Hey Reader,

I have this artist friend who reached out recently. They landed an opening slot on a tour and were asking me about ways they could maximize this opportunity to grow their text list.

(Hey…email or not, it's an owned audience and I'm here for it.)

They had a couple things we needed to keep in mind as we brainstormed:

• It was an OPENING slot and they wanted to make sure they were being respectful and not stealing any thunder from the headliner outside of their set.
• They had a small QR code at the merch table, but weren't really able to put up any additional signage around the venues. That meant they'd have to take advantage of a different way to get their potential fans' attention.

The QR? It was an invitation to text them and keep in touch…friendly enough, but no real incentive to the fan to sign up. New subscribers would trickle in here and there, but not much else.

So I said, "You have to give them a reason good enough to be willing to give away their phone number."

I asked them if they had anything like an unreleased demo, an alternate or live version of a song…anything that would sweeten the deal for a new fan signing up.

Turns out, they do this cover in their set that -ahem- slays. (Thank my gen-z coworkers for making me hip to that lingo...) They get asked all the time about whether or not they're going to release their version of it.

I said, "Even if you don't ever release it, a live version of that would be a cool thing to offer your fans when they sign up."

Their eyes lit up and they said, "I actually already have a board tape of me doing it from another show. I can do a rough mix, throw a little reverb on it and give that away."

We'd found the perfect fan magnet to drive signups…but having the right offer is only part of it…

The other part is actually ASKING for the singup.

I told them we needed to create a moment in their set special enough that people wouldn't be able to stop themselves from pulling out their phone to sign up.

Remember that cover? Together, we crafted a moment that would follow immediately after it finishes (when everybody's still hyped from singing and dancing along) that felt like the perfect way to bring it all together. My friend was excited to test it out and said they'd keep me posted on their way out the door.

A couple weeks later, I got a text from them saying that since they started actually asking for the signup during their set, they'd gone from getting an average of about 8 signups a night from people passively scanning the QR at the merch table to about 30 folks a night! They were only a few days in and had already gotten almost 100 new signups.

That's the power of creating a moment around an actual verbal CTA to join your fan list.

So what did that invitation actually look like?

They sent me a video of them doing the CTA in front of a live crowd and let me tell you…I was so dang proud of them! They came across as super easy-going, authentic and there was just the right amount of humor to endear them to their audience and make them want to sign up...

Right when the cheers and applause were dying down following that song, the moment went a little something like this:

"A lot of people ask me if I'm ever going to release my version of that song…and I don't think that I'm going to, however… I do have a recording of it and I thought, if you guys liked it, maybe I could send it to you after the show? So what I'm gonna do, is I'm gonna give all you guys my number. And if you text me, I'm gonna send you the song, okay? So, just to make it easy for you guys…"

Then they leaned over the front of their keyboard and picked up the fancy sign with their artist name, then proceeded to flip it around where they'd handwritten their Laylo phone number with the words "TEXT ME" in big permanent marker.

It got a huge laugh. (Which is a great way to get the crowd on your side.)

Then they said the most powerful part of the whole thing:

"Everybody get out your phones and text me if you want the track."

Because, yes…you DO have to make it that obvious for people if you actually want them to take action and sign up.

Hope that helps,