Music Success in Nine Weeks: the pitch, and a question

Last time through it took me almost three weeks to finalize my pitch. Here’s the end result:

“Offering feeds the spirit with a soulful musical dish of two parts Sarah McLachlan, one part Lifehouse, a dash of  U2, and a pinch of Evanescence.”

So far, I have found it works pretty well for us. The one big thing that is missing: that we are more than a band – we’re also a 501 c 3 (non-profit) and we are heavily involved in organizing community events that combine music with community service. Is that too broad to involve in our pitch? Help, anyone?

Music Success in Nine Weeks week 1: setting goals

Let’s just jump straight into this: here are the eleven goals I set for this year back in January:

1. write a music marketing plan for 2010 and use it as a guideline for daily, weekly, and monthly tasks
2. redesign/program the blog- and news-sections for our website so they are easier to access and use – post at least 10 news items per month, and 4 blog entries per month
3. add 500 people to our email list
4. sell 1000 copies of our new CD, More Than This; sell 500 copies of our self-titled CD, Offering; sell 500 copies of our Christmas CD, Comfort and Joy; and sell 300 copies of our original music CD, No Shoes Required
5. sell an average of 300 downloads per month for all projects combined
6. add 40 quality Facebook friends to our Facebook page each month
7. create at least 6 videos this year to be placed on YouTube, Facebook, and other social networking sites
8. create a new website for Arts in the Alley (one of Offering’s big projects)
9. develop a podcast concept and produce at least one podcast per month, starting in March
10. pursue PR – get played on internet radio stations (25/month), featured in blogs (2/month), local radio coverage (4/year), local TV coverage (4/year), local print coverage 4/year)
11. Actively pursue Twitter and Flickr – increase Twitter followers from 1100 to 2500 this year, and tweet at least 3 times/day. Research Flickr and start using it more (need to flesh that one out more).

First: how am I doing? And secondly, six months down the road, should certain goals be revised/added/edited?

1. write a music marketing plan: still in process. I have most of the parts in place, but need a solid week to focus on the plan alone. Which I have set aside for the week of July 18-25.

2. redesign/program the blog- and news-sections for our website: this is out of my hands, since I can’t do it myself, but we have researched several ways to do this and just decided last week we are going to try to get our entire site transferred over to the wordpress platform. This weekend should bring some progress.

3. add 500 people to our mailing list: so far, in 6 months, we have added 150, not quite on schedule but not bad either. We have also transferred our email list over to MailChimp from ReverbNation which we’re very happy with. MailChimp weeds out bad addresses and keeps much better track of deliverability so this is already turning out to be helpful.

4. our sales goals: 1000 copies of our new CD, More Than This; 500 copies of our self-titled CD, Offering; 500 copies of our Christmas CD, Comfort and Joy; and 300 copies of our original music CD, No Shoes Required. So far, we have sold (since the end of February) 200 copies of More than this, 200 copies of Offering, and 50 copies of Comfort and Joy. We’re on track – and usually the second half of the year is busier for us than the first half. A big thing we need to resolve: No Shoes Required has been out of print since late 2009, and it will take about $2000 to get another 1000 copies: not bad for the value but a big chunk of money considering we just had to buy a new soundboard, pay our accountant, and pay off the final recording expenses for the last project. But, that’s a goal I want to add: Get No Shoes Required reprinted.

5. sell an average of 300 downloads – this is one I have to get back to and figure out. Stay tuned.

6. add 40 quality Facebook friends to our Facebook page each month. We have done that – in January we had a little more than 800 friends, now we have 1262, and are steadily growing.

7. create at least 6 videos this year to be placed on YouTube, Facebook, and other social networking sites: we have placed 7 new videos on YouTube, and we’re working on a “real” music video. We’re on track here, as well.

8. create a new website for Arts in the Alley (one of Offering’s big projects): we’re working on it. Once Christmas in July is out of the way (Saturday July 17, and a HUGE deal for us) I hope to be able to focus on Arts in the Alley and its site more.

9. develop a podcast concept and produce at least one podcast per month, starting in March: it’s in process but we’re obviously not making the March starting goal .

10. pursue PR – get played on internet radio stations (25/month), featured in blogs (2/month), local radio coverage (4/year), local TV coverage (4/year), local print coverage 4/year): we have gotten some good blogging coverage, a little radio exposure, a tv appearance next week, and two newspaper articles – surprisingly, we are on track here!

11. Actively pursue Twitter and Flickr – increase Twitter followers from 1100 to 2500 this year, and tweet at least 3 times/day: right now we have 1521 twitter followers (an increase of 421 – we need to get almost 1000 more to reach our goal for the year but we’re making strides). I have also started to use Flickr more.

The bottom line: with a lot of goals – facebook, twitter, sales, youtube, press coverage – we  definitely are on track. With others – especially website related goals, podcasting, and the comprehensive marketing plan – we’re behind. Which gives me a great indication of what I need to put more efforts towards.

Music Success in Nine Weeks: the Encore

Back to the grindstone . No, really. When I saw that Ariel (Hyatt) was reprising the Music Success in Nine Weeks Blogging Challenge I asked her if I could participate again, but this time from the perspective of revisiting my entries, and the goals set, from earlier this year – how well am I doing, what should I change, how can I put all these great ideas into action and really jumpstart the second half of this year.

I will copy (most, or some, of ) my entry on a relevant week, and then start the current post. Here we go.

Starting with – HA! – the beginning: small victories. Basically, the idea is to write down – every day – five positive things you have accomplished every day.

Have I done that every day for the past six months? No. But I *have* done it, and especially on hard days, days that seem insurmountable and useless all at the same time….. that simple list has often gotten me through. My list for today (so far – hey, it *is* only 2 pm as I write this):

1. send press releases for Christmas in July (with personal notes) to all local tv stations and major press outlets
2. confirm our tv appearance on the local CBS affiliate next week
3. have coffee with a friend (and fellow musician) that I have not seen in way too long
4. send out facebook and twitter reminders for our show at Cafe Caturra tonight
5. start this blogging challenge

So there we go. There is more to week 1 – the second, and much bigger part, is setting goals – but that will be a separate post.

music success in nine weeks: the bottom line

I read through all my posts about Music Success in Nine Weeks again this morning, and whoa, that was a *lot* of material! The main thing: I have a lot of great action points now, and the only way those are going to lead anywhere is if I am consistent in following up. I know I can do this – the key will be dedicating specific blocks of time to it.

My strategies for follow-through:

• put two blocks of time on the calendar each week to specifically work on this – each block should be at least an hour in length, preferably two hours
• decide in advance what that block will be spent on (so I am less tempted to try to do *everything* in that hour…. because oh this is important too, and this, and this….)
• read through these blog posts at least once a month and make sure I am making progress and not inadvertently missing a big *thing*
• with these posts as my starting point, write a marketing plan for the coming year (April 2010-April 2011)  by March 30, 2010.
• make sure that I write down my list of five accomplishments (see week 1) every day. And *if * I miss a day…. don’t give up. Get back in the saddle.

This is a work in progress, but what a great kick-start! Ariel & co….. thank you for this amazing start of the year! Oh, and I am not stopping the blogging efforts either….. I am going to try to chronicle the continuing process throughout the year!

music success in nine weeks: the funnel!

The final chapter of Music Success in Nine Weeks addresses the concept of a continuum program, aka the Funnel – providing your customers with different, increasing levels of merchandise. For example, you could start with a free mp3-download, move on to a digipak CD, to a monthly subscription, to a special – exclusive – event. The more committed your fans become, the more they’ll be interested in buying, basically.

To be honest, this is a difficult one for me – we have not done this much, mainly offering CDs, downloads, and T-shirts. But at the same time, We *do* have quite a few faithful fans. And those faithful fans own everything or almost everything we have ever released. So: are we missing a market here? I think we actually may be. A few ideas on this funnel (starting with something small and cheap that lots of people will get and slowly but surely offering more expensive items that only your more committed fans will purchase):

• free mp3 download (in exchange for their email address – bandcamp makes it very simple to do this)
• 99c single download
• full album download with bonus track (to stand out compared to *your* music on, say, iTunes)
• physical digipak album, including a download card for the bonus track
• T-shirt/hoodie sweatshirt
• wall calendar with professional pictures, big Offering concert dates, and local volunteer opportunities
• dinner with the band after a show
• house concert

I need to brainstorm more about this one – find more unique opportunities – but it’s a start.

Stay tuned…. closing evaluation coming up!

music success in nine weeks: real live networking tips

OK, I am on a roll. This is my fourth entry today….. I guess that ten-day-flu-recuperation-break was good for something because it is all coming together. I *so* want to finish this contest on time…. of course I would love to win it, are you kidding – CyberPR *rocks*, and right now there is no way I can come up with the price of a campaign, and I would love, love, love to work my way through one. BUT (and this is a HUGE ‘but’) my main reason is that I have had this book for 20 months or so. And I have read it. And put some of it into practice. But now, this process, it makes me set goals. Finish plans. And I need to finish it so I can really start implementing it. So here we go: networking tips – my favorites.

• Get people to talk about themselves. This is so simple, and so true. Make it about THEM.
• Get people’s cards (oh, and make sure you process them…. not lose them in little piles that gather dust. but you would *never* do that, would you now? HA!).
• Never give out your card unless someone asks for it – great point, and oh so hard when those pretty cards (and boy, we *do* have pretty cards – they are gorgeous) are burning in your pocket/card holder/purse/etc.
• Be a gatherer – gather information about people – everywhere.
• Be a shark in a sea of tuna – I love this one. Go where your potential clients are, which is likely NOT in your industry. So simple but wow I have messed that one up a lot. Because music and musician’s gatherings are fun. And safe. Oh, and not productive to get new gigs, yeah, that, too.
• Don’t *ever* say “I’m just….”. Guilty as charged. I need to learn this. End of story.

music success in nine weeks: build your email list

Some *great* ideas in this chapter, and I need to start putting them into practice. This post…. hopefully it will keep me accountable and provide me with a plan of action!

My favorites:

• Mine through your inbox and outbox.
  You know, I have heard Ariel say this before. And it sounded great then, too. And still – why have I not been doing this? Bad, bad Jeanine. I think the key is number 2:
• Create a separate inbox folder for potential email sign-ups. So I don’t have to go through my 6566 messages (I am not kidding – I just looked. Granted, a lot is spam/newsletters/advertisements – but still.) to find people to add. Add them to this inbox as the weeks go by. Which means I have to start looking at *every* email as a potential email list contact, and a potential fan. HA! *That* is the key.
• Bribe them with an exclusive mp3 or video – could be a live performance since we do so many of them. I need to get more ideas here, though – so many of our songs are covers (our own unique arrangements) and that brings copyright issues.
• Start a  text message list: I *so* want to do this. It will be one of my priorities.
• This may be the most important one: schedule a set time each week for list growing. Just like this blogging contest has been so crucial for me because it made me work through this book within a set time frame….. planning and scheduling are KING. I am adding it to my iCal now. Tomorrow, Wednesday March 3, from 9-10 am is my first “slot”.
• Collect at live shows: I learned this from Ariel a few years ago. We had always had a clipboard at our merch table, and sometimes we got 5 email addresses, sometimes 10, sometimes 3. When we started to have someone go through the audience (when appropriate – a church service does NOT work in this case) with said clipboard in the same size audience, we began ending up with 15, 20, 25, 30 email addresses per show. Not bad! The key: you have to *have* someone to do this, and preferably someone outgoing. We don’t always have someone easily available and I can tell in the numbers of email addresses we collect. Still, I need to push for it more – because it works!

music success in nine weeks: the three G’s

One more post about email newsletters and then I *have* to move on…. I have three more weeks of material to cover before the deadline! Fortunately I have read all weeks, and have great notes – I just need to put it all in here. On here. Whatever. (Can I plead flu-effects here, please?)

What should come back in every email newsletter: Greeting, Guts, and Getting. Since I have a lot to catch up on….. let’s get to it.

• Greeting: I need to get better at these. I totally get it should be a welcome, and non-music related – I just always seem to revert back to the familiar – and safe, and boring – topic of time flying, the weather being weird, and life being busy. I need to get more personal. The antics of Foster, our beagle/basset mix? Score. Something funny that relates to my Dutch/American background? Could work. Something that has touched me the past month? Hey, at least it will be honest because if there is one thing I have, it’s  passion.
• Guts: because our schedule is *so* busy, I tend to overwhelm people here. Quick, let’s fit in everything we have been doing in the past month….. nine shows, two rehearsals, a writing session, planning a big event like Arts in the Alley. Choices. I have to learn to make choices and pick one. Or two. And talk about that. There will be more newsletters, after all. Also under Guts: the ideas listed in the last post.
• Getting: I need to get more original here. Not just: come to our shows, and buy our album(s). Online contests. iTunes/Amazon/CD Baby reviews. Facebook friends/Twitter followers/etc. Surveys and polls. New videos (we should video more shows. Plan out (ooooohhhh there it is again…. the “P” word. Planning, baby!) what my main asks will be.

More later….

music success in nine weeks: back to the email list

Whoa. I just lost a week. Or rather, ten days. Because of this stupid flu – and I was sick enough I could not focus on things like marketing which means I was, well, really sick. I’m still not completely over it, but feel up to writing and processing a bit. The next thing on the list is what you actually put *in* the newsletter. We have had a fairly consistent newsletter for years, but I have mainly been using it to update fans about shows (since we play a lot, and our fans look to our newsletter to confirm dates and such).

But – for all those years I have also thought the same thing that Ariel emphasizes in the last part of chapter 6: do not just use your newsletter to invite people to shows. The thing is, when I get to writing one I am usually in a rush, and while I often think “now what would be something cool/interesting/engaging/fun/compelling that I could include that is not an *ask*…. under said time pressure that seldom works out and then I am back to square 1. The boring, here are our dates with a few pictures, email newsletter. Lovely.

And we *have* plenty of stuff to write about. Our band is a non-profit and we do lots of benefit work. We know the city well, and even within our own band we have a lot of people who could contribute to our newsletter (but they are all busy and that means I have to have a plan…. so here we go again). I have a lot of knowledge and info about charities and benefits and good causes. I *also* know a fair bit about social media marketing, technology, and business.

The last assignment for this week: write down six possible themes and topics for our newsletter. Here it goes – and some of these could actually be monthly (or some other frequency) columns – an idea I really like and have wanted to pursue for a while. Actually, most if not all of these could be the source of several different articles/columns. Whoa, we’re on a roll now!

1. Highlight a local charity that is not us. We have the privilege of working with some really cool local charities – a restaurant that trains people with disabilities for work in the restaurant world, an orphanage in Haiti that’s run by people here in Richmond), the Central Virginia Foodbank, and more. All these have wonderful, and often simple, volunteer opportunities and a lot of times our fans will *want* to do something but not know what to do.
2. Highlight a local business or organization – we partner with a great, local, chain of coffee shops (Cafe Caturra), we work with an interdenominational Christian retreat center that used to be a monastery (Richmond Hill), and even if we don’t work directly with a place, we have our favorite hangouts, bookstores, and restaurants. Since we’re all about community, this would be fun to highlight.
3. Write a (local or otherwise) book or music review. We’re friends with lots of other bands who release lots of great material. And we’re all about partnering and not competing. Plus, we review another band’s album, we likely will get some of their fans connected with our stuff, as well. And this particular topic would be fairly easy for other band members to get involved in – another bonus.
4. Highlight something in social networking or technology – it can be a service/site that people may not be familiar with, a new product coming out (iPad, anyone) – and this would be fun – because you can attach polls and questions and get feedback from people.

OK, with these four I have at least 20 different options out there.

The next post: the three G’s. Still on the email newsletter topic. Oh man I am going to be busy with this!

music success in nine weeks: losing a week

Since last Monday I have been sick as the proverbial dog – with either the flu or a particularly nasty cold virus. Which brings a multitude of frustrations: I have had to cancel four shows (losing a lot of income and disappointing a lot of people), losing my voice (which, even though I know it will come back, is supremely frustrating for a singer), and not being able to work on marketing because I was flat out too sick. Today is the first day I have been able to focus for a bit, and I am hoping to catch up on a few things from either our comfy couch or our comfy bed. I am still sleeping a lot, so work will be limited, but anything will make me feel more useful again.