INDIESLIVE! w/ Jesse Gillenwalters

Originally Published: May 5th, 2021

livendirect

Time Stamps:

5:10 Noe Venable:

Hi Jesse! Thanks for the support today.

So here's my deal. I just finished and soft launched my permission offer, which includes free music, an e-book, stories, lyrics, recipes and more, all centered around a theme that brings it all together.

It’s basically like an album launch funnel, only drawing on three of my albums, rather than just one.

I’m psyched about this more offer, which is way more robust than the 5 mp3 downloads I was doing pre Indiepro, but now that it’s more than just “get free songs,” I’m struggling with the copy.

The ebook is very brand / culture aligned (it’s all about unlocking your creativity, a topic which my listeners respond really strongly to when I post about it.) So I know the e-book is going to be a big draw for my warmest audience.

But, it's also only one element amongst several, and I don’t want to detract from the music.

So my question is, how would you sell this offer?

Focus on the free music?

Focus on the e-book?

Some combination of the above?

Thanks so much!

Noe

Here are my assets:

Landing page:
https://noevenable.lpages.co/nv-tribe-of-kinfolk/

Day one of content delivery (out of five):
https://noevenable.lpages.co/nv-kinfolk-midsummer/

Possible ad Copy-

LEADING WITH MUSIC

Get five days of FREE music - wild, weird, ethereal songs to awaken your inner dreamer. You’ll also get my E-book - Seven Keys to Creativity… For free!

LEADING WITH E-BOOK - story based

SEVEN SECRETS TO CREATIVITY

Have you ever felt creatively blocked?

I have.

Some years ago, I hit creative rock bottom.

After years as a professional singer songwriter, I'd toured the world, shared stages with many of my heroes, and poured heart and soul into creating albums with some of the most amazing musicians around.

It might have looked like I was living the dream, but inside, I felt terribly at sea. It got to the point where I could not write without experiencing near crippling levels of self doubt. Finally, I went silent, convinced that I would never write another song.

Fortunately, my story didn't end there.

My own dark time ended in an awakening, when I learned, at last, to surrender to the flow.

A new flood of songs came through.

A new sense of clarity about what I'm here for.

And the inner alignment necessary to speak, play, and sing without fear.

I sat down recently to pull some of these thoughts together, and the result was my first e-book!

It’s called SEVEN KEYS to CREATIVITY, and it’s yours as a gift when you join me for a special experience I've created to help folks get to know my music.

But that’s not all… You’ll also get

- Five days of free songs - Wild, weird, ethereal music to awaken your inner dreamer
- Secret backstory behind the songs
- Daily musings to energize and inspire.

Again, this is totally free.

It's simply a way for me to show you how much I appreciate having you as a listener, by giving you some of the best of what I have to offer... For free!

Learn more, here.

Any and all feedback welcome! Thank you!

20:20 Pravin Thompson:

Hey Jessie!

I really loved your entire album launch experience! I hope it's okay to ask you a few questions about it here!

I really loved all the content you laid forth and it really made the experience very personal and heartwarming.

One of my favorite things I noticed and I want to immediate adapt is the email series you have after someone makes an order. What are the bones of that? and how does it set off?

My tech stack is: Woocommerce, Woofunnels, and Mailchimp. I always feel like I leave people hanging after a purchase and want to find other ways to engage them.

27:38 Alasdair MacKenzie:

Hi Jesse, hope you're doing well. I'm almost ready to scale up my first fan-finder, but I'd love to hear a list of other assets that you think should be in place before I move from testing to scaling. For instance, is it important to already be producing weekly content and/or sending a lot of messages to my email list on a regular basis by the time the fan finder starts running? In other words, what are the minimum elements of a music business that need to be in place for it to be worth it to run a fan finder?

35:45 Jon Volatile:

Hey Jessie, I’m gearing up my first exclusive content permission bribe and I’d appreciate any tips you have on making my landing page the best it can be to get those signups! This is my first time making a landing page but don’t take it easy on me! Thanks man!

Landing page- https://volatilepatience.com/

Also, if you have time, I’m planning my EP launch and I have a question. Of the 4 EP tracks, I’ll be using 2 of the tracks as fan finders, 1 has a lyric vid in my I-series and I’m kicking around the idea of a “15 min of fame permission bribe with the 4th. I’m concerned because I’d essentially be handing out all 4 tracks in different capacities prior to the EP launch. Am I over thinking this, or would you switch up the content on I-series and the permission bribe to keep some stuff under wraps until release? Wish I could make it today but any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

45:00 Corey Lewin:

Hey Jesse- bit of a follow up question to my post in the group yesterday about making sure your FF is hitting the people you ultimately want to be part of your community and will connect with your whole brand/vibe, not just people who like the song from the video.

I feel like my ability to build a deep fanbase will be largely dependent on finding fans who not only like my music, but also get my sense of humor, share some of my interests, and will ultimately feel a connection to me as an artist and a person (the whole homophiliy idea).

I'm wondering if you could expand a bit on how to make sure you're getting those people in at the Intro stage (and how that might be reflected in your FF targeting, copy, etc.). I know it takes time to build the community and grow the relationship, but I want to make sure the people I'm reaching in the first place are going to be well-suited to making that connection in the long run. Thanks!!!

52:45 Robert Gruenbauer:

Hey Jesse, I'm doing an extensive contest right now where my fans and supporters have a chance to win a trip to Kelowna to come visit me at my new home.

there's a few different levels of packages they can choose from including ones that get them a feature verse from me or a custom made song. just curious to hear your thoughts on the concept and any constructive criticism on the landing page/campaign would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

heres the link: https://robbieghiphop.com/pages/merch-madness-contest

56:00 Quinn Warren:

Hey what up with it Jesse! I was wondering if you could check out my website and see what you think as well as watch the video on the homepage for my free sticker campaign similiar to a F+SH. Also it would be great if you could sign up for our email campaign and see what you think. Thanks homie!
https://www.subatomichero.com/

58:00 Jeff Kivett:

Do you have an example of a wire template or something that would show an example of a successful 6-12 month tactical plan to attract new fans, release social content on a calendar, etc…like a gant chart