A Social Media Symphony

How often do you find a classical musician who is not only a virtuoso on his or her appointed instrument, but who demonstrates Internet marketing virtuosity as well? Allow me to introduce you to classical pianist Grace Nikae and her website, Gracenikae.com. From looking at her website, it’s obvious the piano is not the only keyboard Grace spends time on. Her site is a convergence of standard web content, social media and ecommerce.

Blog/email newsletter: a two-part invention

I’ve long been a fan of using a blog in concert (yes, pun intended) with email, a more traditional form of marketing. The combination works as well together as two skilled hands playing two parts on a Bach composition. Grace utilizes this approach on her site.

While I’ve yet to receive a newsletter to determine whether it’s simply repurposed blog content (think Feedblitz) or something else altogether, the fact that she offers two forms of media to appeal to different audiences is a communications strategy worth emulating.

Online community: multiple voices

Grace’s site is also an online community where visitors can create a profile, comment on Grace’s content and even upload their own. The cool thing about it, if my perception after looking at the source code is correct, is the entire site is built using WordPress. WordPress has morphed from being simply a blog platform to becoming one upon which to build an online community or social network.

Grace’s website: a social media symphony

Grace does just about everything right on this site. It is a mixture of traditional forms of content (press releases, email newsletters), ecommerce and online community. Not to mention that it is very well designed – befitting an artist of her caliber. About the only thing I don’t like is the splash page that must be traversed to get to the core content.

As to the ecommerce component, Grace utilizes e-Junkie for her shopping cart, through which she sells her new “Fantasies” CD, individually-downloaded tracks and a gift card which contains a unique access code enabling the cardholder to download the album.

Hers is a model well-worth emulating, and I don’t just mean for entertainers/performers either. What she has done will work for a variety of merchants. I especially think small business owners, consultants and business coaches could take valuable lessons from Grace when it comes to building a comprehensive online presence.

So, I say “bravo” to Grace and heartily applaud her Web 2.0 savvy. As with her concert performances, she is an artist at work.