Is Your CD a $17,000 pacifier?
I’m sitting here tonight with Janna and she’s letting me know when Kaelyn is kicking and moving. It’s unbelievably emotional for me.
So, as most of you know by now, I’m pretty analytical. I can’t help it. I try to learn a lesson that maybe I can teach someone else in everything I do.
I was doing a coaching call this week with a good friend and we were talking about her next step in ministry.
“So, what are you thinking you are gonna do next?”
“Well, people are asking for a Christmas CD and a DVD” she said.
This is where the “new-daddy” analytical side kicked in.
You’re fans are a lot like babies, I said. Now, I don’t mean that in a negative way either, just hear me out, okay?
“Okay, go on.”
Literally.. a $17,000 pacifier
“When babies cry, they just cry… they don’t really know enough about life and living to REALLY know what they want.. they just cry. It’s up to us as parents to be conscious enough to figure it out for them. It’s our job.”
When a fan of yours “cries” out, most of time we just shove a pacifier in their mouths. “They must want a new CD.” we assume, so we go out and spend $5,000-$25,000 to try to satisfy them.
“We’d love to see you guys on a DVD”, they say, so we go out and spend that much again (or more) on producing a DVD that usually has the same songs as the CD. Now they have to choose. We have created product to compete with our own product now.
My theory is this:
- If they like you, what they really want is to know more about you. In their quest to do that, they sign up for your mailing list. (But, you don’t write too much because, understandably, you are too busy)
- If they like you, what they really want is to spend more time with you. In their quest to do that, they hang out at the record table after the concert or offer to help you carry your equipment out. (But, understandably, you have to leave for the next date)
- If they like you, they want to support you. In their quest to do that, they buy the only 2 or 3 products you have on your record table. (But, understandably, you can’t afford to record as much as they like)
What if you could create a product that didn’t cost a fraction of what a DVD or CD did, they would get to spend more time with you AND they could support your ministry at the same time…
Here are a few suggestions:
- an e-book
- a teleseminar
- an audio book
- instructional videos (screen capture)
- these are just a few things.. the list is expanding every day!
We talk about this stuff in MUCH more detail in the EmPower Your Ministry Course as well as step-by-step ways of creating them without getting overwhelmed.
I’m excited also about an on-going program that we are putting together to not only TEACH you these things, but a system to keep you pressing toward getting something like this completed and delivered!
Sign up for the mailing list over there =====> so that we can send you info as soon as we have it ready.
Until then,
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Hi! Mickey Gamble & Kevin Ward here, creators of the 
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You are so right. My experience over the years is that there are fans out there that will buy whatever you put out, just because they want every little piece of “YOU.” Fans want to feel like they are more than just someone who comes to a concert or buys cds. They want to feel like they are apart of what you do. NOW is the time to embrace “Twitter” “Facebook” and all the social media out there. Fans want to live behind the sense. Generally these fans are ones that have seen your show tons of times. They would love that personal phone call or that email, but you can’t always do that. Give the fans just a little piece of you through “SOCIAL MEDIA”. BEST OF ALL ITS FREE!!!!
Thanks for commenting Kevin. You are right. Social media is free, but it doesn’t bring money in to support what you are doing without a strategy. If we are talking about “pacifiers” and babies and stuff, I think of it like this… social media (Twitter, FaceBook specifically) are like the Cheerios that they snack on. At some point, we have to deliver a real meal like a book, a course, instruction, a bible study, etc. Else, they will starve or find their nourishment somewhere else.
Do you agree?
True, because generally those facebook and twitter messages turn into “When is that book, that course, that study going to be out” Then you find yourself coming up with excuses because you have nothing to deliver. You gotta deliver to keep them coming back.
You got it bro!
Thanks guys, I’m soaking it all in, what you both have said is a great help. A little scary and overwhelming sounding when I think about executing a plan of action, but going “green” is better than turning “ripe.” See, I’m learning. =) And …… God equips those to do His work, I FIRMLY believe that. God bless!
I read something interesting this week…. “Seek and you will find”. The narrator pointed out that it didn’t say “want and you will find” or “need and you will find”.
With that being said… I love seekers!
Thanks Pamela.
great article Kevin. I see many indies who make a CD and use it as a digital business card. Wrong! They also create a product when there is -0- demand for it. Again. Wrong!
I teach indies how to create demand, and then work on the distribution of their products.
That’s good to hear Keith. We do the same thing with our EmPower Your Ministry Course. It’s a 6-week course that disspells old beliefs in what the “new Music business is as compared to what it used to be.
Thank you for commenting. I look forward to hearing more from you!
I think the social communities like the Talleys started is a great idea. That gives fans who are interested more than just a quick twitter message. It also gives the artist the opportunity to do the things like bible studies, post videos, and let fans pick songs and CD titles. While all this is great there is something to be said for good old fashioned hand shaking. If you look at some of the best known personalities in southern gospel, they weren’t necessarily the greatest vocalists but they had that connection with the fans. I was talking to Michael Booth a while back and he told a story that he and his wife went to see an artists that he wasn’t a big fan of but his wife was. This particular artist took the time to talk to him even though his manager was telling him that they needed to go. He said now he is a fan and has all kinds of his recordings. I have had similar experiences as well.
Thanks Jeremy.
What Mickey G. and the Talleys are doing IS cutting edge. Do you know about the Extra Mile that the Talleys are doing in a few weeks?… This is what we are talking about. The Singers, DJs, Studios, Dentists, Chiropractors, etc. that are giving more than their CD or service will be the ones thriving in a few years.
check it out here.
Kevin
Sorry it took me so long to look at this. Life just keeps getting busier. I am not overly familiar with Extra Mile, but just went and checked it out. I saw that Daniel M. had posted on his blog about it. I have sat under Deborah and Lauren at Steve Hurst School of Music for a couple years in the past. They are two wise women and even better they are really down to earth.
From talking to Mickey this afternoon, the event went GREAT. I think they are already into the “new era” of ministry. I’m excited.
I really enjoyed this.
Thank you Sherri. Digging the new Gravatar!