This is a three part series about how to get featured on the right blogs: where to find them, how to contact them and how to decide whether the blog is perfect for you.
Before I start telling you where to find these rap blogs and how to contact them, you’ll need to establish why you want to be featured on rap blogs in the first place.
Is it because you want to be more exposed?
Maybe because you want to make friends with fellow bloggers?
Or is it because you want to get influenced by them?
Whatever the reason is, you’ll need to find that out on your own. There are some blogs that will require that you pay them for you to be able to be featured, but it’s
all up to you whether you want to take it or not.
I suggest not doing so, especially if you’re just starting out. It’s best to find smaller blogs so that you have more chance to get featured without spending anything.
Other Music Promotion Blog Posts
HOPE MARKETING
WHAT IS IT AND WHY SHOULD IT BE AVOIDED?
I don’t want any hip hop artists and beat makers to rely on ‘hope marketing’.
Hope marketing is when an artist relies on their music to get them noticed.
You’ll usually hear these people say things like, “I made this amazing beat, I’ll post it on my website and wait for people to notice me” or “I hope I’m picked up by a label soon” or even “I hope my songs get airplay eventually.”
Hope marketing is basically waiting for nothing, so it’s best that no one relies on it, purely because you’re just making amazing music and no one knows about it, and it gets left on your website or blog and collects dust rather than add to your traffic.
Now, will all that out of the way, let’s focus on two things you’ll first need to know about for easier access to these blogs and a better chance of getting featured on them.
Download My Hip Hop Blogs Cheat Sheet
I have something on my website called the hip hop blogs cheat sheet which is a helpful little tool that keeps track of the blogs you’ve contacted and the relative success or failure of how you interact with these blogs. Included in it are contact information of numerous blogs and the blog names itself.
It’s up to you whether you want to contact each of them or just a small handful. I didn’t include the e-mails because in most cases, these e-mails are always being bombarded with numerous e-mails from other people and blogs, so yours would likely be left in the masses of those emails.
Also, if you do decide on contacting these blogs, it’s best you not spam them with hundreds of emails daily. Send one or two and then wait a few days, if they respond back, then that’s great! If not, decide on whether you should contact them again or to just move on to the next blog.
Updating the cheat sheet yourself is also a choice you can make. If you want to add more information on them on your sheet, then go ahead. If not, then it’s fine as well. It’s all about taking the time to finding the right blog for you, and I’m sure this cheat sheet will come in handy.
How To Know If The Blog Is Worth It
It’s always a good idea to check the blogs you come upon and see if they’re worth your time or not.
You wouldn’t want to waste all your time on a post and find out that they didn’t keep up on their side of the bargain.
One way to check whether a blog is worth it is to see if they have the right amount of traffic for the number of followers they have on their social media accounts. If they have 200,000 followers on Twitter but only between 50 to 100 likes and retweets, it’s time to do a double take on their
account.
Go and find their Facebook or Instagram and check if their fan engagement is amazing or if they don’t interact with fans at all. You could even check if their numbers match between fans and their reactions to their posts.
It’s a good way to see if their followers are legit, or are just bought to make it seem like they’re a relevant blog.
More Tips On How To Get Featured On Rap Blogs
Another good idea to check if a blog is legit is to ask artists and different bloggers for their opinions on different blogs and to ask for advice.
Especially if you’re just starting out and don’t know where to go but at the same time you don’t want to waste your time talking to a blog that won’t help you give
you the exposure you need and want.
One more thing to look out for in a blog is if they update their website/ blog frequently.
You may think this is a good idea but try to find a blog that doesn’t update within every hour.
Why?
Because you may land a feature on it but after a few hours it gets covered up with updates that the owner
posted within two to three hours.
Now, if you already have a few ideas on how to find blogs and where to find them, there is one more tip I want to share with you to ensure that you’re getting on a blog that will give you the exposure you deserve and in return, give them the same influence they gave you.
If you’ve managed to engage in conversation with the blog writer or even the owner, why not ask them for an analytics report?
Some blogs may not agree and won’t give you the report but that’s fine, and some might give it to you. It’s just another precautionary measure to check whether they’re getting the traffic that they say they are gaining within a week, month or even just in a few days. You’ll then make a decision if you want to continue with getting featured on their blog or not.
That’s all the tips and tricks I can give you in this blog post.
In the next one, I’ll talk more about on how to use the cheat sheet I mentioned here and how you should help other bloggers and artists so that they too in return, will help you. As well as a few more tricks on how you can pitch yourself to other bloggers. Be sure to tune into the next podcast and the next blog post, coming soon!
