Back in the day it used to be that if you wanted to get a DVD – or CD for that matter – of your favorite performer, you'd go to their website and then you'd get redirected to Amazon or their agent's website to order. There always has been this “middle-man” to get what you wanted.
Now, I don't know a lot about Louis C.K. I know he's a comedian – pretty popular (has been on Kimmel, etc) and he swears in his act (which is a huge turn-off for me). I'm more of a Brian Regan fan (if you haven't seen his stuff – I commend to you this video).
Recently, Louis decided to sell one of his live performances online through his website – downloadable, for $5. That's right – no iTunes, Amazon or nothing. He set up his PayPal account through his website to collect payment and folks could immediately watch the act or download it. He put a simple, “do not pirate this video – please” notice and that was that.
Guess what he made in 12 days?
$1million.
What this means for you and me
I know that many of us do not have the notoriety that Louis does. Without an established fan-base, it would be very difficult for us to ship a product in 12 days to 200,000 folks. So, being well established is very important.
But just think of what Louis did. He shipped a product to his fans by himself and collected all the proceeds. And, while I think his attitude on money is also of note – and worthy of a separate post – he did not have to pay a distributor, an agent or a publisher to get his product out.
Imagine what this means for you and for me. Again, while we don't have the reach that Louis does – this is the new age of distribution. No longer do you have to use the middle-man. You can ship direct.
The well-known marketer Seth Godin, is noted for using the term “tribes” to discuss how most of us – given a loyal and active following of 1,000 people – could probably make a decent living.
Which now begs the question.. what are you and me waiting for? :)
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5 Comments
I’ve never heard of him, but it sounds like he’s quite smart and ambitious!
Food for thought. And Brian regan is the funniest man alive, been a fan for 15 years!
Amen!
Well, first, you have to be talented at something and have something the public wants to sell. Most people are missing that part.
True enough Laura. I think the key is in Godin’s last sentence of the link I provided to his 1,000 post: “You find products for your customers”. I think it’s about discovering what it is people need/want and then focusing on trying to meet it.