What should I do about the singing?

[Singer!]

I am a singer/songwriter. I have always wanted to become big for singing. What can I do? I have a YouTube account http://www.Twitter.com/liztheofficial. I have people that follow me on Twitter like island def jam records... But I want to get signed. Please help? Thanks so much!

[Ron Q]

Classify your music. By doing so, you can begin to network and market your music to appropriate niches. If you want to classify your music as folk, you can then communicate with the folk-radio stations, folk clubs and the local folk musicians in your local area.

Create websites. You may want to create more than one. You can create a personal music website that has your biography, music and contact information. You should create several social media profiles. Utilize services like MySpace, Facebook or Twitter.

Network as much as you can on the local level. Most musicians start by doing rounds at local gigs. Try to sing at an open mic performance or small venues and colleges. These venues can help build an initial base of fans. These fans might also be musicians themselves and can eventually help you network more. The trick is win as many local fans as possible so that they can help spread your music through word of mouth.

Maintain a database of contacts. Provide a mailing list for your fans at gigs and on your website. An automatic mailing list e-mails your fans the latest news on your music and future shows.

Open for other bands. Once you have established yourself at local gigs, try to contact artists that have a larger audience than you. If you can open for such bands, you might be able to gain a larger audience.

Invest in good public relations. Items such as quality-performance photographs or posed pictures help show your professionalism. If any newspaper, local zine or magazine wants to interview you, respond to the interview calls. An interview in any periodical will help.

Record a sample demo. The demo should include what you consider your best songs. Also invest in high quality recording equipment. The better the demo production, the higher chance more musicians and fans will network the material.