Music Promo Blog: 2004/08

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How to Sell CDs from your Website and Still Keep Your Fans Happy

There are a number of great ways to sell CDs online. If you're looking for a great business and don't want to fulfill orders yourself, CDBaby is the best service out there for independent music. They are, by far, my favorite independent music website. But if you're want to maximize your profits, then keep CD sales it in-house and sign up with Paypal.

Paypal offers a great service to small businesses. Customers don't have to be members of Paypal to order from you. You can get a Premiere/Business account for free, and your fees are as low as 1.9% + 30 cents per order. That's pretty dang good! Best of all, you can personalize every order!

Mind you, it's not easy to for the average band to learn how to maintain orders, which again is one of the big advantages of CDBaby over Paypal. You have keep careful records, respond to orders, and of course, take orders to the post office. It's a bit of a hassle.

Below are four quick tips that do wonders for keeping fans happy:

Email a reponse when you receive the order. This lets your fans know there's someone behind the order and who to contact with probs. And when they see an email from the band, they'll be much more forgiving if there are any potential problems.

Email customers AFTER you mail the order. We tour a lot and admittedly, I sometimes get lazy (like this week). So I like to tell our fans before they order that it takes 1-2 weeks for orders to arrive. But when a week or so goes by, fans will start to worry whether you got their order. You can alleviate their worries by sending a quick email as soon as the order is completed.

Double check every order before it goes out. We have multiple CDs and a couple times I've screwed up orders. It really sucks and is costly. Don't let it happen to you.

Email a follow-up in a week or two. This is a great way to show off your awesome customer service. When you email them, offer a free bonus, like an MP3 to add an extra level of excitement in your fan's mind. This will fuel their passion for your music and will ignite a lot of great word-of-mouth promotion.

Those are the essentials for selling CDs from your website. But if you want to really feed the fire for your music, scribble a quick thank you note to your fan. Then add it to the order. It takes only 10 seconds and will win you a diehard fan for life!

--posted by Marc Gunn at Thursday, August 26, 2004
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.

Don't Lose Web Traffic Through Your Email

I was reading the FolkBiz discussion group today and once again noticed a tragic error that happens to too many musicians.

It's a simple error. One that will ensure you get web traffic and only requires seven simple characters to make it happen:

http://

Yup! That's it. Pretty simple huh?

Fact is when you add your URL to your band's signature you need to add http:// before your domain name. It may not look as cool, but EVERY email program I use requires that simple piece of code in order to activate your URL and make it live.

Imagine for a moment. How would you like it if I said, go visit my band's website at www.brobdingnagianbards.com?

That means you must either learn how to spell "brobdingnagian," OR you will have to copy and paste that URL into a browser. And you will... IF you REALLY want to check something out. But more likely than not, you won't.

I can vouch for that. I've seen one folk musician in the FolkBiz group for years. I was about ready to find out more about him. But his URL wasn't live. So instead, I decided to come complain about it here.

--posted by Marc Gunn at Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.

Two Easy Steps to Describing Your Band for Greater Web Traffic and More Fans, Part Two

It continues to boggle my mind how many bands don't take the time to come up with a decent description of their music. It's extremely important, and when you're marketing yourself online, it's essential.

So grab some paper, we're gonna create two simple band descriptions that will help you earn you web traffic and help you with all aspects of your music promotion. Whether you're looking to promote your band to someone in an elevator, on the phone or submitting to a directory, these two descriptions will serve you well.

Read #1 here.

2. Your Band in 500 Characters Or Less
I publish the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, and I can't tell you how difficult it is sometimes to find out Exactly what bands are all about. I have to search through the site, read the biography, etc. That's fine, but I don't have the time. I'm a musician first and foremost. So it's always impresses me when I can go to a band's homepage and find out who they are in 500 characters or less.

If you can describe your band in about five hundred characters you are a head above the rest. That's really all you need to describe your music, talk up your band, and offer a benefit for exploring the site further. Post that info on your homepage and not only does it make it easier for the media and fans to learn more about, but there are other music promotion advantages.

You see, many websites, like mine, use scripts like the one offered by Gossamer to easily compile links on their website. Gossamer Links gives you 500 characters to describe your music. You can copy and paste that info straight from your homepage.

Do you promote your music on webrings? Webring.org gives you room to describe your site in just 400 characters. A little trimming and you're ready to submit.

There are numerous opportunities for you to submit up to 500 character descriptions of your band. Yes, you could just submit an Elevator Description, but any good copywriters will tell you that more text is better.

You see, your job is to convince people visit your website. Then it's your website's job to sell them on your band. But the first step is to get them there. And short descriptions usually are not interesting enough to compel visitors to look further. Just visit the Best Band Music Award links. What use is it to put your band name with a description that says "great music". So?! Who cares!?!

There's an additional benefit to having a good, long descriptions on your homepage--search engines.

Search engines love text content. And if the first words on your site are "Enter Site", you're putting yourself at a disadvantage. Describe your music in your first paragraph, and search engines will add those keywords to their search algorithms so that your site will rank higher for "hardcore metal" than someone elses "enter here."

I designed the Brobdingnagian Bards paragraph to include pertinent information about our musical style, to offer benefits for the band, and to do well in search engines.

"The Brobdingnagian Bards are The Original Celtic Renaissance music group from Austin, Texas offering free Celtic mp3 downloads. They perform a unique style of music combining Scottish and Irish folk songs with music inspired by the Lord of the Rings, performed on non-traditional instruments--autoharp, recorder, and mandolin. In just five years, they've completed six studio albums and performed coast-to-coast. Ask their fans, and they'll tell you The Bards are just plain 'fun!' Which makes sense since, after all, they just love the music."

This description tells the casual visitor exactly what kind of music we perform. They see a benefit (free mp3s, and 'fun' music) and even mentions a few accomplishments.

This concise description has helped make my band one of the top 20 bands searching for 'celtic music.'

The point is if you really want to gather any interest, you need to learn how to describe your band quickly. So create your description and email me. I'll be happy to review it for ye.

--posted by Marc Gunn at Monday, August 16, 2004
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.

Two Easy Steps to Describing Your Band for Greater Web Traffic and More Fans

Musical style: "original Celtic Renaissance music"
Location: Austin, Texas
Benefit: free Celtic MP3 downloads

Short sweet and to the point. Obviously, not everyone is as focused on downloading music. Coming up with benefits, but do some brainstorming and you'll find your niche. Check out these descriptions:

The Rogues
A Houston based Pipe and Drum Band with an attitude.
http://www.therogues.com/

Gilli Moon
Melodic-Kinda-Folkie-Indie with a multi-layered guitar
(and all-sorts) wall of sound.
http://www.gillimoon.com/

Mountain Mirrors
Psychedelic Zen Rock. Fans of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd
or Spiritualized will enjoy this music. Free MP3 Downloads!
http://www.mountainmirrors.com/

Add your elevator description to your "Description" META Tag. Also add an even shorter description in your title tag, and you'll boost your traffic for people looking for those keywords.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of "Two Easy Steps to Describing Your Band for Greater Web Traffic and More Fans."

If you're looking for more great web traffic tips for your music, David Nevue wrote the book on it, literally. See how he earned over $4000 per month turning music into a full-time profession. It's all in this book How to Successfully Promote Your Music the the Internet.

--posted by Marc Gunn at Friday, August 13, 2004
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.

More Press Releases = More Press

Over the past couple o'years, I've gotten out of the habit of writing press releases. I have a score of websites and projects that I'm working on, and I have just as many excuses as you probably have.

But today, I read a great article from PR Fuel which kinda struck home. The idea: "the more press releases, the more press." It's a pretty simple concept that tipped a hat to my music marketing education.

You may have heard in advertising that you must place an ad in front of someone's eyes seven times before they'll act on the ad. Well, it's the same thing with the media.

A few years back when I had fewer excuses, I sent out press releases every couple o'weeks. Consequently, I got some decent ink from various publications out there. My media targets knew the name "Brobdingnagian Bards," even if they couldn't pronounce it. The reason: I kept the media updated through frequent press releases.

Now, there's another side to this that I didn't think about.

Whenever I release a new CD, I write A press release. But ye know what? You don't have to limit yourself to ONE press release. As the PR Fuel article points out, some companies write several press releases for the same product. And if you think about it, makes sense.

I mean, when you write a press release, you won't to focus, focus, focus your message. Don't clutter it with multiple ideas. Just one message.

But your CD may have more than one message to share. So write more press releases. But space them out over a week or two. Hit them hard with a message that will make them sit up and take notice without annoying them.

The better your music marketing plan, the better the results that you will receive. This all ads up to more press for your band.

--posted by Marc Gunn at Thursday, August 12, 2004
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.

Up Your CD Sales Next Week: 13 Ways to Have a Sale

I found a great article by The E-zine Queen on improving your ezine sales. Course it easily translates into improving your CD sales.

"Up Your Income Next Week: 13 Ways to Have a SALE"
by Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen"

Nothing gets people buying products or programs like a special promotion in your e-zine. Now, I know right now you're thinking, "I can't have a sale on my products or services. That's sooo cheesy!"

Au contraire, mon frere. It's all how you position it. Here are 13 ideas to consider. Choose one that would work for your business and give it a try.

IMPORTANT: You'll need to put some type of time limit on the offer to encourage folks to buy now and not later. It's also better if you explain to your readers WHY you're having the sale. You're not Wal-Mart and you can't just drop prices whenever you feel like it. Instead, give your prospects a reason. (Even a funny one -- see tip 13!)

Editor's Note: People are always more likely to buy something from you if you can give a reason. And oddly enough, the reason is less important than the fact that you are giving one! Because for some strange reason people read the word because and think they have a valid reason. (case in point)

1. Close-out sale. Have inventory you want to get rid of?
Making room for other products or new versions of products?
Then offer the current version at a significant discount.

2. "Scratch and dent" sale. Have any books, tapes, or CDs
that were returned to you by customers? Offer them at a
hearty discount for people who don't mind if they're a bit
worn.

3. Half price sale. Lop 50 percent off all your goods, or
select just one.

4. Coupon sale. Allow customers to enter a coupon or promo
code to get a discount. (If you have a decent shopping cart
program you should be able to set this up in seconds.)

5. Free shipping sale. Offer free shipping for a limited
time. Or, upgrade folks to express shipping at no extra
cost.

6. "We'll finance it" sale. Offer a payment plan - this
works great for higher priced items and programs. (Again,
if you have a decent shopping cart program, you should be
able to set up timed, automatic billing.)

7. Free 30-day trial. Get their credit card information at
the time of order, but don't charge them until the month is
up. Another variation is the 30 day trial for $1.

8. Pre-publication sale. Start taking orders before your
product is even ready. (Seeing orders come in is also a
great incentive for you to finally finish creating that
product!)

9. VIP discount. Give a special offer to a certain group.
Show your e-zine subscribers, your clients, your speaking
audiences, etc. that they're special.

10. Buy one get one free! Yes, this can even work for
information products and services. The purchaser can give
the extra copy to a colleague as a gift, or two people can
split the cost and essentially get your product or service
at half price.

11. Special bonus. Give something extra if people purchase
before a certain date. (This is a great strategy to up your
sales without cutting your prices.)

12. Package discount. Offer a big discount if they order
all your products/services or a select combination
thereof.

13. Birthday sale. Or any fun occasion... Valentine's day,
your anniversary, groundhog day, your dog just had puppies,
your kid just lost his first tooth -- have fun with it!

Now that you have a reason for your sale, you need to know how to write a promotion that SELLS. My program "E-mail Promotions That Sell" gives you the simple, step-by-step formula.

(c) 2004 Alexandria K. Brown
Online entrepreneur Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," is author of the award-winning home study course, 'Boost Business With Your Own E-zine.' To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for FREE how-to articles and FREE teleclasses, visit www.EzineQueen.com.

--posted by Marc Gunn at Friday, August 06, 2004
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.

Diehard Fans for Life

Everytime I make a new friend, they seem to come away with marketing ideas.

Today, I got an email from one. Her name is Jen Clower-Brown. She is a fantasy artist and friend who I've worked with on a number of fantasy art projects. She wrote:

Marc,

I just received the cd I ordered of "The Trial of Lancelot" by Heather Dale. I haven't even given it a full listen yet, but already she has made an impression on me. Let me explain...

When I pulled out the packing receipt that was with the cd, she had hand-written a short, personal thank-you to me on the receipt! It says nothing more than "Thanks Jennifer! Enjoy, Heather", but I doubt I'll be tossing out this receipt any time soon. It was just a fantastic gesture.

I realize this may be a bit tedious to keep up with, but it's worth considering for your own cd orders.

Jen Clower-Brown

Course, I've been a big proponent of writing personal notes for a long time. For a while, I handled CD orders in house and followed her suggestion. Now, however, CDBaby handles most of our orders. Even there, it's a lot of work to follow-up each order with an email, but let me tell you it's worth it.

Fans want to know that they're not just a face in the crowd. Something as simple as "Thanks Jennifer!" is all it takes to make that impact to earn a diehard fan for life. That's not too tough is it? Well, follow my example, I'm gonna go catch up on sending thank you messages to our fans. They've given a part of themselves to us. And they deserve it!

--posted by Marc Gunn at Thursday, August 05, 2004
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.

Google Hijacks Press Clipping Services

A few years back, I wanted to find out if my press releases got any media coverage. Media folk don't have the time to tell you if they're publishing a story about you. So I was excited when I heard about services that monitor publications and notify you when you make the press. The problem was it cost way too much money for the average unsigned band.

Enter Google.

Google has a couple o'killer services that do the same thing, but they notify you by email... as often as you want... and for free!

Google Alert is the primary service. You can set it up to do a search for "Brobdingnagian Bards" and will notify you daily or weekly whenever that term is added to a webpage online. Google News Alert does the same thing, but focuses on web-based media publications, which just about includes every daily or weekly magazine online.

It's simple to use and absolutely free, another part of the Google magic. Course, the basic service allows to only search for a few keywords. But if you want more searches and services, you can always sign up for their paid service like I have.

Google Alerts are a great way to find out who's linking to you, and find out how effective your publicity efforts are.

Or more practically, you can
· find out if MusicSubmit's music submission service is helping your online music promotion efforts,
· find the latest reviews Bob Baker's Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook
· to learn about the latest breaking MP3 news, or
· find out if other musicians are turning a viral music marketing secret into a goldmine.

The possibilities are endless. So give it a shot. You have nothing to lose, but wasted time.

--posted by Marc Gunn at Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.

Music Promo Tips Blog
& Music Biz News

How to Sell CDs from your Website and Still Keep Your Fans Happy

Don't Lose Web Traffic Through Your Email

Two Easy Steps to Describing Your Band for Greater Web Traffic and More Fans, Part Two