Music Promo Blog: 2005/06

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Filling Your Music Marketing Funnel

I saw this article by The E-zine Queen, and it got me thinking. Here she lays out something well-known to most brick-and-mortar businesses. You need multiple pricing levels to really maximize your profit. Read and see what you think. I'd love to hear what kind of pricing structures you might offer.

"Filling Your Marketing Funnel"
by Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen"

A client of mine, whom I'll call "Mary," is a financial planner. She'd had a Web site for a few years that pretty much served as an online brochure for her. When Mary came to me, she was looking for other ways to generate income besides working directly with clients.

During our first conversation I introduced her to the MARKETING FUNNEL. If you picture a funnel, you know it's wide and open at the top, and tiny and narrow at the bottom. At the top of the funnel is where you want to get as MANY prospects in as possible. At the bottom of the funnel is your HIGHEST PRICED service or product. And in the middle are in-between levels of services/products and prices.

So as you go down the funnel, the products are priced higher and higher, and the idea is to keep people flowing down from the top to the bottom.

First, Get Them IN the Funnel

Offering something for FR*EE is the ideal way to get tons of people into your funnel. Most people collect prospects by giving away something free, such as a report, an e-zine, or a teleclass. When people sign up for these goodies, you get their names and e-mail addresses, allowing you to contact them again.

At the top of Mary's funnel was her e-zine. And at the bottom was her pricey one-on-one services. But there was nothing in the middle of her funnel.

I see this often with many solo professionals, such as coaches and consultants. There's either free or high-fee. This is the reason many of them have so much trouble converting prospects --- people usually aren't ready to make that big jump from $0 to several thousand dollars!

So I helped Mary brainstorm several information products ("info-products") she could quickly create and begin to sell.

Info-Products Are Your Solution

By packaging your knowledge into info-products, you give your prospects the chance to "sample" you at a lower price, filling the middle of your funnel. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

* Books
* E-Books
* Special Reports
* Manuals
* Workbooks
* Journals
* Audio (downloads, CDs, or cassettes)
* Video (downloads, DVDs, or VHS tapes)
* Home Study Courses or Tutorials (usually a mix of media)

Even better, selling these products on your Web site gives you passive income. That is, it's money coming in automatically. It didn't require your working X hours for Y dollars. Sales can come in 24/7, even while you're sleeping! (For help in getting started, see my program "How to Create, Sell, and Profit from E-books and Special Reports".)

And don't forget about teleclasses or teleseminars, delivered over the phone, or even Webinars, taught over the Internet. These require your direct involvement, but allow you to teach many people at once. These formats allow you to make much more money per hour, and they give your prospects access to you for a lower fee than hiring you one-on-one. (For help in getting started, see my program "Insider Secrets to Making Money With Teleseminars".)

Here's an example of my own product funnel:

TOP OF FUNNEL:
free e-zine
free teleclass

MIDDLE OF FUNNEL:
teleseminar ($47)
home study system ($197)
telebootcamp ($497)

BOTTOM OF FUNNEL:
one-on-one coaching/consulting ($350/hour)

Now, your funnel may look entirely different. For example, here's what Mary's funnel now looks like:

TOP OF FUNNEL:
free e-zine

MIDDLE OF FUNNEL:
workbook ($29)
teleseminar ($49)
2-CD audio program ($69)
4-week tele-course ($149)
2-day live workshop ($599)

BOTTOM OF FUNNEL:
one-on-one services ($250/hour)
personal mentoring ($6,000/year)

Take a few minutes right now and sketch out YOUR funnel. See where the holes are, and start thinking about what products you can add to make it easier for your prospects to sample your expertise and buy from you.

© 2004 Alexandria K. Brown

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

--posted by Marc Gunn at Tuesday, June 28, 2005
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 Just Spend Money

Sound advice from Jeffrey P. Fisher's FREE Moneymaking Music Tip of the Week:

There is an old business adage that says you must spend money to make money. I heartily disagree. You must spend money promoting to make money! It's not an expense, either. Promotion is an investment in your future success.

--posted by Marc Gunn at Monday, June 20, 2005
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.

The 21 Most Powerful Copywriting Rules of All Time

by Joe Vitale

Joe Vitale is a master at educating people on how to sell with the written word. Here are some of his most-powerful tips.

1. Know your USP.

USP = Unique Selling Proposition = a one line statement (proposition) that explains (sells) how your product or service differs (unique) from the competition. You can't know it unless you research your product as well as your competition. What does Federal Express say? Dove soap? You must know your basic offer before you can begin to persuade anyone to accept it.

2. Use layout that supports copy.

Graphics, fonts, and layouts don't sell, but they can help bring attention to your sales message. Use proven formats. Look at the famous Maxwell Sackheim ad in my book, The AMA Complete Guide to Small Business Advertising. Consider an advertorial style. It can get 80% more attention than any other ad layout. You must know the form your sales message will take before you begin to draft your actual message. Knowing you are about to write a classified ad will lead you to write differently than if you were about to write a sales letter or a display ad.

3. Create a riveting and relevant headline.

Round-up your prospects with a headline that makes them sit up and take notice. Best place to see good headlines is on the cover of Reader's Digest. See my AMA advertising book for 30 ways to write headlines. A headline calls out your readers. A change in headline can bring 19 times more response.

4. Write simply, directly, and in the conversational style of your prospects.

Who are you trying to reach? Housewives, business executives, children? You must know the type of person you are writing to. Write to one person from that group and you will speak to all people in that group. Forget trying to impress people, win writing awards, or please a past English teacher. Good copy often violates the rules of English but still makes the sale.

5. So that -- ?

Write of the benefits, not the features. A feature generally describes a product; a benefit generally explains what the product does for you. A good way to write about benefits would be to keep saying you get this...and the product does this...so that you get.... Look at Kodak. People don't buy film for the pictures they create. They are buying memories. Look at their advertising and you'll barely see film anywhere. What you will see are family reunions, graduations, weddings, etc. You get film which helps you take pictures so that you get memories. Keep asking So that -- ? to dig up benefits. For example, This computer is a 486...so that...you get a computer that is twice the speed of other computers...so that...you can get twice the work done in the same amount of time...so that....you are free to have longer lunches, make more calls, or focus on something else.

6. Use emotional appeal.

People buy for emotional reasons and justify with logic. Gene Schwartz wrote an ad that ran for 20 years and sold so many flowers it exhausted nurseries. It's packed with emotional appeal. It read in part:

When you put this into the Earth, and you jump back (quickly), it explodes into flowers. And everybody in your neighborhood comes and they look. And people take home blooms because you've got so many you could never find a house big enough to put them. And you've become the gardening expert for the entire neighborhood.

7. Demolish the five basic objections within your copy:

* I don't have enough time.
* I don't have enough money.
* It won't work for me.
* I don't believe you.
* I don't need it.

8. Activate your writing.

Whenever you write the words "is," "was," "are," or "to be," train yourself to stop and change them to something more active. "The meeting is tonight" sounds dead; "The meeting starts at 7 PM sharp tonight" feels clear, direct and alive. "Clair Sullivan is the finest promoter in the country" doesn't convey the excitement that "Clair Sullivan creates corporate events better than anyone else on the planet" does.

9. Tell them something they don't know.

Fascinate your readers. The more you tell, the more you sell. Long copy usually works better than short copy, as long as the copy holds interest. After all, people read whole books. They will read your copy IF it interests them.

10. Seduce the reader into continued reading.

Keep your reader reading any way you can. Questions, unfinished sentences, involving statements, sub-heads, bulleted points, quizzes, all work. These techniques also handle the skimmers who just glance at your copy, as well as the word-for-word readers.

11. Say collie.

Be specific. Whenever you write something vague, such as "they say," or "later on," or "many," train yourself to stop and rewrite those phrases into something more concrete, such as: "Mark Weisser said...", or "Saturday at noon" or "Seven people agreed." Don't say dog when you can say collie.

12. Overwhelm with testimonials

Get as many testimonials as you can. The more specific, the more convincing. In short, deliver proof that your claim is for real.

13. Remove the risk!

Give a guarantee. Less than 2% of your customers will ever ask for their money back, so offering a guarantee is a safe risk. Here's the guarantee from my book, The Seven Lost Secrets of Success:

Use these seven principles for six months. If you're out of work, you'll find a job. If you're employed, you'll get a raise. If you're in business, you'll see a whopping 25% jump in revenues -- or return this book and your receipt for a full cash refund!

14. Ask for the order

Too much copy these days never asks anyone to buy anything. Sales copy should SELL. Use a coupon as a way to signal readers that you want their business and to remind yourself to always ask for the order (or at least to ask people to contact you or remember you).

15. Use magic words.

There are certain words which have been proven to help get attention. If you just string these words together, they sound like fluff. But weave them into your sentences, along with your facts, and they become powerful:

Announcing, astonishing, exciting, exclusive, fantastic, fascinating, first, free, guaranteed, incredible, initial, improved, love, limited offer, powerful, phenomenal, revealing, revolutionary, special, successful, super, time-sensitive, unique, urgent, wonderful, you, breakthrough, introducing, new, and how-to.

And consider the connotations of the words you use: workshop sounds like hard work while seminar sounds easier. Read sounds hard while look over sounds easy. Write sounds difficult while jot down sounds easy. Be aware of the psychological implications of the words and phrases you use.

16. Get pumped up!

Show your excitement for your product. If you aren't pumped up about it, why not? Enthusiasm sells.

17. Rewrite and test ruthlessly.

Test. Test. Test. A change of one word can increase response 250%. Sackheim tested his famous ad at least six times before he found the headline and format that worked. Most copy isn't written in one day. You have to write, rewrite, edit, rewrite, test, and test again. Keep asking yourself, Would I buy this product? and Have I said everything to make the sale?

18. State a believable deadline.

Most people won't take any immediate action unless there exists a sound reason to do so. Deadlines help, as long as your deadline sounds credible.

19. Instantaneous satisfaction!

Everything should be nearly instantaneous because we want instant gratification. Toll-free numbers and fax numbers help. If you're marketing on the Web, include a link or a button that makes it easy for your readers to order.

20. Sincerity sells.

Don't offer fluff, mislead, or lie to your prospects. Tell them the truth.While rarely done, it actually helps sales to admit a weakness or a fault. Remember the ad, These neckties aren't very pretty, but they're a steal at a nickel each! Tell the truth in a fascinating way.

21. Copy your copy from the best.

Read excellent copy, write it out word-for-word in your own hand to get a feel for its rhythm, and memorize the following books:

* The Copywriter's Handbook by Bob Bly
* The AMA Complete Guide to Small Business Advertising by Joe Vitale
* Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

Joe is President of Hypnotic Marketing, Inc. He has written books for the American Marketing Association and the American Management Association. He wrote the only business book on P.T. Barnum, in There's A Customer Born Every Minute. His most recent book, co-authored with Jo Han Mok, is The E-Code: 47 Secrets for Making Money Online Almost Instantly Visit MrFire.com to find out more.

--posted by Marc Gunn at Monday, June 13, 2005
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.

Easy Gigs Around the Globe at No Cost to You

by Marc Gunn

I got an email from a fan asking if we were performing at the North Georgia Celtic Festival this year. Unfortunately, we contacted the festival. They were having trouble finding sponsors this year and couldn't fit us in their budget. I understand that. However, Lady Red asked a fascinating question that got me thinking perhaps there is another way.

Did you watch "Star Trek Enterprise" at all? I'm a huge fan. It was recently cancelled after four seasons, but the fans wouldn't let it die. When Paramount said,"No. We won't take donations from fans", the fans created a corporation called TrekUnited. Together, the "business" raised over three million dollars in just sixty days to sponsor a fifth season. Ultimately, Paramount turned down the money. The organization still lives on and continues to push for a full seven seasons for the show.

That anecdote came to mind when Lady Red asked, "How much money would we have to raise for the budget to get you to the N. GA festival?"

Wow! What a brilliant idea!

Imagine if Your fans did a tenth of what Star Trek fans are doing for "Enterprise". No festival would be out of reach. You could perform ANYWHERE in the world, get well-paid, make your fans happy, and make the festival happy too.

Thanks to Street Teams this may not even be unreasonable. Find someone to coordinate the promotion. Ask your fans to sell tickets to the event, or sell your CDs to friends to pay for travel expenses. Suggest they each pledge a certain amount of money to make it possible. Tell them to take up collections at special events like at your CD listening party.

Or even better, have them find an organization to sponsor your band to play at the festival.

"Enterprise" may have a much bigger following than you do. But with a little creative music marketing, you can take your band on a road trip around the world at no cost to your pocket book!

--posted by Marc Gunn at Friday, June 10, 2005
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.