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8:48 am
June 10, 2011
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QuoteHere's the latest email in my followup series. Although I had a lot of fun writing it, the idea is to produce as many revenue streams as possible, no matter how small.
Pandora is nice tool for getting new fans and generating a bit of royalty income. Ok, so a fraction of a cent per play sounds like nothing, but multiplied times several thousand subscribers times several hundred people those subscribers share your Pandora station with, it becomes something. I appear to be seeing increases in people who find me searching for "Charley Langer" and I definitely have increases in Pandora royalties. It could be a coincidence, but I think it has something to do with my promotion.
Here's my latest addition to my followup series:
Subject: {!firstname}, Please Download Your Peace, Love, and Happiness!
Hi {!firstname},
I've always thought that John Lennon's song, Imagine, is
very beautiful. I love the melody. And, even though I'm not
fond of some of the religious overtones, I embrace the
concept of love and respect for all people, and the ideal of
living a life less attached to material possessions.So, I'm going to share my interpretation of that song.
A lot of my subscribers write to tell me what they think of
my interpretations. They are always positive. I suppose if
they don't like my music, they just unsubscribe. Hey...it
happens. But I never share with you what *I* think of my
playing. Well this time, I am going to tell you exactly what
I think.Do you want to know what I think of the way I played
Imagine?I think I had too much coffee before I got out the horn!!
Seriously! I really did have a couple cups of pretty strong
Joe before I went into my studio. By the end of the middle
solo section, I think I've played every note possible on the
saxophone at least 32 times. If you like a lot of fast notes
and want to hear me play real high, it's kinda nifty. But,
it's probably not in accord with the peace, love, and
happiness vibe that Lennon had in mind. Sounded cool at the
time though!I still like it - in a rather humorous kind of way. So here
it is. Originally released in 1971, and reinterpreted by me
and a bit of caffeine more than forty years later, please
download John Lennon's Imagine:http://www.charleylanger.net/f.....magine.zip
After you download, don't go away just yet! (Wait! There's
more! LOL!)While we're on the subject of Lennon, the 1970s, and things
that are funny... would you like to see a rather humorous
picture of what I looked like in 1971? Trust me - you do!There is, however, an ethical bribe behind this. I'll let
you see the picture *if* you agree to share my Pandora
station with some of your Facebook or Twitter peeps. You
really don't want to miss this picture! You really don't.
I'm the blonde on the left. Here's the link:http://www.charleylanger.com/f.....nnypicture
Enjoy!
Hugs! 🙂
Charley
Intelligent Smooth Jazz
While the email is a new addition to my followup series, I've been promoting Pandora on Twitter quite a while. Anyway, just a thought for you... Love to hear what you think!
8:31 pm
June 10, 2011
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I got one email that said that said:
2 much txt - sent from my Verizon phone
It is kind of long. Should I shorten it? Any other thoughts?
What I was trying to offer in the way of "entertainment value" in the email itself was the humorous juxtaposition of lennon's "peace and happiness" song and my very overcaffeinated solo. Maybe it's just not funny! You won't hurt my feelings by saying, "uhh...it's not funny." My wife and kids say that all the time 🙂
1:56 am
June 10, 2011
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Maybe you could dive right in with something like:
"I've always loved John Lennon's 'Imagine.' It has such a beautiful melody.
So, I'm going to share with you my interpretation of that song. Now, I
rarely tell people what I think of my own playing, but since it is somewhat
amusing for this song, I will share it with you:
I think I had too much coffee before I got on the horn!..."
Might be a way to get to the "meat" of the message faster 
2:25 am
June 10, 2011
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Tim Curry said
Maybe you could dive right in with something like:"I've always loved John Lennon's 'Imagine.' It has such a beautiful melody.
So, I'm going to share with you my interpretation of that song. Now, I
rarely tell people what I think of my own playing, but since it is somewhat
amusing for this song, I will share it with you:I think I had too much coffee before I got on the horn!..."
Might be a way to get to the "meat" of the message faster
Thanks, Tim. That is very much appreciated. I think that's exactly what I'm going to do.
I was tempted to email the subscriber back with something rude. I mulled it over the day. Later, I thanked her for the feedback and told her that it was helpful. She emailed me back and said she loved my music, but did her emails on the phone, and it was just too much text.
I'm now considering taking a look at all my emails from a perspective of someone on their phone. People are doing a lot more email on their phones. I do almost all of mine there, but I write my auto-responder emails at a computer. I think I forget where people are reading them. And it's ironic because I've griped (lovingly) at certain individuals here that send me to a blog post that isn't mobile friendly. One finger pointing at someone else...three fingers pointing back at me! 
3:18 pm
June 9, 2011
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Hi Charley,
First off, I really dig your writing style. It's kind of like walking down the street and then all of a sudden here comes Charley with something that takes my mind off of the mundane. And hey, who doesn't like "Imagine" or pictures of musicians from the early seventies? That shit's pure gold, if you ask me.
Go back to your open rates and see how many of the people who opened, didn't write you back with some silly comment not worth writing. 🙂
-Steve
8:29 pm
June 10, 2011
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Steve Rodgers said
Hi Charley,First off, I really dig your writing style. It's kind of like walking down the street and then all of a sudden here comes Charley with something that takes my mind off of the mundane. And hey, who doesn't like "Imagine" or pictures of musicians from the early seventies? That shit's pure gold, if you ask me.
Go back to your open rates and see how many of the people who opened, didn't write you back with some silly comment not worth writing. 🙂
-Steve
Thanks, Steve! You kept me from totally gutting the email. I split the difference -- I shortened the intro like Tim suggested, but I kept most of the rest. The open and click-through rates seemed good, and I had too many other positive emails (hundreds, actually). Still, I do want to respect those on their phone. Something to always keep in mind...
11:42 pm
June 7, 2011
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Hey Charley,
Sorry to jump in late on this. Been off line for a few days.
I personally never take the negative feedback on board. Instead what I do is gauge the positive feedback and whether or not it's where it should be. With direct response you ALWAYS get a response so taking the negative on board will just cause you to do stupid things because one jerk opened their mouth. I always think back to a promo I was doing where i had really emailed a lot. Someone sent off a shitty email (but not a crazy one) saying I was emailing too much and I had basically lost a fan. I was supposed to email one more time the next day. Despite the countless positive emails and very positive sales I almost cut the last email for fear that the person was right. Then I kind of shook it off and reminded myself of the strategy behind what I was doing. I sent the last email and not only made a few thousand dollars the next day, but I also had the biggest day of the whole launch (or very close to it). And listening to one jerk would have cost me thousands.So now that's what I do. If my conversion rates are solid then I don't listen to the negative comments. If they are down, then I do. The more successful you get the more you'll have to deal with the odd shitty email here and there. It's part of it. It's definitely something that cause people to freak out. But once you have success under your belt, they really don't phase you anymore because you know that what you're doing is right. I say this less for you than for others who might be reading this.
But anyway... I would have suggested what Tim suggested. If I have a lot to say I usually start out with a quick call to action which sums up the whole push of the email and then start over and tell the story behind it.
Sometimes I just say screw it and send a long email with a link at the end, purely because of the strength of the copy. If there is quality and thoughtfulness there then it's hard to go too far wrong. Good stuff.
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