What would it feel like to make yourself naked in front of your fans? It’s not what you’re thinking - trust me. Just imagine for a second that your favorite musician did that to you - they opened up themselves to show you who they really are and as a result, your relationship with him or her got stronger.
Look at it from their point of view. As a result of them opening up and being themselves with you, welcoming you to find out a bit more about their life on a regular basis, they’ve gained a stronger relationship with you - their fan. But it’s not just one fan they’ve gained a relationship with, it’s every single person who follows them. Building a relationship with their fans means more trust, credibility and conversion to purchase music and merchandise.
It helps if you’re an open and bubbly person already. That ensures that your strip isn’t fake - it’s just you being more open so you can engage your fans. The important thing is how much you decide to strip.
My answer is simple: be honest, not crude. Speak and write what emotions you’re going through, what you’re mind is feeling and allow your life’s stories to become good stories for your listeners and readers. In fact, if you think about it, your music lyrics are already stories in themselves: ever notice how musicians who have evidently written about their life in their songs seem to get talked about a bit more?
Of course, I should also say this: make sure your “strip” doesn’t insult anybody or name-drop people even though you may be feeling emotions toward them. Entertainment that is two-faced is no good, and it can be spotted a mile off.
Stories about yourself sell and spread like wild-fire. That’s real buzz promotion for your music. Let your fans find out a bit about you, and in turn, you’ll find out about them when they comment and interact.
Not everyone will love you for stripping, but then you can’t really be loved by everyone in the world, can you?
(p.s. Thanks to Jonathon Fields who wrote about Strip-blogging - that’s what inspired this post. His blog is one of my favorite ones right now).
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Funny, my latest CD is entitled “stripped” and is a solo vocal and piano, less production, more open and vulnerable. I like to think of my fans as “friends” not “fans.” That’s probably weird but it suits me and my relationship personality.