Why My Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sales Didn’t Work
By Kosha Dillz, Independent Rapper
I really wanted to make this happen for myself and participate in the extravaganza. All the people and acts from big labels are garnering all their fans to to make it all work for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But for me, Kosha Dillz, it did not work. I came up with six reasons, and it's all ok…for now. In my first year promoting my Black Friday sale, I have sold a total of 5 shirts. Disheartening at best, I am hoping my honesty will get you to take a look at my awesome shirts anyway. Below are the six reasons why I failed at my Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale.
1. Fans don't care – My fans don't care. Your fans might, but mine don't. Also to say that they are all buying things elsewhere and essentially, I do not have enough fans who have bought all kinds of things previously to come and knock on my door. But essentially, I just don't think anyone cares. If they do , they need to care so much that they are ready to feel obliged in the area, monetarily speaking.
2. Store is not the best – I have been using big cartel for now, but my website was recently hacked by ISIS so people are afraid to shop with me for fear of their life. The level of ease is sort of annoying. Big Cartel brings you to paypal, you have to put your card, and more screens. When I play a show, people take out cash and give it to me and my team directly. Its good vibes and they feel connected to me. I only have 5 items!!
3. Sense of Urgency – You will most likely die tomorrow if you don't buy that computer at 6 am for $150. You will not die if you do not buy my $12 dollar tee shirt with $5 shipping.
4. Appreciation – "Oh no Kosha, we can't do that to you. We'd rather pay full price! " It's true. Most people don't want to save money on me and the Kosha Dlillz. They want to give me all their money, and then when that time comes, they have spent all their money on things they need.
5. Lack of diversity – The fact is many people have made specific brands or liquidation available to even cheaper than min (ie. Grieves or MC LARS) sell so much merch they have shirts hoodies beanies and I only have shirts and few hoodies left and some cds. If i had all kinds of other things, then it'd be different. Wider variety always makes the customer stay longer. Hats beanies, hoodies, zip ups, vinyl, pins, sunglasses, stuffed animals and towels…are more of a reason to look longer, than tee shirts and cds and a few hoodies.
6. Personal Experience – My best successes have been with personal experience. For instance, my story is pretty intense, and I have seen great success with live show or in person speaker engagements when i do public speaking on my life story. People prefer to shop with me at that time. In other words, not everyone is running around to wear my merch until they know the story behind it.
What I should've done?
I recently put on FIVERR that I 'll rap on your answering machine for 30 seconds for 5 bucks. Doing this is an experience while a tee shirt is than more likely to be bought after my experience. Each artist is different and at different levels. My fans are way more different in comparison to a Metallica fan or even a Wu Tang fan, and the brand logo is just not as established yet. In today's world, I truly hope I need to keep me good content and good shirts that people want, and that will sell itself. Musically speaking, the more fans I get the more shirts I will sell.
What do you think I should've done differently? What would you have done differently? Make sure you let us know in the comment section below.
Kosha Dillz is an independent rapper living in Los Angeles by way of New Jersey and frequently has become infamous of his renegade promotion techniques , DIY touring, inspirational speaking, and rapping in Hebrew , English and Spanish. together. He has a twitter page and just hit 9000 fans on Facebook and youtubes things all the time. His website was recently hacked by ISIS supporters and became a trending topic on LA Weekly. Reach him for anything at rapperfriends(at)gmail.com. Yes, he is available for Hannukah shows.
Maybe you could start by spelling your own artist name correctly? #attentiontodetail #typo