I made a big decision a couple weeks ago. I would close my online store on Friday, November 18, 2022. There will be no Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales. The shop will stay closed until December 1 when I open it up for about a week (TBD). Then it is closed again until 2023.

So what gives?

I decided on a new strategy for my music. I'm like most musicians. I hate selling. I'm bad it. I don't really want to get good at it. I want to create music.

Yes. I know I need to make a living. Not everyone is gonna sign up on Patreon to join my Gunn Runners Club. Most people just want to buy something to support their favorite musicians.

But do we really need an online store open 24/7 for 365 days a year? I'm gonna argue no. I'm also gonna show you why it will make musicians happier each and every month. I'm also gonna tell you how it will be better for our fight against Climate Change.

HOW IT WORKS

Once a month, the store opens for 5-10 days. That's it. All of the merch in your store disappears after that time period. All of the merch sold is packed up after the store closes and is mailed to your fans. The store reopens next month with the same plan.

Musicians only have to spend 5-10 days promoting the online store being opened. If there are any specials or Bandcamp Friday sales, then it's a good time to mention those to.

WHY CLOSE THE STORE?

Musicians don't like to sell. Having to sell all the time takes us away from the art of writing and creating new music.

We do have to sell at least a little bit. A limited sales cycle does two things.

First, it creates very natural sense of scarcity to the objects in your store. Fans can only buy on a few days each month. If they don't buy then, then they are out of luck until next month.

Second and even more important, it allows you to spend the rest of the month focusing on creation and promotion.

But there are other reasons why I like this. I love marketing. I do so with podcasts and sometimes videos. I put out 1-5 new pieces of content every week. I'll be honest, I overload my fans with content. Each piece has to be promoted in some way.

As a musician, would you rather try to sell something or would you rather talk about something fun that will make your fans happier, like a podcast or a video?

Yeah. I fit in that second category too. I find I don't promote products in my store because I have too many things to promote. It gets put on the back burner.

But now, I can set aside a few days each month to offer fans something other than the freebie I just sent down their podcast feed.

BUT WAIT… GOOD AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

But wait, you said it was good for the environment too?

This is actually why I decided to test this idea out. I found a podcast put out by Brightly. They are a sustainably, eco-friendly website dedicated to educating and not shaming people who are learning more about how to do things better for the environment.

They have an online store as well. They open it up just 5 days a month. Because it turns out, if you need to ship goods every day of the month, then each of those days spent going to the post office or having them come to you is more time in a vehicle or shopping for shipping material or whatever. It increases your carbon impact.

It's more cost-effective to do it all at once. That's why I'm packing up all of my sales this Friday to mail to customers.

HERE'S THE DEAL…

Selling is a learned skill. Musicians need to learn to sell. But it's much more effective use of our time to do it once a month. Than every day with our attention divided in a million ways.

This idea is not every musician. Some are good at making time for selling. Some are actually good at selling. That is Great! But for those of us who are not… well, this idea offers a very easy way to learn a little more about selling and how to do it effectively.

PUTTING IT INTO ACTION: So how do you get started?

I have a Bandcamp Store. It is currently open until this Friday. Then I will change all of those CDs, shirts, album pins and more from Public to Private. The store will be closed until Dec 1 when I reopen it.

This week, I'm also gonna look at the upcoming months. Which CDs and other merch will I focus on selling during those Store openings? I have a lot to choose from? Maybe I can even offer a limited-edition object?

Have you tried it? Will you?

Let me know what you think.