Yes, being great at whatever it is you do has merit (for it). But quality isn’t nearly enough. You HAVE to huck it, kids. Every second of every day. Re: The Death of Marketing? Sorry Bob, respectfully disagree.
I don’t care how friggin spectacular you are… if you don’t have anyone to tell, it might as well not be true. It’s a chicken and the egg deal. Almost. Because, you CAN have real, passionate, loyal fans at every stage of your career, from fledgling to Trent; if I like you, I’ll help you. Period.
Think of it like this: the way you make me feel about your product handily trumps the actual product. In a heartbeat.
So… how do you do it? Um, it’s called MARKETING.
Singer-songwriter Seth Glier recently quoted a fan who said it best:
“You know Seth, I know we don’t see each other a lot but I consider you a friend…..Coldplay is JUST music to me.”
And Seth is hands-down one of the most spectacular self-marketers I know.
It works like this, in this order:
1. Make friends and fans.
2. Do/make something that’s meaningful to you.
3. Tell your friends and fans about it ASAP… DO NOT polish it to death or worry about it not being perfect (any successful entrepreneur will give you this exact advice). Get it out there as fast as possible. Make it pretty/hone your skills later.
4. Inspire and ask your friends and fans to help you/buy your stuff.
5. Rinse and repeat.
It really is that easy.
Don’t believe it? Here’s something I probably shouldn’t tell you. 21 people work for me for free. Our online views have increased 127% in four months. 6000+ people read our newsletter. And we’re in the black after less than two years. Certainly, I hope it’s because we’re doing great work but for sure, friends and fans made this possible. As in, 65% them. No joke.
Did someone say the value of emotional value? I’m just sayin.
Tags: Bob Lefsetz, CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, Fans, Guy Kawasaki, KATE BRADLEY, MASOKO SOCIAL, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, THE iNSIDERS NETWORK, The Value of Emotional Value —
9/21/09
Categories: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE • KATE BRADLEY • LETTERS FROM THE ROAD • MASOKO SOCIAL • OUTLANDOS MUSIC • THE iNSIDERS NETWORK
19 Responses to “Lefsetz is Wrong”
Leave a Reply
You go girl!
That’s some headline – kinda like “Dog Bites Man,” no?
Reading “Tribes” and finally found mine. Funny they are all green? ; )
I agree so much with your bullet 3.
3. Tell your friends and fans about it ASAP… DO NOT polish it to death or worry about it not being perfect
Artists I am working with are still looking forward to publishing 65 beautiful pictures of their so great show that occured 6 months ago.
Better publish 2 strange or not perfect pictures that tell what you are living NOW!
As a matter of fact I also agree with bullet points 1-2-4 and 5!
LOVE this. It’s true….get your half-baked idea out the door ASAP…..and get some feedback on how to improve it. Honest friends and fans will think of stuff you NEVER thought of. Good stuff.
Sounds to me like someone has an axe to grind, and picked the poorest article to do it on. I dont always agree with what Lefsetz writes, but at least his articles culminate to a worthwhile point or idea.
“Think of it like this: the way you make me feel about your product handily trumps the actual product.”
- This may be true when describing your newest song to one of your friends or coworkers, but not everyone is going to like your music just because of the way you describe or pitch it to them. People who consider themselves real music buffs arent likely to be swayed by you or one of your friends telling them its the greatest track theyve ever heard. Many of them will give a listen, but if your music doesnt have the goods then itll stop dead in its tracks right there.
Which leads me to the next qualm I have with your advice
“3. Tell your friends and fans about it ASAP… DO NOT polish it to death or worry about it not being perfect (any successful entrepreneur will give you this exact advice). Get it out there as fast as possible. Make it pretty/hone your skills later..”
- I believe in being quick to get your music to your fans, but if youre not giving them a product that’s quality is not the absolute best you can give them, then youre just cheating you customers. What happens when a company gets a product out to the public too fast before it can properly test it and make sure its up to par? It sometimes gets recalled due to some unforeseen defect and then what do you have? You have some pissed off customers (fans). And its much harder to recall music than it is to recall tires.
Ultimately, if your music alone isnt good enough to let people feel that emotional connection to you then all the marketing in the world will surely not gain you any popularity outside your circle or friends. If big labels that have spent millions on marketing campaigns have gotten nowhere when the music they were selling was shit, what chance do you have?
Make the best music you possibly can, tell all your friends/coworkers about it of course, but let the music sell itself because you cant sell someone a product that doesnt do what its supposed to do, and if I were you, i’d listen a bit more closely to what Mr Lefsetz has to say.
Lee,
It seems that the person grinding the axe is you.
Regarding the value of emotional value: there are yards and yards and yards of stats (neuroscientific research among them) to support this. Quibbling is moot.
Funny, same goes with your second qualm.
Also, successful marketing isn’t reliant on money… that’s the mistake the big labels made.
As for the idea of letting music sell itself… sure, if you don’t care about making a living. That’s great advice. Well done. Let me know how that works for you.
Miss Bradley, it would appear as if you missed my point.
I do not diminish the worth of emotional value at all. One of the most important things an artist should do is build up a bond with their fans and do everything they can to assimilate with them. However, once they begin to focus so much on promoting themselves that their music output is degraded then things start to go awry.
If instead they took the time to craft their art to perfection and create something that is heartfelt and can truly move someone then that anonymous listener might be so inclined as to tell their friend about it without you personally pushing it on them. I’m just sayin.
Lee darling, I think, in fact, it’s possible you’ve missed mine?
No one is saying that music shouldn’t be great. What we are saying is that the idea that one should ignore marketing (as Bob suggests) is suicidal.
Unfortunately, these days, any good business bootstrapper has to manage both content creation and marketing (among a million other things). Of course, I’m making the assumption here that artists understand that they are in business.
That said, if one wishes to produce great music and keep it to themselves entirely, go for it. Just don’t complain that no one’s buying it.
Hmm, okay. Maybe its not my point youve missed. Is is possible that youve misinterpreted and/or exaggerated Bobs? Its not that he suggests you completely ignore ANY marketing of your work, but that you merely shouldnt put more emphasis on spreading the word than creating your product and making it great. “…focus on marketing last.” he says, but last does not mean totally ignore
It seems to me that the title “death of marketing” can be a bit misleading as it implies that it is beginning to or already does have little effect on people and is no longer necessary. But ultimately it is used to illustrate the extremity of the events that he talks about through out the article, not so much to say that an artist should never self promote and build up a fan base.
Lee’s right, Kate’s wrong.
end of story!
Beccy, semi-cowardly to bark and run so, calling you out… prove it. My guess is, you can’t.
It’s appalling to think about not polishing your songs before putting them up, just to get attention. If you don’t care about music and are in it for just a quick buck, then sure that’s fine. But that’s not the way to go if you want to have any longevity. That’s why most bands we hear about one week are gone the next, because they don’t focus on making the music great. Most bands these days are flash in the pan.
Sorry, but Bob and Lee are right. Marketing is important, but not as important as a great, finished song or album. Focus on it last.
No one’s saying don’t polish your songs before putting them up just to get attention. And certainly, there’s nothing “quick buck” about marketing. This is irrefutable: if you want to be in the business of music in any way, marketing is essential. If instead, you just want to make music for music’s sake, bless you. Have fun. But please, no complaints when no one buys it.
Uh yeah, someone IS saying dont polish your songs before putting them up…
“3. Tell your friends and fans about it ASAP… DO NOT polish it to death or worry about it not being perfect ”
You can publicize the hell out of your music but it will just get lost in all the noise of everyone else doing the exact same thing. Your music has to be something really different, well thought out, intricately designed and overall pretty awesome to command attention.
As for this “dont complain when people dont buy it” excuse you keep saying. Record labels spend loads of cash on marketing and advertising, and people still arent buying it. Why is that? because in the digital age it has become a product that is infinitely copyable and easily distributed. With an endless supply, the demand curve intersects it at a price thats, yep you guessed it, right at zero.
So now my question to you is why waste time and money marketing a product that has no real monetary value to consumer?
the short answer is you dont, you use the music as a marketing tool itself to sell other things that are of a scarcer supply and have actual value. good music will add intrinsic value to other things that people will actually want to shell out money for
Point by point re: Alf:
What we are saying is you can put something out there before it’s polished and in fact you should. From a entrepreneurial standpoint, that’s 101. Thousands upon thousands of examples of successes. Google.
There’s a huge difference between publicizing and marketing. If you don’t know this, you will fail. Your music does not have to be different to succeed. Lots and lots and lots of examples of regurgitated music that does quite well because fans feel something… emotional value is driving sales. Emotional value comes from smart marketing.
The record labels are idiots. Why bring them up? They are dinosaurs when it comes to emotional value. Excuses? What are you talking about… My clients make money.
Why waste time and money marketing a product that has no real monetary value to consumer? I don’t know, I wouldn’t. But something doesn’t have to be “polished” to have value. Lots of people like lots of music that frankly sucks. But how they feel about it is where the monetary value comes from. If you spend your time and money marketing a product with high emotional value, yep, you guessed it, it will sell.
Because, like you said, you’re using the music to sell something else… what you’re selling is emotional connection.
Ha, google she says, hardly an astute comparison to make. A company that offers SERVICES such as google needs to release its products to customers beforehand because they must evolve and be refined to better serve people. This is hardly the case when youre trying to sell an intangible product such as music. What are you going to do, sell someone a song, improve it by say changing up the chorus or remastering it, and then sell it to them again? Not really a great strategy.
I would also disagree that emotional value has anything to do with marketing when in the music realm. Sure someone sees a funny commercial, laughs and feels a tie with the product and the company, but the only emotional value derived from a song would be the actual music itself doing it. Not how you pitch the music or sell yourself.
It seems to me that youre taking very generic marketing strategies and trying to make them work for your business model, when the reality is that to actually make any decent money in music, you need innovative techniques with a much more customized fit
Alf, You don’t get it. And I’m not getting paid to teach you. Good luck in your emotionless endeavors.
I work fast and finish projects/recordings in a very focused way, then release them. But I won’t release them before I’m truly happy with the ART aspect, and wouldn’t release them even sooner just for the sake of a rushed release. Once the ART is done, yeah, release it and market the crap out of it.
But I wouldn’t release my creation before it finished. Perhaps an acoustic, early version of a song that will be recorded later in a big-production fashion? Sure.
You just have to be creative with the creative process itself.