A band stopped waiting to be picked and mailed 100,000 CDs. That is a calculation, not a stunt

Years of waiting to be chosen

The Empty Pockets did it the usual way for a long time. Play, record, hope the right person is listening. On Hypebot they explain what actually turned things around: their own free-plus-shipping offer. That is how 100,000 CDs went out the door, straight to people at home.

The CD is the least interesting part of this story. What counts is what is left once the last box is posted: the details of everyone who took the trouble to order and pay. That list belongs to the band. No platform can turn a dial tomorrow and make it worth less.

What does an agency cost, and what are you actually buying?

Ask what a marketing agency costs and you will get ten answers that contradict each other. The same goes for handing your social media to someone else. You pay every month for posts, ad management and a report at the end.

I am not saying that money is wasted. Some agencies are worth double what they charge. But there is rarely anyone sitting next to you asking the question this band did ask: what do I keep if I stop tomorrow? With a lot of outsourced work the answer is uncomfortable. The posts stay up, the reach fades, and the people you reached live on a platform owned by someone else.

The sum I would do before you outsource another campaign

Take twelve months of bank statements and write down three things:

• What leaves your account every month for the agency, ad budget, tools, booking platforms and commission on your sales.
• What you actually hold yourself. How many people could you reach tomorrow without paying anyone? Email addresses, phone numbers, a customer list. Followers do not count, those are borrowed.
• What it would cost to reach those people yourself. For the band that was the CD, the envelope and the time to pack it. For you it might be a mailing list, a decent website, or one person keeping your admin and your messages moving.

Divide the yearly figure on the first line by the number of people on the second. That number is your real price per person reached. For most self-employed people I speak to, it is the first time they have ever seen it.

What you can do with this tomorrow

You do not need to mail 100,000 CDs. The direction is the point: build something that stays yours, even when a platform changes its rules or an agency closes shop.

Start small. On your next job, ask for an email address and permission to send something now and then. Put it in one list you control yourself. Send one message a month that is genuinely useful. It is duller than a campaign, and it is the only slice of reach that will still be yours in three years.

And do the sum first. I will happily do it with you. On my side it is one amount a month, 35 euro, cancellable monthly. If the numbers come out in favour of your current agency, I will tell you that before you sign anything.