Congrats! You’re On The Inside.
Welcome to the Music Marketing Insider Circle! Please watch the introductory video below to get up to speed.
In short, the Insider Circle was created to kick things up a notch and take Music Marketing Manifesto to the next level.
While Music Marketing Manifesto teaches you the fundamentals of marketing, driving traffic, and creating a sales funnel, the Insider Circle will be teach you additional ADVANCED strategies, and keep you on the cutting edge of this rapidly changing industry.
I hope to make this your one-stop-shop for music marketing intelligence, training, and networking.
But always remember, there are no magic bullets out there people. Every artist is different and results will vary significantly. By following the strategies discussed in the Insider Circle you are not guaranteed any specific income or results.
That being said, everything discussed here is the REAL DEAL, and this stuff really does work. So get to it!
I’ll see you in the forum!
– John
Hi All
I’m Marion
https://www.facebook.com/MarionLoGuidice
Nice to be here – excited about getting started.
xx
Hi Marion,
Welcome to Insider Circle! Thanks again for your patience, while we sorted out your registration links. We really appreciate it.
Feel free to take in the content on your own schedule and don’t hesitate to start a thread in the forum if you ever need feedback on your marketing. We’re also here to help in support, if there’s ever anything you think we can help with.
Just let us know. 🙂
Hi John,
Looking forward to learning more. I blew through MMM 3.0 in 2 days, got my wheels in motion already – http://owrband.com
I’d get my Gravatar up but woke up this morning to a dead video card on my PC so I had to switch over to my MacBook for today’s business and it doesn’t have any of my picture files on it.
Enjoying everything!
Astrum – One World (R)evolution
Hi Astrum,
Great! Awesome to hear that you are enjoying everything. Really sorry to hear about the PC. That’s a real bummer.
Let me know if I can ever help with anything else.
Hi,
Jasco and Mer Sal from The Symbols here saying hello.
We’re about 2/3 through the MMM3 lessons and just finally getting over here to check out the insider circle. Looks like there is going to be a lot of good information and ideas here. We’re excited about getting started.
– Jasco and Mer Sal
The Symbols – Spiritual Porn Rock “Music that’s good for the soul and body.”
http://www.thesymbols.net
Hi Jasco,
Glad to hear that you’re moving right along with MMM 3.0 and that you’ve found your way over the Insider Circle.
Let me know if I can ever help with anything, or feel free to hit up the forums if you need feedback on your marketing.
Hey John and MMM Staff….
This is Paul Cotterell and I’m a singer/songwriter for a band out of So Cal, Pictures From Eden. We’ve been around for a couple years now, have a CD and some singles out there but really wasn’t pushing it the way I knew we could until we came across MMM 3.0. It’s opened so many new ideas and doorways to the music world and I seriously haven’t been this excited in a while. John, your course is amazing and I’m looking forward to diving into the Insiders Circle and soaking it all up. All the best everyone,
Cheers!
Paul
Hi Paul,
Steve here from MMM Support. Really awesome to see that you’ve decided to join the Insider Circle. We know you’ve been moving right along with the MMM 3.0 course, so the IC should be a nice natural progression for you.
Don’t hesitate to use the forums, if you ever need feedback on your marketing, or anything else. Of course you can always drop us a line as well, if we can ever help at all.
Hey John and Inner Circle Cats,
Chad Hollister of VT coming on as of today thanks to Ariel and Johns webinar. I’m a musician, singer/songwriter/producer out of Vermont. I have released 6 independent records of my original music and am looking to market the hell out of my stuff and take it to a different level.
Look forward to learning and working with you all.
peace,
chad
Hi Chad,
Welcome to Insider Circle! Happy to have you here.
Hopefully you’ll find enough here in the trainings and interviews, to help you take things to the next level. Be sure to hit up the forums if you ever need some feedback on your marketing.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything, as well.
Hello everyone!
I am a vocalist/songwriter that works under the band name, Humanistic. I just released my first EP and am working towards a geniune artist development deal. I have built my band from the ground up, and decided recently that I will have to put more work into it – if I want to be successful. I stumbled upon MMM while looking for marketing resources on the net. I have always been a bit of a skeptic for many things, but have decided that if I don’t take more calculated risks, then I will never achieve my goals.
So here I am! I love music more than anything and want to be successful with it – so let’s get started!
-Wilkes
Hi Wilkes,
Welcome to Insider Circle! One thing you’ll find about the MMM strategy is that all of the risks are calculated. Meaning that when you follow this method, you’ll be able to see all of your conversion numbers. That means you’ll know exactly how much each subscriber is worth, as well as how much you can afford to spend to acquire new leads, should you ever decide to run paid ads.
Insider Circle builds off of the main strategy of MMM and reaches into more advanced strategies for selling music online. Be sure to check out all of the trainings, as well as the Insider Interviews. If you ever want feedback on your marketing, just start a thread in the appropriate forum.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything at all.
Hello John,
I posted some of this content on the main MMM page as well.
My name is Scott Shaver. I am a singer/songwriter/guitarist currently living in CA. and music is definitely my first love. Like so many others, I work in a different profession to pay the bills and have been in several bands over the years, both cover and original. Our current band “Mercury Down”, is in the process of releasing our first album, and we are extremely excited about the content on the album. Our music ranges from Classic Rock, Blues, Swing, Jazz, Progressive Country, Alternative etc. We are currently looking for a lead vocalist to re-track the vocals and be an integral part of Mercury Down.
As brief as possible… after copyrights, putting our website together with MMM and if our music generates a great following, we need to work out how the funds are to be divided.
One member – wrote 90% of the music – studio musician – vocals – owns the studio – contributed studio time – arranging/engineering the tracks etc.
I wrote 90% of the lyrics, some of the music – co-wrote some songs – studio musician – vocals etc. /assisted in arrangement.
One member wrote some music, wrote some songs – co-wrote some songs – assisted in arrangement etc.
Ok…there is a rough example of the situation. I understand, that after copyrights, credits etc. all of this has to be figured out. One person says the profits should be split three ways and will work everything out later, if the music is successful. I say , the particulars should be worked out now, so there is no question later on. The split should depend on lyrics/music etc as in the copyrights….especially if one of the song goes viral. That way everyone is fairly rewarded for their part. Also the engineering time, studio use etc should be itemized, so all is fairly compensated.
I don’t like assumptions and feel the road map needs to be established in the beginning, regarding the money. We are all close friends and I don’t want to jeopardize the very reason our creativity and continuity works in the first place. I also feel everyone should get rewarded for their effort.
Ok….as brief as I could make it. Is there any kind of standard roadmap regarding these scenarios? What are your recommendations regarding this? My wife is an attorney, but not in music/entertainment law. She is however promoting caution and has seen her share of destructive law suits. Better to nip this one before it starts.
Thanks for listening!
Scott
Hi Scott,
Welcome to Insider Circle. Be sure to check out all the trainings and coaching calls. If you ever need feedback on your marketing, or have questions, don’t hesitate to start a thread in the forum. Enjoy!
My name is Sasa, I play bass in Mathias Rock, a rock’n’roll band from Prince George BC, Canada. We are about to release some new songs, and I wanted to figure out the best ways to get them out there. We are currently recording, but as they are getting completed I wanted to have a plan set in place for early next year. Not even looking for hard sales yet, but 1000 free downloads would blow my mind.
I heard couple podcasts by MMM and I’m convinced you guys have the right idea, now I’m looking forward to applying all this to our upcoming release!
http://www.reverbnation.com/mathiasrock
Hi Sasa,
Welcome to Insider Circle!
Be sure to check out the trainings and definitely pop over to the forum, if you ever have questions, or wanted to get some feedback on your marketing.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
my name is nick williams. i am new to all this. trying to learn everything i can about the ever changing music business. i play in a electronic/metal/rock out fit called 6 prong paw. we are from a small town in michigan and we looking to brake out on our own with out labels and other peoples money. thanks john for putting this stuff out. i feel really optimistic about this course and am looking forward to diving in during my down time.
Hi Nick,
Steve here from MMM Support.
Welcome to the Insider Circle! Be sure to check out some of the advanced strategies. You’ll find them under the “Monthly Trainings”. Also, the coaching calls are quite helpful as well.
If you ever have questions or would like some feedback on your marketing, just go ahead and start a thread in the forum.
As always, let us know if we can ever help with anything at all.
Hi,
Great ressource, John, thank you for sharing all your best work. I can see I’ve got a mountain to move, so I’m digging in.
I’m Craig Schaffer, a singer / songwriter from California living in France. My ax is the dulcimer. I have three professional projects : So WAX, a soul-folk band, made 2 eps, first album is coming out this spring : http://www.mzeshina.fr/chants_spectacles_sowax.html
VOYCE : duo/trio of Irish ballades (with dulcimer/saz/violin) : http://www.mzeshina.fr/chants_spectacles_voyce.html
and a vocal group singing traditional Georgian harmonies, Mze Shina : 3 albums, the first 2 distributed by a decent co. and the latest on a great label, Buda Music : http://www.mzeshina.fr/chants_polyphonies.html
I’m also giving solo concerts with a looper.
First question is how to distinguish my various publics. For the moment, John, I’m focusing your course on the So WAX album coming out, however I have an e-mail collection of people who come to Georgian harmony workshops, Irish music concerts, members of the choirs I direct and So WAX fans. Some of these people are interested in everything but not all. Maybe ‘organise’ is the key word not ‘distinguish’. Your hit ?
Looking forward to working together with everybody,
Craig
Hey Craig,
Welcome to the IC. Great to have you. You mind posting the second question in the forum? I think it’s a good question and one the rest of the group can benefit from? If that’s a hassle just let me know and I can answer it here.
Hi everyone, my name is June Caravel. I’m initially from Paris, lived in London and now live in Hannover Germany. Which is cool cos now I can speak 3 languages almost fluently :-). I’m a vocal explorer. That is, I just did an album called the A Cappella Sessions entirely with my own voice. I composed, wrote, arranged and produced it. Before that in 2007 I raised 50,000$ on the first crowdfunding website of the kind: sellaband.com. And I recorded my first album called And Maybe A Tree Will Rise out of me… in California. I’m looking forward to learning more about the whole process! Take care, June
Hi June,
Welcome to Insider Circle. Very nice to have you. $50,000 on a crowd-funding platform is really awesome. I’m sure the album turned out great! Definitely check out the trainings here and feel free to mix it up in the forums if you ever need some feedback, or would like to offer some as well.
As always, let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hey guys!
Really happy to be a part of this community. I am a Norwegian artist, I moved to New York about 4 years ago. I have just made an album with my band Sonic Cult and I am finishing up my solo album. My solo work is something I call “accoustic pop noir”. Really looking forward to talk and learn and exchange with artist around the country, and maybe in particular the east coast area.
Norway isn’t known too well around the world musically, BUT we do have: A-ha (huge hit in 85 with “Take on Me”), The Ylvis brothers (who has a huge hit these days with “What does the Fox say”), the songwriting hit machine “Stargate” and finally: Blaaaaaaaaack metaaaaal…Ha ha.
Talk more later:)
Hey all:
About me: I’m a music artist and a professional looking to up my game anyway I can. I have been earning full-time income in music for over 5 1/2 years, and my current goal is to make a six figure income writing, recording, performing and selling my music. John’s ideas look really good, and I’m equally interested in connecting with other pro-minded music people in the Mastermind Forum. I always want the best possible mentoring combined with the best possible associations with other serious people, this program seems to offer both of these.
Thank you, John, in advance for your help. And a big HELLO to everyone else in the program. I’m looking forward to helping you all be successful anyway I can! We can help each other.
Hey Chris,
Sorry for the slow response to this comment. The recent MMM 3.0 launch threw me way behind on the welcome comments.
Just wanted to hit you back and say welcome and thanks. It’s great to have you here.
Hi John!
My name is Kevin Gebo and I am a professional trumpeter in the Washington, D.C. area. I’ve just released my first solo CD and am looking forward to learning a ton of things with your program. Thanks for putting it all together!
Kevin
Hey Kevin,
Sorry for the slow response to this comment. The recent MMM 3.0 launch threw me way behind on the welcome comments.
It’s great to have you here and I hope to catch you in the forum.
Hey everyone, what’s happening!
My name is Chris Cornelius. I just joined today and wanted to say hi. I am a producer and artist. My brother Marc (who is also and artist and co-producer) and I have teamed up and decided to do this MMM 3.0 together. We produce music in a few different genres and hope that this course will show us how to make some serious money (finally!) with our music and have some fun in the process.
Hi John! Greeting to all of you here inside this circle!
I’m Andras from Budapest, Hungary. A real ‘music-fetishist’. A singer-songwriter, musician and performer, played in several bands and in solo as well. These days, I started to build up a long-term art project based on my own compositions and sound-recordings under the name ‘BoZaN’. Alongside music production, in the last two decades, I worked on various fields of the local and regional (CEE region) music industry, mainly with PR and marketing, also with digital music, new business (catalogue management, digital distribution, Youtube CMS…etc.). I think this is a really exciting, but also really challenging era for anyone who tries to monetize his/her creativity in music. Lifelong learning, adapting new methods is inevitable. That’s why I’ am here. Good luck to everyone.
Hi Andras,
Welcome to Insider Circle!
Thanks for the short bio. We think you’ll fit right in here. Enjoy the trainings and be sure to make your way around the forums.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Pretty pumped to be here amongst this shit! Rock!
Hi Greg,
Welcome to Insider Circle! Dig the enthusiasm!
Enjoy the training, interviews and of course, the forum. Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hi John,
I’m a solo artist and producer from Melbourne, Australia and I write, record and mix all of my own music under the project name The Spiral Sequence, working with alternative rock, metal and experimental sounds. I released an independent album this year called Through Shadow Into Light and have managed to get it on several metal radio programs and stations here in Australia through my own efforts, but the sales side is something that definitely needs work!
I have ten years of experience in music journalism and close to twenty years experience as a graphic designer, so I’m looking for MMM 3.0 to help me tie these skills together and really get things moving! I also really look forward to networking with other like minded and motivated musicians around the world through the Insider Circle.
I’m going to check out all the other artists here and may I suggest we all like each other’s facebook pages and check out each other’s music. I’ve found the people most interested in new music are often other musicians!
The Spiral Sequence on bandcamp: http://thespiralsequence.bandcamp.com
The Spiral Sequence artist page on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/the-spiral-sequence/id547311290
The Spiral Sequence facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/thespiralsequence
Midnight Sun Design (graphic design) facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/midnightsundesign
Hi James,
Welcome to the Insider Circle!
Yes, you definitely have a unique opportunity to network with some like-minded people here. Feel free to make the most of it and definitely let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hey John
Looking forward to applying what I learn and seeing what happens. I’ve had some success in the past with similar online marketing strategies. I’ve researched and bought courses to help generate traffic to my online production site for artists (rappers and R&B singers) looking to buy beats online.
So I’m sure this will have an impact on how I’m able to help artist under my umbrella sell music. I believe I just needed something like what you’ve put together to aid with the mining of prospects.
Thanks and I’ll be in touch.
Hi C,
Welcome to the Insider Circle! There’s certainly a lot of content that’s accumulated in the members area here. Hopefully you can glean a few things to help your artists succeed.
Be sure to pop over to the forum if you ever need some feedback from the other members.
Were always here to help as well. Just let us know if we can.
Just saying hi to all! Bought 2.0 but never worked it. 3.0 was just too irresistible an offer and I’m GOING TO DO THIS for sure this time! I’m a Writer/Producer, Pianist/DJ in Atlanta, GA. Have music available for download now in iTunes, etc.. Have had some success with sales, but want to make that multiply by thousands of times! Hope to learn a lot here. Hi to all!- Doug Gazlay
http://www.dougapp.com is where all my info is if peeps want to reach me! Bye!
Hi Doug,
Welcome to the Insider Circle! Really great to hear you are ready to get rolling! Be sure to check in with forum, or drop us a line if you ever need any help with anything.
Hey John,
First of all I’d like to say thanks for your reasearch in marketing music over the years, as well creating an avenue to pass that along to people who are interested to learn.
I’m a drummer of a Canadian Rock band Destranged and marketing is one of the puzzle pieces that we’ve talked about plenty but really didnt have a path forward. MMM has given us just that. The timing of it couldnt be better with our soon to be released 2nd indie album.
So… I’ve purchased approx. a month ago MMM 2.0 and have started the process. We already have a fully fuctional web page (created by pro web designer $$$) and im in the process of setting up a “squeeze” page for release of our first single… however, now i find that there’s a MMM 3.0 out there with updated “bells & whistles” and i’m wondering if I should continue with the 2.0 or just switch to the 3.0 before i get too deep?! Any thoughts??
Your friend,
TL
Hi Trevor,
We have just sent you an email regarding our thoughts about your 2.0 membership with regard to the 3,0 release. Let us know if we can ever help with anything else.
Hey John –
Really looking forward to this. I actually work in marketing professionally – but that certainly doesn’t mean I know everything, or that there isn’t a great deal more to learn – and I sincerely appreciate your willingness to share this process and strategy. As a sideline, I produce synth-based dance tracks under the name Artbomb Orchestra – and I’m in all the usual places – Reverbnation, SoundCloud etc.
I’m looking at this mostly as an adventure – to see what I can learn and find out how far it will go. I’ve already got a day gig – so there’s no desperation here. Just the hope that I can get a few more people to dance – and maybe add a little side income.
Good luck to everyone else who’s plunking down some hard earned cash to take their music marketing to the next level. And thank you, John, for giving us some extra tools and know-how to make it happen.
Hi Nicholas,
Really great to have you here. Thanks for joining.
Hopefully you’ll be able to pick a few new things here, but I’m sure the folks in the forum are going to find value in the marketing experience you bring in with you.
Don’t hesitate to mix it up in the forum a bit and let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Is the MMM3.0 covered in the Inner Circle? Or do I need that too? I have MMM 2.0 & did the Music Summer School 2012… eating it all up to take over the world. Or at least my current demographic.
Hi John,
Thanks for your interest in MMM 3.0.
3.0 is not covered in the Insider Circle. Insider Circle is more of an ongoing and frequently updated membership about advanced strategies, beyond the core strategy of MMM 2.0 and 3.0.
With the release of 3.0, while the core strategy of direct response marketing is the same as 2.0, the way it’s laid out and the tools and implementation is 100% new.
In addition to the fact that this version includes a new MMM WordPress template , it also includes a new take on driving traffic. Many of the old methods have changed too much. They still all work, but there is a better way of approaching traffic now, and John thought it was time to create the new course. It contains almost double the number of videos and reflects three years of John’s experimentation and working with thousands of artists in varying capacities.
Thanks again and let us know if we can ever help with anything else.
Hey John,
My name is Kjetil Landsgard, I am a singer songwriter from Dawson Creek B.C, Canada. I have had a couple of bands where I was the chief songwriter guitarist singer. Always struggled with making the choices to pursue music in the conventional way….stayed busy writing and recording….have a small home studio that I really enjoy staying busy with. I now have wife and three kids ,,,still compelled to write and record songs…have a repertoire of 30 or so…..I really think this course could work as I can work on songs and they actually can do something more than just be heard by me. I have been recording and producing other artists in my studio but doesn’t pay enough which means still the day job and family and I really want to free up time to work on new original songs….if I could even supplement my income with my own music and record and produce other people…..well then the dayjob could be phased out,and I could stay busy writing, recording, producing.
http://www.reverbnation.com/kjetillandsgard
Also wondering if you think its possible to go away from the albm scenario and just record and release one song at a time…a continuous release…fans expect a song to come every month or so…..
Hi Kjetil,
Welcome to Insider Circle! Glad to have you.
Yes, in fact depending upon who you ask, some fols will swear it’s a singles market these days, although many folks are still having success selling full albums.
In fact what you are describing is the continuity/membership model, were you can offers folks exclusive monthly content for a monthly or annual membership fee.
This is a model that is discussed right here in one of the earlier lessons of Insider Circle.
On one hand, it’s nice to have monthly cashflow, but keep in mind that you’ll be pressed to come up with fresh content regularly. However it sounds like that isn’t going to be a problem for you and you’ve got about 30 months already done 🙂
Be sure to check out the forum and let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Oh yeah, forgot to say about myself. Guitarist, singer songwriter with my specific genre being Rock (I guess) and a big emphasis on the guitar. Have already released two albums independently and working on my third. Really like the idea of selling and promoting it independently and bypassing the traditional music industry model which, I’m sure you will all agree, can be incredibly frustrating. Anyway Greetings and Rock n Roll to you all!
Lachlan
Hi Lachlan,
Welcome to Insider Circle! So glad you could join us here.
Bypassing the traditional industry model is what this is all about. That said, you’ll find the industry will have more interest in you if you can show them that you can sell on your own.
Good luck with the 3rd album and make sure you pop into the forum whenever you need some feedback, or fresh ideas.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hey, just signed up to the Insider Circle and looking forward to getting stuck into some serious music marketing – Lachlan
Hello, my name is John and as of yesterday I am a new solo artist of sorts. I am planning on releasing a solo project in the near future and decided to get a jump start on making it work when it does see the light of day. My past experience has been working in bands, but not really writing any of the material, just my parts for the song or working as part of a backing band. So being that most of the bands I have worked with over the last few years start out great than fail to follow through I decided to walk away and start my own thing. I am looking forward to getting into the course and seeing how much I don’t know after being the person that usually did all of the promo for the band. I hope to talk with most of you very soon-JW
Hi John,
Welcome to Insider Circle. It’s great that you are going ahead to take in what you can before your first solo release. We’re here to help and so are all of the members in the forum, so don’t hesitate to ask questions if you think we can ever help with anything.
Hello everyone. I happened here after a link at Twitter and, from what I can tell, this should be a good place for me. I recently committed to hosting my website at Squarespace (www.mudrecords.com) and have been experimenting with FanBridge in thepast week. Hopefully, those sites blend well with the advice here.
With my ex-songwriting partner, Rob Cain, I have 3 albums released independently. We also recorded 2 albums for a mutual friend, Larry Nicholson.
In the past year I have released 2 new albums and am currently working on a third.
All of our music is at http://music.mudrecords.com
I have purchased MMM2.0 and have a temporary membership with Inner Circle.
Anything I have tried so far in terms of marketing my music has led nowhere, so it would be fantastic if MMM makes a difference. I understand I have to put a lot of time and effort in. As I have read, you can have the world’s best music, but if no-one knows it exists, it means nothing.
There is a lot of really good, unknown music out there, so competition is fierce, but if we don’t try, we’ll never get anywhere.
Paul
Hi Paul,
Welcome to the Insider Circle! Glad you found your way here. You seem to have a great attitude and know that work is involved, so yes, I think the Insider Circle will be helpful for you.
Get your self familiar with the forums for whenever you need some help and be sure to check out the many specialized trainings here in the members area.
Just let us know if we can ever hep with anything.
Hello John and everyone.
This is a great opportunity at an affordable price. I had a few questions but now realize that this Insider Circle area is where they’ll all be answered.
I am a rock and roll guitarist/singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. Finishing up a 10-song album and just released a 3-song EP earlier this year that went nowhere. Now I see why… lots of work to do and I look forward to doing it.
See you around.
JD
Hi JD,
Welcome to the Insider Circle!
Don’t worry about the EP going nowhere so far. That’s the type of thing you can offer folks to get them into your follow up sequence, but also use it to help build interest and desire for your full-length.
Definitely get familiar with the forums and let us know if we can ever help with anything.
I just read through all the comments and two things struck me as being related to my own continuing difficulties. Of course, you’re suggesting that people give out musical tracks on their squeeze pages to convince people to sign up. I’m a filmmaker, but have some great music from my films to offer, plus have produced two music albums. But when I offer a free track plus access to a video clip in my monthly newsletter, I find that readers almost never click on the music, but pretty often they do click on the video clip. That tells me I should be stressing the video clips – logical since I’m pushing my films.
BUT I don’t know of any way to “give” someone a videoclip. Yes, I can upload to YouTube and make the upload unlisted, so only the people I’m making an offer to can see the videoclip, but I’m not sure that’s all that clear on the squeeze page, or all that attractive an offer. Does this make sense, and is there any way around it?
Next, I see that you suggested to one person (Simon Eugene) that he might need a different squeeze page for each type of project. This might be my case as well, as my stuff is kind of all over the board…documentaries on many different topics, a feature-length drama, some experimental shorts, plus those two music albums. If I set up a squeeze page for each general category, I’ll have a whole lot of pages called Index, and won’t that be a problem? Also, should I change my offer every so often for each one? That would be an awful lot of work.
To add one more level of complication, in most cases, I have to go through my web master to make changes to my sites. I’m trying to persuade the web master to show me/allow me to make the changes myself, at least related to squeeze pages. I’m a little better with html now.
In the meantime, at the moment, I’m focused on trying to increase traffic to the one squeeze page that I have, plus to my main web site. FYI Google key word tool is no longer free!!!!!
Thoughts?
Thanks.
Eve
Hi Eve,
What you want to do is have separate squeeze pages for every different thing. Even though the music is closely related to the films, you would target your ideal customers differently for each.
The squeeze page does not have to be called “index.html”. It can be called whatever you choose. Also, you might consider setting up separate domains for each squeeze page as well. While there is the added expense, there is also the benefit of keeping things separated and meeting the obective of converting the vistor to subscriber.
I know it’s a bunch of work to maintain separate pages, so take them one at a time, until you can see manageable numbers before you move onto the next.
I can be tough to deal with a webmaster, due to the fact that they are usually not just working for you. The trade off there is having someone else do the busy work versus having to do it yourself. You kind of have to take the good with the bad, as far as that goes.
You can certainly use youtube to give away your video, but you can also host the video privately on your own server if you have a suitable video player. Again this would require some help from your web master.
Just so you know, google keyword tool is still free. You just have to set up an adwords account. You don’t have to run any ads though, just set up the account.
Here’s what google had to say, in case anyone else is wondering:
https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/3141229
Let us know if we can help with anything else.
Hi John,
Great stuff here and I feel like you have seriously accelerated my knowledge in the DIY music biz! A question? I am the marketing guy for an Artist friend of mine and the purpose of buying this course/material, was to perform these duties. Am I ok to use the templates in the MMM 2.0 for this purpose, without breaching your license requirements? (I bought it and study it to better promote him, but would be using it to create his pages). Just want to make sure I’m playing legit! Thanks for all this help!
Hi Russell,
Thanks a lot for giving a thought to ask permission first. Yes, as long as you stick to the terms of use, I don’t have any problem with you using the template for the artist you are promoting.
Just an FYI, I’ll be including a new template in the Insider Circle in the next few days, as part of this month’s training lesson.
Thanks for your purchase and let me know if I can ever help with anything at all.
Hi, folks just joined insider. Hoping that there is lots of things that i have never seen before.
Hi Vishal,
Welcome. Good to have you here.
Yes, there are definitely things here that were not covered in MMM 2.0 and more is added every month. Enjoy the content and let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Great live coaching seminar John! I joined in about 30 minutes into the call, so I just listened and asked a few questions via text, but all the info I heard was exceptionally timely for me. I have the best intentions, but sometimes I put off answering emails for a few days……no more! I also liked the “90 minutes a day for 90 days” idea. When I think back about what I was doing 90 days ago, and how much more I could have accomplished……..ow! Anyway, I am so excited about being back, and this coaching call was almost like a coming home party. Thanks!!
Hi Greg,
Awesome to see you back in the members area. Really glad you could join us on the call. Yeah, I like the 90 day idea a lot. Imagine how organized and efficient you can be in doing some of these things by the end of 90 days.
Keep me in the loop on how you are making out.
Hi! My name is Marcus, 25 years old from sweden. I’ve been in the business for about 5 years, always struggeling and trying to learn how to market my music, still not making any significant money. I’m in a rockband called Firstborn, we released an album last year and toured europe in april, have another UK tour in july and 3 more european tours lined up this year. And they are all BLEEDING money. So lately I’ve been thinking about how to make money in the biz and on internet through my bands music and came on to this site. I am familiar with similar programs, I’ve been through tom hess Music Careers Mentoring program 2009-2010 and also I am a part of Elite Guitar Teachers INner coarse, a program wich teaches you how to earn money through teaching guitar and I have in the last 6 months gone from 4 students to 35 so now I am a professional musician (sort of) but I want to be making money off my music even thou I love teaching I’d rather just work with my music and that marketing.
So, I am here to learn how to market properlty, right now I don’t know what I am doing really, been through varios marketing programs and books like Guerilla music marketing, permission marketing(I think that is direct marketing) and also some other resources. I want to start getting some income from my music wich I put ALOT of work into, I do our bands songwriting, production, mixing, marketing and alot of content, so it would be nice to get something back and not just expense after expense. I have much faith in what I will learn here since I’ve been successful with other programs (like EGTIC quting my dayjob and do music fulltime is the best feeling ever)
Check us out at http://www.firstbornofficial.com & http://www.facebook.com/firstbornofficial also my teaching business website http://www.gitarrlektionerimark.se
Hi Marcus,
Welcome to Insider Circle. Really glad to have you hear. Don’t hesitate to dive in to the training and coaching calls, but also be sure to take advantage of the forum, if you ever need any feedback on things you are working on.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hi John,
My squezze page is up and running would you please look at it and give me your comments.? http://www.subitopianno.com
Hi Ruben,
I’m a bit confused. When I clicked the link it took me to a page with a very simple opt in form, but then it disappeared and there was simply a colored background image and a small menu box that said “Subito Pianno – New Album “Colours” Available.
Is that what I’m supposed to be seeing? If so, then you might have a small misunderstanding of the squeeze page concept. Take a quick look at this article so that you may understand what the squeeze page is all about a bit better:
http://www.musicmarketingmanifesto.com/qa-landing-page-best-practices-for-musicians/
I see you have a “Join Mailing List Tab”, which is totally cool, but it’s also very hands-off. Whereas a squeeze page pretty much is meant to get people to sign up or leave, without any other choices.
Take a look at the article above because there is an example of John’s squeeze page there as well. Definitely let us know if we can ever help with anything else.
OK got it. The very simple opt form allows people to listen to the song, if they like it, sign up the mailing list and get the free download. So what I’m going to do is to leave the form there all the time so that people can get access to the full webpage upon signing up. I read your link and it makes sense. If they are really interested they would sign up. Thank’s John I’ll keep you posted. Any other suggestions Mr.Wizard?
I forgot to mention that once the person signs up the little window doesn’t come up again and the person can see the entire content of the webpage because the plug in I’m using recognizes the computer or device. How cool is that uh? Do you have comments about it?
Ok wizard is done. Go and check please. The window is there FOREVER. You either sign up or leave! http://www.subitopianno.com
Hi Ruben,
While I think the light box you have there is cool, the bad news is that people can just hit the “Esc” key to get around it and go straight to content without signing up. At least I was able to…
What we generally suggest is that you use a proper squeeze page and ideally, one that is set up at a completely different domain from your ‘official’ site.
That way, new visitors will only have the sign-up or leave choice, but people who find your official site via the search engines, or return visits from your mailing list won’t have any impedance to your site content at all.
I noticed that you are also a member to MMM2.0.
I would suggest logging into that members area and going back through the lesson on setting up and editing the squeeze page template.
The thing I do like is the fact that you have a call to action on the light box form. The only problem is that there is a way around the form. That’s what you need to eliminate.
The goal is to convert visitors to subscribers and the odds of that happening decrease dramatically when people discover they don’t actually need to sign up all.
This could put you out of business if you are paying for clicks, but what’s just as important is that if you are losing subscribers, you are also losing sales.
Your sales numbers will be proportionate to the size of your list, so converting those visitors is key.
If for some reason you have forgotten your login info for the MMM2.0 members area, drop us a line at:
support@www.mmmanifesto.com and we will set you up.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything else.
Hi John,
I’ve got sign ups the way it is now. Is there an average amount of sign ups with the SQ page you suggested?
Hi Ruben,
That’s a great question. If you are getting subscribers with things being the way that they are, then that’s great!
The next thing to do would to be to test what you currently have against a variation of it and see if you can get the conversion rate to improve.
You’re definitely looking to have a conversion rate of at least 35% or higher. A part of that is targeting traffic properly, but even if you are targeting a bit too broadly for now, you should still see at least 10%-20% conversion on a typical squeeze page.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything else.
Hi there, this is Simon, really pleased to have come across this, I have a band called the International Love Corporation, also work as a solo artist. I have a ton of material, loads and loads….albums, songs, unreleased albums from record company deals that went wrong etc etc. I’m sure like many I’ve concentrated very much on the creative side without really knowing what to do with all the material and have ended up sometimes being unbearably full of material that I can’t release, into the world and also out from myself.
One thing I’m interested to try and resolve is that I have worked under a few different names and am wondering how best to reconcile all these different things into one focused project..this is still confusing me slightly…I figure its not gonna be that productive to make lots of different squeeze pages for the different projects when, ultimately, its all just me anyway.
I hope to get something really good from all this. Looking at the videos over the last few days has already given me a picture of some kind of structure that can make creating music feel like it has a direction…somewhere to go. I’m looking forward to seeing what transpire by being involved.
Nice one John, has opened up some doors, much appreciated.
Hi Simon,
Thanks for the kind words and welcome to the Insider Circle! It’s really hard to say which direction your should head with all of your various past projects. I completely understand not wanting to set up squeeze pages for each. However for the sake of proper targeting, you may want to go that route, if the projects vary greatly.
Even if you cross promote your different items, it usually makes sense to have different entry points into your funnel for the sake of targeting.
You should consider starting your own thread in the forum to try and get some feedback from everyone there.
Let me know if I can ever help with anything.
Hi John, thanks for the reply. I’ll take that idea up and canvass some opinions on the forum, be great to get some opinions.
Am sure I’ll have some more questions as I delve further into this, something I’m doing with relish.
Warmest wishes.
This is John…….we have a group “Facing East” that is a mixture of classical music from India and a lot of jazz and other modern influences…..we are looking to expand in the world music areas……..I also head a nonprofit “Bright World Arts” that promotes greater exposure for World Music………
Hi John,
Welcome to the Insider Circle! Really great to have you as a member. Be sure to go through the trainings and don’t hesitate to use the forums for feedback on your marketing, or just to get a quick reference for anything that you are working on.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
I forgot my webpage http://www.subitopianno.com
Please check me out.
Cheers,
Ruben
Hi there,
I have been paying for a year without using it. I was resetting everything with my music and now I’m ready to go.
Hi Ruben,
Awesome! Glad to hear that you are active again and ready to get rolling. We will definitely check out the link and let us know if we can ever help with anything.
This weekend should be up and running. I told my friend about the squeeze page and etc. I’ll let you know when everything is set. But now you can go and listen to the track I will be giving for free. Let me know what you think.
Cheers,
Hi Ruben,
Great! Really nice to see you taking fast action to get things up and running. Definitely let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hello, Very glad to be writing this post, been way too busy with making music without too much thought of how I’m going to market it..finally I can dive in->
Looking forward to learn and share the info..
Myself, I’m a singer/songwriter, audio engineer in Israel’s national radio, Studio owner on the slopes of Jerusalem mountains and entrepreneur in the new media field. recently released my 1st album “BOUND”.
Thank you for creating this important resource.
Best,
Guy Zagron (GZ)
http://www.pantominemusic.com
Hi Guy,
Welcome to the Insider Circle. Really glad to have you here. Make sure to mix it up in the forums a bit and definitely go through some of the monthly trainings.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything. We can always be reached at:
support@www.mmmanifesto.com
I am Happy to be here. Finally some language for musicans and artists of the future. My name is Rasool Hiphop/R&B/Pop Producer, Artist, and Engineer. Just joined proud to be a member. Check me out http://www.Ra-Sool.com
Hi Rasool,
Welcome to Insider Circle! It’s great to have you. Be sure to check out the forums, aside from all the trainings.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
A shout out from SaxySadyT (Tess Perrier) to you John and everyone who has joined the Insider Circle. I am a songwriter and am about to put my music on the Internet. Very happy to join the Insider Circle to educate myself as to the how. Cheers, T.
Hi Tess,
Cheers to you! Glad to have you here in the Insider Circle. Enjoy the content and the forums.
Be sure to let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hello everyone. Glad to be here.
I maybe a little different that many others in this forum, as I’m in the classical music world, not as a performer, but as a representative for a number of composers, ensembles and instrumentalists. A big part of my work is with recordings and video. I’d certainly like to find a way to produce more video. I think the classical business and my clients need it. I have my own record label, 4Tay, which I realize can also use video to increase sales, especially if I tie it into more of a social media presence. I also have a site where I sell other small classical labels products as well.
Many other issues that I hope to find answers and support for here. Looking forward to being part of this.
Jeffrey James Arts Consulting
4Tay Records & ClassicalCDs.net
E-mail: jamesarts@att.net
Website: http://www.jamesarts.com
Hi Jeffrey!
Welcome to the Insider Circle. Glad to have you. I’m sure you’ll find the strategies discussed here will work for you, even in the capacity of using them for the artists you represent, as well as your label.
Get familiar with the forums and you can always reach us at support@www.mmmanifesto.com if we can ever help with anything.
Enjoy the members area!
Hey They’re
Isaac Kent here with the band Dali Van Gogh. Looking forward to conversing with you all in the forums and all the great info from John.
My band’s an up and coming Hard Rock act out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. You can check us out here: http://www.reverbnation.com/dalivangogh
Hi Isaac,
Glad to have you here. Enjoy the forum and trainings.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hi,
Although I have several albums available on the Internet, I haven’t tried to market them. Songwriting and recording are my favorite things to do and marketing just took a back seat. Now, I wou ld like to see a return on years of investment. So I’ll be looking to John and the members for ways to make it happen. I look forward to a mutual exchange of ideas and experiences.
Toney
Hi Tony,
Welcome. It’s great to have you here. I think you’ll find that you have much more control over your career when you get plugged into the marketing side of things. There’s definitely work involved, but this group is dedicated to helping you find new ways to manage the marketing workload.
I think for a lot of musicians we tend to put most of our effort into creation, recording and even playing live because that’s what comes most naturally to us.
Good marketing is something that most folks need to learn themselves to separate the fact from fiction and I think you’ll find a good deal of benefit for yourself here.
Get familiar with the forum and enjoy the monthly trainings.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hi – I’m Dana Forrester – I own Aural Pleasure Music – a Detroit based publicity, marketing and licensing company. My clients include Sponge, Sophie B. Hawkins (in ROOM 105 The Musical) and numerous local bands. I also play bass in CRUD and Dead in 5, and own Lucky Monkey Tattoo in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
I’m looking forward to learning how to better promote my clients and my own bands!
Web sites if you’re interested:
http://facebook.com/cruddetroit
http://crud313.com
http://facebook.com/deadinfive
http://luckymonkeytattoo.com
http://facebook.com/luckymonkeytat
Coming soon: http://auralpleasuremusic.com
Hi Dana,
Pleasure to have you in the Insider Circle. Feel free to dive into the trainings and definitely acquaint yourself with the forums. There’s a wealth of info already here waiting for you.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hi John, I’m new here and to internet marketing. I have long experience in the music
business, working with the best as musician, composer, arranger, producer, but I have
no idea of what to do to promote my own music on the internet. I’m a recording artist
signed with a company but I want to have control of my product. I would love to have
a e-mail from you just highlighting the main steps (just the main steps, not a lot of info) of a promotional start up, you know: “in a nutshell.” thank you, mayuto@sbcglobal.net
Hi Mayuto,
Great to have you in the Insider Circle!
In a nutshell, the process steps are simply targeting people who are already likely to buy the type of music you create and then direct them to a page called a “squeeze page”, which simply offers them a free track or two in exchange for their name and email address. You can find out more about squeeze pages here:
http://www.musicmarketingmanifesto.com/qa-landing-page-best-practices-for-musicians/
From there we get people onto a mailing list, so that you can follow-up with them, build a relationship with them and eventually ask them to buy.
We recommend using an autoresponder service to help automate your follow-up schedule, so that you can do you relationship building via email, but take advantage of the automation to handle the follow-up sequence for you. The service John uses and recommends can be found here:
http://musicmarketingmanifesto.com/autoresponder
Once you’ve built a relationship with folks, you simply ask them to buy, but use some time-tested direct response selling “triggers” to knock people off the fence and into buying your music. Things like scarcity and limited-time offers work very well.
Once your basic squeeze page/ follow-up sequence is set up, the rest is simply driving traffic to your squeeze page offer. Here in the Insider Circle we explore several strategies for drviving traffic to your free offer, so that you can build up your mailing list.
Ultimately your sales numbers will be in direct proportion to the size of your list and having that list will give you the opportunity to keep your music in front of people who don’t buy it the first time.
Enjoy the member content and be sure to pop into the forums and introduce yourself.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hi John:
I’m new to the insider circle and I am not a great computer geek or even close. I just want to learn what I can to sell my music. I have 2 wonderful cd’s and I know there is an audience and I used to be with Hostbaby, then tried web designers who all fell short of the mark. Now I’m looking into bandzoogle which apparently really specializes in websites for the layman. Can you give me some guidance as to your knowledge about them?
Hi Freeana,
Welcome to the Insider Circle. Great to have you here.
It’s interesting because there’s some give and take with site-builder platforms like bandzoogle. On one hand, you get ease of use and a simple solution to get a site up quick, but on the other hand you sacrifice a good deal of control over the content you can put up on site-builder platforms.
Some even charge you more for additional pages and such. While we’re sure that some of our members do successfully use bandzoogle, we recommend folks go the route of getting their own hosting account, with unlimited domain hosting from a company like Dreamhost If you do decide to use Dreamhost, make sure you enter JOHNSDISCOUNT upon checkout, for an additional discount on your order.
It can be difficult for us to troubleshoot for folks who are using site-builder platforms because of the limitations and variations between each platform. However we certainly would not tell you that Bandzoogle might not be good for you. We don’t know… it might be perfect for you.
The trade-off is that Bandzoogle is great for people who are not real techy, but we have had students bump into problems trying to execute John’s strategy on site-builders.
In short, most site-builders are built with ease of use in mind, but not necessarily marketing in mind.
This is why we recommend a unlimited hosting account, so that you have a clean slate to work with and complete control over the type of content you post to your site (important things like squeeze pages and autoresponder forms).
Feel free to feel out folks in the forum to see if there are any others using bandzoogle, to see how they have set things up to run smoothly for them, if that’s the direction you choose to go in.
Let us know if we can ever help with anything.
Hi John,
I’m releasing my debut EP this spring/summer 2013 (Pop music; think Rihanna). At the moment, I am working on my website, squeeze page and online profiles (twitter, facebook, youtube, etc).
I don’t currently have a fan-base , and I realize that before I release my EP there are steps I need to take to engage people in my story, aquire fans and let them know about my upcoming product.
Problem is, I have no idea where to begin. Do you have suggestions as to what I should be doing (2) months before my first planned release?
Hi Janet,
Welcome to Insider Circle! The absolute first thing you should establish before you release something, is to make sure you have people to release it to, who are already likely to buy it.
This starts with getting a squeeze page in place, so that you can start building a mailing list, by offering people a free track in exchange for their name and email address.
You can definitely find some good information about squeeze pages in the forums as well as seeing examples of some squeeze pages that others have done.
Here’s an example of one of John’s:
http://johnomusic.net
If you target folks who would be into the type of music you make from the start, then your page will likely convert better for you… meaning that people will be more likely to sign up, if they are already into the genre.
Once they are on a list, you simply build a relationship with them, by occasionally sending out things that they might be interested in, or some things that build anticipation of your upcoming release.
If you start now, you can build a list of a few hundred people or more and have an audience who is willing to buy on launch day.
In general, your sales numbers will be in direct proportion to the size of your list.
Good luck and let us know if we can ever help with anything else.
Hi John,
My name is Johnny D. I am a producer in Nashville TN. My biz partner Kelly Schoenfeld and I have a killer studio on Nashville’s famous Music Row. We are here for pragmatic reasons; we are sick of amazing projects that die when the artist walks out the studio door with their mixes. Our hearts break when we work with an amazing artist to create an amazing record and the artist prints 100o copies, gives 50 to friends and family…and then has a closet full of 950 CD’s. If we could empower our artists with this marketing pipeline you have helped to define, then we could get a few more artists who could afford to come back!
Thanks for your hard work
Johnny D
http://www.daredevilproduction.com
Hey Johnny,
That’s awesome to hear, and it’s smart business. Let me know if I can help or clarify anything along the way.