knowledge of WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr. If we didn’t get the latest hot item out within minutes of the people we saw as competition our posts saw no traffic. Truth be told those posts did not really deserve any traffic in the first place. They were lifeless and filled with stale writing that regurgitated press releases in ways not too distant from my writing habits three years prior. I was spinning my wheels at best, and in doing so causing a lot of other aspiring writers to do the same. 

My breaking point came somewhere in the fall of that year. September and October are always busy months for music, and no matter how many posts we shoveled out I always went to bed feeling like we could be doing more. I would wake up no later than six in the morning (on the East Coast), shower, and then sit down at my desk to begin scouring the net for any headlines, songs, or videos that may have popped up while I was sleeping. My site was covering essentially all variation of rock, pop, and hip hop at this point, as well as some film content whenever something special grabbed our attention. Coffee was my fuel and whatever songs were released that particular day was my soundtrack. There was no time to plan, there was only that day and the dozens of press releases that would fill my inbox. I drank coffee to stay moving and left the house only for work or assignments. If I went to a show or movie, I had to write about it. I needed to set myself apart, and if we could just get a little more content onto the site I knew that attention would come. 

One morning I woke up and I felt like I was going to be sick. I could not eat, I could not drink, and I hated the idea of being anywhere that did not require a sweatshirt to be comfortable. I initially thought the season’s typical round of flu and disease has caught up to me, but by day three the pain was downright unbearable, and my list of symptoms had grown to include dehydration and bouts of dizziness. I saw two doctors and had several tests, but they best anyone could tell me was that I had simply become too caught up in the stresses and anxieties of my everyday life. I  had pushed myself to the limit, both mentally and physically, and my body was unable to cope. There was no surgery to be performed or physical therapy needed, but I did receive a recurring supply of nausea meds and a recommendation to relax.

The medicine worked wonders and I was happy to welcome it into my routine, but the recommendation to relax is one I did not fully grasp. I thought my site was they way I would typically relax. It’s what I did to feel like myself, so even though I took a leave from my day job I was still doing everything in my power to create as much content as possible. I asked my contributors to work more if they could and worried constantly about whether or not enough was being done. I did not heal and I did not sleep any more than I did before. I took my pills though, and for a long time that helped.

As I was nearing the end of my first refill of nausea medicine, I knew I needed to make a change. Winter was still waging strong and the amount press releases hitting my inbox was still on the rise, but I needed to stop. My life had become a giant hamster ball, and the endless running in circles had begun to take a toll on my body I could no longer ignore. Even worse, at least in my foolish opinion at the time, my career was still not taking off even though I was killing myself to give music ‘my all.’ Christmas was coming and I knew things would slow down a bit, so I decided it was time to finally try and unplug. 

You probably know where this is headed by now, but after a couple of days my health problems began to turn around. The knots in my stomach that I once thought could never be tighter began to loosen and my mind began to feel enthusiastic about the concept of writing once again. I did not want to write news, but rather features and editorials with interviews and unique perspectives. I wanted to uncover the last great band in the midwest and share their first demo with everyone I knew. I wanted to be a professional.

After a solid week of rest and light engagement with the digital world I woke one morning, still at six, and hopped in the shower. Once clean, I ate breakfast, spent time with my girlfriend (who had been there the whole time, though I never really made time for her), and talked about our plans for the week. I stepped out on our patio and took in the morning air, then sat down at my desk and logged on to start the day. I skipped the inboxes and went directly to work on an editorial regarding a band I had loved since childhood with the sole intention of hopefully bringing their creations to the attention of a few new curious ears. It was not the greatest article I had ever written, but it was one of the most honest and sincere things I had created in years. Better yet, it made me feel good to share it with people and see them have a reaction. There was a genuine sense of connection with those who engaged the article, and even when someone reacted in a negative way I knew it was only because of my words that they felt that emotion at that point in time. I was making a mark. I was using my voice.

Two years have passed since that first bout with self-induced illness and I still struggle with the allure of being on top of every ‘cool’ story. I am not sure online writers today can ever truly escape that temptation, but it is possible to shut off your laptop, put away your phone, and spend a few minutes engaging with the world around you. It’s not the easiest thing to do, and if I am being completely honest there have been two additional hospitalizations for similar reasons since then, but it’s one of the most important skill any writer can master. You need to disconnect from the digital world and spend time working on anything other than writing about music. Take a walk, take a nap, grab some coffee, ask someone on a date, see the Red Sox, read a book, call your mom, go camping, go to a hotel, go anywhere and do anything that allows you to interact with the universe without feeling compelled to turn that interaction into content for your blog. Life is not about content, it’s about experiences, and it’s great experiences that eventually make for great stories. You’re never going to reach the professional level of writing if you’re unable to experience, develop, and share great moments, but more importantly you’re never going to be happy unless you learn to experience life.

Don’t let your life get so out of control that you end up in the hospital with a condition brought on entirely from your own poor decision making. It’s not worth the damage it does to your body or your wallet. The internet will still be here tomorrow, and if it’s not then you will figure out another way to share your voice. Just breathe. It’s going to be okay.

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