creative deconstruction

Win a Free Chance to Transform Your MySpace Page Into Something that Doesn’t Suck

Posted on 13. Jun, 2010 by refe in STRATEGY

MySpace360Wizard is a new tool designed to help bands brand and optimize their MySpace pages. Find out below how to win one of 5 FREE access codes.

Every band has a MySpace page. Unfortunately, 99% of those pages suck.

When it comes to out-of-the-box usability, MySpace ranks far, far below its more attractive cousins, Facebook and Twitter. The template is cluttered and counter-intuitive. The page is filled mostly with noise, and it takes large amounts of time and money to customize and brand an artist profile effectively. Even many well-funded bands have MySpace pages that would make an unfamiliar listener believe it was posted by a high schooler.

Yet, every band still has to have a MySpace page. Why? Can’t we just put our music on Bandcamp and call it a day? Put your music on Bandcamp – it’s an excellent service. But the fact is that many, many potential listeners stop at a band’s MySpace page first – before even their homepage – to check them out.

That’s why your page really can’t suck. Like it or not, it’s going to be making your first impression on many eyes and ears out there.

Inexpensive, user-friendly MySpace optimization

MySpace360Wizard, created by David Sherbow and Cara Peckens One Fan Consulting, aims to provide an accessible solution to the MySpace problem. It clears up the clutter, and offers a straightforward guide to help artists customize and brand their profiles.

More importantly, it helps artists optimize their profiles for conversions. When the pros set up a website they do so with specific goals in mind – the sale of a product, mailing list sign-ups, etc. What are your goals? In other words, what are you trying to get the people who visit your page to do?

In most cases you want visitors to do 4 things: listen to your music, buy your stuff,  show up to your gigs, and sign up for your mailing list.

MySpace360Wizard is integrated with all of the major direct to fan services – music players, online stores, and email marketing programs like FanBridge and MailChimp. It’s layout and navigation are designed to drive visitors to these services without having to sift through all the MySpace noise. The player is front and center, the store is above the fold, and right next to it is the touring calender.

It takes about an hour from start to finish to redesign or create a profile from scratch using the wizard. The wizard makes it pretty easy, taking the user through the process step by step. You can preview the profile at any time to make sure it’s looking the way you want it to look. It costs $99 bucks to publish the custom profile. You can check out a completed example here.

Win a FREE custom MySpace page by tweeting good advice

I’ve got 5 free access codes to give away, plus 1 grand prize  Here’s how this is going to work:

1. Tweet the best advice you have for independent bands and artists in 140 characters or less.

2. Include this link: http://bit.ly/bRWMlS (It links back to this post.)

3. Tag it #CD140

I will personally pick the best five entries to receive the free codes. Good luck!

The service is still in beta, but what do you think of the ‘New MySpace’ that this tool offers?

Tags: myspace, myspace 360 wizard, social media