39 ways to sell a lot more of your CDs, DVDs and music merchandise (II)

Continuing from last week’s article;

4) Package your releases as a related series

Jazz musician Cole Broderick came up with the idea to produce a series of four CDs based on the changing seasons of Saratogo Springs, NY, where he spends a good deal of his time. The first release in the series, the aptly titled Springtime In Saratoga, was followed up with releases relating to summer, autumn and winter. What a great concept.

Packaging a series of related titles brings with it a lot of advantages, including:

- It encourages repeat buying. Music fans who purchase one in the series will be more inclined to get the entire set – if they like what they hear on the first one, of course.

- Distributors and retailers love it. They know they’ll have more than one product coming from you. Plus they realise each release encourages more sales of the others.

- It makes for a great media hook. This unique approach to your music makes you stand out when editors and writers are making story decisions.

Consider the series method when planning your future recording projects.

5) Make the most of live shows

Hands down, live shows are one of your best ways to promote a new release and sell merchandise. However, many musicians think it’s uncool to repeatedly plug their “product” at gigs.

Reality: you want people to come to your shows because they like your music, right? If they’ve taken the time to set aside an evening to experience your live show, wouldn’t many of them also want to take your recorded music home? Of course. Don’t deny them that experience. And don’t deny yourself the monetary rewards of selling more of your music.

Live shows create the perfect buying environment. People in the audience experience your music and personality firsthand. You touch them in the most direct way. At the same time, a busy club or concert hall can have a lot of distractions. That’s why you need to be more aggressive and hawk your wares regularly from the stage, as long as you do it in a cool and confident way.

6) Print and distribute a band newsletter

Most bands pass out fliers or calendars at their live shows, but fliers get tossed in the trash pretty quickly and usually don’t help a band’s efforts in selling more CDs and merchandise. The solution is to publish a newsletter that’s filled with titbits of information on your band and the releases you have for sale. (I also advocate publishing an e-mail newsletter; but this section specifically refers to a paper newsletter you hand out at shows.)

The most effective band newsletters use plenty of humour and display the member’s personalities. By having fun items of interest in your newsletter, people will hang onto it longer and share it with friends. Plus, you can include a convenient order form and announce where fans can get your cool stuff online and in stores.

Added benefit: you can also use your newsletter to sell T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters, caps, stickers, and all sorts of revenue-producing band merchandise.

7) Capture new fans through the media

As you know, a great way to build up a following is to compile and use a mailing list. (You do have one, don’t you?) Make no mistake, your mailing list can be a powerful tool in stimulating sales. But live gigs and your website are not the only places to collect these lucrative names and addresses.

When you do media interviews, you’re reaching perhaps thousands of potential fans (and buyers). Make the best use of that opportunity by giving something away to readers, listeners or viewers – free downloads, a catalog, sticker, band comic book, novelty condom… anything to inspire music fans to connect with you. You can have people go to your website, call a band hotline number, or call the station while you’re in the studio.

Bottom line: Give fans a reason to connect with you and hand over their contact info in exchange for your cool freebie.