VISABILITY – Being seen in the right way, by the right people, at the right time
CREDABILITY – Showing current, applicable knowledge and experience
How do we create sales visibility when we do not have a recognizable brand? How do we get attention when we do not have a business card that says Microsoft or HP? I get these questions often.
In 1994, I started a record company called JacquiBob Music Productions. Our kids were in pre-school and we sang to them every night. I quickly became tired of the traditional children’s songs. I decided to write my own songs to sing for the kids. When I got to 12 songs, I decided to record them for posterity.
Long story short, I hired a producer, 22 musicians and a cover artist. I originally intended to lay down voice and guitar tracks but instead, we ended up on path to record a full blown, marketable album. The challenge was that I did not know anyone in the music industry who could help me promote the album. I had no referrals and no connections. I was Clueless in Seattle.
The good news is that this was just a sales problem. I could use The Five Abilities® to guide me in creating VISABILITY and CREDABILITY just like any small business without a brand. Here are the actions I took.
Identified our dream customers – When we recorded the album it was at a time when artists sold music by touring or getting on the radio. YouTube, Amazon and iTunes were not around so hitting the road or getting on the airwaves were the only avenues. With a family to support, I could not be a touring musician, so my initial dream customers were radio stations that catered to children and parents. I had to learn what “radio ready” was so I started cold calling DJs to get insight into how they chose music.
Built relevant knowledge by learning from the knowledgeable outer circle – I never spoke to a DJ but I did talk with many producers. I learned that the larger stations played artists that got reviews in Billboard and other national press. On the flip side, independent stations were more generous to local artists but also took cues from national press. I also knew from listening to radio that it was not always the best tunes that got airtime but instead, the “hooky” tunes. “Hooky” tunes are those that have a repetitive chorus that is easy to sing and causes listeners to want to sing along. With this knowledge, I made my songs more hooky, including one called “I Love To Sing Along” and my producer arranged them to be hooky. I learned current, applicable knowledge that enhanced my CREDABILITY.
Helped members of the visible inner-circle – The best sales people find joy in helping others. I talk about this in a previous blog: https://www.thefiveabilities.com/money-is-not-%e2%80%8ba-key-motivator-for-great-sales-people/ When we started auditioning musicians, there were Grammy award-winning artists who were recording at the same studio. Eric Tingstad, Nancy Rumble and a few others had mentioned to my producer that they wanted help getting studio sessions outside of their own genres. They were a bit more expensive than other musicians but they were open to helping a start-up and we could help them add diversity to their work. We were helping each other and I benefitted by giving album credits to people who already had national followings. Today we would call that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and cross-marketing.
Reached out to influencers with a 30-second value proposition – I had done my time on Hollywood Blvd dropping demo tapes at record companies. I knew that was not the route. Instead I cold-called Billboard, USA Today and the parenting magazines I was familiar with. We did not have LinkedIn, Google or Bing back then so I found phone numbers in industry publications and called whoever I could find.
As expected, I always got administrative assistants. I presented to them as the major influencers that they are. I represented the CD as original, grown-up music for kids, performed by nationally known Seattle-based musicians we called Friends of the Family. Seattle was a hot music scene in the early 90’s due to artists like Heart, Nirvana and Pearl Jam so being a Seattle-based musician was part of the 30-second value proposition. Additionally, the likes of Kenny Loggins, Nicolette Larson and Carly Simon had started a movement to produce grown-up music for kids which created a new genre that would have been trending had Twitter been around in 1994. Yet another part of the 30-second value proposition.
After each call, I would send the assistant a thank-you letter with my album and contact information. Administrative assistants are all about making their bosses successful by passing on needed information. They are very important people for us to sell to. When sales people genuinely treat them like the influencers they are, and we have good value propositions, they help us become visible because it helps them win with their bosses.
I got callbacks from children’s entertainment critics at Billboard, USA Today, The New York Times and other national publications. After each call, I sent a thank you letter, another CD and a $10 box of “Seattle” smoked salmon to both the critic and their administrative assistant. I earned enough VISABILITY and CREDABILITY that they chose to give the CD a listen.
What was the result? I got reviews in Billboard, USA Today, Family Fun Magazine and many other publications. From the reviews, I got five songs on national radio for about 18 months. I did a live, nationally syndicated, radio show at Disneyland. I have sold enough albums to make it all worth my while which continues to benefit the charities to which I give all the proceeds.
We created VISABILITY and CREDABILITY without a brand. We were no longer Clueless in Seattle.
To hear snips from our CD go to:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/friendsofthefamily1
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-little-things/id488066056
©2014 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities, LLC
