Music Marketing [dot] com

The $18,000,000 Lemonade Stand

Just released a new book called Never Leave Money on the Table - How to Grow Any Business and Get Really Rich with 10 Simple Marketing Strategies. This isn't a book about music, it's a book about business.  More specifically, it's a book about how you can grow your business and make more money with it.  Same business, more money.

The book focuses on 10 principles and how you can use them to get more customers, generate more money, and do more of what you love.  If you're already doing these things, this book will show you to to do them better and more efficiently.

Scared of business?  Many musicians are...and those musicians are broke.

Don't worry!  I've got you covered.  I've broken everything down into something even a child could understand.  Ever run a lemonade stand?  If so, you're good...

Enterprise is alive and well in places you'd least expect and for most people, the "lemonade stand" is where it starts.  You can read a million and one books on small-business principles or how to start your own company, but these 10 basic concepts of running a successful business all trace back to the processes involved in setting up a child's lemonade stand.

It may sound simple, but it's a fact. People of all ages launch new enterprises each year and most fail, but some individuals succeed in the most extraordinary ways by executing basic business concepts well.

Take the case of 4-year-old cancer patient Alexandra Scott. While the average child may make anywhere from $5 to $50 selling lemonade on a hot day, Alexandra, or "Alex" to her friends and family, announced she was going to start a lemonade stand to help her doctors find a cure for cancer. She proceeded to raise more than $1 million for childhood cancer research. Her family, including her older brother, set up the first lemonade stand on their front lawn in July 2000.

Alex died in 2004 at the age of 8, but her lemonade stand didn't end with her death. Her family and supporters created Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation™, a registered 501(c)(3) charity, which has since raised more than $18 million.

There are countless other successful small-business owners who know that when the world hands you lemons, you can still make lemonade—or orange juice, in the case of John M. Fox. Even after the military cancelled a contract for 500,000 pounds of powdered orange juice in 1945, John put the power of marketing basics to work for him by going door-to-door with a cooler full of ice and orange juice concentrate, serving free product samples to housewives. Thanks to his efforts, today we can enjoy fresh juices from frozen concentrate because of it, and without them there wouldn't be a Minute Maid® brand today.

So what are these basic concepts that can lead to extraordinary success? It all comes down to 10 simple practices:

1. Give the People What They Want With a Great Marketing Strategy. Decide which product or service to sell, show it to them, convince them to buy it, and charge them for it.
   
   
2. Leverage Your Investments With Other Investments. Use what you have to get more of what you want or need to run your business.
   
   
3. Dominate the Herd. Nature is no fool. While there are plenty of followers, there are few leaders to avoid disrupting the direction of the herd. Leaders determine the direction the herd. Learn what it means to take the lead and succeed.
   
   
4. Farm Your Cash Cows. When one part of your business brings in more profits than any other part of your business, you have what is referred to as a "cash cow." The problem with cash cows is that you have to know when to feed them, when to milk them, and when to kill them in order to keep your business profitable.
   
   
5. Nix Perfection. Perfection leaves little room for innovation. The fact is, believing something is perfect kills innovation. Learn to love failure and embrace the opportunity for greater potential that imperfection brings.
   
   
6. Focus on Your Customers. No matter how good your lemonade, hot chocolate sells better than cold drinks in winter. Learn to listen to your customers so you can understand what they truly want from you, and not what you want to sell to them.
   
   
7. Plan Ahead. The only thing constant in life is change, so be prepared for it. Planning doesn't necessarily mean ordering supplies. It can also mean embracing the unexpected.
   
   
8. Instill a Sense of Ownership. Good managers and successful entrepreneurs know that people are more likely to support projects, decisions and businesses that they have a hand or a say-so in creating. It's that simple.
   
   
9. Duplicate Yourself. When a concept, business, product or service works, duplicate it. Hire additional people, automate, license or franchise—or you're still working just for wages.
   
   
10. Fuel Anticipation. Prime the market by building tension and participation in your markets. Anything yearned for has a higher value when it's finally obtained.

These 10 basic "Lemonade Principles" go beyond simple lemons, water, sugar, a table, some paper cups and a sign that reads: "Lemonade – 50 cents a glass." Yet, for many small businesses, especially musicians and songwriters, that's exactly how they see themselves—a product, a price and a place to hang their sign. But it's not that easy. To be successful at selling lemonade, or anything else for that matter, you've got to know, understand and follow these 10 basic principles.

Want more? Get the book at Amazon.com for under $10.

Shakira's Karaoke Contest

Shakira has a "karaoke contest" which would be a great idea for any musician...including YOU!!

Even the "bad" entries have tremendous viral potential, which could result in a lot of traffic and word-of-mouth promotion.

How to Lose Everything in a Single Day

Let's say for a minute you're in the fitness business and your primary job is helping people to lose weight.  Most of your business is done online, so you drive traffic to your site by advertising on Google.

Things are going great.  You're making a ton of cash.  Every day, you log in to check your stats and there is more money than there was the day before.

Until one day when it all stops...  Everything.  No more traffic.

Sound crazy?  It happens all the time.  Just ask these guys who just got banned from Google.

Sure, there are other options.  They can go to MSN or Yahoo!, but chances are they're already there...and getting only a fraction of the traffic they were getting from Google.  To get things back the way they were, if that's possible, will take some time.

If you are relying on one major source for your leads, traffic, sales, or distribution, take note.  Everything is great when it works, but what will happen if something goes wrong?

This happens in the music business all the time...

For those of you selling music online, what percentage of your income comes from iTunes?

It happens in all industries!  For example, if you're selling books, what percentage of your sales are via Amazon?

Think about offline revenue... If most of your music sales are done via a merch table at live gigs, or most of your income is via the gig performance itself, what happens if you get in an accident and are unable to perform?

I'm not one to get all "doom and gloom" on you.  If you've got something that is working, keep at it.  However, this is something you should be aware of, because it can and does happen...all the time.

WAYS TO DIVERSIFY YOUR MUSIC BUSINESS:

• Licensing
• Live Events
• Live Event Sales
• Online Sales
• Direct Mail Sales
• Merchandising and Non-Music Products
• Multiple Albums
• Fan Club
• Digital Distribution
• Traditional Distribution
• Video
• Songwriting / Publishing

Thoughts?

How to Write a Hit Song - A New Approach

I want to try something new and, if you're interested, you need to let me know right now.

I recently met this guy, I'll call him Mr. X, whom is an expert on the subject of creativity.  His background is in visual art (painting, drawing, etc) and the majority of what he does focuses on these mediums, but he is highly sought-after by artists of all types when it comes to them enhancing their ability to be creative.

A few days ago, he was explaining to me some things about the mind and how it works when coming up with new ideas.  As he was doing this, I was thinking, "This would work great for songwriters."

After 100+ episodes of Music Business Radio, many with top songwriters, this is what I know about songwriting...

1. Writers block happens...sometimes a lot.
2. There are only a few subjects people want to hear about.  The big one is love.
3. The real skill in coming up with a hit song is saying something which has already been said and is familiar to people, but doing it in a new way.
4. A small group of very talented songwriters gets the majority of the album cuts and singles, so you have to be exceptionally good at expressing yourself and "painting the picture" with your lyrics, if you want to compete with them and have any success.

As a visual artist, "painting the picture" is what this guy does...literally.  But he's in the same situation any songwriter is...he has to tell a heartfelt, emotional story with very limited space.  Every stoke of the brush matters for him, just like every word and note matters for you.

Ask yourself this...  Wouldn't it be great if you could:

• Eliminate "Blocks" in Your Writing - No More Staring at a Blank Piece of Paper!
• Instantly Come Up with New and Unique Ways of Expressing a Familiar Theme?
• Finish Entire Songs in Just Minutes...Not Hours, Days, or Weeks

These techniques have worked for painters, illustrators, and other visual artists and I'm convinced they'll work for you and apply to your songwriting.

Here's the deal...

Normally, these "Creativity Workshops" are about $500 to attend.  This version of it will be brand new though, with all new curriculum created just for songwriters.  In short, it will be a "beta test" and we'll be working out a few kinks. 

Right now, we're expecting this event to last about 8-10 hours, but I've been known to deliver seminars that go for 15 hours in a single day, so it might go a little longer, depending on if the audience wants to keep going.

Normally, I focus on marketing and "music business" things, so this is new for me.  Mr. X is the expert at the "creativity" stuff, so he'll be the one delivering the info here.  However, I'll likely add some content on the music business aspects of songwriting, just to give you an action plan you can use on all the great songs you're going to create with his method.

The admission cost: FREE

Seriously -- this is something new and we're testing the material, so we're not going to charge admission.  The only thing you'll pay is a "seat reservation fee" (probably about $20) just to make sure you're serious about showing up and we don't end up with a bunch of empty seats from people who say they'll be there, but flake out on us...and keep somebody else from being in that seat.

Date will be sometime in January, so it will be a great way to start off the new year.  Location will be Nashville, which will give us access to a ton of great songwriters and make it a great networking event.

My question for you...

Would you be interested in attending?

Reply below with you thoughts.  Let me know the specifics you'd like to cover, any questions that you have, and more about yourself.

Looking forward to seeing you in January!

Does Being "Attractive" Affect Music Business Success?

At a meeting last week and met a woman in sales.  She was a bit annoying, kept getting calls on her mobile phone, and all over the place.  Talked too much, but not really about anything pertaining to the situation.  She was also very attractive.

Looked her up to get more info on the product and saw in her bio she is #1 in her company in terms of both overall money and number of transactions.

This got me thinking...

Two women with a similar product/service... One is physically "attractive" and the other not so much.

Does it matter?  If so, how much?

How about if the product/service isn't similar?  Could the "attractive" woman get away having less ability, intelligence, or over all quality in what she's selling?

How does this work in the music business?  Is a younger, hotter woman able to get more, even though she offers less?

Does being "attractive" affect men in the same way?

Post thoughts below...

My iTunes Account was Hacked

I'm an Apple fan.  I'm typing this on a Mac, we record my radio show on a Mac, and I sell both audio books and music via the iTunes Store.  Apple does a lot of things right.  Unfortunately, security of your personal information via iTunes isn't one of them.

Over the weekend, my iTunes account was hacked.  I found this out when I noticed unauthorized charges for iTunes downloads on my bank statement.

When I got on iTunes to see what was going on, I couldn't get into my account.  When I used iForgot to retrieve my info, I found out that not only had my password been changed, my Apple ID had been changed also.  This made their automated password retrieval system useless.

You would think that Apple would let you know when a change is made to your account, especially your email address.  That's a standard security measure, which most sites do.  For some reason, Apple doesn't.

How easy is it to get your iTunes login info?  Anybody with your email address, date of birth, and address can change your Apple ID information.  And since, for me, that information is all over the place online, whether it be Wikipedia's entry about me or the contact page on any number of web sites I'm associated with, that's not hard to come by...

Think it can't happen to you?  Apple security is so bad that a class action lawsuit has been filed, alleging it violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by printing purchaser names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers on receipts.

Fortunately, I caught the problem early.  After a couple of emails to Apple and a helpful phone conversation with somebody from Apple Cares named Edward, after about an hour of work and conversations with two additional departments, I was back in.  It's worth noting though that Apple refused to refund charges, even when all evidence pointed to its lack of proper security as the cause of this incident.  If this happens to you and you want your money back, you'll need to go to your credit card company and file a dispute.

SECURITY SUGGESTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH AN ITUNES ACCOUNT:

1. Use a fake date of birth.

2. Remove your credit card from iTunes.  If you need to buy something, you'll have to type it in each time, but this will save you considerable hassle should your account ever be compromised.  Do a search for "itunes account was hacked" and you will see several stories of this happening to people.

3. Make the answer to your "Security Question" something that nobody will be able to guess. 

Using a Mac or iPhone?  1Password is a great solution to the issue of online security.  It can create strong, unique passwords for you as well as remember them.  You simply remember a single, master password.

PC users, try RoboForm for a similar solution.

As many of the readers of this blog, like me, make money selling content via iTunes, I hope Apple will improve iTunes security and start doing a better job looking out for its customers.  Not only is this is nuisance if it happens to you, it can also cause people to lose faith in iTunes and stop spending money there.

Man Makes $85,000/year Selling His Body

Well, not his body exactly, but the t-shirt which covers it...

From his site, iWearYourShirt.com:

"In this up and down economy I’m outsourcing my wardrobe (namely shirts) to corporate america and you! I’m going to wear a different shirt for 365 days straight in 2009, take multiple pictures throughout my day and blog about it. Days are sold at 'face value' so January 1 is $1 and December 31 is $365."

Here is an example of what you'd get for your money...

Used to see a lot of this stuff during the the late 90s. Obviously, it still works. Perhaps your band could do something similar...

7 Ways Most Musicians Screw Up Big Time (and How to Fix Them)

I'm not a TV person, so I'm a bit behind on this, but a friend of mine just turned me onto a show called "Shark Tank" (watch on Hulu) and I think it's worth a mention here.

The show is based on a BBC/CBC series called "Dragon's Den" and features entrepreneurs with big ideas, but not enough money to make them happen.  Each episode, a group of self-made millionaires from all corners of the business world take their own money and offer some to these entrepreneurs for a piece of their businesses...assuming the idea is any good and everything is in order.

As I was watching, I noticed some similarities between the entrepreneurs on the show and upcoming musicians.

Here are some "big ideas" that you may find helpful in your music business pursuit, since overlooking these will likely kill your music career before it gets off the ground:

1. Attachment is Deadly

This is important!! It happens in business, relationships, and all aspects of life and rarely does it end up well.

The best example of this is the "Monkey Trap" used in Africa.  Like the aspects of life "attachment" affects, there are several versions of this trap.

How it works...

The trap consists of a container with a hole cut into it just wide enough for a monkey to stick its empty hand into. The container is baited with something attractive to the monkey, such as a nut.

The monkey reaches for bait. The monkey can't take its hand out of the trap as long it's holding the nut.

The monkey could leave at any time simply by opening its hand, but it wants the bait so badly, it will literally stay at the trap and be captured (or clubbed over the head) rather than let go.

It's easy to think, "What a stupid monkey," but we humans do similar things all the time and "Shark Tank" is a great example of this...over and over again.

The best "music business" example I can think of is being attached to songs.  They're like babies and we don't want to change them of give them to somebody else, even though that might mean a better life.

I know a guy who had a great song that caught the attention of an upcoming artist.  He had the option of getting it cut and released or holding on it and working it as an artist himself.

He chose that latter...which turned out to be a big mistake, since the "upcoming artist" was Garth Brooks.

In all fairness, nobody knew Garth would be as big as he is, but even an "upcoming artist" cutting and releasing his song was a sure thing; his record deal was not.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose... Still holding onto an idea (or anything) too tightly will kill it.  100% of zero is zero.

2. Know Your Numbers

What would the Super Bowl be like if nobody was keeping score?

What would gambling be like if no money was involved?

Keep score!  If you don't know how much your albums, live shows, and other expenses are costing your, or how much they're making you, you're shooting yourself in the foot.  Without metrics, you could be losing a fortune and not even know it...or making a fortune and not know you need to do more of that to make even more money.

This works on many different levels...  A club owner isn't going to book you without knowing how many people you're going to bring.  A bank isn't going to loan you money with your publishing catalog as collateral without knowing its value.

Keep track of your numbers.  Know where you're making money and where you're losing it.  Do more of what makes you money and less (or none) of what doesn't.

 

3. Prove the Concept

Think you've got a great album?  Think your band has what it takes to go national?

Numbers (see above) don't lie and "measurement eliminates argument."  Prove your stuff is good by showing it on a small scale.

Why small? 

For the sake of argument, let's say you only have $1000 to spend.  It's much more effective for you to spend it all in once place, hitting the same people again and again, than spread it out over several places.

Think of it in terms of "flyers."  If you've only got 1000 flyers to hand out, you'll make a much bigger impact on the guy who sees 10 of them than the guy who only sees one.  One flyer, unfortunately for you, isn't enough to do anything.  Put some muscle behind it by focusing your marketing efforts on one area and hitting it hard.

Keep this in mind... If you can do it in one place, you can do it several places.

Humans like to think that we're all different, but the reality is that we've got a lot more in common than not.  If 1000 people make a certain decision, such as buying your music, it's likely that 5000 people will make that same decision, if you do the same thing 5x bigger.  Because of this, it's easy to get a feel for how your music, your marketing, or anything else will do on a massive scale by testing it on a smaller one.

So go "small" to prove what you've got works.  The people you're wanting to get the attention of will get this since nobody in business is going to spend a ton of cash "testing" something on a national audience. They know a better option is to have less risk by working with a smaller audience, so they'll understand.

4. Having Options Means More Money

In business, having more demand than supply is synonymous with getting the most money for what you've got.  When there is only once product (you) and more than one person interested in buying it, the price always goes up.

Do what you can to get more than one person/company interested in what you're doing and you'll get a better deal.  In the music business, this is knowing as a "bidding war."

How do you make a bidding war happen?  Prove the concept and know your numbers.

5. Play Big

The difference between the average musician and the ones who make a ton of cash is how they play the game.  Successful musicians go balls out and take chances.  They don't wait to be discovered, they make discovery happen.

If you watch one of these shows, you'll also see the investment made is based on the person behind the idea, not the idea itself.  The difference between a "good idea" and a successful business is the person (or people) behind it.

Most musicians are like hitch hikers.  They go to the highway with some idea of where they should be going, but not really, they just know where they are right now isn't working for them.  So they wait around for somebody and do things according on somebody else's schedule and plan.

Successful musicians take risks and control their own situations.  They're the ones driving the car.  It it crashes, they take responsibility, but the car goes exactly where they want, not just in the general direction.  And like driving a car, they're constantly evaluating where they are and recalibrating, based on where they want to go.

Ask yourself this question:

Are you just trying to get a little father away from where you are now or are you going somewhere specific? 

6. Bet Everything

You don't get big results by having a "Plan B."  Having something to fall back on gives you an excuse not to work as hard.

If you're really certain of your music business success, why have a backup plan?

Uncertainty is what causes failure. Is this you?  If so, all is not lost... The solution is to work so that you make your success inevitable. 

What are the things you have to have in place to make your music business goals happen?

7. Get Realistic

If you're not honest with yourself and able to get a realistic opinion of where you are now, you'll never be able to improve. 

As I mentioned earlier, "Measurement eliminates argument."

Where do you start?  If I were talking about weight loss, it would be for you to get on a scale.

What is the "scale" for the music business?  Number of gigs you're playing?  Amount of people on your mailing list?  Number of albums sold?  Probably all of the above...and then some.

If you really want to do this, you need to know this information and work to improve it.

The harsh reality...

If you don't have numbers, aren't really committed to this, or have no idea if your "big idea" works, give up the thought of ever really doing this on a big level.  There are too many people who have these things in order and that is who investors, labels, publishing companies, and fans always go with.

Why settle for anything less?  It's doubtful you do coming at it as a music fan.

Regardless of the economy, the state of the record business, or anything else, there is ALWAYS room for great artists and people will ALWAYS pay for it. 

People want art.  More importantly, they want a break from their day-to-day lives and they're looking for somebody to provide it.  This can be you, but you've got to do the work to make it happen.

 Answer These Questions Below:

Let's take you out of the question and pretend you're looking at somebody just like you...

1. Would you support somebody at your current level? 

2. Would you invest in them? 

3. If so, post why below.  If not, post what you can do to make it so people will support you, you will get the attention you need, and you will make the money necessary to make a good living...

4. What are you doing to make your success inevitable?