One of the Brobdingnagian Bards’ early CDs, Songs of the Muse is going into it’s second pressing. When I saw Christopher Knab’s article Your CD Cover is Your Best Ad For Your Music, I decided this was the perfect inspiration I needed to update the CD graphics.

I’ve been a fan of Christopher Knab for about as long as I’ve been a fan of Bob Baker. He is without a doubt one of the top Top 10 music marketers in my book.

Well, whenever I create graphics, I find too often that I forget a bunch of stuff. So this article serves as a great checklist. But when I read Seth Godin’s Best-Selling book, Free Prize Inside, I realized that it was NOT a complete list!

In fact, the music industry in general has greatly missed out on an amazing opportunity to better sell CDs.

The idea I got came from the backs of books. Go grab a best-seller and turn it over. On the back, you will find the secret…

What did you find? You might’ve seen testimonials, a brief description of the book, or maybe even an exerpt.

You see, one of the problems I found with Songs of the Muse is that since we call our music Celtic music. It wasn’t till much later that I realized that in the Celtic music tradition, songs have lyrics and tunes are instrumentals. This album is all instrumental. So it was poorly named for the Celtic music world.

But if we use the back cover correctly, it doesn’t matter!

The new back cover now lists songs titles along with a brief description of the ideal person who will enjoy this CD. It includes testimonials. And anyone who reads it will have all doubt removed as to if this is a vocal or instrumental CD.

Use Christopher Knab’s checklist for a better CD graphics. Then think outside the box. What can you add to the cover that will make this CD sell better than ever?

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

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I was walking on campus today back from our weekly gig at the University of Texas’ South Mall, when I heard a member of the Young Conservatives of Texas speak. March 2nd is Texas Independence Day and so this fellow was preaching that if you work hard and play by the rules you too can lead a good life.

Maybe it’s the skeptic in me, but it made me think, What a bunch of crock! Most people, including most musicians, work hard and play by the rules, but did you know that Americans carry, on average, $5,800 in credit card debt from month to month. Well I ask you, what kind of life is that when a huge majority of country is in unprofitable debt?

But I’ve been reading books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad recently, in an attempt to learn music business and finance skills from people who make millions. Do they follow the rules? Yes…sorta.

The questions that came to me as I walked by the Young Conservatives were, Who makes the rules? and Are we following the Right rules?

That’s really the key that many successful business people learn. It’s not a matter of are you following the rules. It’s are you following the Right rules?

You see, our community is filled with rules on what you can’t do, but there are also tons of rules that say what you can do, but most people don’t know what they are.

Taxes are a great example. The average musician might not deduct things like car travel to and from gigs, or the cost of their picks, because they may not know that they can.

The same goes with promotion. Just because you’re on MP3.com and get a dozen emails from other musicians in a form letter saying, play my song, does not mean that you should put together your own form letter and spam thousands of musicians.

Or just because most musicians do their best to attract the attention of a Major label A&R or even the President, does not mean you shouldn’t schmooze with the secretary.

The point is know the rules, but then look beyond them. The rules are a guide. They are not etched in stone. Break the rules. Do what others are NOT doing and you will do a better of job standing out in the crowd.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

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For startup musicians, email is a gift of God. When I first started managing bands a number of years ago, I spent hours licking stamps and sending out postcards for upcoming gigs, spending over $100 on people that never showed up to my bands’ gigs. We didn’t even make that much at the gig, and we were blowing money left and right.

Don’t get me wrong. For a band that sticks around, $100 for one fan is worth it, in my opinion, because that fan will be tell friends, buy CDs, and more, but there is a cheaper alternative. Start your own band ezine.

If you don’t already have one, I strongly urge you to head over to eGroups.com and setup your own newsletter. If you haven’t already, start collecting addresses today. Don’t use this as an excuse not to pick up snail mail, mind you. In the next few weeks we’ll talk about how to get the most out of your email and snail mail addresses.

GETTING YOUR LIST STARTED

1. Send Invites to all of your friends, ASK them if they want would like to get your fan news.
2. Specify how often you intend to mail out your ezine (weekly, twice monthly, monthly).
3. Provide info your fans would consider interesting (tidbits about the band, bands you like, favorite recipes).
4. Provide an easy way automatically unsubscribe.
5. Add a Subscribe to My Newsletter link on your homepage.

VERY IMPORTANT DON’TS

DON’T auto-subscribe people from other mailing lists, even if they May like you. (This includes the Media)

BETTER: E-mail them. Include their name in the message, and ASK if they would be interested in subscribing.

DON’T send out an email before Every gig. Especially if you start getting a lot, you will only end up allienating fans. Stick to the schedule.

DON’T make your newsletter filled to the brim in formality.It’s got to breathe. People want newsletters that are personal, so talk to ‘em.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

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