Rebekah Ann Curtis said:

Hello!

 

I'm a singer/songwriter in the Seattle area.  I feel like I've been limping along with this and I'm working on material for a second.  I went through cd Baby for my first and I'm contemplating using Reverbnation for digital, and doing a limited run of physical product.  Tracks from my first, Stay Close, can be heard on http://www.myspace.com/RebekahAnnCurtis

 

Take a listen, tell me what you think.

Tracks sound good Rebekah,

I don't do much with Reverbnation other than use them as a source of a little traffic. Isn't there distribution limited as compared to CD Baby? Or have they upped their game?

I really like CD Baby because you get everything with the push of a button, itunes, Amazon, bar codes, added to the retail chain catalogs, etc. But again, I haven't really looked into everything that Reverbnation offers lately.

With all of that said, I think I'm personally leaning to doing a limited physical release on my own site for my next record, and not release it anywhere else until a few months later. That way you can control the sales funnel a bit better and also create genuine scarcity. Something to at least think about.

Scarcity really is a powerful "hook".  But you do have to be sincere about it because it speaks to your credibility.  It's the old, don't say something and not mean it, kind of thing. 

If you try the scarcity angle, but don't follow through (usually out of the fear of not getting the sales) you will pretty much screw yourself out of playing the scarcity card in the future.  People won't believe ya next time.

On the other hand, if you're offering a limited release and you stick to your guns, the people who don't buy when they should have will just have to go kick rocks (and themselves) for not taking action.  That's where you want them to be.  Next time they'll know better.  🙂

That's where email subject lines like "Don't say I didn't warn you..." or "I may have to end this in the next few..." or even a short "Going once, going twice..." could really earn you a rush of sales right before the deadline.

***DAMAGING ADMISSION - When I first launched my info product, I limited the release to 200 copies (thinking that was a piece of cake), but I overlooked something that is now painfully obvious... It's fine to limit the number of copies being sold, but there's no telling when you'll sell that last copy. 

It's needless to say, but I didn't sell 200 copies, however I still closed it out after a 2 weeks.  Much to my surprise, there were still a small handful of people who decided they suddenly wanted a copy, but they missed out.  I didn't go back on my word. 

I didn't reach my goal, but I maintained my integrity.