Thanks to Social Media, Direct Marketing Is Going Do-It-Yourself

Authors, artists, businesses, and individuals with a product or service to sell are using social media to build a customer base.

Every few days I get the emails from Twitter from people promoting their book or their cause.

Or I’ll be invited to a new facebook page for a friend of a friend promoting their venture, adventure, or concept.

Here’s an article you’ll want to read on the subject:

Thanks to Social Media, Direct Marketing Is Going Do-It-Yourself

It made me think of this though… why not leverage OTHER PEOPLE’s existing social networks?

One independent artist said this:

“When you are an independent musician there are a number of considerations when it comes to funding that always pop up,” he said. “How do you connect without national distribution?”

After studying some of the marketing techniques by artists such as Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, he and his agent concocted a two-tiered concept: a “Gold Package” for a maximum of 30 people for $250 that includes a private solo acoustic performance for 45 minutes; a meet-and-greet and merchandise signing; and a $500 “Platinum Package” that provides two 45-minute sets for up to 50 people, a meet and greet, digital back-catalog, signed CD and photograph and initialed guitar-pick. There are also add-ons such as an autographed set list for $30, or requests, at $10. “The audience is a stakeholder in the show,” he said. “There are no barriers.”

Here’s the thought that came to my mind…

With pricing like that, an artist could “shop themselves out” to existing local groups that want to raise funds for their cause… they could pay these amounts plus lodging, travel, and a guaranteed minimum amount of activity and sell individual tickets to recover their costs and make extra for their causes.

This would allow an artist to tap into other groups’ social networks and be mutually beneficial. Of course you’re probably not going to fly across the country for $500 plus expenses but you get the picture. The minimum charged the group raises as your time commitment expands, but you get the idea.

How can you tap into other people’s social networks?

Read more at Ad Age