I want to show you an easy way to make money from your music. Here’s how…
At your next gig, walk around with a few demo recordings of your music–allyou need are a few CD-Rs and CD sleeves–and ask different people if they would like a copy of that demo–free.
It may seem uncomfortable at first, but don’t let that stop you. My band had to do it a few times to get used to it. Then we became naturals! We were walking around talking to people, hanging out, and having a blast. We also found that people related to us and our music a lot better once we were on stage. It also set us up for another cool way to make money and build a fanbase (I explain that more in the full course).
When I use this strategy, this is the how the conversation usually goes…
Me: Hey there. Want one of our CDs?
Them: I don’t have any money.
Me: That’s okay. We do not charge for these. We take donations. Here.
I give them the CD…
Them: Oh, you know what, hold on. Yeah, I’ve got a few bucks. Here you go.
…And that’s it.
Even though this appears simple, there’s a psychological explanation behind why the CD-Donation strategy works…
Reciprocity
According to Wikipedia, reciprocity is a social rule that says we should repay, in kind, what another person has provided us. That is, people give back the kind of treatment they have received from you. By virtue of the rule of reciprocity, we are obligated to repay favors, gifts, invitations, etc. in the future.
This sense of obligation–and gratitude–is what makes the CD-Donation Strategy so powerful. A lot of people use Reciprocity in a negative way. I would never recommend using Reciprocity to “trigger” feelings of indebtedness in other people just to get something from them.
That said, please be careful when using this for yourself. My hope is that you will use the CD-Donation Strategy so that you can impact more people with your music sooner, and begin to use the money to pay for the things you’ll need in order to do that.
Give it a shot, and let me know how it goes!
