Here are the worst five reasons to be a musician who doesn't sell merch:
I talk to a lot of musicians every day, and 90% of them don't sell merch. However, those who do make about 30% of all their income from it. When it's so hard to make money from music, why are you saying no to all that extra income?
#1 Money
In the past, you had to buy merch in advance. For example, you'd spend $800 on 100 shirts and then hope to make that back from sales. And by the way, if you didn't, that's your loss!
But nowadays, you can sell merch on demand. With Cicada, we can design as many products as you want, and they only get manufactured when somebody buys them. That means every single one of them makes you money right away, and you'll never have unsold items.
#2 Logistics
You used to have to bring merch to your concert. But if you are flying, and let's say your instrument is your cabin bag, how could that possibly work? Think of all the different shirt sizes you'd have to bring with you.
With Cicada, we create beautiful, customized QR codes with a design that fits you and your brand. You just bring that to your concert, and that object is your store. You can make big ones or small ones, which, by the way, you can also tap to your phone for people to magically access your merch store right away.
#3 Staff
Who's going to sell those items for you? You need somebody to man the stand, so to speak. That person needs to be paid, they need to be good with money, and they can only serve one person at a time.
With Cicada, your audience can just buy your merch on their phone, on their own. And by the way, don't put merch on your website; there's no chance people will remember. You need a way for them to buy it right there, before they forget and before they leave the concert. That's when they're motivated to support you.
#4 Time
Designing beautiful merch takes a lot of time.
So with Cicada, we just make it for you. You fill out a simple quiz, send over some photos, a logo, or whatever you want, and we'll design as many items as you want—from stickers to posters to t-shirts, bottles, mugs, and bags. We can even make custom items for every single one of your concerts, so they are special and unique.
#5 Inventory, Packaging & Shipping
Are you really going to buy different sizes and colors every time you run out? You're a musician, not a warehouse owner. Going to the post office to ship packages every week and filling out customs forms for international deliveries? That's so not your job.
With Cicada, you don't have to do any of that. You sign up for a free trial, we create your merch, and your audience buys it. You get paid every time something sells, and we just take care that your fans actually receive it.
It's really free to sign up, and after that, it's $20 a month. If you're ready to increase your musician revenue by a solid 30%, sign up for a free Cicada demo, or just go and start a trial right away. If you have any questions, just reply below or message me.
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