I’m a massive fan of punk. Specifically, the DIY punk scene.
If you’re wondering what that is, it’s basically a community of people who have built a really strong following through a shared passion for a certain type of music – and who do everything themselves, from promoting gigs, to recording and releasing music, to designing merch, flyers, zines, and everything in between.
The DIY ethos means everyone involved in the scene supports each other, and as a result, it’s thriving, with absolutely no need for massive marketing budgets, endorsements, or sponsors. It’s genuine. And that’s what makes it so special.
Earlier this year, I attended one of the UK’s biggest DIY punk festivals. The event was split across 7 venues in Manchester over 3 days (plus a warm-up show), and featured musicians, comedians, poets, and podcasters from around the world. Despite there being so much going on (and plenty of opportunities for something to go wrong) everything ran perfectly.
It’s clear to me that the reason it was so successful was due to the hard graft put in by the organisers, volunteers, and artists involved who wanted to create a space where like-minded people could come together and share what they love. Astonishingly, the bulk of the planning is done by just three people. In their spare time. In between working full-time jobs.
Putting on a festival of that scale is no mean feat. Many events companies couldn’t pull it off as smoothly, even with the backing of hundreds of thousands of pounds, and a huge team behind them.
As much as I hate myself for this, it got me thinking about how businesses with smaller marketing budgets or resources can maximise their potential.
A lot of it comes back to the importance of curating content that resonates with your community and sticking to your core values.
One of the things that constantly amazes me is how much content some DIY artists put out. Not just singles, EPs and albums, but live recordings, music videos, and social media posts. And it’s not just quantity, it’s quality. The passion for what they do really shows. And as a result, people engage with it like crazy.
So don’t ruin your social media accounts by posting dry, boring, and constantly product-focused content. Have some fun with it, after all, social media is where people come to be entertained.
And don’t use AI to write y