A couple weeks ago, I asked "How do you sweeten the deal?" to
find out what you give your fans to secure extra CD sales. Then
I started reading Seth Godin's new book, "Free Prize Inside!",
and I realized a big mistake I've made.
I'm a big fan of freebies. Peruse my many websites, you'll find
freebies of all shapes and sizes from MP3s to stickers, CDs to
occasional t-shirts. I love giving things away. It's sorta my
contribution to the 'free prize inside' concept.
Except that's really not what Seth is about. Seems I've been
giving away a free prize for years without entirely recognizing
it. It's the same thing that made me a wild fan of Black 47.
You can even read about Andrew WK has done the same on David
Hooper's Music Business Blog.
What am I talking about? Exactly.
I'm talking about talking with fans. I do my best to respond
to every email that our fans send to us. If they take the time
to write us, you can bet, I'm gonna take the time to respond.
And with the growing swarm of junk mail it's getting tougher
and tougher, but dangit, they deserve it!
I'm sorry to say, there is one area I have neglected until now-CD order forms.
CDBaby, our main online retailer, is kind enough to offer all
that great contact information about people who order our CDs.
I have done a very poor job contacting those people. But as every
marketer mentions, the majority of sales will come from past
customers. So those are the people I NEED to be following up
with.
Think about it a moment. I've built a very strong and loyal
fanbase by communicating with fans. I have lots of personal
information online and chat with these folks. They've
consequently gone out of their way to support us, buying many
CDs and telling their friends.
Just imagine if I contacted those hundreds of past buyers and said
thank you. Not to sell them something more. Just to say "thanks".
That's powerful stuff. Those who've stopped listening will start
back up. Those who already tell their friends are gonna be a
million times more passionate when they relate how I went out of
my way to write them. It gets me excited just thinking about it.
If you really can't think of a way to "sweeten the deal".
Don't sweat it. But make sure you get their email address.
Drop 'em a line and say, "thank you". And you'll be sure to have
a brand new fan for life!
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