Sound Image

I recently wrote on the importance of finding a solid image, and to compliment that identified image, think about limiting the genres of music you enter into. Of course you can think of bands that have crossed into all sorts of styles or music and awed listeners in every one, yes. I can also compose a list of groups that have performed naked, but that doesn't mean that it is a model to follow to increase popularity.
Think of your band as a business. If you go to the owner of a business and ask them who their market is, they will give you a clear answer (and it won't be "Everyone"). Your product is your music and it will appeal to a specific group of people, and you want to market to them as best as possible. This again goes hand in hand with the image idea.
The mark of death is when you have turned yourself into a tool of image branding. You want to look like you sound, but you don't want to be a sell out! In every style of music, every aspect of what is a beautiful sound, dynamics matter, passion matters, lyrics matter! You CAN write a punk song that gets quiet, you can rap with tempo change, and counter melodies enhance good music of all kinds.
My point is this: if you focus your energy in a specific area, you keep your fans in that area, you gain word of mouth, you are reinvited to venues that play that music, and people who listen to that can play your cd to other people without skipping half the tracks on the music.