Valentina Osinski of NYMPHYA

TRAININGS COMPLETED:

• The Buddy System
• Selling Tickets for Live Shows
• The $1-A-Day Traffic Plan
• How To Get New Fans Daily (Fan Finder)
• Fan Page Optimization
• How To Turn Listeners Into Real Fans
• Email Marketing for Musicians
• FREE + S&H Funnel Strategy
• Spotify Field Guide

Please give us a brief overview of your merchandise strategy and offerings over the last 12 months:
A year ago I released my album WHAT HAVE I FORGOTTEN? on CD, digital download, and double vinyl LP after crowdfunding it.
 
My music is inspired by the metaphysical and esoteric worlds, and when I was sequencing the music for the album, I realized that the themes of the songs I had sequenced were in the order of the 7 stages of spiritual alchemy! It was a bit of a shock to me to see that, because it was completely unintentional, and I believe in the end, purely intuitive.

Once I recovered from that, I realized that I now needed to write and illustrate a companion book to explore more deeply the hidden esoteric messages in the songs. To bring the listeners into a deeper and more immersive experience.
I also knew that I wanted to increase the LTV of my fans in as artistically and fulfilling a way possible. The book seemed to check all of those boxes.

When I finished, I had written 170-page book and painted its color illustrations. Each chapter focused on a song, its genesis, and the hidden messages within. This was followed by a guided imagery pathworking designed to take the reader on their own inner journeying to experience first hand the themes explored in that song.
 
As I was writing and compiling the book, I had another revelation: I needed to record spoken word versions of these written guided imagery pathworkings so that the listeners could just close their eyes, absorb the words, and get swept away on their journey. With that, my next thought was: Well, I also need to create ambient underscoring for each of these spoken word recordings based on the musical themes of each song, so that it references the original song and completes the immersion.
 
By the time we were done with all of this, we had created another hour’s worth of audio content as a companion piece to the WHAT HAVE I FORGOTTEN? release.
It seemed relevant given that the theme of spiritual alchemy is so ancient and deep, it demanded more content to give as full of an immersion as possible, while conveniently providing a higher ticket offer with modular parts based on the preferences of the listener:

An incentive for buying the book is a free download of the spoken word recordings.
If they were digital only, there was an e-book version.
I decided to cut the double LP at 45 RPM and manufacture it in translucent blue, making it more of a specialty item.

For my crowdfund and subsequent pre-order, they could create any configuration they wanted of music and book.

When I launched my Free+Shipping offer in January of this past year, I created a sampler EP of 2 songs from each of my 3 albums, called Curios, as my free CD. I offered my 1st and 2nd CD as the upsells and included a Tarot card in the mailed package. I then crafted a follow up series about each song on Curios and drew a Tarot card as I was writing the sequence that I incorporated into the email itself. It was REALLY fun for me, and I wanted to share that fun with everyone who bought the FSH offer. I also thought it was a great way to build on my branding of the unseen worlds and the esoteric, and introduce them to these ideas. After each person gets their follow up series, the autoresponder branches into follow up series about the upsell albums, with offers for those who didn’t take the FSH offer.

I finally follow this up with a series about WHAT HAVE I FORGOTTEN? so that I can introduce them to its world.

My Black Friday offering for 2024 is a 3 CD bundle for 40% off. I figured since my cost of goods for my 1st and 2nd CDs now are $1@ (because I purchased 1000 of each for my FSH offer), I could offer the bundle at 40% OFF ($30) and still essentially get “full price” for my latest CD ($20 ) while making a profit and getting it into the hands of fans who don’t have it yet.
I am working right now on my next offering, which is a live concert video of my recent September 2024 UK tour.

Below are relevant links:
https://ghl.nymphya.com/whif-order
https://shop.nymphya.com/collections/what-have-i-forgotten/WHIF
https://ghl.nymphya.com/curios-ep-4u
https://shop.nymphya.com/collections/holiday-bundles

Please describe your best selling merchandise and your most unique/creative merchandise:
My Curios EP, which is a 6 song sampler from my 3 albums, is by far my best selling merchandise because it is my Free+Shipping offer. (Which I first released to my warm audience twice before doing it cold). My most unique merchandise is my illustrated companion book for my WHAT HAVE I FORGOTTEN? album and its spoken word recordings of the guided imagery inductions.

Describe your fulfillment process for merchandise orders:
I have a fulfillment house in the UK who fulfill my UK/international orders. I shipped or carried the merchandise over to them in bulk, and I pay them about $6@ to fulfill the orders (including shipping). When the order comes in via the CRM or directly via my Shopify store, I then manually enter it into a spreadsheet that I email them in the evening. The next morning I get an email back from them that they have mailed it off. I track all of this using Excel. For domestic orders, I buy the shipping labels from Shopify, print them out, and superglue them onto my packages. I found photo mailers from Amazon for 25c a piece which are white and sturdy and the perfect size for a CD or 3. And the price point is the lowest I've found for envelopes. The printed label from Shopify fits them perfectly and looks really clean and professional. The cat Tarot stickers I buy from Amazon as well, and I created "Music is Magic" stickers from Sticker Mule. Those are an extra ~25c per package of cost, and I slip them inside the Curios EP case. My books are print on demand from Ingramspark, which has fulfillment located in the US and the UK. I log onto their site and manually enter the delivery address.

Please describe your best strategic merch offer to your fans over the last 12 months:
My favorite merch offer is still my WHAT HAVE I FORGOTTEN? 360 Immersion, but probably my best performing offer is my CURIOS sampler EP.

When I first created it, WHAT HAVE I FORGOTTEN? had not been released yet, but I took 2 of the songs that were so far completed and added them to CURIOS so that the listeners would get a sample of 2 songs from each of my 3 albums as well as unreleased material. I also queried my fans on which 2 songs to include from the first 2 albums and which cover photo to use, so that they were invested in the creation of the final product.

I use that in my marketing to the cold Free+Shipping audiences to this day, citing that the songs are 'fan selected'. When I was creating the May 2024 ad content for the cold Free+Shipping launch, I shot a music video expressly for the ad, based on what I had seen in my feed that seemed to be the most engaging.

While working with my (excellent) coach Joseph, we came up with the idea of including a Tarot card in each offer, and I've heard some great feedback from folks about the email series where they get a Tarot card drawing in each email.

The strategy, as I see it, is introducing them to the esoteric world in addition to the musical world of Nymphya, to prime the for the deeper immersion of WHAT HAVE I FORGOTTEN? as well as future offerings of courses on intuition, creativity, and magic. (BTW in the subsequent screenshot of Joe's email. . . he had gotten the Tarot card and sticker, he just hadn't opened the EP yet).

Lastly, please tell us why you think you should be a finalist for the Merch Maniac Award:
Because even during my recent tour in the UK, which was actually a through-written show with dialogue tying all of the songs together, the feedback I received was how unusual and thoughtful the presentation was.

For every single album release, and most especially WHAT HAVE I FORGOTTEN? and CURIOS, my primary concern is: What is this experience bringing to my listener? How deep can I take them into my world, or, rather into another world that sustains and entertains them? How can I create an experience that impresses something onto their souls that is unforgettable, and accesses other parts of their awareness aside from just musical enjoyment?

The Tarot cards and the emails with the readings, the book with the metaphysical messages, the live show with the story lines of life: all are with the same aim of bringing them more than just music. Bringing them music + magic. As written in this review:

"In a music landscape that often feels crowded and repetitive, NYMPHYA's What Have I Forgotten? stands out as a beacon of originality and depth. The album's intricate soundscapes, combined with its innovative packaging and interactive content, offer a listening experience that's both refreshing and groundbreaking. This is not merely an album—it's an invitation to embark on a journey of sonic and emotional exploration. For anyone looking to dive into a new-age musical adventure, NYMPHYA's latest work is a dazzling example of what art rock can achieve in the modern era."