TPS #014: How I Made My Client $56,875 in 4 Hours
Author: Andre Mullen - 3.5 min Read
Read Time: 3.5 minutes
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In today’s newsletter, I want to talk about the importance of systems and how a 3 step system played a vital role in how I made my client $56,875 in 4 hours with merch sales.
It’s important to note without a system, artist managers will find it difficult to build their overall artist client’s business.
Artist managers use systems to make sure things get done. The instances of missed deadlines and opportunities, room for error, and most of all, revenue loss, decreases with the help of systems.
In the end, putting systems in place puts the focus on the business and not putting out fires.
Unfortunately, many artist managers don’t want to put in the work necessary because they feel it’s too much work.
"Systems make artist managers the asset their artist clients never knew they needed."
In my early years of being an artist manager, one of my biggest challenges was developing frameworks and workflows to handle my client’s growing business.
When I started working through systems, the clarity and the scope of my client’s business became very plain.
The “Ah Ha!” moments began to arrive – this is the cheat code I mentioned before.
As they did for me, frameworks and systems put into practice in your client’s business will help you:
1. organize
2. manage
3. scale
Contrary to popular belief, the work is in putting the systems in place and executing them. The work is not the hustle nor the grind.
I used a system to organize, manage, and scale my artist client’s merch business around an album release that generated $56,875 in the first 4 hours of his digital store launch.
Let’s go through it, step by step.
Step #1: Organize the business
It has been said that “organization is a journey, not a destination”.
When it comes to you and your client’s business, this is the truth.
Organization is like exercise: it’s something that needs to be done each day to bring positive results.
I started working with hip-hop artist “CK”.
When I work with clients, I aim for simplicity, breaking down the business into parts.
I do so using a “Hub and Spoke” model like below:
With CK, there were 6 main areas of business that I oversaw.
“Touring” and “shows” were separated as they had different logistics involved.
Laying out the business is important in organizing what works, could work, or isn’t working at all.
For his album launch, CK wanted to roll out a new custom merch line to support. Since his previous album release, his email subscribers had more than doubled from 5,576 to 11,375.
He was particularly eager to get his merch out since he felt this was his best creative work yet.
Again, using the “Hub and Spoke” model, I outlined what his custom merch offerings were:
We planned to do pre-orders two weeks before the release at discount for email subscribers.
It’s important to take the time to organize your business so you know exactly what you have responsibility for, are accountable to, and are expecting to grow.
Once I organized CK’s overall business along with his merch, I was able to begin to manage his business.
Step #2: Manage the business
“Management is doing things right.”
Your management of your business – or your clients – should be focused on results. While it can take many forms, management works best when there is a workflow.
I was well aware of many artist-friendly merch companies that could drop ship merch. However, CK had already invested in his own press and packaging as he built his brand.
CK’s merch line rollout needed a workflow for receiving orders, checking orders, packaging, and delivery.
An example of the workflow is below:
When CK’s album release date was announced to his email subscribers, pre-orders of his merch took off. Below are his email and sales stats within the first 4 hours:
Total recipients: 11,276
Open Rate: 67% (7,554 opens)
Clicked: 2.5% (189 clicks)
Purchases: 175
Total Revenue: $56,875
Creating the workflow was invaluable as we were able to handle the orders without major delays or hitches.
The email subscribers who pre-ordered received their merch by the album drop and posted on their socials the merch they received.
When you have a workflow, managing your business becomes less miss and more hit.
Those hits started adding up and it moved us into the next step – scaling the business.
Step #3: Scale the business
“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.”
This was the core belief of James Cash Penney, the American businessman and entrepreneur who established one of the largest chains of department stores in the United States, JCPenney, in 1902.
Penney scaled his business by understanding that all of the pieces – the forces – work together to grow it.
By the time of his album release, CK’s pre-order merch sales generated $252,825.
We were averaging $9,446 per day at 30 orders a day with an average sale of $314.87.
I knew we had to prepare to scale and do so quickly to take advantage of the momentum.
Scaling artists’ and other creatives’ business only differs from what is being offered. However, the system is the same.
An example of my scalability model for CK’s merch is below:
In order to scale, we had to bring in outside help to make sure we could still meet demand. We hired 10 people in total to handle customer service questions via email and phone, packing, and delivery.
CK dropped another project the following year and replicated the same process, doubling his earnings from his previous project.
All because we put systems in place.
TL;DR:
The 3-step system for your client’s business involves:
The 3-step system for your client’s business involves:
1. Organizing
2. Managing
3. Scaling
Hope that helps.
See you next week.
Whenever you’re ready, here are two ways I can help you:
1. For a LIMITED time, I’m offering a Growth Strategy Session. Let’s put together a growth strategy for your and/or your client’s business for FREE.
2. I’m also conducting a FREE Systems Audit to see what systems you are using and optimize them.