Whether you’re a solo artist or part of a band, a vocalist or prefer just to let your hands do the talking with an instrument, there are few things more satisfactory than turning your love of music into a full-time career and finally giving up that boring day job.

Actually cracking into the music industry takes some luck and a whole lot of hard work so here are 10 tips to help you boost your music career.

Use your social media accounts to your advantage.

The larger social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great for talking to your fans and promoting gigs and new releases. Following people and retweeting on Twitter will also help to grab people’s attention.

Explore new social media options.

There are some sites that have the sole purpose of aiding musicians, for example ReverbNation has loads of promotional tools and TuneOrg can help to connect you with producers. If you’re using several sites and don’t want to spend hours a day posting updates and replying to messages, consider also using a site like Hootsuite that allows you to manage them all at once.

Build up a team.

Sometimes it’s best to focus on what you’re good at and leave the harder marketing work to a team who knows the industry really well and can get your music heard by the right people.

Put together a concise press pack.

Always include details of who you are, what your music is like and a good quality photo when you send out your demos so that you are less likely to get lost amongst the thousands of other artists who have sent a demo to the same company.

Always make time for your fans.

Fans are the ones who really make your music career, so make sure that you respond to their posts on Facebook, sign an autograph when they ask you and just generally act like a human being!

Try to get email addresses.

80% of smart phone users check their email first thing so get email addresses if you can and send out a regular and relevant newsletter to keep your fans updated with your news and to keep interest up even during quieter periods.

Network as much as possible.

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know and your music marketing team can definitely get you valuable contacts, but it is also really important to talk to people yourself as well. If you can manage to go to any events, make the most of them and try to speak to people about what you do and anything interesting, like your musical influences, anywhere spectacular that you have performed.

Give out freebies.

Everyone likes free stuff! Try giving out a few free copies of your latest CD at a gig or start a competition to win a signed t-shirt or gig tickets. It promotes positive reinforcement.

Makeover your website.

If you’ve had the same website since you first discovered the internet, give it a revamp. It should have easy to read content, plenty of pictures and MP3 clips and up-to-date information. SEO favours regularly updated content, so try adding a blog where you (or a willing friend) posts updates of what you’re up to.

Play as many gigs as possible.

There are no small venues, only small musicians! Play as often as you can to help you build up a local following and get practise playing for different audiences.

Follow these easy tips and your music career will take off really quickly and you will create a loyal fan base that will support you every step of the way.