Lessons From Limewire

“Give It Away” is a kicking Red Hot Chili Peppers Song.

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And also a marketing strategy that has led me to support some of my favorite musical artists

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First, we need to take a trip in the WABACK machine to the late 90’s/early 2000’s. Life was good, except for the “angsty hormonal teenager” part. Fortunately, there was plenty of angsty music to get me through the tough emotional times. But even more importantly, ?there was an easy way to get that music in the days before YouTube and Spotify.

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I am talking about the music sharing services like Napster and LimeWire. Where you could download your favorite song that you just saw on MTV or heard on the radio…for “free.”

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I put “free” in “ “ only because there is no such thing as FREE. Someone is paying for everything somewhere, and in the case of LimeWire, it was the artists paying to make their music. And let’s just say, they were not happy about the part where people were not paying to listen.

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And now as an “artist” myself, who has books to sell and a message to share. I get the frustration.

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Kind of.

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Because what I have learned is that giving something away for free can actually help build your audience and help make you more money in the long run. The more money is something I have observed for others, I haven’t hit that level….just yet. But what can we learn from the LimeWires and Napsters of the world? That breaking convention and giving things away for free will benefit you in the long run. Lets look at some reasons:

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1)??? Think long term: In the short term, any artist would want their share of the money when you buy a song on iTunes. But I’ll push back on an example from my favorite band, 311. I still remember the summer of 2001. Bleached hair, high school coming, and 311’s new album “From Chaos” on the radio. Their single “You Wouldn’t Believe” was all over KFMA, our local rock station. So, I downloaded it. And then “Down.” Then “Beautiful Disaster” and “All Mixed Up.” I was hooked. And over 15 concerts, countless albums and a couple t-shirts later, that “Free” music I got has turned into thousands of dollars in revenue for them. It can hurt in the short-term giving your work away for free-I have a closet of books to prove that, but thinking long term helps ease that pain and paves the path to success

2)??? Build trust and a relationship: You like a stranger calling your house and selling you something? I sure as hell don’t. There’s no trust. No relationship. I falsely believed that because my books were great, people would just buy them. But that is not how things work. I failed to develop trust and a relationship with a large audience. Getting music on LimeWire built that relationship. I knew that a band was going to make quality music because of the past work of theirs I was able to tap into.

3)??? Not everything you make is great: Every band has a few throwaways. Every writer has a few articles or passages that may not stand the test of time (you may believe this as you read this right now about me). If you don’t pay for the practice of others, you can’t be upset. Giving your practice away for free helps ease the reality when it’s not perfect. And let’s just say there were plenty of B-sides and demos from all kinds of musicians on LimeWire that were best served not getting paid for.

4)??? Go right to your fans with new stuff: I got the newest releases on LimeWire. And if I am able to expand this world beyond just music for a bit, I experienced this with my favorite electrolyte company LMNT (no affiliation, just tasty salt!) . We buy a lot of salt from them. A LOT! We are “Insiders” and they just came out with a sparkling water electrolyte beverage. Their insiders got a FREE 1st taste from a sample pack. My favorite flavor is Cherry LIME (see, I related tit to LimeWire, kind of) and I can’t wait to give them more of my money for this delicious product. Reward your insiders with free stuff.

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Which brings me to the end of my LimeWire lesson, and the start of me giving you FREE stuff. As a reader, I have never charged for anything other than my books. That isn’t changing. In fact, I want to give a few more FREE things to ya:

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-?????? How about the 1st chapter of my newest book, “I Guess I’m a Dad Now” on the house?

-?????? How about the 1st chapter of my other book “Permission to Care” as well?

-?????? If you are a dad, how about 5 Dad Mistakes I wish I hadn’t made?

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And here is the kicker-iest of the freebies: I have 10 free audible samples of “I Guess I’m a Dad Now” to give away. I can’t promise everyone will get one because they are limited. But if you comment and share this post and are among the 1st ten to do so, I will send it your way. And if you comment and share and ARENT in the 1st 10, I will give you something cool too!

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I believe in my books and messages, and want to get them out there! So I am going to make like RHCP and give it away now