Are fans telling friends? If not, improve, don't promote.
2009-06-02
The most powerful philosophy of marketing I’ve heard is from my hero Seth Godin, and I think it can be summed up as this:
You’ll know when you’re on to something special, because people will love it so much they’ll tell everyone.
If people aren’t telling their friends about it yet, don’t waste time marketing it. Instead, keep improving until they are.
How can you apply this to your business, music, product, or service?
Seth wrote: “Sell one. Find one person who trusts you and sell him a copy. Does he love it? Is he excited enough to tell ten friends because it helps them, not because it helps you? If not, you must stop what you’re doing and start over.”
This is encouraging, because in the past it felt like the only way to do effective marketing was to spend a ton of money on mass-media advertising.
But now the goal is to create something absolutely remarkable, until customer word-of-mouth generates a buzz.
And that’s only limited by your creativity and persistence, not budget.
Very interesting topic/concept. and yet, very true! And i think another top that i've read previously from you, where this can relate directly is finding your niche market. don't try to appeal to everyone and listen what people, or in this case, a trusted friends has to say. you can create your specific audience…just listen.
Love it Sivers! Love it! BE EXCEPTIONAL!!!
Great idea, this makes you think. I think you're on the right track. Does this imply that marketing isn't required, because I see lots of great jazz musicians who don't get much traction. Is it because they aren't exceptional (doubtful).
I'm experiencing this firsthand. Derek's right---if you can't get someone in your target audience or demographic excited about what you're doing, you're doing something wrong.
In our case, it was learning that simple--but tough--lesson that there's no such thing as something for everybody, and once you find the right somebodies, the whole gig starts making a lot more sense.
Excellent Derek! Always a great read.
))
Cheers
Mark
Dude. that has been on my brain for the last week. Thanks man. Love the insights.
@Will
Exceptional musical talent doesn't necessarily equate to an exceptional performer, which is what sells music. A successful musician is a successful performer, which means they provide an experience people can get excited about. Some jazz musicians don't understand the concept of performance and as a result end up playing for themselves more than their fans.
That's a great question, Will. I think it makes a difference what you give your customers to talk about. For instance, "You should go down to Beale street and hear Joe Blow," will generate a different buzz than "Listen to this CD by Joe Blow. He plays down on Beale every Friday night."
So I think you start with an exceptional musician and add easy access. If Joe Blow hands out free CDs one Friday night, he'll insure top-of-mind-awareness for the coming weeks.
If he's terrible, then his CD should be titled, "World's Worst Jazz Player", and then next Friday will be even more packed.
This and related concepts are discussed in depth in my new book "Songcrafters' Coloring Book: The Essential Guide to Effective and Successful Songwriting" (http://www.songcrafterscoloringbook.com)
For any Indie artist, no matter how good one's promo is, the products being promoted (i.e the songs) have to be good enough to appeal to enough of a demographic to create a sustainable cash flow. The concept of Ullage is one which has not been discussed before in terms of music, and I present it fully in my book, along with a parameterization of a song's appeal relative to it's craftsmanship.
In a fairly recent interview on billboard.biz, Daniel Ek -- the CEO of Spotify -- mentioned that they initially only spent £5000 on marketing. Today they've got over 700 000 users in Sweden alone, which means that close to 8% of all Swedes have a Spotify account. A couple of weeks ago the prime minister of Sweden, Fredrik Reinfeldt, mentioned Spotify when debating politics on public television. That statement was then quoted by the major newspapers in Sweden. ("Even the prime minister knows what Spotify is")
That's not too bad, especially considering that the product was officially launched in october last year.
really really good words said here
it has good good concept inside
thanks derek
Yup, I've kinda known that for a long time.
It's difficult to work thru one's ideas, ...throw them out there and watch it sink or swim. Perseverance and all that rot, I guess. I long for the days when the club gigs were the rage. I tried everything out on the unsuspecting audience and got my immediate reaction.
er, a lot of people wait to be told something is good before they want it. As to the great performer remarks, there are plenty of crap performers doing well, and plenty of great composers both recognised and not recognised who are crap performers.
Still, the basic premise that one excited person can make a huge difference stands, if it's the right person.
So if I am telling everyone bout this blog posting... I guess you don't need me to say anything more.
-P
Funny I was talking with Ariel a little about this in January. If 100 new people see my show, will I have 10 new fans? 50? 2? If a large percentage of new listeners aren't becoming fans, one needs a better product.
You are on a serious common sense streak since returning from your journey. Thanks for opening our complacent eyes, as always!
Of course, that puts fans in the driver's seat, and assumes that they know better than artists what's good and what isn't. It also misses the possibility that maybe you have the right product but the wrong audience--in which case you'd need to market, not change your product.
I'm afraid most of the comments here are really really weird. most people consider this a "tip" whereas it should be an own personal way of life.
The advice is so strong : stop thinking about yourselves...
that's pretty much all that needs to be said.
i'd say sell your CD to maybe a few more people...there's the other truth, which is that not everybody's the evangelist type. Or life interferes. Or there's more than one great artist for them to talk about any particular week.
but yeah.
and it's not easy to hear.
After all, we're providing a service for people: entertainment. As we do more for others, they will do more for us.
http://bit.ly/3Dbs yeah baby, worth a retweet!
Great insight. Thanks Derek!
Great advice, Derek! Thanks for the refreshing reminder!
That sounds almost revolutionary in our catch-all society, but so wise!
And I've experienced it myself as a music lover. I know when I get super excited about something and can't wait to tell my friends that most of the time whoever that is is going to be successful.
Thanks again for a kick in the pants, Derek!
I agree with what Derek said but I'll take it one step further. You need to be critical enough of yourself to realize when your music is not ready. In my case I started out playing the classical guitar but the pieces I was writing were better suited for the steel string. Several guitars later and having gone through many iterations of sound equipment, I feel I'm ready to present my music to the world. So it's equally important not to let your self criticism run rampant. There's a point where you have to decide when it's good enough and put it out there. So I'm putting my money where my mouth is and asking you to check out www.youtube.com/azdesertguitar
I've got 4 videos and plan on doing many more
Not sure if I agree with that one fully..especially in the context of the music business. Music is not a product or a solution to a problem as such. Yes, I agree that someone could go "omfg, check that band out, they are *amazing*!" and recommend 10 other people. Music has emotional value and it means something different to different people. Also there is enough evidence out there that a superhit band or product (like Britney Spears) can get away with very average pieces of music and a product. So yeah, remarkable music is subjective, even if it is remarkabale, the band has to package, market and sell it.
Excellent thought button to push, thanks. Lovin' the purple cow. ; )
Absolutely! A great article. Thanks for reminding me Derek.
*Jared
I've had lots of projects that have fallen flat (solo projects, band projects, a book, two musical plays). I did lots of marketing to spread the word but none of them got any traction.
I believe the art was good but I understand now that none of those projects resonated with people or fulfilled a need in their lives. All the marketing in the world (at least on an indie budget) can't change that.
A few years ago, I created a new project with a narrow focus that fulfills a need. Now I play 300+ shows a year and make a living making music. I spend next to nothing on marketing because 90% of my business comes from word of mouth.
I'm still the same artist I was with all those other projects that withered on the vine. This time around I just have a better focus on what resonates with my audience.
That picture is from my hometown!
I vaguely recall a funny story about why it's there. I'll ask my Dad to refresh my memory.
I think about the fast food restaurant telling us to eat more chicken. I did not get it when it first came out. Now, when I see a billboard about the cows I laugh. I love their lemonade and chicken biscuits. mmmm I started eating their because of friends I worked with in the past.
far out this is so true...alot of stuff i have read is focusing so much on various ways of marketing music online & otherwise...instead of how enhancing your product-the music, improving it, creating more... i don't know if i agree with the whole "branding" concept...the music should sell itself, as opposed to focusing on specific markets etc etc etc...all about priority
Sometimes these really hit home. And the comments are sometimes the best part! Derek's been coaching us for so long, we now remind each other in a timely way of things he's recommended over the years.
For instance, I knew Steve Denyes (comment #29) in San Diego in the 90's, and he's finally successfully implemented the 'find a niche and fill it' strategy.
And Micah's (#32) is good, too. A good online presence is only one ingredient necessary for success. And working on it is definitely NOT the fun part for a lot of us.
And like other people said, being a great talent or having great songs alone isn't going to do it. You need a great act, too.
I just saw a guy named Greg Tamblyn perform, and if you want to see a great act, see Greg somewhere. He played 12-13 songs in a 90 minute set, which means he only played a little over half the time. The rest of the time he told stories and jokes, and even had jokes prepared for the requisite 'buy my cd' and 'thank you for coming' segments. What a pro!
He makes everything about the audience. Every story he tells, every song he writes is selective in a way that touches people, and makes them think and laugh. And he's a damn good songwriter. He's not the most impressive musician you'll ever see, but that's impressive, too. His music is always about something more than the music itself, which is always inspiring. I'm going to tell MORE than 10 people about Greg.
Great blog! I've been thinking along the same lines lately. It's motivation to improve my musicianship, my singing and my songwriting.
There is definitely truth in what Mr Godin says but as there are many aspects of life, I definitely would not take this as gospel and abandon all other aspects. For I learnt a great truth during my school days which was: ADVERTISING IS MORE POTENT THE MORE IGNORANT THE CONSUMER, which in a way is counter to what Mr Godin says. For how many people have gone along and bought some product simply because some journalist at a well-known newspaper said it was great only to find out after they bought it, it was crap.
I would not take Seth's statement tooooooooooo seriously. Some, but not all, of the problems facing the music industry is an OVER abundance of Myspace bands. Do you honestly think the average person is going to have time to listen to all these bands? Also as stated elsewhere, much of the music on Myspace is questionable in its quality. Ergo the band that has something to say or is good, needs a method to cut throw alot the BS out there. And one way of many is to advertise.
Gosh. This is true. This is certainly my goal. I am an older musician who got a late start (I'm 44) - already strikes against me. But I am still ambitious. I play lots of open mics. And I've written dozens of songs. But I take breaks to practice and practice. And maybe write that great song that I believe is in me (Lord help me). I've got some songs that sometimes get really good responses (people come up to me afterwards and say they really like it), but it hasn't been consistent. I sometimes think I am the Don Quixote of songwriters.
It is certainly true - quirky quality out-plays honest endeavour any time of the day when you are a nobody.
I've got a webapplication at http://obsurvey.com where you can create surveys (another one?!) But mine is special, it's targeted at bloggers. I personally think my application is exceptional in many ways, but I also know there are many things to improve. I have a to-do list a mile long with ideas for improvements. My problem is this: I need feedback to know what to improve first, and I'm not getting any. Nobody sends me emails even though I've advertised my email everywhere, and I've added a feedback system (uservoice.com). So far the only suggestions in there are my own. Do you have some good tips for getting feedback?
Lord Almighty!
I just think I'll continue to compose and perform Funny songs, my icyspicy way and remember that every day above ground is a very successful day.
When you can't please everybody. then you've just gotta please yourself.
I get airplay on National Radio in my country,and I'm happy about that.