Louis CK: Over $1 Million In Sales In Just 12 Days For DRM-Free Download

from the polite,-awesome-and-human dept

As you probably recall, comedian Louis CK kicked off a brilliant little experiment in getting people to buy his latest comedy special, by being polite, awesome and human. He offered up a direct-to-fan offering, with no DRM, from his own site for $5, and he did so while being totally open about the process and his thinking, which only endeared him to more people. After four days, he had brought in over $500k, and twelve days in, he's surpassed $1 million, and he's got the screenshot from PayPal to prove it:

Once again, his writeup shows that this has been quite a success, as he admits that he's never had a million dollars suddenly dumped on him like this. Also, again, his writeup reinforces what worked about this in the first place, the fact that he's being polite, awesome and human:

So it's been about 12 days since the thing started and yesterday we hit the crazy number. One million dollars. That's a lot of money. Really too much money. I've never had a million dollars all of a sudden. and since we're all sharing this experience and since it's really your money, I wanted to let you know what I'm doing with it. People are paying attention to what's going on with this thing. So I guess I want to set an example of what you can do if you all of a sudden have a million dollars that people just gave to you directly because you told jokes.

He then explains what he's doing with the million dollars. $250,000 will go to pay off expenses related to the website. Another $250,000 is going to his staff and the people who helped work on the show. As he says "I'm giving them a big fat bonus." Then he's taking $280,000 and giving it away to a list of charities:

The Fistula Foundation

The Pablove Foundation

charity: water

Kiva

Green Chimneys

What's interesting is he notes that he learned about some of these via recommendations people made to him via Twitter -- once again, showing that he's reaching out and connecting with fans.

Finally, he's keeping the rest for himself:

That leaves me with 220k for myself. Some of that will pay my rent and will care for my childen. The rest I will do terrible, horrible things with and none of that is any of your business. In any case, to me, 220k is enough out of a million.

I never viewed money as being "my money" I always saw it as "The money" It's a resource. if it pools up around me then it needs to be flushed back out into the system.

He also notes that he's a little uncomfortable with all the news this is making and he plans to stay quiet for a bit. Again, this highlights a few key points:

Being polite and sounding human can be incredibly powerful. It's amazing how simple this seems, but so many things are first run through so many layers of PR people and publicists and the like that it's still pretty rare to see someone famous come across as being human. It's entirely possible that Louis is running all this through PR people and publicists before it's going live, but if so, they're doing a good job in making sure it really sounds like it's directly from Louis. If I had to guess, I'd say that's because it actually is directly from Louis. From everything I've seen, heard and read about him, this really does match his persona.
Fans don't resent content creators for getting a ton of money. We keep hearing entertainment industry bigwigs and copyright maximalists insist that people claim that the reason they infringe is because content creators "have too much money already." But as we've seen with Louis, nearly everyone who's taken part in this is positively thrilled with his success. I haven't seen anyone complaining that he made too much money at all. Do some people complain about rich stars? Sure, but if you're polite, awesome and human, and actually connect with your fans, they want you to succeed.
Having a charitable component is kinda cool. Yes, in this case it's after-the-fact, but it's still cool. We've shown in the past that pay-what-you-want works better with a charitable component, and I'd guess it's because it fits with the reasons that people are willing to buy in the first place.

This is a pretty huge success and shows what can be done by going direct-to-fan, while really connecting with those fans. Meanwhile, over at Step2, we're discussing why this worked, and whether or not "polite, awesome and human" are really the key three components. Feel free to weigh in...

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I love this story about how to combat "junior jet lag." We're in the thick of the holiday season, which is prime time for travel. School vacations and holiday visits to family make this a time of year when many people are packing up and heading across time zones. Travel can be disruptive to sleep for kids, especially travel that involves time zone changes. Long days in transit combined with time zone shifts can throw kids' schedules quickly out of whack. Parents, you know what this means: tantrums in the airport, little ones wide awake at 3 a.m. in grandma's spare bedroom, meltdowns at the dining room table, and generally difficult behavior all around. Vacationing with the whole family should be fun -- and it can be. Sleep can make a critical difference. Its worth it to plan ahead to make sure that everyone in the family, especially kids, are prepared to handle jet lag and adjust their sleep schedules.

What's behind jet lag? When we ask our bodies to adapt to a different time schedule, we disrupt our circadian rhythm, our body's powerful internal regulator, which governs our sleep-wake cycle, our ability to fall asleep and to wake feeling rested and ready to get out of bed. Our circadian clocks have a powerful effect on our mood and energy levels, and even our immune systems. This internal regulatory mechanism is finely tuned -- even very slight disruptions can have an effect on how we feel and our ability to sleep. Moving across time zones, with changes of an hour or more to the "normal" schedule, can have a significant effect.

Let's face it, as adults we don't always weather these changes particularly well (or happily), so it's no surprise that our kids don't handle jet lag with ease and good humor. The good news is there are a number of things you can do to prepare your kids for travel that involves changes to their schedules. Taking the time to plan ahead can make a huge difference in how well your children handle the travel itself and adapt to time zone changes when you arrive. Smart preparation begins before your bags are packed:

Book reasonably. That off-hours, overnight flight to your destination may save you a bit of money, but it may not be worth it if your family is too tired and irritable to enjoy your time once you arrive. A good rule to go by when factoring jetlag into your planning is that it takes the body 1 day to adjust for every 1-2 time zones you cross. Designing a travel schedule that minimizes delays and avoids overnight flights can help reduce the impact of jetlag, especially with kids in tow.

Bank sleep. The best strategy starts a few weeks ahead of your actual travel. Of course, making sure your child is getting plenty of sleep should always be a top priority. But in the weeks leading up to a trip, it's even more important that your kids get ample rest. Go back to basics: stick closely to schedules for meals and homework in the evenings, make sure bedtime and wake times are consistent, turn off the TV and electronics (and especially for older kids, the smartphones and computers) in the hour immediately before bed. I call it the electronic curfew!

Adjust bedtimes in advance. Use the week before you plan to travel to begin to shift your child's schedule toward the time zone where you'll be going. Now, I'm not talking about keeping kids up late into the night, or waking them before dawn! But adjusting bedtimes 15 or 30 minutes (earlier or later, depending on where you are traveling) can give your kids a head start on the adjustment they'll need to make during the trip.

When its time to travel, take a deep breath and keep these tips in mind:

Limit naps. As tempting as it might be to let your child sleep for hours on the plane, both of you may pay for that peace and quiet at your destination, when your child is up in the middle of the night, or refuses to go to bed at all. When deciding whether to allow your child to nap, keep in mind your destination time zone. Early in the day naps will have pose fewer problems than naps closer to afternoon and evening of your destination. Keeping naps brief, no longer than 30 minutes, will help prevent this extra sleep from disrupting your kids' bedtime.

Avoid medication. I hear often that parents are using over the counter sleep and cold medication to help their kids sleep during travel. It's never a good idea to employ medication for treatment beyond its intended uses. And medicating a child to sleep through travel will only further disrupt his or her sleep-wake cycle, leaving your child even less able to adapt to sleeping in the new time zone.

Get out in the light. Sunlight and exercise are two of the very best ways to help speed your child's adjustment to a different time zone. Exposure to light and physical activity will help re-set their circadian clocks. If you've arrived early in the day, getting your kids outside to play will help boost their energy and fall asleep more easily at the right time. If you arrive in the late afternoon or evening, close to bedtime, keeping kids quiet and away from bright light will help prepare them to wind down for bed.

My last tip? Parents, take care of your own sleep! If you are rested, you'll be that much better able to handle the ups and downs of travel -- and your kids' unpredictable moods -- with patience and good humor.

Happy holidays and happy, well-rested travel!

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD

The Sleep Doctor™

www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

Everything you do, you do better with a good night's sleep™

twitter: @thesleepdoctor

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor

makayla3tg1

Monday, December 26, 2011

Making Money Your

Louis CK: Over $1 Million In Sales In Just 12 Days For DRM-Free Download

from the polite,-awesome-and-human dept

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