This post might make some of my artist friends a little uncomfortable. Why? It requires getting out of the ol' comfort zone. So, how does it work?
My strategy looks like this:
Know how to connect immediately with whom you are talking. My preferred social media outlets are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube (in that order). That being said, SnapChat is currently one of the hottest social media platforms out there... but I don't use it. I'm just not into selfies (but if you use it, that might be the platform you have first on your list).
If you're in a setting or conversation where you art comes up as a topic and you have a genuinely nice conversation, it's not weird to ask permission to connect with them on your preferred platform. This comes back to genuinely appreciating the people that are around you. You know that you've got this thing rolling when you are able to ask to connect without tagging "all of our shows are up on my Facebook" or "I've got video clips on my instagram". You're legitimately connecting with a person when you don't feel like you have to justify your existence to the other person. The key to successfully connecting with people on social media is to open up an actual two-way social connection.
Remember, if you are constantly posting the same old stuff about how awesome you and your music are, and not expressing anything else or interacting with your new connections, you'll get unfollowed quickly because it becomes clear that you're only interested in yourself (coming back around to why I'm not a fan of SnapChat -it's predominantly driven by selfies).
If you have a memorable conversation, keep the conversation going online. You never know what friendships or opportunities might open up through the people you choose to stay connected with!
It all starts by saying "hello".
Until next time,
-T.