Add More Products To Your Catalog With Affiliate Marketing
The biggest misconception of the music industry and especially to new artists is that they can have a long term model selling a plastic disc. This is like backwards running. Major record labels have grown this model over the last hundred years and it is very tough to get them to change. This system has created everyday artists like Frank Sinatra and Willin Nelson. This has worked for new school artists like Lil Wayne and Trust Company.
For musicians, it is hard to justify having a business when your only product is a disc that your customers can get for free. The ideal situation would have musicians creating a catalog filled with backend products, upsells and cross sells, getting their fans prepped to take full advantage of their credit card limits. This creates a strong business and allows for elements of lifestyle design.
Smaller and indie bands can not do this. Novice artists don’t have a big back catalog and are generally broke. Indie bands don’t like to go manufacture a ton of CD’s and pens and have a ton of inventory.
With this objection from most musicians, there is another option to creating new streams of income without breaking the bank and the hassle of putting in countless hours to create new products. Herein lies affiliate marketing.
At its core, affiliate marketing can be equalled to a referral program. The leader in affiliate marketing was Amazon.com, who grew overnight through an army of affiliates. Affilaites helped them grow to be the largest online retailer.
Bands can use their influence to recommend merchandise to their fans. Bands have a high influence over their fans, the people that come to their shows and believe in their words and actions. You can even start small thorugh the Amaazon Associates or the iTunes affilaite program and sell music or movies that their friends make. Who wouldn’t like it if Beyonce sent you an email saying she was in love with the new Miley record and he is a link to get it.
Taking this to the next level would be to recommend music instruments, concert tickets, clothing and other cool aspects of being in a band. By doing so you are creating a bonded relationship with your fans. All you want to do is provide incredibe value to that they will appreciate.
The next time you are getting ready to launch a campaign, think about using affiliate marketing to bolster your online music marketing and your overall sales. The systems make it as easy as ever to navigate through your account, view products and calculate sales. The result is the ability to put some cash in the band’s bank account and give your clients more value. This is a win-win situation.
Tags: affilaites, barefoot running, lifestyle design, music marketing