Tommy Cullen
Indie of the Year
Tommy Cullen
Please give us a brief overview of the Introduction Phase of your Buddy system:
In the past I have used traditional fan finders, then direct-to-Spotify campaigns, but as of 10 weeks ago my principal method of fan acquisition is now my cold FSH campaign. This is flooding the social 'airwaves' with my best videos (primarily two full-length one-take Fanfinders) at a volume I have never been able to sustain before. This has yielded a slew of enthusiastic comments, first-time customers etc.
Here is a link to the video which has received the most traffic.
Throughout the year I have also dialed in my organic content strategy, producing and posting a couple of hundred short-form vertical videos which I have iterated and improved upon as I go (generally posting at least a couple each week).
Please give us a brief overview of the Education Phase of your Buddy system:
I built a UAL to release my first album towards the end of last year. This now functions as an Evergreen asset to educate new fans on my music and bring them deeper into my world. I'm in a GDPR country, so the primary traffic source for this is via the following optin checkbox on my FSH checkout: "Tick this box to receive even more FREE music, straight to your inbox - PLUS exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos and stories (AND be the first to know about tour dates & new releases!)".
in true UAL fashion, the content pages comprise 10 days of bts content including a podcast/interview series, meanings behind each song etc.
Here is the first content page for your reference.
Please give us a brief overview of the Permission Phase of your Buddy system:
As mentioned above, my evergreen UAL also serves as my primary Permission bribe for new fans. A large percentage of new customers opt in using the checkbox on my FSH checkout, but it is also the principal CTA on my website homepage, and my increased traffic this year has led to a certain amount of new fans (who didn't necessarily purchase right away) opting in through this pathway instead. Here's my website homepage: https://tommycullenmusic.com
Additionally, I currently check all outgoing FSH orders to see whether the customer has opted in for email marketing (GDPR country and all that). If they haven't, they receive an extra note in their order with a QR code pointing to my UAL signup (image in the next section). This creates an additional touch point to scoop up some of those who neglected to opt in on the checkout page.
Please give us a brief overview of the Nurturing Phase of your Buddy system:
I send bi-weekly emails to my list - a mix of early access to new videos/merch drops/live tickets etc, and general update/casual catchup type emails - and experience a good rate of engagement on these. I also have an active Facebook group to go along with my UAL where I do weekly welcome posts and share videos, photos etc early as well.
Additionally, throughout the year I have been running a €1/day Warm Traffic campaign which I cycle new posts through on a regular basis.
At least a couple of times a week I reply/react to every comment and respond to any outstanding emails.
Please give us a brief overview of the Affirmation Phase of your Buddy system:
As mentioned, my cold FSH campaign is now accounting for a majority of my Affirmation stage for new fans. The campaign is getting me around 30 new customers a week at roughly break-even. I'm about to sell out of my 3rd and 4th batches of CDs since beginning this campaign, and now have a customer list of over 300. I have also run a number of sales promotions throughout the year, including a preliminary testing of the FSH to my preexisting mailing list. These promotions resulted in first-time purchases for a number of existing subscribers. I look forward to running further sales promotions as my audience expands, particularly to ascend my new FSH subscribers with further purchases.
Here is a link to my FSH sales page, for your reference.
Please give us a brief overview of the Ascension Phase of your Buddy system:
Since introducing my FSH, a large percentage of my new subscribers are people who have already purchased the album my UAL is based on (it's the order bump, and at least 60-70% of new customers take it). As such, I overhauled my offer at the end of the UAL so it now offers either CD OR Vinyl of the album in question. This covers both bases: people who didn't take the bump in their initial order, and people who did but have now experienced the album and want a vinyl copy as well!
Both are working successfully - here's an email I received yesterday, in response to the final email/sales offer of my UAL: "Hi Tommy,Your music today on my doorstep!Awesomeness🎹🔥🎸🎤Also ordered the Vinyl, because this music needs vinyl 😂"
I also run periodic sales promotions aiming for Ascension purchases, and am about to launch one for Christmas.
Please give us a brief overview of the Referral Phase of your Buddy system:
I have to admit, this is the one stage I don't feel I have dialed in to any real degree. Not going to lie about it!
However, I have had a few new customers come back to order additional copies for friends, and I am excited to see how I can dig in and encourage more of this in the future.
Please describe your growth, achievements, and success, over the last 12 months:
I publicly released my first album this year, preceded by a UAL campaign which initially grew my mailing list to around 250 people. Played my biggest hometown show to date to launch the record, selling around 150 tickets using the methods detailed in the live show training. In the past 10 weeks I have implemented an FSH campaign which is now getting me around 30 new customers a week at roughly break-even. I'm about to sell out of my 3rd and 4th batches of CDs since beginning this campaign. I now have a customer list of over 300, using my evergreen UAL as an optin bribe on the checkout page (I'm in a GDPR country) - which has begun to yield repeat purchases of vinyl etc. My mailing list is currently at around 540 members and growing every day, and in 2024 I have earned 5 figures in revenue from my music for the first time ever.
Lastly, please tell us why you think you should be a finalist for the Indie Of The Year Award:
Honestly, this felt like the year that my music career has begun in earnest. Having spent many years writing, recording and performing, to finally finish a full-length album that I am really proud of was a huge personal achievement. Having said that, I was entirely determined to make sure I didn't release it to crickets.
I dug in hard this year on my marketing, and have spent long hours shooting videos and building funnels, web pages, email campaigns and numerous ad campaigns to get my music in front of people who truly love and support it. This has, almost undeniably, made 2024 my most successful year ever.
The fact is, I now have hundreds of (financially!) supportive fans who had never heard of me a year ago - and the vast majority of these were acquired thanks to Indepreneur (the Fan Finder, UAL and FSH trainings specifically). As mentioned, I made 5 figures from my music for the first time this year. This was largely through merch and ticket sales, accelerated hugely in recent weeks with my cold FSH campaign.
As I live in Ireland (pop. 7 million), I've expanded my FSH to a handful of EU countries and am currently getting an incredible response from the Netherlands in particular. International touring has never seemed like an immediate possibility, but soon enough I think it will!
I now see my FSH and UAL working in tandem as (more or less) a fully-contained Buddy System, and am excited to keep nurturing these new fans with consistent social content, emails and sales promos.
Essentially, I feel like I have made the transition to a 'proper' professional artist this year. This was thanks to IndiePRO, so whoever's reading this - thank you!