39 ways to sell a lot more of your CDs, DVDs and music merchandise (IV)
- 20somethingmedia
- Feb 28, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 20, 2024
Continuing from last week’s article…
15) Create a catalogue or web site of similar artists
Contact other similarly styled bands in your region that have CDs available. Pool your resources and print a low-cost catalogue featuring all of the band’s CDs (or create a flier that directs people to a website that serves the same purpose). Hand out the catalogues at your gigs and promote them to the media. A catalogue or website of several artists sharing the same theme carries a lot more weight with both fans and the media than a flier selling your products alone. Use this hook to build your mailing list and sell more of your own releases – while helping other bands in your region.
16) Produce sampler CDs as a promotional tool
People need to hear your music before they can decide if they like it enough to buy your CD. Getting enough radio airplay to sufficiently expose your music can be a challenge. Sampler CDs are one solution. Take two or three songs from your full-length CD and put them on a sampler CD. Ask record stores to give them away. Use them as a freebie for people who sign up on your mailing list at gigs. Send a press release to the media announcing that the CDs are available to anyone by mail for two or three dollars to cover shipping.
17) Make a John Hancock offer
When you make a new CD release available, offer a limited number of autographed copies… but only to the first 25 or 50 people who order. My best advice: keep the promised number of signed copies small. This will inspire serious fans to order even faster. Of course, you can actually deliver more than you promise and autograph more than the number you say is available. But by making it a limited offer, fans will be more motivated to send money your way.
(By the way, John Hancock was the signer with the largest signature on the Declaration of Independence.)
18) Use a point-of-purchase display
Looking for a professional way to display your CDs in record stores and on your merch table at live shows? Make use of cardboard countertop displays. Ask record store employees if they have displays they don’t need anymore. Fix them up and decorate them with your artwork.
If you want to purchase brand-new displays, check out the following companies:
DISCmarket
CD Stands
Video and CD Counter Displays
Cactus Containers
19) Get on bestseller, most popular, and most downloaded lists
True music fans hate to miss out on the latest craze within their preferred genre. One way fans discover new music worth buying is by looking over the growing number of lists on various music websites. These lists come in all shapes and sizes: Top Sellers, Most Listened To, Most Popular Downloads, etc. The higher your ranking on these lists, the more attention you draw to yourself.
So how can you get visibility on these lists and boost your sales? Well, writing and recording a fantastic song and getting it out there is the first step. An audience will find a killer song through word of mouth, etc. But you can help things along by asking your fans and friends to visit, vote, download, listen, or whatever it takes to help you rank higher on these lists.
Suggestion: Pick one such list on one site in a category where you can make an impact. Ask the people on your mailing list to visit that site and take the required action on the same day or during the same week. This concentrated effort may be all it takes to get you to move higher on the list, where other fans who don’t know about you yet will discover you.
20) Make compelling offers and ask for the sale
Some people make a purchase right away when something interests them. Some rarely make a purchase. And a lot of people teeter on the fence, not sure which direction to go. For this third group of good folks, you need to create incentives – reasons for them to hit the Buy button now.
Here are some compelling possibilities:
- Limited-time discounts: Get a 20 per cent discount if you purchase by this Friday.
- Limited-quantity offers: The first 25 people who respond get an autographed copy or a second bonus CD.
- Upsell with a special offer: Buy one, get one free. Or buy our new CD, get our previous release at half off.
- Bundling: Purchase a CD, T-shirt and cap at the same time, save 50 per cent.
- Charity benefit: 20 per cent of all CD and merchandise sales proceeds go to the local Wildlife Refuge.
21) Boost CD sales without lowering your price
Here’s a great tip from Mike Barry, a New Zealand musician who plays in the rock band Fourth Member (www.fourthmember.com)
“We were playing a festival recently and had our CDs at the merchandise table along with two other bands,” Mike writes, “but none of us was selling any.” All three bands had their CDs on sale for $10 each. “Out of desperation, I made three piles of CDs and created a sign that read ‘Festival Special! 3 CDs for $30.’”
The result: “We sold all three piles in 10 minutes! So we made three more piles and sold them in 10 minutes too. Before we knew it, there was a small crowd around the table. Just the thought of three CDs for $30 sounded too good to pass up. But what’s funny is, that is how much it would have cost if the fans bought one off each of us to start with. Amazing!”
One music commentator recounts; Mike’s story reminds me of a lesson I learned at a retail store job I had when I was a teenager. I remember a manager one time bragging about how he took some trinket that sold for 39 cents each and sold out of them by displaying them with a sign that announced “2 for a dollar.”
Yes, the store sold more of them at a higher price. Why? Because the sign and display created a perception of value. Think about that… and use this knowledge to sell more of your CDs and merchandise.
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