Even though I have been performing and writing songs for over 40 years, the reality is, this process of releasing songs and making that known is like starting my career all over. I have a presence on six social media platforms, but my numbers are modest at best. I do not want to focus my energies on being too concerned over those numbers…they will do what they do as time goes by. Social media platforms are important to nurture and they do help my organic audience know me better and to know what I’m up to…just as my email list is serving the same purpose, only that won’t vanish if a platform vanishes!
If you would like to sign up for my emails and the trio I perform with, (just not now, due to COVID), you can sign up in the pink area of my homepage or use this QR Code. 
I use MailChimp.
Onward…so, I had mentioned in my last post that I was planning on sending an AP style press release to Send2Press that was to be nationally released on the day of the song and video release. I submitted it probably three weeks before the release date. I can do a shorter window next time. Here are the results and links to view a few examples…
Broadway World – https://www.broadwayworld.com/central-new-york/article/Singer-Songwriter-Sue-Larsen-Releases-Third-Single-You-Will-Always-Be-There-20211015
Music Industry News Wire – https://musewire.com/singer-songwriter-sue-larsen-releases-third-pop-single-you-will-always-be-there-which-pokes-fun-at-not-accepting-relationship-ending/
The cool thing about press releases is that they are forever, unlike advertising that disappears after your campaign is over. Over 4,050 news outlets were targeted and 332 sites picked up the story with over 2,500 engagements. Remember, I am a new speck on the radar of this vast music business, so I am good with these numbers and will continue to utilize Send2Press to handle my local and national press releases.
Advertising…again, since I am a “new” entity, this is all about brand awareness (I am the brand). I decided to run my first campaign on Instagram. It was a ten day campaign that utilized a 30 second clip of various parts of my music video. My Facebook account is still disabled (the one I never set up) and may always be, since you can’t actually interact with any team member there. According to their data my ad reached over 4,100 and my Facebook interactions went up 1.97K%. I am currently running a campaign on Pinterest, also for 10 days. I am not using the video because I needed to change something they are not happy with…I’ll figure it out…so, I am using a pin that is the album cover that goes to my DistroKid information page. With three days left that ad has been seen by over 13,000. I will be creating another music video, a 15 sec. spot, to run another ad on Pinterest, an ad on Twitter and on TicTok. I will make that happen in the next week.
The other ancillary “stuff” that I needed to do on this website was done and also on my online Square Store. I am currently researching and submitting my song(s) to radio stations and internet radio stations that accept music from independent artists. That’s for another blog! Keep going and keep climbing…you are the maker of your reality. Sue
Sue Larsen, Singer-Songwriter 