I must be getting old. Now I'm either a lot wiser or more fearful of change. Maybe both.

When I first started promoting the Brobdingnagian Bards online in 1999, I was overzealous. I signed up to every newsgroup or mailing list that was related to our music. I spammed them constantly. I didn't know spamming was bad. It took time before I realized I was alienating people. Yet, despite that, we made quite a few new fans back then by giving away free music.

Today, every music marketing website harps on, incessantly, about social media–how you can boost your music career with social media. It started with Myspace and migrated to Facebook. Twitter is supposedly a musicians mecca thanks to giants like Amanda Palmer. Personally, I think it's all a load of crap.

Let me first say, I love Facebook. I've found friends I haven't talked to since the second grade. All of my childhood friends from Maryland are online. All of Vicenza classmates are there. Even some of the people I knew in San Antonio. I've found them too. It is a wonderful connection tool. Twitter is much less interesting to me. So I stopped using it. But as music marketing tools, I think they are both hogwash.

The reason I believe this is because I've studied marketing for years. I was one of the first Celtic music marketers to promote my music online. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was a godsend. I had a ton of websites that topped the search results because I knew what I was doing. Celtic music and Marc Gunn were synonymous.

Then Google changed its algorithms. They got smarter. However, my hard SEO work still paid off. The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is still one of the top search results for “Celtic music”. People love the show and shows up in the search results near the top… in many communities.

But now, I don't know what it takes to stay at the top of the search results. I also don't entirely care.

The simple fact is marketing in the 21st century is about personalization. That's why fans love Facebook and Twitter. That's why music marketers preach about them. Fans get to know musicians up close and personal. But the problem with social media is that those sites are now swamped with too much content.

I have nearly 2,500 Likes of my fan page on Facebook. Depending when I post comments, in the morning or afternoon, I get about 300 to 1000 people who actually see my posts. I'm usually post in the morning when I work. So my comments are barely seen among the flood of other posts coming down you news feed.

That's what it boils down to. We have information overload. The only way you will see my comments is if you really love my music and what I do.

I'll be honest. I suck at small talk. My comments on Facebook… usually suck. I just don't have the passion or desire to spend my time to improve those.

Oh! I should point out that my Facebooking as a promotional tool has never been better than it is today!

What does that say?

I've always enjoyed blogging. For the longest time, that was my main method of SEO. All I did was blog. I got traffic, plus, I entertained true fans.

There are five reasons why I think my blog is better than Facebook or Twitter:

1. True fans will read your blog. If someone makes an honest effort to visit your music webpage on regular basis, they are going out of their way to find you. They really want to know what's happening in your world. That's a True Fan, the type that allows musicians to make a living in the music business.
2. Posts are indexed by Google or Yahoo. While I find it less important these days, search engine optimization is still necessary for traffic. Facebook and Twitter are temporary. Most posts will never again be read after about 72 hours.
3. Easier to search for older posts. I can't tell you how many times I've asked for fan feedback on Facebook only to lose those comments forever. There's no way to search for that info. It's temporary. Now, I try to remember to copy those comments and post them in my blog, but that's more hassle than it's worth.
4. Share a message that counts. Twitter is what 144 characters. You can post longer Facebook notes, but why? With your own blog, you can post as long or as short as you need your message to be. And it's your message, unencumbered by third-party advertising. It's all yours.
5. If you have a great post, fans will share it. In the past, spoken word-of-mouth was the number one marketing method (some claim it still is). Social media is the new word-of-mouth. Just like it has always been, if someone loves your message, they will share it. Likes and Shares are just one way of showing the passion for something. However, if someone really loves your message, they will copy and paste the link to their social media sites whether it's there or not. But a message becomes more important when someone goes out of their way to share it. I'd rather have a passionate share than a casual one.

Like. Share. Blah, blah, blah. The simple fact is I'm tired of asking people to Like a post just so it will be visible for 30 seconds longer. It's a short-term solution anyway.

I've been reading Icarus Deception by Seth Godin. This is an inspiring book about creating art. I've done that for years, releasing albums that I didn't expect to be popular (see Heart's Ease, A Tribute to Love, The Bridge, Soul of a Harper, and more). I've been pleasantly surprised by the response to some of these CDs. I released them because they are pieces of my soul that I wanted to share. If someone doesn't buy those albums, it's their loss!

That's how I feel about my blog and why I decided to free myself from the need for social media. It's why I hope to blog more and tweet less.

I want Gunn Runners who want to hear my message. I want to inspire people. I want to create art.

One of the reasons why I accepted the fan club name, Gunn Runners, when fans voted on it years ago, was that it implied action. It's not just about fans sitting in their car rocking out to my music. It speaks of fans who share the message. They listen in offices and tell their co-workers about my music. They carry it to friends. They share it on Facebook. They believe in the art I create.

I can't do everything. And to be honest, I never have done everything. All I've done is sound the autoharp and inspire people. As a result, my Gunn Runners talk about my music, my podcasts, my cats, my general Celtic geekiness.

This blog is for you!