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QuoteGood morning/afternoon/evening all,
My name is Brandon Houston, alabama native currently residing in japan. I'm new to the inner circle but I'm glad I finally got the downtime to join and get some schooling. Well to make my story quick, I'm a hip hop artist that doesn't exactly blend in with whats on the radio today in my genre. I launched my indie label Cruise Control Music Group in order to get artists similar to myself some much needed exposure. But I'm still in the first phase of this mission which is to get my name and brand out there properly. I have a small following but just like you, I have dreams of tens of thousands more. So I would like to get some feedback on my online presence, mainly…..my website! Please click the link below and let me have your honest, no punches pulled opinion of whats wrong, right, needs improvement, so on and so forth! Thanks!
Brandon "Sleepy Houston
9:15 pm
October 19, 2013
OfflineHey Brandon:
Very cool site, and I liked the music I heard (watched the video "They Reminisce": I liked your flow and rhymes there a lot). I think you got a lot of great things going for you, overall a professional looking site.
A couple thoughts I had, hope it helps:
.. I think you could do more to Direct traffic and leverage your space. Right now, it looks like you give your music away, that might hurt sales. Make your offers clear and tell people where to go, and make them want to BUY and/or SIGN UP. Use giveaways to build your database... if you are giving away a download, make sure to collect an email at the same time.
...Personally, I don't know any artists who do advertising for other companies on their artist websites. I personally don't do it, unless they are working with me in some way... I suppose if I were being endorsed by a product, maybe I would. But every banner you put up for someone else means people might leave your website. I think you could find a way to handle downloads without the Mediafire advertisement on your download page.
...I like the splash page at the beginning, yet it took a long time to download that image, which meant I just moved on without looking at it... not a good thing.
...Overall, a respectable site that I think can only get better. How well does it convert? Ie, result in sales and new subscribers?
Chris,
Thanks for replying. And thank you for the compliment. I really appreciate it.
I'm fairly new to this side of the music business. The site was built based on what I saw from more mainstream artists in my genre so I'm glad it looks professional. But to address your pointers.
- Well I'm giving away my mix tape in 2 ways, via media fire and as a thank you for subscribing. The difference is that in subscribing, you receive what I call the Day 1 Fan Edition which includes 4 more tracks and some photos. The Media fire version is the normal 14 tracks. I offered it this way so that I don't miss out on fans. But my thinking may have been flawed as the regular version is doing much better than the Day 1 Fan Edition.
- Well 2 of those companies I advertise are big supporters of mine. One is the Engineer at the studio I record in and the other is a local hip hop site that posts my releases and updates free of charge simply because they are fans. However you are right, that does mean people will be leaving my site.
- The Splash Page was is something I'm trying in order to catch those curious people that saw a video or heard a track however they were referred to my site. Yes I do agree that it takes a bit to download the image and me myself not being a fan of waiting like that, I would also move on. So I am working to correct it with the designer.
- Overall conversions are slow and inconsistent. I only get 1 or 2 new subscribers a week. I recently added the merchandise section however it hasn't yielded any results thus far. Which is why I joined the inner circle. My only traffic sources right now are from Facebook, youtube, and twitter with the exception of a few (1 or 2) hip hop sites.
I really am new to this side of the music business.
Brandon "Sleepy Houston
11:36 pm
June 7, 2011
Offline
Hey Brandon,
My apologies for the slow response. I've been traveling for the last few weeks without a consistent internet connection. Back now though. Great to have you here in the IC.
While I think the site looks very slick, I don't love the fact that you send people to a splash page. At least from a results perspective. I would never personally take the sign up option if given the option of entering the site first and clicking around. From there I would listen to a few things, get busy, and end up clicking away. telling myself I'd check it out later. But then of course I wouldn't. This is pretty common. I'd really experiment with sending people directly to a squeeze page first and see fi you don't seriously boost your conversion rate.
All looks very good though. just need to build some of those sales funnel principles into what you're already working with.
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.
Thanks John,
Yea its nice to be here, I'm definitely trying to catch up on the past training modules you have up. At least 1 a day. I am trying to put together a Facebook ad campaign based on the lesson posted. I never knew so much went into creating an ad. I've been focused on the music portion of the business and I had someone else handle this side, but as money started getting tight and shows less frequent, I had to let her go and start handling this myself. *Newbie Alert*
As for the website, I'm using a topspin E4M widget to try to capture new subscribers in exchange of a free album so to speak. So are you recommending that I just get rid of the "Enter the Site" option all together and I guess go for a pop up page instead? Because you are right, its not doing well in the conversion arena at all. As I told chris, 1 or 2 new subscribers a week and virtually no sales in the merchandise department.
Brandon "Sleepy Houston
8:40 pm
June 7, 2011
Offline
You know, it's always hard when someone asks if they should get rid of an old set up. I'm always hesitant to say anything other than Why don't you set up a second domain using my exact recommendations and then test your old and your new pages with a little bit of paid traffic.
All that ever really comes to my mind is using the template and approach I cover in MMM 3.0. But that's purely because that is what I have developed, and what works for me.
The idea is that when you are driving cold traffic (people who have never heard of you) to a page, options kill conversions. You want to try and give people only two choices. Leave or take the action i am asking you to take (usually subscribe or buy). By adding an "enter site" link I think you are really shooting yourself in the foot because you will satisfy the curiosity for so many people and remove the pressure they feel to take action.
That said, my approach works when everything else I recommend is also in place. So if you're not using a follow up series, Aweber, etc, it's really hard to say. Testing is always the only true way to determine the best course. You might check out the recent lesson on split testing if you haven't already.
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.
Brandon,
The website is dope. You are in Japan and That's even better!!!! I agree with everybody else here. I used to give away my music for nothing in return. Now thanks to john's MMM3, I now give it away in exchange for an opportunity to build a relationship and a sale via the sale funnel. I'm coming to the realization that it really to only way to build a business off selling music.
Question: What are artists would you say you are like: For targeting purposes...
Terry Ali
C.S.T.(Christ Saved Terry)
http://www.cst313.com
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