In this series I will discuss the good and the bad of one indie artist’s recent first-time-experience, opening for an international touring act (Andrew Bird). For purposes of anonymity,  we will call him Bob. Below begins the first of Bob’s blunders – a merch table disaster. Opening for Andrew Bird was arguably Bob’s most significant performance to date in terms of exposure and experience (there is a lot of experience to be gained when working with both a great front-of-house and monitor engineer). There were many things that Bob did well, but he also made a few common mistakes that can prove to be disastrous for new artists. In Bob’s particular case he invested hundreds of dollars in his first merch investment. The return on his investment – zero.

Create incentive for fans to visit your merch table. Bob spent a lot of time preparing his merch. He shopped around for a great buy on T-shirts. He decided to go with a download card instead of buying CD’s since his first full length album is not yet complete (a wise decision in my opinion). At some point, every new indie artist just has to make the initial merch investment. The initial investment seems totally overwhelming, but the return is great. Bob made this investment and he did it wisely. The Ts turned out great and the Download card was beautiful – Bob was ready to go!

I know of at least one indie band, The Ineloquent, who, after opening their first show ever for a national act, sold over $1,000 in merch! They didn’t accomplish this by giving a sales pitch between every song, but they gave incentive for fans to stop by their table. They did two simple things from stage:

1. They invited fans to stop by and meet them. They genuinely wanted to talk to the fans.
2. They also offered something to every fan who stopped by to say hi – a free sticker.

Unfortunately, while Bob was on stage, not only did he fail to mention that he would be at his table after the show because he was interested in meeting everyone, but he didn’t even mention that he had merch at all! It would have been wise for Bob to have told the audience that he had a free something for anyone who sopped by to say hello, be it a download card, sticker, or a cool pin. All he had to do was crate incentive for fans to visit.

Since a friend had set up the download service for free, the card cost him cents. In Bob’s particular case, giving the download away would have given incentive for fans to visit his merch table. Once the fans arrived, Bob could have requested fans to join his mailing list, promoted his music by giving it away, and make a few bucks in T-shirt sales.

In a single sentence: Create incentive for fans to visit your merch table.

Tanacea is the music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

Bob’s Blunder – How not to make money with your merch