Blog: Lessons In Commerce

The launch of a new album is always fraught with WORRY, especially around SALES. After the initial RUSH of lovely people who buy it as soon as it's UNLEASHED there's always a massive drop-off while you wait for other lovely people to find out about it. As I say, this ALWAYS happens, but that doesn't mean you ever get used to it!

In an effort to try and UNDIP the sales figues this week I thought I'd try an exciting new media strategy: I would ASK people to buy the album. No, stay with me, this may SEEM like an impossibly radical idea that has never even been attempted before, but I thought it might just work so, on Monday, I tweeted this:

Here's an idea, how about a) listening to then b) possibly buying our album? It's quite good, you might like it too. https://t.co/wJsHV3OFN6
— Mark Hibbett (@MJHibbett) July 18, 2016

INCREDIBLY it actually WORKED, and several people DID buy the album. I could hardly believe it! However, I have worked in Academic Research for DECADES and are well aware of the dangers of a small sample size. It COULD have been that people were going to buy it anyway that day and it just so happened that my REVOLUTIONARY TWEET went out at the same time. So, on Tuesday, I tried again, THUSLY:

Hey! How about buying our album? It's quite good, and doing so will help (my) RESEARCH. https://t.co/wJsHV3OFN6 2/2
— Mark Hibbett (@MJHibbett) July 19, 2016

And guess what? IT HAPPENED AGAIN! I am now AFEARED of what I should do with this KNOWLEDGE. Should I spread the information around the world? If I did, might there be a chance - a tiny chance, but a chance none the less - that someone might use this "asking people to buy things" power for EVIL, rather than good? Might it even become some kind of SMALL INDUSTRY that might, maybe, one day, ask people to buy things that WEREN'T in their best possible interests?

It is a weighty responsibility, and one that I will MUSE upon further. While I do that though - hey! - if you haven't bought our album yet, why not do so via this purchasing link? You can take it from me that it is Quite Good, and I should know - I've listened to it a LOT!

posted 20/7/2016 by MJ Hibbett

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