InnerStest
Player here:
TC-Test
Gary Wright Connected
Widget:
test
Reverting to the old Topspin Player
So some folks are not happy with the new player. Good news! you can still call up the old player. No guarantee for how long, but my guess is Topspin will have to support the old streaming players for a while.
So here is the new embed code:
<iframe id="tsFrame59775" src="http://cdn.topspin.net/api/v2/widget/player/59775" style="width:300px;height:250px;border:none;" frameborder="0"/>
In this embed code you’ll find the ID of this player it is: 59775
So to use the older player, you need the old embed code (you can grab it below) if you don’t still have one of your own around.
Then you have to replace the widget ID as well as the artist ID and then it should work as the old ones did.
Do note, however that when clicking “share” the old player will give the new HTML5 embed code. Also note, the old player is flash and therefor is not i-thing compatible.
Here is the old embed code – note 3 places you need to change the code. The ID is in there twice and the Artist Id is in there once:
<div class="topspin-widget topspin-widget-bundle-widget"> <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="265" height="275" id="TSWidget59775" data="http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/bundle/swf/TSBundleWidget.swf?timestamp=1297825496" bgColor="#000000"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="quality" value="high" /> <param name="movie" value="http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/bundle/swf/TSBundleWidget.swf?timestamp=1297825496" /> <param name="flashvars" value="widget_id=http://cdn.topspin.net/api/v1/artist/2772/bundle_widget/59775?timestamp=1297825496&theme=black&highlightColor=0xd6181f" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
The first place to change the widget ID is: TSWidget59775
The second place is artist/2772/bundle_widget/59775
That line is also where you need to replace the artist ID. In this example the artist ID is 2772.
You find your artist ID by logging into Topspin and going here: http://app.topspin.net/account/settings/
Good luck!
What Defines a Successful Email
What defines a successful email? Open rate? Click through rate?
Yes, those are both very important. Of course someone has to open the email and click to our site. But the real value is realized only when that person takes the desired action once arriving – for example they purchase a CD or a digital download.
To illustrate this point, I invite you to take a look at this case study of two emails that were both pretty effective in driving clicks to an artist’s store page, but the test email designed by Kadlec Consulting delivered significantly higher results from those clicks.
In order to fully show you the power of this concept, I’m going to take actual percentages from an email campaign and apply them to three scenarios of traffic going to the site.
Clicks to the landing page:
100
1,000
10,000
In the actual test, there were two purchase links on the landing page – one for a CD and one for a digital download. To keep the math straight forward, let’s say the CD earns us $10.00 and the digital download earns $7.00.
In the actual case, we looked at how many clicks there were vs. the total amount of emails that were sent to first get a picture of which email was better at driving traffic to the store page. In the case, the difference in clicks was small enough to safely say both emails were equally effective in driving traffic to the store page.**
Where the emails differed was in what happened next:
Control Email: .68% clicked to buy the album
.68% clicked to buy the download
Test email: 4.17% clicked to buy the album
0% clicked for the download
Let’s look at how this plays out in potential revenue gain*:
Control Test
@100 clicks: $11.56 $ 41.70
@1,1000 clicks: $115.60 $ 417
@10,000 clicks: $1,156 $4,170
This comparison shows how an email that connects with fans can deliver four times more revenue, and also shows how that scales. More emails in the database means more clicks to your site.
But what was the secret sauce that went into the test email? The test email presented the artist’s CD to the fan as a benefit by showing how playing that CD could be solution to a problem the band’s demographic would likely experience on a daily basis.
If you’d like to know how Kadlec Consulting can deliver this kind of creative marketing to your campaigns – please <a href=”http://www.jasonkadlec.com/category/contact/”>Click Here</a> to contact me.
*Here is the breakdown of the math:
Control:
100 * .68%= .68 * $10 album = $6.8
100 * .68%= .68 * $7 download = $4.76
Total = $11.56
Test:
100 * 4.17% = 4.17 * $10 = $41.70
(warning this gets nerdy from here on out…)
**The actual open rates in campaigns vary not just by how appealing your subject line is but also by how your list was collected and how you treat your list over time.
In this test here were the actual open rates:
Control email: Clicks / Total emails sent = 5%
Test email: Clicks / Total emails sent = 4%
Given the size of the test set, a difference of 1% was not statistically significant.
A future case study will look at how a Kadlec Consulting client had these rates over 20%!
Holiday Gift from Kadlec Consulting
Happy holidays everyone! This is a gift for those who have Facebook pages….but a gift for all is at the very bottom.
First – did you read the post on making your free download tab? If not, read that first.
Even if you don’t use Topspin the steps to make a custom tab using FBML tab are required for you to get the gift – and they are fully explained in the free download post here.
Ready? Go to your page. Click “Edit Page” then Edit your FBML application. Now, paste the code below into the same window you put in your FBML’d Topspin widget.
This code will create an automatic “invite your friends” call to action so anyone who sees that free download (or whatever you want there). This makes it easy for people to invite some friends on the spot.:
In the code below look out for the PARTS IN ALL CAPS. Especially the URL part:
You’re sending peopleFBML to the wall of your fan page after they complete sending the invite, or click “skip.”
The Full URL of my facebook page is:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/dreamtempo/77553442285?ref=search&sid=660368930.1457835607..1
so in the code below, I’ll replace YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE URL with
http://facebook.com/pages/dreamtempo/77553442285?ref=search&sid=660368930.1457835607..1
Here is the FBML:
<fb:request-form
action=”YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE URL”
method=”POST”
invite=”true”
type=”Join YOUR PAGE”
content=”Join the YOUR PAGE Facebook Page!
<fb:req-choice url=’YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE URL’ label=’Join’ />
“>
<fb:multi-friend-selector
showborder=”false”
actiontext=”Invite your friends to join YOUR PAGE.”
exclude_ids=”<c:out value=’${appUserFriends}’ />”
max=”20″ />
</fb:request-form>
** note – you’ll want to paste into plain text…if the quotes ” or ‘ look funny it may break when pasted into the FBML code window.
If you did it right, it should look like it does in this screen shot below — also check out the extra call to action to be sure people join up when hitting this page:
Here is the gift for all! A free download!!
This one is from me – I do produce some music. The style is dreamtempo…a little more laid back than downtempo.
If you like the sounds you can head over to http://dreamtempo.com and get the whole album for just $1.
Free Download on Facebook
Using Topspin’s email for media widget is a great way to convert Facebook fans into email addresses. This is important to do because most bands I’ve worked with find that an email blast is far more effective way to get clicks than sending a message to Facebook fans.
Here are three ways to get the email for media widget rocking on your Facebook page.
Method 1: Paste the short link
The first method will work for your profile page, fan page and group page. It also has the advantage of being very simple and of showing up in the feeds of people who are following your pages / are friends with you via profile.
Start by going to your email for media widget, and click on the “Share” link, then click on the Facebook Icon. Log into Facebook if you’re not logged in already.
You should now see this screen:
If you just want to post the widget to your profile wall, then just type in your message and click the Share button. But it is more likely that you want to post this to the Wall of your Fan page or Group page.
To do that, just copy the short URL from this screen. In this example the short URL is:
http://t.opsp.in/CBuE
Now exit this page and go to your Facebook fan page and just paste your shortened URL into a Wall post. Facebook will just pull the widget in:
I said easy right?
The only problem with this method is that eventually the Wall post will get pushed down the page and will not be easy to see. So how about getting the email for media permanently on your Fan page wall?
Method 2: Use My Stuff from Gigya
This method is also really easy and requires no coding. The first step is to search for the application My Stuff from Gigya. If you are logged into Facebook, then try clicking here to jump right to their app page.
Now click the link that says “Add to my Page” just below the button Go to Application. The link you want is right at the bottom of this screenshot:
Select the page you want to add in the screen that pops up by clicking the button “Add to Page.” This will close the overlay window and return you to the Gigya app page.
So, now go to your Page and click “Edit Page.” It is the first link below your image on the top left side of the page:
On the next page you’ll now see My Stuff in the list of applications. click on “Edit.”
You should now see a box that says: Add Code
Open another browser tab/ window so you can go back to your email for media widget. This time click the <share> button and click the button that says “Copy embed.”
Now you can return to Facebook and paste the widget’s embed code into the Gigya Add Code box.
Your embed code should look something like this:
<div>
<object type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” height=”80″ width=”300″ id=”TSWidget2469″ data=”http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/email2/swf/TSEmailMediaWidget.swf?timestamp=1261071230″ bgColor=”#000000″>
<param value=”always” name=”allowScriptAccess”/>
<param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true”/>
<param name=”quality” value=”high”/>
<param name=”movie” value=”http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/email2/swf/TSEmailMediaWidget.swf?timestamp=1261071230″/>
<param name=”flashvars” value=”linkColor=0xf2fafb&linkOverColor=0x31b4c8&baseColor=0x2c2c2c&fontColor=0xb2e3ea&pid=VWLDVASQ&widget_id=http://cdn.topspin.net/api/v1/artist/30/email_for_media/2469?timestamp=1261071230&theme=white”/>
</object>
</div>
Now click the “Add to profile” button. Gigya will take 30 seconds or so to “convert” Topsin’s embed code into a form that will look good on your wall.
Once it has finished, you should see the widget. Above the widget should be a link to “Edit Description.” Click that link and edit the description:
Now here comes the only sort of tricky part. The widget has now been added to your “Boxes” tab. But it is not yet on your home page wall.
To get it on your wall, go back to your Fan page and click on the tab “Boxes.” If you don’t see the tab, look for the right most tab that has >> on it and click on the >>. Your boxes tab may be hiding in there.
Once you’re on your boxes tab, you’ll see “My Stuff” with your widget there.
Now all you need to do is click on the pencil icon at the upper right corner and then click “Move to Wall Tab”
And you’re done!
Method 3: Add Freedownload tab using FBML
Method’s 1 and 2 are great as you don’t have to mess with any code and they work fast. But I think the drawback is that with Method 1, you need to keep reposting to your wall and in Method 2, the widget usually ends up so low on the page you need to scroll to see it.
So I like to also make a tab at the top that screams “Free Download” Or maybe something even more enticing: “Bliss Awaits You Here” since we can name the tab whatever we want.
The last warning before we start up is that you need to have a place where you can upload an image. Your blog would work. I’ve never tried with Flickr / Photobucket etc – I just upload the image either via the blog or just by FTP into a folder on my web server.
Step 1 is to go get the Static FBML application and add to your page just as you did with the Gigya.
Step 2 is to paste your widget embed code onto a text file so you can work on it before finally pasting it into your FBML application.
Step 3 is to change your widget embed code from this:
<div>
<object type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” height=”80″ width=”300″ id=”TSWidget2469″ data=”http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/email2/swf/TSEmailMediaWidget.swf?timestamp=1261071230″ bgColor=”#000000″>
<param value=”always” name=”allowScriptAccess”/>
<param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true”/>
<param name=”quality” value=”high”/>
<param name=”movie” value=”http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/email2/swf/TSEmailMediaWidget.swf?timestamp=1261071230″/>
<param name=”flashvars” value=”linkColor=0xf2fafb&linkOverColor=0x31b4c8&baseColor=0x2c2c2c&fontColor=0xb2e3ea&pid=VWLDVASQ&widget_id=http://cdn.topspin.net/api/v1/artist/30/email_for_media/2469?timestamp=1261071230&theme=white”/>
</object>
</div>
To this:
widget_id=http://cdn.topspin.net/api/v1/artist/30/email_for_media/2469?timestamp=1261071230&theme=black&highlightColor=0xFF0099″swfsrc=’http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/email2/swf/TSEmailMediaWidget.swf’ imgsrc=’http://dreamtempo.com/images/widget.png‘ width=’300′ height=’80′>
So you are switching out:
flashvars=”widget_id=http://cdn.topspin.net/api/v1/artist/30/email_for_media/2469?timestamp=1261071230″ with the widget_id from your embed code. It’s highlighted in red above.
You should also set your image width and height to be the same as your widget – or just be aware that if this is different then the widget will load and be bigger/smaller than your image.
NOTE if you copy the code above you will likely have to re-type the ‘ and ” characters so they are not “curly.” Also – there are some closing ‘ missing due to coloring the code. Sorry – it’s hard to make a web page display code as text!!
Below, you can download the finished code as a text file and avoid the crazy quotation issue.
The next thing you need to switch out is the location of your image. I highlighted that in green above.
You are going to need to first upload your own image to your own server. I usually take a screen shot of my widget so when it loads into facebook, it looks like the widget but you may want to experiment with something else -as the user must first click the image to load the widget, and then submit their email.
I have heard that this will *not* work if you are using an image location from Topspin. Upload the image to your own server via your FTP or via WordPress and note you will have to use the full location of your image: http://yoursite.com/folders/imagefilename.jpg
Ok, since this widget is going to be appearing on its own tab, I like to also include some additional text, like how a fan can post the free download to their wall.
The facebook Share icon doesn’t quite work as you’d want it to since Facebook is messing up the function a little, so just offer the shortened URL (Method 1) as the way to share.
Click Here to download my final code as a txt file so you don’t get curly quotes and you’ll see what I mean by offering the shortened URL below the widget for fans to share the widget.
Here is what it should look like in Facebook before you publish the app:
Now we’re ALMOST done. The last step is to get the FBML Box/Application to show up in my tabs.
If you don’t have a lot of tabs it may show up for you already. But on my Fan page, I needed to click the tab with the + on it, then select my newly created free music bliss tab:
Once I’ve clicked on Free Music Bliss HERE the tab is added to my main Facebook page, but as the last tab on the right.
To move it over, I just click on it and drag it to the left. Facebook requires that Wall and Info are the first two tabs so now it is the third tab.
So here is what it looks like once the user has clicked the tab:
Let me know via comments if you have any trouble with any of these methods. I’d also love to hear how many fans you’re able to convert into email addresses.
Super Powerful Totally Easy Fan Centric Contest
I can’t believe I’m about to give away this killer idea. If you’re the first one to act on this, call your PR agent because you may be the first to do this.
First, I’ll give you the prize, then we’ll talk about a few ways to deploy the contest.
THE PRIZE:
The prize is to immortalize one or more of your fans forever by naming a piece of art after them. OK if your song is forgotten your fan may only reach demi-god status, but tell your fans the prize is immortality via art.
If you wanted to, you could name a song after a fan, or even write a song using the name of a fan. But that could be a little tough, so what about a remix?
The normal remix competition is to invite fans to put their own spin on one of your tracks. This works well because you could get a new version of your song for free. Pretty cool….if you already have a ton of fans because how many total fans will you need to be sure at least a handful will be able to make a decent remix worth rebroadcasting?
Ya, alot of fans.
So here is my angle. Just make your own remix. Make an acoustic version of a song you’ve already written and recorded. A live version. Whatever. Keep it simple. Now call it the “Fan Name Here” version.
Like: “My Awesome Song (Live for Jason Kadlec Version)”
Once you announce the winner – go ahead and give that song away, post a video of it on YouTube, or even put it up on iTunes and sell it. The benefit to you will really be in how you deploy the contest.
HOW TO DEPLOY THE CONTEST
I like Twitter as a way of deploying contests because Twitter can spread the message quickly and Twitter doesn’t “trap” links…meaning if you click the link, you don’t get auto redirected to an annoying “are you sure you want to leave” page.
So it works like this – you have a page on your site that you’d like people to go to. I’d make it a page with a free download if you haven’t already done *everything* to acquire as many emails as you can.
Make sure fans have to give you their email in order to get the free download. Topspin has a great Email for Media widget to do this, but MM Forms- a free plugin for WordPress could set up a “good enough” version.
Now, on the page with the free download, below where the fan is going to put in their email, put your contest wording:
Thanks for getting the free download! Now, tell your friends–they get a free download from your recommendation and you could be IMMORTALIZED in art!
We’ll name a remix of this song after YOU. All you need to do is CLICK THIS and post a link to this free download to twitter.
Or copy and paste this message to Twitter: I love “Awesome Song” free download is at “Bit.ly”
We will select one person between now and the end of the week to win. When it is time to select the winner, we’re going to pick the most recent post…so tweet this often to improve your chances!
The winner will be announced on Twitter – so be sure to follow us: @ourtwitterhandle to see if you or one of your friends is immortalized!
….or some variation of this.
Also repeat the contest call to action and links in a follow up email, and or on the page that delivers the free download. For those of you who use Topspin, this means knowing how to use the email.php file included in “The_Pill.”
If you were to use MM Forms, just put the text for the contest in the email that has the link to download the track.
SECRET!
Here is a secret about posting links to Twitter…you can hyper link to twitter AND default in the tweet by putting the following after the twitter link: /home?status=your message here”
So a complete twitter link would look like this: <a href=”twitter.com/home?status=I love Awesome Song – get it here for free http://bitl.ly”>Click here to become immortal</a>
If you put that whole thing into the HTML editor (if you are using a blog software) and NOT the visual editor, then it will just look like this: Click here to become immortal
CONTEST VARIATION:
Well if you think you’ve gotten every last email you can, or you’ve already run a free download contest and don’t have another free download, you *could* forget about Twitter and just say that someone who buys your record directly from your site will be the lucky winner. Make it the 500th or 1000th buyer or something. Even if you don’t sell 500…you could always make it up.
BIG DISCLAIMER!!!!!!
I’m not a lawyer! Contests are probably governed by laws that most likely vary state to state. If you try this or any contest you have now been warned. You might need to pay off your government (I mean secure a license) to allow you to do a contest or sweepstakes. You may need to hire one of those guys who talks really fast and can write very very very small fine print in order to run any kind of contest. And you should *always* hire a lawyer before doing *anything* to make sure you or anything you are doing is legal.
OK, so now you can’t sue me if the man comes calling.
Have fun making one (or more) of your fans immortal!
How to Write Emails with Hooks
Today I was emailing with a musician who had sent me a better than average email blast. It a nice layout with the content in the left column, a list of tour dates on the right and good graphic / color scheme etc. A nice design. It was also clearly and unmistakably the writing of the artist, starting with an opening paragraph with a personal note, and keeping that same voice throughout the email.
But I couldn’t help trying to improve it to make it great. The one thing it lacked was that it did not lack for information. It was all in there. Every last thing you could possibly tell someone about what was going on last month / this month.
To be totally honest with you (and with the artist should he read this post) is that I didn’t read the whole email. Why? It’s not because I’m not a fan, in fact his music is quite good. It was because his email looked like way too much work to read.
It was so long that just I read the first paragraph, tried to skim the rest and then moved to the next task of my day. Unless the point was just to read the first paragraph, then I don’t think the email succeeded in accomplishing its objective with me.
I’m sure mega fans who line up around the block to see their favorite artist would read every last word. But if that is the case, then I’m sure they would do this as well:
- They’d take a hook and click it.
So the email doesn’t need to be targeted to just your super fans. Instead you can broaden the appeal of your email with these two simple tricks.
Easy trick 1: Make a hook and link it
The first easy thing you can do is the hook link. Want to know more? Click here….
(that’s an example….it’s not a link) But if you’ve read this far you kinda wanted to click there right?
So here’s the deal, focus your email on one main thing. Take everything else and put it into a blog post. Write a good lead sentence that ends with “Click Here.” and link those words to that post where now you can fill in allllll that other info that most people would not have read in your email anyway.
Your super fans will click and read it. And because “curiosity killed the cat” you may actually hook more normally passive readers into it as well. They won’t tune out all that info when it looks to them like your email is a short novel.
And you will Track the Link won’t you?
Easy trick 2 Put WIIFM in your email!
The other super easy trick is to put WIIFM in there. “What’s In It For Me.” One of my clients and I bet which email subject line would get more opens and more click throughs. The looser did not have the word YOU in the subject line. The winner DID have a subject line with the word YOU in it.
Re-write those emails and see if you can take out every “I” and “we.” Find out how to write in the 2nd person. ( I /we is 1st person, they/them is 3rd person).
Do YOU want a topic written about something specific? It’s just a comment away. Leave a comment below and I’ll hook you up with some free info if I can.
If you want to help your friends out, why not click the Tweet this link icon below and share this blog post with them?