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It's over...almost.
Did you achieve all of the music business goals that you set for yourself?
If not, you may find it helpful to write everything down next year. That will improve your success dramatically.
Need something more formal? Try my Music Business Goal Planner.
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Just as an experiment, a friend of mine subscribe to ten different opt-in e-mail marketing lists to see which ones are effective. Many websites and online businesses have resorted to sending promotional materials to people who have subscribed to them in an effort to boost their sales or traffic. Opt-in email marketing sends newsletters, catalogs updates and many more promotional materials to website visitors who have agreed to be updated whether monthly, weekly or semiannually.
Through e-mail, an internet user that is on the list will receive their updates through email. If a promotional material piques their interest they will go to the site to learn more or to purchase outright. For the website operators or owners, this is a chance to remind their list of their existence and parlor their wares. With the numerous sites in the internet that offers the same products or services in one way or the other, the competition can get pretty tight and it is easy to be forgotten.
Back to my experimenting friend, he tried to find out which opt-in marketing strategies grabbed a person into begging for more. Some would send in very simple fashion, some would very outlandish while there are some that would just lie in between. The differences could easily be noticed and some have gotten the idea of an effective opt-in marketing strategy. He dubbed them effective because he felt like he just couldn't wait to go their site and learn more, the more persuasive ones even got him halfway to reaching for his wallet and to his credit card before he realized this was only for an experiment.
Many companies and site present their promotional materials in a wide variety of concepts. Each has their own distinctive style and designs, but more than the outline and the presentation, the content and the articles are what keeps the attention of your potential customer locked on to your opt-in marketing medium. Creativity is the key here.
From talking to many satisfied opt-in list subscribers and forums, I have learned of what is essential in opt-in marketing and what makes the subscribers begging for more instead of lining up to unsubscribe.
Keep your promotional materials light, creative and original. Many people are stressed out as it is. Getting a stuffy business proposal rather than a light hearted e-mail may just agitate them more. A warm friendly smile or banter is always more welcome than a serious business meeting or proposal. While you do want your customers to take you and your products and services seriously, you also want to show them that you know how to have fun.
Splash some color in your emails as well as provide some photos and articles that can be related to you but show good news or good light hearted images as well. Provide a newsletter or promotional materials that will keep them in a light mood. Make your materials eye catching and grabbing that they wont be able to take their eyes of them. Pique their interests.
Have good content and article, even if it means investing in an experienced and professional copy writer to write them for you. An effective copy writer should be able to build trust between you and your customers. They should be able to establish your credibility in what they write. It must be informative but not too stuffy. Let go of the professional jargons and "talk" to your recipients.
A good article and content should be able to outline the benefits of your product and services and why they need what you are offering. But do not look to be overeager and too persuasive. It should be able to entertain as well as lead them to buying from you.
Your promotional materials should be clear. Don't leave people guessing. You should lead them to you and not vice versa. Explain to them what they need to do in a manner that won't be confusing. Try to anticipate also what your target client needs. Do your research and information gathering, many sites will be able to help you with that.
Provide clear and crisp images of what you are offering. If the people know what you have for them, they are more likely to beg for more. For example, if you are selling a car, provide them photos but only enough to encourage them to go to your site for more.
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The race for supremacy in the internet based businesses has been really heating up and many sites have been put up to help others to get ahead for a small fee. But there are also ways in which you don't have to pay so much to make yourself a good list of loyal followers. Having a satisfied web traffic and visitors allows you to put up a foundation wherein you can build an opt-in list and make it grow from there.
An opt-in list allows you to provide newsletters to your subscribers with their consent. When people sign up, they know that they will be receiving updates and news from your site and the industry your represent via an e-mail. But that doesn't mean that all of those who subscribe read them at all. Many lists have been built due to an attachment with free software or for a promotional discount and such. Some are not really interested in receiving e-mails from companies and just treat them as waste of cyberspace and delete or trash them without so mush as opening the e-mail and scanning them.
You can change all that. While forwarding an email message is relatively after producing your newsletter. Getting people to open them is not as easy. You don't want to waste all the time and effort used in making the newsletters, you want people to read them and have their interests piqued. Interested enough to go to your website and look around and most especially purchased and acquire your products or services.
One of the numerous ways you can tempt or persuade your subscriber is by providing a well thought out and well written subject. The subject of an email is what is often referred to when a person or a recipient of an email decides whether he or she wants to open or read an e-mail. The subject could easily be regarded as one of the most important aspect of your promotional e-mail.
Your subject must be short and concise. They should provide a summary for the content of the e-mail so that the recipient will have basic knowledge of the content. This is really vital in grabbing the attention of your readers and subscribers. You want your subject to instantly grab the attention of your subscriber and get them to be intrigued to open up your mail. Remember, it is not necessarily true that a subscriber opens up subscribed mails.
A good subject must always be tickling the curiosity of your recipient. It must literally force the recipient to open the mail. A certain emotion must be ignited and get them to open the mail. It is essential to use specific words to get the reaction you need. Keep in mind that the recipient or subscribers spends only a few seconds looking over each subject of the e-mails he receives. You must grab your reader's attention right away.
There are many forms you can use for your subject. You can provide a subject that says your e-mail contains content that teaches them tips and methods on certain topics. An example of this is using keywords and keyword phrases such as, ìHow toî , ìtipsî, ìGuides toî, Methods in and others like that.
You can also put your subject in a question form. These may include questions like, ìAre you sick and tired of your job?î Or ìIs your boss always on your case?î Try to stay on the topic that pertains to your site so that you'll know that your subscribers have signed up because they are interested in that topic. This form of subject is very effective because they reach out to your recipients emotions. When they have read the question on your subject, their mind starts answering the question already.
You can also use a subject that commands your reader. Statements such as ìAct now and get this once in a lifetime opportunityî, or ìDouble, triple and even quadruple what you are earning in one yearî. This type of subject deals with the benefits your company provides with your product and services.
You may also use breaking news as your subject to intrigue your subscriber. For example, if you deal with car engine parts you can write in your subject, ìAnnouncing the new engine that uses no gasoline, It runs on waterî. This creates curiosity with the reader and will lead them to open the mail and read on.
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Success is defined in different ways by different people, but let’s talk about what most people agree “success” looks like.
Success Is: knowing you did a good job during your day and had positive interactions with other people
Success Is: looking forward to going home to your family and sharing yourself with them
Success Is: knowing you have enough funds to pay this month’s bills and the bills that will arise in the future
Success Is: knowing that your spiritual life is in order and that you have somewhere to turn when you hit a bump in the road
Success Is: having hobbies that you enjoy and having the time to work at them
Success Isn’t: putting your work ahead of your career
Success Isn’t: running home and then hiding from your family because you’ve “had a hard day”
Success Isn’t: having all the money in the world and then trying to figure out how to amass even more
Success Isn’t: going to a worship service and creating your “to-do” list during it
Success Isn’t: burning the candle at both ends, never having time to play or relax
In short, success is not always monetarily-related; you aren’t deemed “un-successful” if you don’t earn a six-figure salary. Success is more than moving up a corporate ladder and it touches more than just your career. It affects your marriage and family, your home life (finances, etc.), your spiritual life, and more.
Being successful is a balancing act. One isn’t considered successful in life if s/he climbs the corporate ladder but has a home- or family-life that is in shambles. One isn’t considered “successful” if s/he earns plenty of money to retire on, anticipating spending that retirement with family, only to find that his/her children are gone and disinterested in any family relationships by the time retirement is possible.
So is there one formula to be successful? I think there is, and the components are: positive thinking, the right skill set, the right philosophy, having direction, and having character. All of these things make up a formula for success, and each of these things, if left out of the formula, will cause an individual to lack success in life.
Learn how to think “success” so that you are successful at whatever you choose to do.
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Anxiety is the result of either a) not believing you can achieve your goals successfully or b) having a fear of not achieving your goals. Either can stop you in your tracks when it comes to being successful.
Worrying is not anxiety, but it can accompany being anxious. Ultimately, what anxiety does as well is distracts you from your stated goal.
You must plot your course for success. If you have your goals well-defined and your “insurance policies” in place (such as friends who can encourage you, experts in your chosen field who can guide you, etc.), anxiety and worry don’t have much room to take root. If you are a negative person, however, you can give birth to these twins without much effort.
If you don’t believe in your goals or don’t believe you can achieve them, your attitude will determine your level of success. And that’s where worry and anxiety come in to roost.
Your first step in overcoming anxiety is to make sure you have your goals written down—or at least, entered in a PDA where you can easily retrieve them and view them regularly. If you can see your goals and the small steps you’ll take to achieve them (and have a check-mark system to chart your progress), pull it out and read over it when you begin to feel anxious.
The second step is to correct your attitude. If you dwell in the “I can’t” and “I’ll never,” you’re right—you can’t and you’ll never. Instead, you need to dismiss those thoughts and consider what you have already accomplished and what next goal your series of baby steps will achieve. We go back to the truth “attitude is everything.”
Henry Ford famously said, “Either you think you can or you think you can’t. Either way, you’re right.” On this point, I think he was correct. As an inventor, he had the opportunity to dwell on all the times his Quadricycle prototypes failed. Instead, he moved on, learning from the failures and mistakes. He didn’t let a bad prototype stand in his way of succeeding. He overcame any anxiety and worry with positive attitude and a gritty determination.
The final step to overcoming anxiety is to have those around you who can encourage you. We talked about this when discussing setting your goals and making sure that you have the appropriate support system around you. Anxiety and worry rarely come to a party of more than one—they like to torment individuals. Two or three people have the benefit of seeing different angles of a challenge and being positive about the outcome. So if you find yourself worrying or anxious, tap your support system. Don’t do it at 3:00 in the morning (your support system won’t be very supportive at that hour!), but do it as soon as it’s practical. You’ll thank yourself and continue on towards your goal.
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I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “in the zone,” particularly as it applies to athletes or others who are unflappable as they eye the goal. Sometimes you can be in the zone regarding your success and nothing gets in your way; other times you can do everything right and find that whatever can go wrong, will. Here are thoughts on building the habit of success and getting “in the zone.”
Achieve Success by Expecting It
You must understand that the path from where you are to where you want to be is not always smooth or straight. When you hit those inevitable bumps in the road, your character, commitment, and attitude will help get you “in the zone” or at least, keep you there.
Success Breeds Success
“Mo.” That shortened word of “mo” speaks of momentum—the ability to continually succeed and build on the past successes you’ve had. Most people understand that when they have one (big or small) success, it encourages them and makes them believe they can do anything. Salespeople know it, and they strive for it.
When you’ve unlocked the key to your success (whatever that may be), you’ll find your “mo” and that nothing can get in your way.
Choosing Success
We all understand that we can choose to be happy or miserable, and that our choices will affect our lives for the better or worse. When you opt to be happy, you choose to identify with the accomplishments in life that exude who you are and who you have striven to be.
You can choose to look on the positive side, just as you can choose success. Remember, success is more than just wealth. Choose the positive side of things and you choose to remember and live your successes, not your failures.
Experts Don’t Know Everything
If you have a plan that seems to go against all the conventional wisdom and yet you know in your soul that this WILL work, then follow your gut instincts. The “experts” are wrong all the time—from medical experts who predict incorrectly to future-trending experts who foretell the wrong trends and costs corporations millions.
More than 100 years ago, someone wanted to close down the US Patent office because he thought everything that could be invented had been and that no one would need to patent anything else, ever. So don’t listen to the nay sayers and “experts”—sometimes they are dead wrong!
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"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
I don't know that he was talking about marketing specifically, but it definitely works here.
So the next time you want to sell more CDs, ask yourself, "WWJD?"
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I started Kathode Ray Music when i was 22. At that time, I felt that "more work = more success" and it wasn't uncommon for me to work 12-15 hours per day.
I did this for about 10 years.
And while it looked, from a business perspective, like things were going great, there were a lot of things that weren't as good as they could have been. Failed relationships, health issues, and isolationism were all parts of the downside.
What good is being successful at business if you have to give up everything else in your life to make it happen?
Like attracts like. The fortunate part of doing well from a business perspective is that you're able to meet and associate with others who are also doing well in that area. The big difference I found between me and most of those guys was that I was working too hard.
Everything I had been taught about making money and being successful in business was wrong...
It's not that really successful people don't work...they just know how to balance things. In other words, they know when to take time off.
These days, if you want time away, you've got to take it. When I first started up in 1995, I traveled a lot. It wasn't uncommon to see people on in airports at a phone bank, calling in to check on messages. Whether they wanted it or not, they got time off.
Today, they get calls directly via mobile phones. And email comes in on a Blackberry.
Even hundreds of miles away from home, they can't get a break...
You see people walking down the street with mobile phones attached to their ears. Even in the bathroom, you'll see guys chatting away while using a urinal. I've even seen people answer the phone in the middle of a movie!
"Oh nothing...just watching a movie."
Give yourself a break. The business will still be there when you get back.
I'm not saying to just give up on work. If you want to do well with your music business, you're going to have to work. My point is that you need downtime if you want to be at the top of your game.
Too much to do? Outsource it.
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I've got a fulltime staff of four with dozens of others who do freelance work for me on a per project basis. Most activities can be outsourced.
Can't afford somebody to work for you? Get an intern. My latest audio book, which you can get for only one cent, talks some about how to go about this. It's a lot easier than you think.
Beyond that though, the best thing you can do is be deliberate about your work. When you're supposed to be doing work, do it. Don't have an "employee mentality" that you're getting away with something by goofing off. It doesn't work that way when you own the company.
But when you're not working, be deliberate about that also.
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First of all, know that my music business radio show will officially launch in January. We've been recording for months and have some great content for you, so make sure you read up on how to get Music Business Radio via iTunes now, so you won't miss an episode.
In April, look for the motherlode of music business information from me. This package is big and getting bigger, with CDs, workbooks, manuals, videos, and other content that will take you from A-to-Z when it comes to building your music business.
I've seen a lot of schools lately that are starting up music business related programs. There is one in Nashville that even offers a graduate degree in the music business!
Those programs have nothing on what I'm going to release in April. You'll get advanced, guerrilla music marketing techniques that only my private clients are aware of... And if you do what I say, there is no reason you won't be able to easily make six-figures with your music within a year.
I have a couple of books at various levels of development that you'll want to pick up as well. At the very least, I know that I'll release at least one new audio book and one printed book during 2006.
In addition, I'll be on the road this year to do more "bootcamp" events.
To make sure you stay informed of everything I'm doing, get on my mailing list.
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Have been thinking a lot about the past year over the last few days. Lots of people concentrate on goals at the beginning of a year, but I think review of what you've done is equally important.
This year, I made my idea of a music business radio show official. This partnership with WRLT in Nashville has been a great experience and we've been in the studio for the last few months getting shows in the can for a January 2006 launch. Make sure you read up on how to get Music Business Radio via iTunes now, so you won't miss an episode.
I also released an audio book called 14 Qualities of Successful Musicians, Songwriters, and Music Business Professionals, which is more of a "success mindset" oriented book and a step away from my previous books that concentrated on specific techniques to sell more records, get more people to shows, and make more money with music.
In many ways, this is the most important thing I've come out with. In fact, I think it's so important that I'm giving it away to readers of this blog for only one cent. Get a copy now because I've already pressed thousands and probably won't make any more after the current batch is gone.
A few years ago, I spoke to an auditorium full of music business students studying music business at a local college. I knew a great deal of them, having worked with them as interns at my music business conference, 2NMC. One of the students remarked how amazing it was that I remembered so many names, especially since the majority of the people had only worked for me during the 5-day event and we'd only met in passing.
I've always thought it was important in networking to remember names, so that comment made me think about how I could teach the skill to others. The result was a book called Music Business Success, which was released in April. Not really a "music business" book, but it will help you as much as anything about the business that you've ever read.
If there is one thing about business that is constant, it's change. This year, I decided not to hold another large music business conference in Nashville.
I did this for a few reasons-- the main one being that it was a lot of work to hold such a large event. We had a fulltime staff of three people year round, with multiple interns helping to keep things going. About three months prior to the event, we'd bring in an additional two people.
In short, it was a lot of work. We were all ready to move on, so we did.
I have a philosophy that life is way too short to do what you don't enjoy. And while there were times that were definitely a lot of fun, there were simply things that I and the others wanted to do more.
One of the things I wanted to do was work more closely with artists, which is why I got into this business. Unfortunately for many, I've become so in demand that my prices have become out of reach for a lot of people. I still remember what it was like to be in a band and really need marketing help, so my solution to that was to hold multiple "bootcamp" events where I'd be able to personally work with a limited number of artists over a 3-4 day period.
Watch for more of these in the future...
In addition to shutting down 2NMC, I decided to shut down my online music business consulting program, IndieBiz.com. There were no specific reasons for doing this, I'm just not one of these guys who keeps the same job for 20 years.
That became a one-on-one consulting program.
In the backend, the things you can't see, I've added more people to the staff. This comes as a surprise to many, who think I'm the only one here because I'm "the mouth" of the organization, but right now, we have an additional four fulltime people working on various projects, not including the numerous freelancers who work on website development, graphic design, product fulfillment, customer service, and other various projects.
Personally, I'm taking more time off. I turned 33 and just can't hit it like I used to. When I'm working, I'm working, but I'm no longer in the office for 12-15 hours per day.
And the funny thing is, I actually get more done. If there is one thing I've learned this year, it's the value in taking time off.
That's actually a great blog entry on its own, so watch for something on the subject in a couple of days...
Tomorrow, a few details on what's coming in 2006...
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