Louis CK - $1 million in 12 days...
He's a comedian if you didn't know already. My favorite too!
He recently experimented by self-promoting/self-producing/self-editing/self-directing his "Live at the Beacon Theater" show, bypassing HBO, ComedyCentral or any other middle-men that performers and audiences normally have to put up with.
https://buy.louisck.net/news
He had full control of the project (like his TV show, which is awesome!), only charging 5 bucks for the legal download of the show, straight from his website. Only one guy uploaded it to Pirate Bay and he got scolded by others for doing so.
He seems to have set a new precedent for comedians/performers, with many expected to follow - like Joe Rogan who fanatically uses Twitter (and his podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience" ... highly recommended!) to self-promote his shows and get the kinds of audiences who want to listen to him, rather than randoms.
Overall, I got 7 things from Louis' experiment:
1. He talked about making a point of not over-marketing or ramming it down peoples' throats, leading up to the release. Of course, he's already well-known and his product is top-notch which dictated people actually knowing about him and wanting to see his show.
2. He talked about finding the right price-point. Apparently, 5 bucks is low enough for people to be prepared to pay. Anything above that and they'll opt for a torrent download, apparently guilt-free.
[Consequently, he talked about selling tickets for his live touring and how TicketMaster and other such services charge almost 100% service charge, which is passed onto the consumer.
But if Louis chose to lower the price to help the consumer, at a certain point it'd be financially 'do-able' for scalping companies to mass-buy tickets then overcharge for people who missed out because of that.
If he can swing selling the tickets on his own, similar to his Special, he's hoping to a) rake in more for himself, and b) make it cheaper for his fans.]
3. He made the sign-up process single opt-in (however, users had to check the "Yes" box to say they actually wanted him to send updates as opposed to normally having to check "No" - either way, they were still 'on his list').
From someone outside of the internet marketing machine, he's actually put off by having to confirm a subscription.
I was reminded of the discussion here, http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...t-not-one.html
I'm still unsure about my own. Considering my niche, I'm erring toward staying with confirmed opt-in (not 'double' opt-in, as pointed out by Alexa Smith, who I'd like to publicly thank for her input on this forum about article marketing - cheers!).
4. He was willing to take a risk & think outside the box, focusing on offering value rather than just $$$. He never thought/thinks of it as 'his' money. It was 'the' money.
My feeling is that this perspective offers detachment, which minimizes obsession. And this increases the chance for success.
5. He had a reason "Why", giving a quarter of it to charity, a quarter of it to his staff that helped him, a quarter of it to paying back the set-up of the website/operation, and a quarter for himself and his daughters' future.
The point is that without real motivation, and just a numeric figure, taking action rarely gathers enough traction.
6. His lack of pretense, of not pretending to be someone/something he's not, is admirable.
7. Another great show - he's a funny f*c%er!!!
He recently experimented by self-promoting/self-producing/self-editing/self-directing his "Live at the Beacon Theater" show, bypassing HBO, ComedyCentral or any other middle-men that performers and audiences normally have to put up with.
https://buy.louisck.net/news
He had full control of the project (like his TV show, which is awesome!), only charging 5 bucks for the legal download of the show, straight from his website. Only one guy uploaded it to Pirate Bay and he got scolded by others for doing so.
He seems to have set a new precedent for comedians/performers, with many expected to follow - like Joe Rogan who fanatically uses Twitter (and his podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience" ... highly recommended!) to self-promote his shows and get the kinds of audiences who want to listen to him, rather than randoms.
Overall, I got 7 things from Louis' experiment:
1. He talked about making a point of not over-marketing or ramming it down peoples' throats, leading up to the release. Of course, he's already well-known and his product is top-notch which dictated people actually knowing about him and wanting to see his show.
2. He talked about finding the right price-point. Apparently, 5 bucks is low enough for people to be prepared to pay. Anything above that and they'll opt for a torrent download, apparently guilt-free.
[Consequently, he talked about selling tickets for his live touring and how TicketMaster and other such services charge almost 100% service charge, which is passed onto the consumer.
But if Louis chose to lower the price to help the consumer, at a certain point it'd be financially 'do-able' for scalping companies to mass-buy tickets then overcharge for people who missed out because of that.
If he can swing selling the tickets on his own, similar to his Special, he's hoping to a) rake in more for himself, and b) make it cheaper for his fans.]
3. He made the sign-up process single opt-in (however, users had to check the "Yes" box to say they actually wanted him to send updates as opposed to normally having to check "No" - either way, they were still 'on his list').
From someone outside of the internet marketing machine, he's actually put off by having to confirm a subscription.
I was reminded of the discussion here, http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...t-not-one.html
I'm still unsure about my own. Considering my niche, I'm erring toward staying with confirmed opt-in (not 'double' opt-in, as pointed out by Alexa Smith, who I'd like to publicly thank for her input on this forum about article marketing - cheers!).
4. He was willing to take a risk & think outside the box, focusing on offering value rather than just $$$. He never thought/thinks of it as 'his' money. It was 'the' money.
My feeling is that this perspective offers detachment, which minimizes obsession. And this increases the chance for success.
5. He had a reason "Why", giving a quarter of it to charity, a quarter of it to his staff that helped him, a quarter of it to paying back the set-up of the website/operation, and a quarter for himself and his daughters' future.
The point is that without real motivation, and just a numeric figure, taking action rarely gathers enough traction.
6. His lack of pretense, of not pretending to be someone/something he's not, is admirable.
7. Another great show - he's a funny f*c%er!!!
-
RySpencer -
Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5331730].message }} -
-
LetsGoViral -
Thanks
SignatureTime of thinking is over.{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5332162].message }} -