photo by chloe and ivan

Before going into the steps, I want to make sure I have your attention. In our mantra of “Always Be Converting,” “converting” is obviously the key term, so say it with me, “CONVERT.” Very good. Now let’s continue with our program.

To be clear, this is the basic thought process you should have to optimizing your fan conversion points. At larger companies, the process is a bit more complicated, but in the end, most follow the same concept. If you set up a business, then you need to make sales. In order to sell, you need a storefront. In order to get people through the door, whether physical or virtual, you have to announce yourself or communicate with potential customers.

The only way you can make a living is by making money, which has to be your key endpoint for your fan conversion funnel.

When you get really sophisticated, you can begin to customize your customer or fan experience based on their preferences. These four steps will show you how you get to that level of sophistication.

Read the rest of this entry »

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I have been a fan of Stones Throw Records since the late 90s.

I enjoy their brand of music. It always seems as if they understand their target audience.

That is until the music industry started to tank.

Then they realized they needed to ante up on the creativity.

This meant releasing new music styles and creating purchase-worthy physical goods.

Stones Throw… made me feel inadequate.

That got me to thinking, “do they really understand their customers?”

Now this was not a problem for me.

The release of long-time acquaintance Mayer Hawthorne was genius.

James Pants – I get it.

Anika – they had me at the single; lost me at the album (sorry folks).

This activity actually was strengthening my Stones Throw advocacy.

What put me off was during the release of the first Mayer Hawthorne album.

Collectables on top of Collectables

They released the heart-shaped 45, which was supposed to be a limited run.

I bought two copies, thinking it was definitely going to be an instant collector’s item.

They released some subsequent 45s, which I also copped.

Then something weird happened.

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SoundCloud is probably the best SaaS (Software as a Service) platform available to musicians to date. It is easy to use and widely accepted by music creators and music lovers alike.

But with every good thing comes an annoying a$$hole though.

At one point on this blog, I posted the “song submission” widget in the sidebar. It generated no interest, so I removed it. No big deal, it just did not seem that artists were actively sharing their songs that way.

If music bloggers were smarter, they would demand songs be sent to them via SoundCloud. I’m digressing though.

Recently, I had noticed a weird trend in my email alerts from SoundCloud. I was magically receiving a lot of followers when I was barely using the service.

It was not until I noticed the same individual was following me multiple times that I decided to investigate.

Now the above image is hard to see, but it shows the dubious activity that triggered me to look into my recent popularity.

I do not know who “Fista Cuffs” is, but I must admit I was intrigued. I did not expect anything worthwhile, but I expected to at least get a good chuckle at his or her expense.

Then I noticed “Fista Cuffs” sent me a private track. Curious. What did I do to deserve such a treat?

Wait. I am not special. This was sent to 10872 people. What are the odds that this person actually knows even 1% of these people?

My guess is 10873 to 1.

Of course, I realized what this was. It reminds me of the #TEAMFOLLOWBACK movement on Twitter. I was being conjoled into boosting this person’s social stats on a platform that wants to encourage the sharing of music, not the spamming of content.

I am not going for that. Never have; never will.

It was not until I decided to work on this blog post that I take the time to actually review the private track I was sent.

Turns out “Fista Cuffs” is no longer on SoundCloud. Kudos SoundCloud!

Moral to the Story

Being an annoying a$$hole will not get you far in life. You might achieve some minor gains, but long-term you will lose. If you are truly trying to build a music career, take your time and build relationships the old-fashioned way. “Hi. My name is Lars Ulrich and I am the drummer in a band called Metallica. I love music. How about you?”

In order to get to the 1000 true fans, there are no magic tricks available. It takes time, hard work and dedication.

Numbers do not matter, if they are not actionable. If you cannot get 10% of 100 to do your bidding, what is the point? An email list is only as strong as the open rate.

You cannot game your way into being successful. It is not good to speak in definitives, so here is an exception. You can game towards success, but it is not likely you will have a stress-free life and/or have many real friends in the process. Keep that in mind.

Stop chasing numbers and stick to chasing your dreams. Who really fantasizes about having 30,000 Twitter followers or 5000 SoundCloud listens? If you do, leave me a note in the comments. I want to talk to you.

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