bassmagazine.com ; ISSUE 4 ; BASS MAGAZINE 15
Janek Gwizdala
Doubles with proprietary electronics; there’s
an active/passive switch and a passive tone
control. It will come in both a handmade mod-
el and a lower-cost standard model. We’re also
working on a 4-string signature model.
What advice can you offer to bassists who
want to use social media as a career tool?
It’s all about building an audience and
keeping them engaged. It starts with having
a story, that story being honest, and find-
ing an audience who can relate to your story
and how you can help them. If you genuine-
ly want to help others, that’s what translates,
that’s what people respond to, and that’s
what makes any social-media presence suc-
cessful. It’s not about the number of follow-
ers. So many people have a bloated number,
like 400,000 followers, yet when they post a
photo it gets 50 likes, so their level of engage-
ment is basically zero. The key is having the
highest percentage of your audience engaged.
When it comes to platforms, Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat —
it’s really a matter of what works for you. But
if you’re marketing or selling something, the
most important item to have is a traditional
mailing list. Having people trust you enough
to give you their email address and allow you
to send them unsolicited emails with what
you’re offering is invaluable, because so-
cial-media platforms can be so passive, and
people can flick through those and not notice
what you’re doing. Give away something of
value in return for the potential customers’
email address. That will build your mailing
list and be the most valuable thing you have
going for you as a business.
The last key is, you have to love the work.
Whether it’s practicing bass, growing your
Twitter feed, or creating product, you have to
be in love with it. The second you don’t love
it, you’re bullshitting yourself and your audi-
ence. I can’t imagine my life or career without
my social-media side. It has literally saved me
on many occasions, and it has brought me so
much happiness and so many opportunities. l