Music Marketing Tips: Making money with 'Free Stickers Inside'

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Making money with 'Free Stickers Inside'

A friend once told me how she was at a record store and came across death metal band. On the label it read, "Free stickers inside!" It's left her laughing to this day. She thought it was too odd a sales pitch for an album that said, "ARGGGGGHHHH!"

Might be, but I found it to be a great way to print and distribute Brobdingnagian Bards stickers at a minimal cost to us. We give away free stickers.

Okay, these aren't your everyday stickers. Our aim was to associate ourselves with a niche market and promote to that group. In our case...the Scots. Our stickers read, "Real Men Wear Kilts" and then in small print is our band name and URL.

What Scot doesn't agree with that philosophy? And what woman doesn't want to see a man in a kilt?

The vast interest in this offer helped us give away three thousand stickers in about four months.

How did we do it?

Create a cool slogan people can be passionate about. In our case, "Real Men Wear Kilts".

Have them mail a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope. Thus the sticker does not cost you beyond the base price.

Sell ten stickers for $3.95. This is how we turn it into a low cost promotion. It's cheap enough that most people will spend a few extra dollars for 10 stickers. And the income is enough that it pays for our next run of stickers.

Now since this slogan also happens to be the name of our next album. It serves another purpose. These stickers will promote our next CD. I added another link that reads, "Be the First to be notified when the Real Men Wear Kilts CD is officially released." This goes to a signup form which gives me permission to contact them our Scottish CD is complete.

Now all you have to do is use the sticker money earned to pay for your next run of stickers and do it all over again, and wait to follow-up with Scottish enthusiasts who have an interest in Scottish music.

Want a free Scottish sticker?

--posted by Marc Gunn at Saturday, May 22, 2004
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