In this article I would like to show you how you can use your band mailing list to make sales and be a good source of income, without being a total troll and annoying everyone.
It’s very simple and it’s all about timing and learning the three types of emails that allow you to promote your music for maximum effect. We are going to use an autoresponder for this and if you don’t know what it is you can read my blog post at the end of this article which explains everything.
So anyway, once you’ve got your Autoresponder set up, it can be hard to know what to actually write to your fans, and I’m going to suggest that you focus on building a relationship with them while letting them know that your music is available to buy if they want it. (The golden rule is never to be pushy).
The three most common fan emails you’ll send are as follows…
Email 1 – The Hard Sell
The hard sell sounds aggressive, but it basically means that the goal of the email is to let your fans know that your music is available and then ask them to follow a link to it.
You don’t have to be corny with this. You just need to let them know that you’ve been working really hard on your drive and if they like what you’re doing, they’d like to get their hands on the latest work as well. That way, you’re doing them a favor by telling them something interesting, instead of trying to line your pockets every time you talk to them.
I recommend that you send out a direct sales email first to let new fans know you’re serious about what you’re doing, and then include a cliffhanger that gets them excited about your next email.
Keep it nice and light, try something like this to end your first message…
“So now you know where you can spend all your hard earned money on our music
The most successful TV shows like LOST, for example, know that leaving a cliffhanger is like crack for fans and it works great for emails too. If you don’t feel comfortable presenting your sales page in the first email, feel free to wait a bit. I’m just telling you what works for me.
Email 2 – The Soft Sell
This is a message that combines some content (like news about a new song or an upcoming show) and then goes on to let them know that they can also buy something that may be related. This is great because it means you don’t have to do as many hard sell emails. You’re only providing the “buy now” link if they’re in the mood.
You could say something like this…
“Hello Bob
Just wanted to let you know that we’ve been busy working on the new album for the past few weeks and now I can give you an exclusive listen to our new single and a video of us performing live at the Roxy last week.
[Link here]
We’re only giving this to the hardcore fans on the mailing list, so don’t pass it up for now…it’s just for you.
If you’re one of the people who’s been sending emails asking how to download the album, we’ve made 10 “Early Bird” copies available here:
[Link to download page]
(Sorry if everyone is gone by the time you get there.)
All profits from our recordings go back to the band in the hope that we can bring more and more value to the fans.
I’d love to hear what you think of our new stuff…
YOUR NAME”
This is not a massive sales pitch and you will get very few complaints from people for just providing the link.
Email 3 – Content (Be Santa!)
The content email is the one you’ll send to your fans the most and simply contains a link to something really cool you’ve done that will make them think “I love these guys!”
Basically, in your content emails, you want to try to be like Santa Claus and make your fans excited to hear from you at all times. Nobody bothers to hear from Santa because he gives us cool toys for free.
So get festive and practice your ho ho ho…
Very soon, fans will start dropping milk and cookies into their PayPal account.
The email sequence
I suggest you try the following times for your emails. Remember that every mailing list is different and you will need to test which email sequence works best for your people.
Day 1 – Hard Sell
Day 2 – Soft Sell
Day 3 – Happy
Day 4 – Happy
Day 5 – Soft sell
Day 6 – Happy
Day 7 – Happy
Day 8 – Hard Sell
Day 9 – Soft sell
Day 10 – Happy
Day 11 – Happy
Day 12 – Happy
Day 13 – Happy
Day 14 – Happy
You may also want to skip a few days if you think it will annoy your fans to hear from you all the time. But to be honest, it will only annoy people if you send them junk, because no one would refuse to send free stuff in the mail every day.
You’ll notice towards the end of the sequence I add a lot of content emails and that’s because there might be some weird person who is offended that you’re trying to sell something and is considering leaving your list. This period of great content will keep most people happy.
By the way, I think it’s utter nonsense that musicians should be embarrassed for trying to sell their stuff. I don’t know of any other profession in the world where you are expected to do it for the love of it your whole life and never try to make it your job.
Try and make your bank manager work for free… GOOD LUCK!
So your action point for today and this week is to write 14 follow-up emails to your fans that will be sent out over a period of a couple of weeks to build a relationship and sell your music in a great way automatically.
If you do great stuff that you deserve to get paid for, don’t underestimate yourself.
Digital telepathy?
Once you’ve completed your first 14-day email cycle, you want to track which emails are most effective, then write another 14-day follow-up and use what you’ve learned.
This is what I call “digital telepathy” because the more you see what your fans are responding to, the more you can give it to them in a constant and endless feedback loop.
Very cool!
Some people write emails for years to send to their fans and this can more than double their initial income over time. That should also be your ultimate goal, but start small.
good luck,
-Chris