Louie CK Whips the Middleman’s ASS!

What would you do if you had the opportunity to remove the person, company, or whatever the entity may be standing between you and your customers – who determines when, how and for how much you can sell your product or service  – from your business equation (AKA cut out the middleman)?
PAAAPOW!!! That chump would RIGHT OUTTA THERE ON HIS KEESTER LIKE A PIECE OF TRASH!
Yeah, I thoughts so.
Well, it just so happens you’re not alone in your desire to give that Meddling Middleman the boot with a serious taste of your size 12″ a$$ stompers – comedian, actor and star of his own TV series Louie CK* feels your pain – and he deiced to take drastic action! Louie CK has seen the future of marketing – and it’s gloriously Middleman free!
*If you’re not familiar with Louie CK’s genius comedy styling – you have my permission to drop what you’re doing right now, cruise over to YouTube and treat yourself to a grand  laughing your a$$ off session.
And now back to our regularly schedule broadcast… 

The Beast (Middleman) Rears its Ugly Head

Louie has long despised the way ticketing services (Ticketmaster, Goldstar, etc…) dictates ticket prices,  control venues, add endless service fees and basically screws fan in their tireless pursuit of bigger and bigger and bigger profits. Almost more than ticketing services, Louie hates the way 3rd party ticket resellers (StubHub, Ticket Liquidator, scalpers, etc…) further drive up the already inflated ticket prices, a$$ing out the average fan, and making it virtually impossible for anyone but “high rollers” to afford a ticket and spend a fantastically fun evening doubled over in hysterical laughter thanks to the preeminent comedy talent of Louie CK.
Fed up with with status quo, Louie took matters into his own hands Trust Agents style and literally Made His Own Game, cutting Ticketmaster and the rest of their ilk out of his touring equation.
So how did he do it? How did one man – the lowly self deprecating, formerly “underground” comic Louie CK – slay the dragon(s) that drive the ticket sales industry and their virtual stranglehold over touring live performers? And how can his tremendous revelation be harnessed for the power of good (read as boosting your small business marketing efforts)?
So glad you asked, because Louie’s latest exercise in rebellion yields three powerful lessons focusing an high-powered laser beam on the Future of Marketing:

Seize the Means of Production

In his planning his latest comedy concert tour, Louie couldn’t bare the thought of another go around grappling with all the pointless and painful bullsh*t that accompanies slipping into bed with Ticketmaster. So instead of putting up with all their bullhoey, Louie came up with the bright idea of cutting the middleman (Ticketmaster) out of the equation – by-pass the ticketing services all together – by exclusively selling tickets for his upcoming tour through his personal website.
BAAAAMMM! One dragon slayed.
But what about scalpers?
Easy, Louie (or his technical cohorts at work behind the scenes) devised a system capable of “canceling” a ticket’s bar code. If a ticket is reported for sale any where other than Louie’s site, i.e. a fan (or anyone for that matter) contact’s Louie and identifies one of his tour tickets listed for sale via StubHub, Ticket Liquidator, Craigslist, eBay, etc…Louie cancels the ticket’s bar code.
Obviously this system doesn’t completely shore up all potential loopholes, but the shadow of doubt that a ticket purchased anywhere other than directly from Louie’s site may indeed be void and therefore useless, provides a formidable deterrent.

Build it (Your Email List) And They Will Come

Ticketmaster, Goldstar and the like have the herculean power of a vast mass marketing network filling their promotional sails: billboards, TV and radio spots, website banner ads, and broadcast email – you name it, they’re on it! The sports, concert and live events going audience can’t help but be inundated by the ticketing service’s super-amped promotional buzz.
How could Louie, just one man (and his long-time manager), compete?
Aaahhh…the almighty power of the email list strikes again! Louie self-sold several live comedy show DVDs via his own website, offering each DVD buyer the opportunity to opt-in (a goodly move in the Seth Godin spirit of Permission Marketing) to his promotional email list, which most did, resulting in a 350,000+ subscriber list.
Without Facebooking, Tweeting or generally whoring himself out social media fashion, Louie sold out 40 dates in less than two days! With nothing more than a simple show announcement email including a ticket purchase link.
Please Please Please all the naysayers peddling this complete “email marketing is dead” bullhoohey nonsense heed my final decree: SHUT UP! Because you’re WRONG – pure and simple.

Don’t Forget About the Little Guy

With the internet, web 2.0, digital media, new media, etc… we’re more connected as a society, and more people, regardless of their “position,” have a voice. I mean hey, a guy with a broken guitar squeezed a whole book (and hefty financial reward) out of a social media campaign against United Airlines in United Breaks Guitars! The “little guy” counts today more than ever before – and his voice gets heard more than ever before – just ask Scott Stratten who just released The Book of Business Awesome / The Book of Business UnAwesome which is all about the business related cost of ignoring the little guy.
With his bold act of rebellion against the ticketing services, Louie gives a serious nod the the little guy and (whether consciously or not) trains a spotlight on the future of marketing.
In simple terms, Louie calculated the amount he needed to charge per ticket to to cover expenses and turn a reasonable profit for the time effort invested by he and his team. He wouldn’t have made any more money working with Ticketmaster (probably less after all was said and done). He avoided all the Ticketmaster related hassle – arguing over ticket prices and promotional fees and who gets cut in on what for how much and on and on…
And he empowered his fans – all the people who can’t jump on Ticketmaster.com the moment ticket sales goes online, or afford to pay exorbitant ticket broker resale prices – giving them a fair shot to by an affordable ticket.
By seizing the means of production, and building his own communication channel, Louie cut out the middleman and gave the little guy a voice. Could this really be the Future of Marketing?

What About You?

How can you cut out the middleman in your marketplace and take your your business to new heights? Let me know your thoughts, I’d love to hear about it!