SXSW Panel Highlights: Audience-Building for Creatives (Video)

The folks at SXSW did a nice job plucking six minutes of highlights from a really jam-packed panel I moderated this past March.

The panel featured artist Natasha Wescoat, politics blogger Markos "Kos" Moulitsas, musician Jonathan Coulton, filmmaker Brett Gaylor, and animator Burnie Burns. (Everyone but Markos is featured in some way in Fans, Friends & Followers.)



I posted an MP3 of the complete panel earlier this year.... and in the current issue of SXSW World magazine, I have a short piece about audience-building on page 24.

New approaches to audience-building are a big focus of SXSW each year -- and it's obviously an issue I care a lot about.

Audio: SXSW Panel on Building Your Audience Online

I recorded Sunday afternoon's SXSW panel called "Marketing Meets New Media: Building Your Audience Online." I'm sure SXSW will post higher-quality "official" audio or video sometime soon...

The recording is about an hour long. Here's the MP3 audio, or you can just click play below.

Here's who we had:

- Scott Kirsner Editor, CinemaTech
- Natasha Wescoat Artist/Blogger, Natasha Wescoat Inc
- Jonathan Coulton Singer-Songwriter
- Brett Gaylor Filmmaker, 'RiP: A Remix Manifesto'
- Burnie Burns Rooster Teeth Productions
- Markos Moulitsas Kos Media

Three of those folks (Natasha, Jonathan, and Burnie) are featured in my next book, Fans, Friends & Followers: Building an Audience and a Career in the Digital Age. (The official pub date is in early April, but you can get the e-book now.)

Seeking Your Help with My Next Book

The project I've been working on for a few months now is about building a fan base in the digital era.

If you are a filmmaker, musician, artist, or writer, how do you attract a big audience online...and ideally build a self-sustaining career with the support of that audience?

So I'm looking for people who have really built their careers on the Internet, not necessarily established bands or filmmakers who've also done cool stuff with the Web.

One example of someone I've interviewed already is Michael Buckley, the YouTube star who recently quit his day job and signed a development deal with HBO.

Other examples of people I've been talking to: the guys at JibJab...Ze Frank ... OK GO ... and Natasha Wescoat. Essentially, people who have figured out how to attract and interact with lots of people online, and who've built business models around that without ticking off their fans.

Would love to hear any ideas you have...