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6:54 pm
June 10, 2011
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QuoteHi All! Hi John!
I'm still plugging away. I am continuing to generate music income via the internet. Thank you for your help doing that! I will always feel indebted! 🙂
I am being advised to shoot for a radio hit. Frankly, it's not impossibly hard in my genre. My purpose in doing so is not to sell more CDs, but to have the credibility be able to play the larger festivals and shows. I have a crack team that has done it consistently. My music is competitive, and I am about to release a kick-ass record.
I am crowd-funding to raise money for the radio promotion. People who support me will get an immediate download of the whole album, several months before public release. I don't feel like I am begging - fans who participate are going to get something unique that the general public won't get.
Would you mind taking a look at my draft page? I'd love your thoughts! https://www.indiegogo.com/proj.....w/4f1a2216.
After that, we can talk about crowd-funding platforms. I initially had a good experience with PledgeMusic, but it went downhill fast. My second account manager was condescending and unhelpful. The platform is also not that flexible and costs more in fees. So I switched to Indiegogo.
12:36 am
June 7, 2011
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Hey Charley,
Happy to hear that. I think you're thinking is all solid. A radio hit in your genre might not be that difficult. However it also won't likely generate much in the way of sales. But as you say, it will help with credibility, getting better venues, and possibly getting more butts in seats at those venues. I rarely think in radio is a good idea, but given where you're at and the goals you have for radio, I think it makes a lot of sense. It's all about taking the next step and building that cred as a national artist sounds like a good one for you.
I hate to nitpick the video because you've already put all this work into it. So take my feedback with a grain of salt and view it as just my thoughts as I went through it, rather than a criticism or a suggestion that you need to change anything.
I think it looks decent, but for me... there was room for improvement.
I thought the energy was a bit mellow and scripted sounding. Not terrible at all, but not like my friend Charley was talking to me. I would have liked it to be more natural in terms of energy. Just be like you would in a room having a conversation with me. But that was a smaller consideration for me.
The biggest flaw with the video is that you set things up and then just sort of signed off. You didn't really drive home the fact that you are at the precipice of something and just need a little backing to take it to the next level. And when you made your big pitch you cut to text instead of continuing to talk to people. And then you didn't close or wrap up and stress how much you need their help and how much you'd appreciate it.
I'd probably use a structure more like...
- This is who I am.
- With your help this is how far I've gotten.
- Big things are ahead but I need your help to get there.
- This is what I'll give you for it.
- Now this is what I want you to do (call to action).
- Thank them for their support.
Your copy gets you closer, but I still think some of the elements are missing, or not hit as hard as they could be. I'd tread carefully with things like "I was surprised how much you liked it" or "I'm doing this for you". It's not bad, but might ring weird for people who don't feel that connected to you.
I hate throwing that all on your lap. Nothing worse than putting in 40 hours on something and then having someone say, what if you did it totally differently? But you wanted feedback and those were my thoughts as I went through things. Hope that's of some help. Keep us posted on how your campaign goes.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
1:32 am
June 10, 2011
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This was my video before I had a horrible experience at pledgemusic. The account manager there basically made me butcher what I had. Is my original better?
I could add some dialogue at the end asking them to check out the options on the sidebar, and thank them for their support.
I could also change that little bit of dialogue about "i'm surprised you liked it as much as you did…" to something like, "the record did much better than I expected!" Basically what I was trying to convey was my first album was an art project for me, I was surprised that people liked it, and that encouraged me to take another step to do something bigger and better.
1:49 am
June 10, 2011
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I probably need to rescript some stuff and re-do it with someone in the room with me so it sounds natural. The visuals are probably fine, don't you think?
1:59 am
June 7, 2011
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I like this one you just posted a lot better. It explains more. I don't know if you need to change that dialogue, it was just something I hung up on so I mentioned it. You could go with this as is and it would probably do pretty well. I just think those areas I pointed out are room for improvement. The visuals are cool. Not sure about the money image. Looks like a stock video. But not really a problem. The idea is good. I think at least adding an end would be good. I also wish you were still talking when the offers came on the screen. Imagine a car salesmen saying, and here's how the new Ferrari works and then just showing a visual of it driving with some sub titles. Not as powerful as the narrator spelling out the cars benefits. No what I mean? But like I say, take that all with a grain of salt. Just one guy's feedback.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
2:04 am
June 10, 2011
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Ok... I didn't fix everything, but I think this is better. Here' the site with the updated video:
https://www.indiegogo.com/proj.....4f1a2216#/
I appreciate your honesty. I know that's tough when you see a lot of work has been put into something, and then someone asks you for advice!! "So... just erase the lyrics... probably the melody... and... yeah, that progression doesn't really work either... pretty much we need to start over..." ?
I know the video isn't perfect. I've learned from it. But I think it won't scare people off! lol! I've seen some bad crowdfunding vids for causes that people actually gave to!
1:05 am
June 7, 2011
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Hey Charley,
Yeah, I think this is a big improvement and definitely good enough to run with in my opinion. Great job and let us know how it goes. Good luck with the campaign.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
1:42 am
June 7, 2011
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My pleasure Charley! Anytime.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
4:01 am
June 10, 2011
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John Oszajca said
My pleasure Charley! Anytime.
Ok then... 
Would you please take a look at the email I've drafted for my list to send them to the crowdfunding page?
----
{!firstname}, I have a copy of my new album waiting for you 🙂
Hey {!firstname},
I’m really excited to be releasing my new album! (Visualize party hats and streamers!) And, since you are one of my subscribers, I want you to have it well before it hits the radio stations and stores.
I’ve called the album “Happy Hour” because it’s a fun, danceable collection of tunes. To me, it’s what happiness sounds like.
For a short time, I am celebrating the making of "Happy Hour" with pre-release digital downloads of the whole album, signed CDs, and some other cool stuff (like VIP experiences) at Indiegogo:
https://igg.me/at/charleylanger
To be clear, this is a fundraising effort to raise money for radio promotion (I don't have a fancy record label to do that for me). However, I prefer to think of this as an opportunity for you and I to *participate* together in this release. And you get an early copy of the album and some exclusive items and experiences that are not available to anyone else:
https://igg.me/at/charleylanger
I have participated with a number of artists in the release of their albums. It was a lot of FUN and extremely rewarding. And when they got that Grammy nomination or radio hit, I was proud that I helped make that happen.
Please join me for Happy Hour at Indiegogo:
https://igg.me/at/charleylanger
Thanks for your support!!
Charley
9:59 pm
June 7, 2011
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I think that reads really well.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
Hey Charles/John,
First post here, recent subscribers to the Circle. If it's of any assistance to you- I was sent a pdf on Crowdfunding by Ian Anderson called "Crowdfunding for the Other 98%" and have found it a fascinating read, about halfway through with it. I'm sure there are plenty of other reference books you'd read but, having successfully completed two separate campaigns ($2500 and $4500) this book seems to speak best to the psychology and logical order of how to gradually hit your target. (FYI I just bought Ariel Hyatt's book but haven't cracked it open yet) If you'd like just drop me a line and I'd be happy to email it to you, Ian's email encouraged sharing it around. This goes for other readers of this as well.
10:17 pm
June 7, 2011
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Hey Jeffrey,
Welcome to the IC and thanks for the recommendation. I'll keep an eye out for it.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
2:06 am
June 10, 2011
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Jefrey Siler said
Hey Charles/John,First post here, recent subscribers to the Circle. If it's of any assistance to you- I was sent a pdf on Crowdfunding by Ian Anderson called "Crowdfunding for the Other 98%" and have found it a fascinating read, about halfway through with it. I'm sure there are plenty of other reference books you'd read but, having successfully completed two separate campaigns ($2500 and $4500) this book seems to speak best to the psychology and logical order of how to gradually hit your target. (FYI I just bought Ariel Hyatt's book but haven't cracked it open yet) If you'd like just drop me a line and I'd be happy to email it to you, Ian's email encouraged sharing it around. This goes for other readers of this as well.
Hey Jefrey!! I'm so sorry I missed your post! Thank you for the recommendations.
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