Hey all. I'm a former YC founder who has been working in the creator economy before that term existed.
Anyways, I wrote a piece in the Beacons.ai blog (S19) about the importance of real-time welcome emails, and how to create one. From our own data, we find that close to 90% of creators who collect subscribers don't have a real-time welcome email set up, which is a damn shame.
I would love some feedback on this, as this post is a working document we use in our user outreach. Thanks!
I used to work at PR Newswire, THE corporate press release distribution service. Ricky demo'ed this product to me a month ago, and in the course of discussion he exposed even more of the marketing bullshit of PR Newsire than even I knew to be true. Never again will I pay for a PR Newswire or Businesswire blast. That budget goes straight to Upbeat.
what's up G! Long time no see. I love Patreon, it turns crowdfunding on it's head. They're more about a subscription model and delivering on an on-going, digitally delivered relationship, as opposed to the big blowout, whale-heavy model of traditional crowdfunding. Flip side of the same coin, I think artists need to basically do both in the future.
I'm not sure what format is next for artists. Honestly I care less about the format as much as I do about the underlying principles, which is finding a way to inject humanity and genuine intimacy into the "sales" process. That's always going to be important in a patronage model. I suppose some sort of CRM element would help with that?
Well, as you know, I had relationships in the music industry from my previous gigs at music startups. One in particular, the manager of The Grouch & Eligh, was someone I could truly geek out with regarding these geeky matters. I had just finished doing a bunch of research on successful campaigns at the same time The Grouch & Eligh were looking to put out an album. Took a little convincing (as often is the case with crowdfundig virgins), but the reasons were too compelling.
I can say with authority that the hesitancy I felt from artists just 1-2 years ago regarding crowdfunding has rapidly been deteriorating. Like exponentially. So much so that I don't mind giving away some of my tricks. There's just so much more demand than there are actual "experts" in this space.
Hey all, I wrote this thing. And since Svbtle doesn't have a commenting feature, I'll probably be hanging here all day if you have any questions, feedback, or violent disagreements about the post. I could talk about this topic all day, so shoot!
Awesome Post Aston. You know, you can most year-to-year sales data directly from RIAA. You're supposed to pay for the data but usually you can find someone posting them.
Regarding that, I'm not quite as optimistic as your projections on digital sales. I don't think it trends up forever. I don't have a crystal ball, but I have a feeling that downloads sales will actually peak in the next 1-3 years. At which point, the record industry will REALLY start freaking out (again).
Thanks for the comment! So I agree that the feedback cycle can be quick, but even the best players go on extended net losing streaks, months at a time. When you're putting in tons of hours and in theory making sound decisions and you add up the bankroll, and those thousands of hours are all for naught... well, that can be devastating.
Anyways, I wrote a piece in the Beacons.ai blog (S19) about the importance of real-time welcome emails, and how to create one. From our own data, we find that close to 90% of creators who collect subscribers don't have a real-time welcome email set up, which is a damn shame.
I would love some feedback on this, as this post is a working document we use in our user outreach. Thanks!