Earlier on we identified 6 revenue streams that can make you a full-time musician. Due to the demand of this topic we’re offering a few more approaches to monetize your music that can further your finances.
As you build a relationship with your fans over time via live performances, your newsletter, blogs and social media it’s okay to periodically ask your fans to support what you do by making a purchase from you. In fact, if you don’t periodically ask for the sale you will miss out on sales simply because you didn’t ask.
1. Plug your merchandise at live shows
I cannot tell you how many times I have been at a live performance where the artist performing never plugs his or her merchandise available for sale from the stage. Fans at a show likely will not buy any of your merchandise if they don’t know it’s available.
As you perform songs live that are on your recorded albums be sure to tell people after you play a song which album that song is on and that the album is available for sale right there at the show.
In fact, you can kill two birds with one stone if at your show you offer two or three free albums as a giveaway for the first few people that sign up on your email list. It’s also a good time to let people know that if they aren’t quick enough to sign up and get a free album that they can still purchase the album. Doing this can do two things for you:
- It gives people at your show a reason to sign up on your email list. This obviously helps you grow your list
- It also offers you another opportunity to plug your merchandise.
2. Accept credit cards and make more money
Do you accept credit cards payments at live shows for merchandise? People don’t carry cash with them as often as they used to and if you can’t accept credit cards at live performances you are likely missing out on sales. If you have a smartphone or tablet this is made easy by using a credit card swiped that plugs directly into your phone or tablet. Check out SquareUp.com for details or if you already have a PayPal account you can get PayPal’s card swiped, PayPal Here.
3. Run sales promotions that are exclusive to your email list
You may consider running a promotion that is exclusive to your email list to help provoke sales. For example, you might offer your latest album or song download at an exclusive discount only for those on your email list for the next week — creating an end date for the promotion helps build a sense of urgency for fans to take action to buy now.
4. Create an affiliate program so your fans can sell for you
Do you have loyal diehard fans? If you want to get advanced with your fan engagement and recruit your diehard fans to help sell for you, you might consider starting an affiliate program. With an affiliate program your fans can earn a commission from promoting your albums through affiliate links they place on their own website, blogs or social networks. When someone clicks through the link and purchases the album that is associated with that particular fan of yours, you make a sale and give part of the sale money to your affiliate for their effort. It’s a way to incentivize your fans to promote your music and merchandise and both you and your affiliate fans make money. ClickBank.com is a site that can coordinate such an affiliate program and handle the payment process so both you and your affiliates get paid.
5. Get venues to help promote your value
If you typically perform live at places like coffee shops where the venue may not pay you, but you rely on tips and merch sales to make any money, ask the venue to promote a minimum suggested donation for performing musicians as they help promote the show. This can help ensure you make some money as most patron that will come out to listen to music at their favorite coffee shop like to help support the artists. Having the venue promote the show in this way also helps create the expectation for patrons that they should offer a couple of bucks in the musician’s tip jar for the value those musicians bring to their coffee shop-going experience.
These are just a few ideas to get you started. What other creative ways have you used to maximize your music monetization?
Music Career Coaching Guide: 8 Ways a Coach Can Help You Become a More Successful Music Creator
This guide shares eight ways hiring a coach can make you a more successful, profitable, and full-time music creator.
When you understand how a music career coach can get you farther, faster, you’ll be ahead of other music creators attempting to grow their music career.
Music Career Coaching Guide: 8 Ways a Coach Can Help You Become a More Successful Music Creator
This guide shares eight ways hiring a coach can make you a more successful, profitable, and full-time music creator.
When you understand how a music career coach can get you farther, faster, you’ll be ahead of other music creators attempting to grow their music career.