Every year in Austin, Texas, thousands of musicians and music entrepreneurs attend the South by Southwest Music Festival (SXSW). Every year, thousands of musicians leave this conference having made one big, crucial mistake: failing to make meaningful connections.

SXSW is a great festival to meet thousands of music industry professionals and other musicians. However, many musicians at SXSW fail to establish any real meaningful connections with the people attending the festival. Why is this important?

Networking is essential in the music industry. As a new music artist or music business entrepreneur, conferences like the SXSW music festival can help you market and promote your music or your business. At the SXSW festival, you can meet influential people in the music industry who can help launch and grow your music career. So how can you make meaningful connections at SXSW that will help promote and market your music or music business Music & Bands?

Here are four tips to establish real, meaningful connections at SXSW:

1) Have a SMART Networking Plan for SXSW. Have a goal. What do you hope to achieve at SXSW? What is the end goal? Imagine leaving the conference, what do you want to walk away with? New industry connections? Information on new trends in the music industry? Have a SMART goal. Develop a SMART plan. A SMART plan for SXSW is a networking plan, a networking strategy that consists of SMART goals. SMART is a simple acronym that stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. You should come to the SXSW festival armed with SMART goals. Your SMART networking plan for SXSW should also consist of the speakers you want to hear at SXSW, the names of specific people you want to meet, and the names of the sessions you want to attend.

2) Divide and Conquer: If you have a music band and all of your band members are attending SXSW, then your band members should split up and attend different networking events. This increases your band’s networking opportunities. This tip will help increase your band’s exposure and will grow your list of contacts. If you are a music business owner, send your music interns or employees to different networking events to maximum the exposure of your business.

3) Connect-work: Don’t just attend SXSW to meet people, but go there with the intention of connecting people. At a networking function or social party, introduce the people you have met to each other. You should be the connector at the parties. If you can find people who have shared interests and goals and connect them to each other, you will be the star of the event.

4) Make eye-contact: During session breaks, you should not get on your smart phone. Make eye-contact with someone and go over and introduce yourself. When you are on your smart phone sending a text message to someone, you are also sending a message to everyone else in the room that you are unapproachable or busy. You should take advantage of the break time to talk with other people.

Author Angela M. Carter is a Music Success Coach and Music Marketing Strategist. Ms. Carter is committed to helping musicians and music entrepreneurs establish long-term careers in the music industry. She helps artists and music entrepreneurs develop and brand their music careers on their own terms through strategic planning. Ms. Carter is also the host of Music Success Radio, a radio show that offers listeners practical tips on music marketing, branding and promotion.