Reprinted from Bob Baker’s Indie Music Promotion Blog

It’s a big world out there — especially on the Internet. The number of Internet users worldwide is expected to exceed 1 billion people this year. That’s right. Billion with a B. More than 185 million of those users are in the United States alone.

That’s a lot of people surfing the Net that you can potentially reach. It’s intimidating just thinking about connecting with all those people. No wonder so many musicians get frustrated and feel overwhelmed when it comes to promoting themselves online.

Have no fear. You don’t have to reach all those people. You don’t even have to reach all music fans online. If you try, you’ll never reach your lofty goals and will curse me and Al Gore and anyone who’s ever been associated with the Internet.

To successfully promote yourself online, you need to start a relationship with only a small sliver of the total number of people online. Think about these numbers: If you could reach one-hundredth of one percent of those billion people, you’d have 100,000 potential fans. That’s a lot of people.

Bottom line: Don’t try to be all things to all people. Don’t attempt to reach a wide section of the online population. Focus your limited time and energy on the web sites, e-zines and online forums where the people most likely to be attracted to your music hang out. Got it? Good.

This is the first of four blog posts covering the four most important principles of Internet music marketing.

Click below to read the other three principles:

Principle #2: Don’t Be a Fuzzy, Bone-Headed Communicator
Principle #3: You Feelin’ Me, Dawg? Tap Into the Mind, Body and Soul
Principle #4: Focus on the Most Important Factor That Determines Your Success

Note: These posts are excerpts from the special report 50 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Music on the Internet.

Bob Baker is the author of “Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook,” “Unleash the Artist Within” and “Branding Yourself Online.” He also publishes TheBuzzFactor.com, a web site, blog and e-zine that deliver free music marketing tips and self-promotion ideas to musicians of all kinds. Visit TheBuzzFactor.com for more details.