Advice on a current $50k/yearly income stream

[todonelist]

Hello!

I run a music promotion company helping independent artists get exposure.


TRAFFIC: I promote the service via FB ads using a video with 3 previous artists we've worked with who are on camera giving a testimonial. Artists see this testimonial-based commercial on their newsfeed and click to the website for more information and then we lead them back to our Facebook page to submit their video for consideration.

So the flow goes like this:
FB ad -> Website -> FB fanpage -> Send Message -> Submit video

I have over 5 years experience with paid advertising and that helps me provide better results than most of my direct competitors, even those who have a larger following.

99% of my competitors simply post artists videos on their page and rely on organic traffic instead of advertising(I'm assuming due to their lack of experience). Advertising in this niche can get expensive if you don't know what you're doing so I imagine some have tried but quickly reverted back to relying on organic traffic after experiencing high costs.

MAKING MONEY: When artists send us a message with the video they'd like to feature, we review it for quality control purposes. We don't just accept everything that comes to our inbox because a lot of submissions are poor quality or just very bad music(our followers hate shallow, materialistic, "mumble rap", and drug promoting music). We accept about 70% of submissions.*

*I understand having to review and approve the music is an extra step but quality control is a big part of the reason we've grown to where we are now.

Upon reviewing and accepting the content, we send artists back a message with rates and payment information(Paypal, Cashapp, Venmo). To explain our rates and how we make money: Our rates start at $100 and go up to $1,900. We take part of their payment and put it directly to FB ads to hit the amount of views they wish to reach. Because of our advertising experience, we're able to guarantee views(the only page that does this as far as I know) For example, a popular package is $350 for 100k views. This typically costs us around $100 in adspend to hit their viewcount goal and our profit would be $250.

THE PROBLEM: The problem is consistency and growth. We've been stuck and it's been difficult to establish a truly consistent income(sometimes we go days or up to a week without a sale) and it's been tough scaling up. My instincts tell me that I need to do a lot MORE to promote the service. At this point, I'm just relying on Facebook ads(and word of mouth).

THE SOLUTION: Well...that's what I'm here for But seriously, I have a couple of ideas but wanted you guys opinion and if you have any suggestions, I am all ears! First, I've decided I need to get out into the real world a bit more. I live in Atlanta and there's tons of open mics and other events tailored for independent artists and the last time I went to one, I landed a nice sized client. I'm going to one tonight btw. Also, after being duped into meeting this guy who tried to sell me on Amway, I did research on Amway and other MLM companies and got extremely jealous of how many dedicated people they have shoving their crappy products down their friends/family's throats. It made me think about the need for an army of people out there networking with independent artists and selling the service. I would love to have other people going to open mics/other events in their city and promoting the service. So, basically an affiliate program as opposed to an MLM network but I just love the idea of having an army out there. I would pay people, say 30% of our take home pay on each package? Sounds good but I have no idea how to go about executing at this current moment.

Btw, I know my business isn't built on the strongest grounds being that it's 100% based on Facebook and Instagram promotion, putting me at their mercy. However, I'm also trying to skill up with Youtube ads and other channels so I can diversify the platforms we're able to promote our artists on.

ANY ADVICE/THOUGHTS/SUGGESTIONS/QUESTIONS?

 

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[George Appiah]

This is not in my alley. But I'm wondering...

1. Are you going for the sale directly in your FB ads, or are you collecting leads and following it up with a messaging campaign?
2. Are you building your own fans email list? This should give you a little wiggle room on the C-CONTROL side of the pond, while providing the possibility for additional revenue streams (email advertising, affiliate links, etc).
3. How often do your artists return to place ads? Have you looked into how you could provide additional value (beyond... "look here, we got you 20k video views") so you could boost both order size and frequency?

 

[todonelist]

This is not in my alley. But I'm wondering...

1. Are you going for the sale directly in your FB ads, or are you collecting leads and following it up with a messaging campaign?
2. Are you building your own fans email list? This should give you a little wiggle room on the C-CONTROL side of the pond, while providing the possibility for additional revenue streams (email advertising, affiliate links, etc).
3. How often do your artists return to place ads? Have you looked into how you could provide additional value (beyond... "look here, we got you 20k video views") so you could boost both order size and frequency?

Hey Thanks George. I thought I had everyone stumped.

We don't waste time asking the sale. The initial video they see is basically our "commercial", which leads them to the website to see what we're about and once they submit music, we send them payment information IF they are approved. Most artists are aware that it will cost them to get promoted so we just go for the sale after qualifying them.

Thanks for asking about the email list. No I haven't started but I have thought about it. And even put it on an old to-do list, which is probably in some random notebook I can't find. I can definitely provide some value in the form of a ebook of some sort on the topic of marketing their music or taking full advantage of their feature with us. Will do, thanks.

Another good question, we have a good amount of return customers. They come back and spend more on promoting the same video and come back when they have new music to release. The only value we offer right now is FB promo and IG promo. Definitely looking into offering more, such as Youtube promo for example. Gotta brainstorm other ways to provide value.

 

[todonelist]

Anyone else can offer any advice?

 

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[Kung Fu Steve]

Actually impressed with the copy on the video.

Good work.

I'm curious about the submission process. Why not grab the email before asking them to submit a video?

I think that's a huge barrier to entry. You could be collecting lists of potential customers there (maybe you already do) by turning it into a 2-step process.

But as with any business there's only 3 ways to grow...

Get more customers
Get them to spend more money
Get them to come back more often

If you're kind of tapped out in market share, it may be time to "get them to spend more money" with additional services, other products, other offers, up-sells, down-sells, cross-sells.

This would also start to "get them to come back more often" if you had other things to sell them than just the one promotional service.

The question to ask is what needs to happen BEFORE they submit a video... and what needs to happen AFTER they submit a video?

What is the next logical step for them to take? If they are satisfied with your service, what would take that to the next level?

 

[Deleted5250X]

What’s the Market Size in this space?

 

[todonelist]

Actually impressed with the copy on the video.

Good work.

I'm curious about the submission process. Why not grab the email before asking them to submit a video?

I think that's a huge barrier to entry. You could be collecting lists of potential customers there (maybe you already do) by turning it into a 2-step process.

But as with any business there's only 3 ways to grow...

Get more customers
Get them to spend more money
Get them to come back more often

If you're kind of tapped out in market share, it may be time to "get them to spend more money" with additional services, other products, other offers, up-sells, down-sells, cross-sells.

This would also start to "get them to come back more often" if you had other things to sell them than just the one promotional service.

The question to ask is what needs to happen BEFORE they submit a video... and what needs to happen AFTER they submit a video?

What is the next logical step for them to take? If they are satisfied with your service, what would take that to the next level?

Thanks Steve!! I wrote the copy and put the video together and got voiceover from Fiverr.

I tried keeping the submission process on the site using a form but found I get a lot more submissions having them message us on Facebook. I definitely should have been building a list this whole time, big mistake but I am going to start immediately.

You're right, I definitely need to put more effort into getting them to come back more often. At this point, they only come back if they want to continue promoting the video or if they have new music. I'll be adding Youtube promo in the mix soon. Not sure what else I could offer at this time, I don't think offering websites would work but who knows.

Good question, what would take that to the next level? I 'd like to provide better/faster customer support and faster processing times and I'd like to generate their views a bit faster as well. I'd need to build a larger team for this and take a hit to my upfront profits for the long term goal(I haven't been good at doing this in my I.M. career). Also, I'd need to offer more value than just FB/IG promo FOR SURE. Thanks for the question, it's got me thinking on the right path!

 

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[todonelist]

What’s the Market Size in this space?

It's pretty huge. On Facebook alone, my ads are typically targeting audience size of 3 - 5 million. I really should start promoting the service w/ Youtube ads now that I think of it.

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

Thanks Steve!! I wrote the copy and put the video together and got voiceover from Fiverr.

It's really not bad at all. I think it probably hits your demographic and aligns with them. The ONLY thing I would say now is to switch it around to make sure it hits what you want them to do. "Enter your rapper name and email now to get started" or something like that

Not sure what else I could offer at this time, I don't think offering websites would work but who knows.

Why not ask your clients what they need to become successful?

 

[Deleted5250X]

It's pretty huge. On Facebook alone, my ads are typically targeting audience size of 3 - 5 million. I really should start promoting the service w/ Youtube ads now that I think of it.

Besides going to events, can you reach out to artist directly. Setup a way to track there channel for when a new video is released reach out and see if they want to promote it?

Can you get artist to buy a bigger package than just your smallest one?

Do you have an Instagram or social media that artists can follow where you can provide tips on making quality videos and then promote your service there.

Now that your customers are getting more subscribers, can you provide them the tools to help manage there fan base and increase engagement. (I’m not sure what this would look like exactly. Maybe a tool to help artist identify who will be or are their super fans the ones who will promote them and tell all their friends. That way the artist can focus in on these fans and provide additional value. Signed Tickets, Back Stage passes. Meet and greets. This accelerating viral growth.)

 

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