Comments on: Live Show Merchandise Made Easy http://www.50kmusic.com/wordpress/2009/10/live-show-merchandise-made-easy/ independent.music.dedicated Tue, 31 May 2011 20:37:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: UtterlyBGroovy http://www.50kmusic.com/wordpress/2009/10/live-show-merchandise-made-easy/comment-page-1/#comment-5 UtterlyBGroovy Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:49:58 +0000 http://www.50kmusic.com/wordpress/?p=183#comment-5 The idea about offering merch for "whatever they feel it's worth" actually seems to work pretty well as was shown at Francis Rodino's recent gig at The Bedford (http://www.50kmusic.com/wordpress/?p=192) where we offered CDs for "whatever you care to pay". Sure, there were a few jokers who offered a pound, but the majority stumped up £10 and many gave £15, but I'd suggest the amounts offered may be linked to how good a show you put on! The idea about offering merch for “whatever they feel it’s worth” actually seems to work pretty well as was shown at Francis Rodino’s recent gig at The Bedford (http://www.50kmusic.com/wordpress/?p=192) where we offered CDs for “whatever you care to pay”. Sure, there were a few jokers who offered a pound, but the majority stumped up £10 and many gave £15, but I’d suggest the amounts offered may be linked to how good a show you put on!

]]> By: biblinski http://www.50kmusic.com/wordpress/2009/10/live-show-merchandise-made-easy/comment-page-1/#comment-4 biblinski Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:42:35 +0000 http://www.50kmusic.com/wordpress/?p=183#comment-4 One of the more important things a band can do is build a contact list of their fans, so communication can continue long after the show is over. Whether it's mailing addresses, email addresses, twitter names, facebook account, or whatever, fans who provide that kind of information want the band to stay in contact with them. News about upcoming shows, new music releases online or offline, contests, whatever. While most bands don't have the numbers of fans that someone like Amanda Palmer, but she made $11,000 in 2 hours using social media to tap into her fan base. The Marketing Profs Daily Fix blog has a post about it here - http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2009/09/have_you_ever_seen_an_1100000.html and Hypebot has an expanded story about how it climbed to $19,000 after a 3 hour online auction of some of her personal stuff and a Twitter donation-only "secret" gig here - http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/06/amanda-palmer.html . Obviously, not every band can repeat that kind of success, but even scaled back to something more reasonable for most bands, a bit of social media marketing to fans could generate a decent amount of money. It's worth considering that any band merchandise a band sells can serve as a marketing device. Fans will play their music for their friends, exposing the band to a wider audience. Fans will wear t-shirts that display the name of the band and ideally provide some sense of what the band is like. Things like band-branded laptop and MP3 player skins again put the band's name out where it can be seen. (One place to get skins like that is Sticviews.com. They do removable stickers of all shapes and sizes. Stickers for non-skinned laptops and car bumpers or windows are other ways to utilize that resource.) Let's not forget the value of scarcity, either. Netvalar touches on that with the live recording CDs, and it can be expanded to other merchandise as well. Limited production runs of t-shirts specifically for a special show - when they're gone, they're gone. Signed posters of the band. A contest for fans with the prize something really amazing - like a private gig for the winner and 25 of his or her friends, with a live CD of it going to those attending. Burned to CD, autographed by the band, and including some photos taken at the event. That small group of fans will become evangelists spreading the word of just how incredible the band is. The key is to offer things that not everyone can get. Sure, some will end up getting a bootleg of the private party gig, but that only makes them more determined to be in that small group the next time the band has a contest. The better known you are, the more you're worth to a venue. Get known. Piracy won't kill your band. Obscurity will. Gordie @biblinski on Twitter, biblinski on Sellaband One of the more important things a band can do is build a contact list of their fans, so communication can continue long after the show is over. Whether it’s mailing addresses, email addresses, twitter names, facebook account, or whatever, fans who provide that kind of information want the band to stay in contact with them. News about upcoming shows, new music releases online or offline, contests, whatever.

While most bands don’t have the numbers of fans that someone like Amanda Palmer, but she made $11,000 in 2 hours using social media to tap into her fan base. The Marketing Profs Daily Fix blog has a post about it here – http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2009/09/have_you_ever_seen_an_1100000.html and Hypebot has an expanded story about how it climbed to $19,000 after a 3 hour online auction of some of her personal stuff and a Twitter donation-only “secret” gig here – http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/06/amanda-palmer.html . Obviously, not every band can repeat that kind of success, but even scaled back to something more reasonable for most bands, a bit of social media marketing to fans could generate a decent amount of money.

It’s worth considering that any band merchandise a band sells can serve as a marketing device. Fans will play their music for their friends, exposing the band to a wider audience. Fans will wear t-shirts that display the name of the band and ideally provide some sense of what the band is like. Things like band-branded laptop and MP3 player skins again put the band’s name out where it can be seen. (One place to get skins like that is Sticviews.com. They do removable stickers of all shapes and sizes. Stickers for non-skinned laptops and car bumpers or windows are other ways to utilize that resource.)

Let’s not forget the value of scarcity, either. Netvalar touches on that with the live recording CDs, and it can be expanded to other merchandise as well. Limited production runs of t-shirts specifically for a special show – when they’re gone, they’re gone. Signed posters of the band. A contest for fans with the prize something really amazing – like a private gig for the winner and 25 of his or her friends, with a live CD of it going to those attending. Burned to CD, autographed by the band, and including some photos taken at the event. That small group of fans will become evangelists spreading the word of just how incredible the band is. The key is to offer things that not everyone can get. Sure, some will end up getting a bootleg of the private party gig, but that only makes them more determined to be in that small group the next time the band has a contest.

The better known you are, the more you’re worth to a venue. Get known. Piracy won’t kill your band. Obscurity will.

Gordie
@biblinski on Twitter, biblinski on Sellaband

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