Juliana Johnson, class of May ’17, started her own business offering aspiring and established musicians social media marketing online. Trademarked and established in November 2017, her business is dedicated to “providing quality adjunctive services for musical performing artists which fulfills many of their promotional and live performance service needs.”

After working with artists throughout her time at the university, assisting with social media and merchandise, she decided to make a business out of it. She packed her business to include both social media promotion, such as social media management, and live performance services.  

“I was inspired by a dear friend and wonderful musician Camille Thurman. I worked on and off with her and artist Mimi Jones for four years while in college,” said Johnson on why she chose to start her business.

When she is contacted by an artist, a conservation begins about their goals and what they would like their future image to be. She takes that information and creates a social media marketing plan, which will reach larger audiences while maintaining a target demographic.

“I believe I have created a niche business that is perfect for both aspiring and established musicians/artists,” she said.

She has already been contacted by a number of artists, although she cannot disclose anything about them, and is hoping to grow in the coming year.

In terms of her goals for the business, Johnson explained that her short-term goals are simply to gain more clients and increase her social media following. Her long-term goals are more far-reaching, and include hiring a team of social media networkers, her own graphic designer for merchandise and social media posts, and people to market the artists at live shows.

“I see my business expanding because I know that artists and musicians love to have as much creative control over their work as possible,” said Johnson. “It is a unique business because the artist has 100% artistic control and can hire me whenever they need me.”

She believes that her business will continue to grow because she does not place deadlines or pressures on artists, rather she opens up a dialogue to fit a social media plan to their current schedule.

Johnson attributes a lot of her success to her social media marketing tactics during live performances, citing the fact that she has been doing this un-officially for four years as the reason they are so strong.     

“At the Charlie Parker 25th anniversary festival this past summer, Camille Thurman received 7,000+ views just by live streaming her performance,” she said on the topic.

While Johnson feels that her strongest asset is her social media strategies, she admits that her merchandise sales are not always where she would like them to be.

“Although I realize that digital media is extremely popular, I would like to sell more at shows,” she said.

Johnson’s favorite part of the business is the artists she gets to work with, reflected in her business’s slogan: “Let me make your music social!”

“More than anything, I value creating and maintaining a real relationship with the artist – more than just business,” she said.