Despite of this I have agreed to receive few newsletters and because of this I’m very careful with which newsletters I choose to receive. While I don’t always have the time to read them, I enjoy the few I’ve subscribed to when I have the time. But when I start getting newsletters I never asked for I feel violated. I trusted my email address to someone and they obviously didn’t respect my privacy. Some companies handle these situations better than others and some unsubscribe links actually work. But when unsubscribing sucks, things really suck!

I did not ask for this

Once upon a time I placed an order with Bridge Nine, a hardcore record label from MA, USA. Pretty soon after my order I started getting their newsletter. I thought it was odd, but because I loved the CDs I had bought from them, I figured I’d see if the newsletter turned out to be worth my time. Note: I liked the company/product so much that I was actually OK with a newsletter I never subscribed to.

About a month went by and I kept on getting their newsletters. I never had the time to read them as they were insanely long and seeing they mostly dealt with label and tour news, I figured I could catch up with them on Twitter, Facebook, their site or some other means if/when I wanted. I did not need their news feed cluttering my inbox. So I decided to unsubscribe. At this point I was still a happy customer.

Months and months later I suddenly started getting their newsletter again. “This is odd…” I thought to myself as I clicked the unsubscribe link for the second time. What was even more odd was that it just took me to their site with no message telling me whether I had successfully unsubscribed or not. A big mistake, if you ask me. I hoped it had worked, but my gut was telling me otherwise.

Not surprisingly I kept on getting their newsletters and every time I kept on clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom, hoping it would work. It never did. So I went to their site and tried to find an email address to write to. Once I did, I kindly wrote them that I never subscribed in the first place and now months after unsubscribing I was getting their newsletter again. No reply. I figured it was due to holidays (this was around Christmas), but then couple of days later I got yet another newsletter. I wrote a rather angry email to the label owner telling him he really should look into fixing this as it was no way to treat customers. I got a reply the same day apologizing and explaining they had had issues with unsubscribing on their system and he promised to forward the message to their developers.

What can we learn from this?

• Never add a customer to your mailing list automatically
• Make sure they can unsubscribe with one click
• Make sure it works
• Once your system gets an unsubscribe request make sure the user gets a message saying they’ve been unsubscribed (or an error message with an apology and a promise the staff will take a look at the issue asap)

This should all be pretty standard stuff, but if I didn’t like the label and some of their artists so much, I would’ve probably resorted to some nasty stuff after the problems.  Now I was just really upset. And while I myself, as a web developer, can tell when there might be technical issues (no OK/error message after clicking unsubscribe link) I also know that I’m far from your average user.

I specifically did not ask for this!

A while back I heard Iron Maiden was giving a brand new track from their upcoming album as a free download. Wow! As I was looking for the download link I found the catch – they wanted my name, email address and country of residence. Luckily they (or more likely their tech/legal/label guys) had enough sense to make the newsletter subscription optional.

Now I grew up listening to Maiden and during recent years I’ve rediscovered my love for them. I’m curious to hear this album and I like the fact that one of the biggest bands in the world actually gives out a new track for free. Of course there was the newsletter catch (and that’s why I had to enter my first and last name to get personalized messages, but seriously, country? Isn’t that taking it a tad too far? Why don’t you let me sign in first and let me update my profile on your site or something…) but I’m glad it wasn’t forced upon me.

So I give them my info. And I click No for the newsletter. I do get the download link and I get the song right away. Next time I check my email: Iron Maiden newsletter subscription confirmation is waiting for me! “Welcome to the Iron Maiden Newsletter! You will now get the latest news on Iron Maiden delivered to your mailbox. Stay tuned!”

I was not on drugs and found myself equally pissed off and curious. I know I’m like most users and don’t really read the instructions and sometimes I fill out forms without actually reading what they’re asking for. So maybe I made a mistake? I go ahead and do it again with another email address (I already unsubscribed with the first address, so I figured their system should block me) and sure enough, saying I do not want the newsletter gets me the newsletter. This comes from Iron Maiden. It comes from EMI. You’d think they would’ve tested their software, but I guess not.

(To top it all, the new song was a disappointment. If I wouldn’t have grown up listening to this band and if I didn’t like some of their recent albums so much, again, I would’ve gotten nastier.)

I would not like to receive anymore of… ummm…

Years and years ago I ordered from Tower Records a couple of times. Then they went bankrupt in 2006 but the web store came back in mid-2007. Guess whose email address was still in their database? I’ve gotten few newsletters from them this year and as I never read them, I can’t remember if I got any the year before. Note: Funny behavior, instead of unsubscribing I just delete them thinking I might one day have the reason to read the next one. Right…

Today I stopped for a split second and realized I would never read their newsletters. I don’t really care for their sales. When I want something, I find the best place to get it (and about 10 other things, because I’m weak and wealthy enough[?] like that) and place my order. Yes, I’m more loyal towards some stores, but I’m just fine without these general newsletters.

What do I do? Click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of course. And I’m taken to a page that doesn’t tell me I’ve been unsubscribed, but to a page that lists the mailing lists I’m part of, asking which ones I want to unsubscribe from. (By default all of them are checked, so at least they did something right.) Again, I’m no average internet users and of course I know I want to unsubscribe from everything, but seriously, how an earth am I supposed to make sense out of these list names that I’m apparently part of:

• Tower Orders
• Jun_2010_99000-282834
• Jun_2010_99001-190000
• ALL_June 19_2010
• ALL_PART B_Jun 23 2010
• TOWER MASTER (no Sacramento) (ORDERS, etc.)

Apparently because I’ve ordered in the past, I’m part of “Tower Orders” and “Master (no Sacramento) (ORDERS, etc.)” and as a result, I’ve been added to some cryptic sounding lists lately, but seriously, is this what the customer is supposed to see? Writing for web is one thing, displaying relevant error messages is one thing… And talking to your users is always different from talking to your team. Are you guys being serious here? What if I unsubscribe from “Tower Orders” – will I never get order confirmations? Never get orders? Give me a break…

And what about the “Do Not Contact” list that stops all emails from Tower Records? Now that surely should stop email confirmations, customer support emails and whatnot. Yep. Good. Online business. Newsletters. Wow!

If you could spend an evening with three living musicians

• Bruce Springsteen
• Jason Newsted
• Dave Grohl

Over the past couple of years I’ve realized the awesomeness of The Boss. He is a musician with a long and very respectable career and I own every single studio album he’s put out. Sure there are few albums that I’m not that crazy about, but most of his material is simply incredible.

I have the utmost respect for Jason. I was a massive Metallica fan as a kid/teenager and while I don’t really care for what the band has done during the last 10 years or so, I have to say I respect Jason and James the most. When he auditioned for the band, he was more than prepared. When he played live, you could tell he was always in love with the music. And after a long career, he stepped down from one of the biggest bands in the world. The reason? To keep on playing music without restrictions. He’s one of the few musicians I would really love to collaborate with.

I was into Nirvana as a kid (still enjoy them from time to time), but the fact that Dave continued his career after 1994 is what I really respect in him. He went from one big rock band to jamming his own songs, going out on tours and eventually he was leading yet another big rock band. The first two Foo Fighters albums are just incredible and the fact that Dave, kind of like Jason, has continued to play different kinds of music with various people is what I admire in him.

If you could meet one living musician

I continued to go with musicians I haven’t met yet and chose Jason. Out of the three mentioned he’s the one I would love to collaborate the most.

If you could spend an evening with three dead people

• Cliff Burton
• Bill Hicks
• Gösta Sundqvist

There are no words to describe the awesomeness of Cliff. I grew up listening to the Metallica albums he played on. Watching footage of him was always jaw-dropping. You could always tell he didn’t quite fit in and that’s what set him apart in a very good way. Joel McIver’s To Live is To Die is something I encourage everyone to read if you ever listened to Metallica for more than one song.

When it comes to stand-up, there’s one man whose work will never be topped in my books. Not only was Bill funny, he was a man with strong opinions. He could take anything and make it funny. Painfully funny most of the time. I don’t necessarily agree with every single thing he said, but I find all of his jokes funny. Only the good die young.

Like with the previous two, there are really no words to describe Gösta Sundqvist. A truly one-of-a-kind human being and his life’s work will never be forgotten. There’s always more than meets the eye with his lyrics and even after 30 years his music sounds fresh and inspiring.

Aside from musicians

At one point we dropped the musicians only rule. Even then most lists contained musicians, but this made me think who would I pick if musicians weren’t allowed. So here are few variations.

If you could spend an evening with three actors/actresses

• Morgan Freeman
• Robin Williams
• Kevin Smith

Without going into a lengthy appraisal I’ll just say that this would be a pretty interesting dinner. Morgan Freeman is just someone you simply have to respect. Talk about charisma! Robin Williams is also one-of-a-kind and without about doubt would make things more interesting. And Kevin Smith. Clerks. Dialogue. That’s all that needs to be said.

If you could spend an evening with three…

I also have a great fascination for serial killers and I could go on with these lists forever. Three living serial killers, three dead serial killers, three people hunting down the serial killers and so on. I’ll just make a list of three fascinating people who are somehow connected to the world of crime.

• Theodore Kaczynski
• John Douglas
• Gary Ridgway

Why didn’t you pick..?

Even during our drive I heard “I was expecting you to say…” few times. I purposely left out musicians I have already met. As a music lover two of the probably biggest moments have been meeting Anneke van Giersbergen and Devin Townsend. Both times I’ve been at a loss of words and during my probably 60 second conversation with them I’ve simply thanked them for the music they’ve created.

These were my lists on an August night in 2010. I could’ve just as well added Shannon Wright, Morrissey or Björk, but maybe they’ll be on my list next year.

• Butcher by Gary C. King
• The Man With the Candy by Jack Olsen
• Drive by Daniel H. Pink
• Mindhunter by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker

I have to say Drive was a very interesting read! I kept on saying “That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking, this is how it should be!” to myself a lot. Anyone looking into running your own business, managing a team or just wanting to feel more motivated and achieving more in life should spent the night or two it takes you to finish this book. You can start with this ten minute animated speech on Youtube and don’t tell me it didn’t inspire you!

Mindhunter was also an interesting read, although not exactly what I expected. I do read a lot of true crime and am very fascinated by the profiling side of it all, but this book was almost an autobiography with maybe half of it dealing with cases Douglas worked on during his career. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy it, but I guess I was expecting something a little different. I’m sure The Cases That Haunt Us, which is currently waiting for its turn, will be just that.

So what motivates me to work? I have to love what I’m doing! I mean, money is nice and to some extend required, but it’s not really what makes me super excited in the morning. (Actually it’s not something that makes me super excited at all!) It’s not something that keeps me in a place where I’m unhappy for too long. There has to be more for me than the paycheck at the end of the month.

Today I’ve worked 5 hours for completely free. I have couple of “clients” lined up. A lot of work to do. And I’m super excited and can’t wait to get more work done! For free! One big reason is that I’m motivated by the work itself. The projects are interesting and challenging. I know I can do extremely good job with them. I also know I can create awesome work methods in the process and get better at what I do.

On top of the work itself, I’m motivated by the opportunity to help. This is something I’ve missed! I understand extremely well people who do charity work and volunteer for whatever cause. Building websites is really easy for me and if there’s challenge, I’m even more interested! The fact that I can help someone out by doing something that’s fairly easy for me (or extremely hard and challenging), but means the world to them is just a pretty damn good situation to be in. Add the fact that I’m motivated by the result of my work and you have me pumped to get up to work long hours for free. Who knew working for free could be so damn awesome and rewarding!

Where does this fit in our society? To tell you the truth, I don’t really care.

Since 2007 I've had 5 toms, double hi-hats/rides/chinas/splashes and three crashes.

I’m sure every drummer with larger kits faces this dilemma at some point or another. Most of us start with stands so it’s easy to just keep getting more and more of them, get some clamps and extra cymbal holders. You know every little trick you can do with stands, there’s endless options and you can mount a lot of stuff on a good stand. Sometimes if space is limited at a venue you can just put your stands in different places and do some reconfiguration.

Racks should solve a lot of your problems, though. Less stuff on the floor – we all know the difficulty of trying to figure out where exactly does each tripod leg go when you have few of them next to each other and a bass drum nearby – and easier configuration because your tom and cymbal holders can be pretty much go anywhere as they aren’t limited by bass drums or the floor tom(s). You can also move things on the rack easier, because you don’t need to worry about whether moving one stand means you need to move three others. And if you play shows, imagine being able to leave all your tom and cymbal holders in the right position and just carry the rack on stage – sounds too good to be true!

So why have I gone so many years with stands while my kit is massive and I do take it to pretty much every show that I play nowadays? Part of it is because of a bad break-up and part of it is because I have so much more experience with stands and I have always believed I’m better off with them. But now I’m not so sure anymore. Played a show few nights ago and while setting up my kit I was talking with Samuli Mikkonen. Now, I’ve been asked many times why I don’t have a rack, but for some reason this time it really made me think about it.

I used to have a Gibraltar rack and because I put it together from few practice pad kits it had mostly plastic parts. Bad idea. During one show I actually had a pretty bad incident as the rack start slipping and my cymbals started falling towards me. This resulted in a long pause while I moved some of my cymbals to stands. So much for that.

I never toured with my own kit  back then, but when you don’t have a van or a trailer a rack is probably a bad idea. If you need to take the rack apart for every show, you’re most likely better off with stands. But now that I’m in a situation where 95 % of the shows I play we have a van and a trailer I could most likely get away with just putting the rack in the back of the van or in the trailer and at the venue we just carry it to the stage. The possibility of quick set-ups and everything being in the right place instantly just sounds like an idea worth considering.

What are my options then? Clearly I’m going to go with Pearl Icon, there’s no doubt in my mind. But I have such a big kit it brings up few very important questions.

• Curved or straight?
• Three or four sides?
• One big rack, or two smaller ones?

Curved of straight

Curved rack makes way more sense to me and the price difference isn’t really an issue as it’s not that much. But curved racks are 44″ and straight 36″. This is what really makes it difficult. Two curved front bars is almost too much and would definitely cause problems at smaller venues. One curved front bar is not enough for a double bass set-up unless you do some extra configuration. Heikki Saari has done just that and while his bass drums are 20″ it’s definitely an interesting idea.

Naturally the other option is to go with two straight front bars, no problems there. Obviously the straight bar will present some issues regarding tom placement especially, but I can’t see that being too big of an issues, especially seeing Pearl tom holders come with long and short arms. Kai Hahto has an interesting configuration with straight bars and definitely got me thinking.

Three or four sides

While I have a pretty basic set-up in front (three toms, hi-hats and crashes on both sides and two splashes in the center) it’s also spread to both sides. Rides and chinas on both sides and an extra crash to my right. Four sides would mean I could easily have everything in the rack, but again I’m afraid it might present some issues with smaller venues/stages/drum risers. Would three be enough? I only have ride and a china that really extend to my left, so could I position them in the far end of the front bar and manage? Watching some older pictures of Flo Mounier suggest I might be able to do with just three sides.

One big rack or two smaller ones

The last big question mark is should I get one big rack or two smaller ones. As far as looks, price and configuration goes, one big rack obviously makes more sense. But I have to keep in mind my own situation. We play a lot of club shows too, so while one big rack even with four sides wouldn’t be a problem at festivals, having that at most clubs would cause a problem. Two smaller racks are way easier to manage, to carry and to store whether we’re talking about the venue or the van. There’s always the option to join these two small racks in the middle for extra security/placement/looks, too.

Obviously there’s a difference in price too if you build everything from smaller parts, but to me comfort is the most important thing.

Pros and cons

• Stands are easier to store on the side of the stage as they each take up so little space… But you will have many stands, possibly spread to many different places.
• If space is limited, stands allow easier reconfiguration to fit everything in.
• It’s easier to go with smaller configuration with stands as you can just leave one or two things out.
• Racks should save time if you can transport them with tom and cymbal holders in place. Imagine carrying your rack to the stage, unfolding it, putting your cymbals and toms in the holders and you’re set. We’re talking about 10 minutes here!
• No one can really accidentally take a part of your rack with them, but especially when they’re torn down, this could happen with stands.
• Racks make adding more stuff to your set-up easier as you don’t have to worry about floorspace, other stands, bass drums etc.

So what am I going to do?

I really need to consider all sides here (no pun intended). How many shows a year do we play, the stages and venues (where do I store my gear when other bands play), how could I store my rack during transportation and while other bands are playing, what if some other band needs to use my kit (taking the rack away also takes away the toms) etc. While I love the idea of having a curved rack, unless I decide to go with some custom configuration like Heikki, I think I might go with straight bars just to save some space. At the same time, I think I should probably try with three sides at first and get an extra one only if I really need it.

The toughest question really is one big or two smaller ones. I can see all the troubles carrying a large rack at small venues and this is why two smaller ones fascinate me, but of course it’s a possibility to carry the big one in smaller pieces as long as you don’t have your cymbals and toms in it.

Decisions, decisions…

I have a feeling I’ll be making some calls next week, looking at various pictures even more carefully and measuring the distances in my current configuration. I do have to say I’m pretty excited. Who knows, in two weeks you might see me on stage with a beautiful rack (and I’m not talking about double D’s, I’m talking about double Bass)!

My big secret to double bass is actually the magical read carpet!

I’ve been using Axis A longboards pretty much exclusively for almost seven years now. I’m not saying this is a permanent switch, but I’m giving Pearl Eliminators a try and trust me, this could be serious (who talks this way about drum gear – well, us drummers).

When I first got my A longboards, there was definitely a hype around them. I was so excited to get them you wouldn’t even believe. My first reaction was pretty much “This is it? Okay…” After a while I started getting the hang of them and eventually I definitely found a connection – this was probably around 2007. I’ve always liked them, but I’ve also seen their flaws.

I had my first real problem during spring 2007 (if you don’t want to count the E-kits I originally bought but that never worked and I never got replacements despite of several promises) when the heel block on my left pedal started giving in. My friends at SMI gave me longboard upgrade kit and everything was fine again. Until towards the end of 2009 when the same problem came back and again on the left pedal! During the spring I’ve tried to see what my options are. There are no spare parts in Finland and I really don’t have time to wait for shipment from the US with all the shows I’ve got coming up.

I just had a week and a half off from drumming and when I finally got back behind the kit I had three days before the next show. I checked the status of my left pedal and it was even worse than I thought it was. I have a bunch of really important and big shows this summer and I do not want to have my pedal break during line-check, 30 minutes before one of the most important shows this year. So I decided to give Eliminators a quick try.

I originally bought them a couple of years back when I needed an extra pedal for a ribbon crasher and figured I’d get a pair in case I ever wanna play something slower where I need the power. I’ve played around with them every now and then and I’ve always liked the feel. Three days ago I put them on and they just felt right from the first second. Yes, they are a little bit heavier so maintaining fast double bass for longer periods of time is harder. (Then again, that’s why you should practice.) The speed is definitely there. I could hit 220 with them right away. And the power I’m getting is something I don’t even believe is possible with Axis.

I’ve played on them for three days now and the big test is tomorrow when Sotajumala has a show in Tampere. I could go either way, but until I get a new heel block for my Axis, I’m “stuck with” Eliminators. Eventually I might go back to Axis if I feel the heaviness is too much once/if I start reaching 230 and beyond. For now, I can play everything with Eliminators I could with Axis. It’s a little bit harder, but I also get a lot more power.

I do have Demon Drives too, but I just haven’t been able to find the right settings. I know they’re smooth and fast, but for me, I just haven’t found the winning combo yet. With Eliminators everything just feels right straight away. I feel there are some design flaws in Axis and I feel like it causes me worries every now and then. Plus spares are really hard to get in Europe. With Pearl, I can get pretty much any part anywhere. And when I can switch from chain to belt in less than a minute and it just works I have to wonder why do I even consider alternatives?

I’ll leave you with a final thought. After seven years on Axis I could jump on Eliminators just like that, hitting the same speeds as before and getting more power. After three days on Eliminators I have to say my A longboards felt like complete strangers today. This sums up what I’ve always told people who ask me about my pedals. It doesn’t matter what George Kollias or Derek Roddy use. It’s all about what feels good for you. It’s the drummer that counts, not the pedals.

I’m a firm believer that motivation is what keeps you from succeeding or makes you achieve anything you want. It’s incredible what you can accomplish if you just set your mind to it.

Someone working in customer service most likely isn’t working just because they want to help the customers, but also because it’s what they get paid for. But what about when your customers want to go out of the way to help you? I know it’s not as common as it could be, but under these rules we human beings seem to function, it’s not like it’s unheard of. And what could we all learn from it?

Such customer loyalty is not something you can buy, it’s something you earn. And when you have it, it’s one of those things that just makes you smile and feel good for the rest of the day. You can be damn proud of your business if your customers want to go out of their way to help you – and I’m betting if this is happening, you’re also going out of your way to give your customers the best you can and then some.

What sparked me to write this? There’s a company called Campaign Monitor and I recently became their customer. Their product solved a problem I was having and it did it just about as easily as I could’ve hoped. I was thrilled something worked exactly as I hoped it would (it’s weird I was so surprised by it, but hey, the inmates are running the asylum). Easy, fast and cheap. Upon reading through their site I got a really good vibe about the company. Their staff page had just the right tone, wittiness and boy do I love tiny details like the map next to a face showing the person’s location (and seems like I’m not the only one who liked the page). I’m sure I’m not the only person who wished they could work for a company like Campaign Monitor after simply browsing through their site and realizing what an awesome product they have. But that’s not all. I happened to come across an interview with the co-founder. While reading the interview I kept on thinking “Someone really GETS it! That’s exactly how I feel you should run a company like this!” I even wrote a friend and told them to read the interview as well – he shared my love for Campaign Monitor.

Not too many days after reading the interview I spotted a tweet calling for translation help. Not only did I write them immediately offering my help, but I couldn’t wait to get home later on that night to work for them for free. Let me rephrase that: I got the job description in the afternoon, but I knew I could only get to it later on in the evening after work and band rehearsals. I was hoping no one else would help them out with it during that time, just so that I could do it. That’s how badly I wanted to help them! If you run a business, please stop for a second and think about it. Think long and hard. Yes they said there might be a surprise for those who helped, but that wasn’t what motivated me (although it was a very nice surprise afterwards). Yes, it was a simple task that probably only took me 15 minutes, but I just really, really badly wanted to do something for them, because I loved their product and got a really good vibe of the way they do their business.

I swear, I’m not the only one who feels this way about some products, services, companies, people, charities, causes, musicians, artists… Someone might think how could they give off such image of their company, how could they buy such loyalty, but that’s utter bullshit. You can only earn it. As simple as that. What really interests me is to build something just as awesome myself. I’m sure when you’re doing something you love you have no problem waking up on Monday mornings and heading to work.

First of all, I love reading. My biggest passion is true crime. Probably half of my books are true crime books. Lately I’ve also started reading books about web development, software projects and of course music (mainly artist biographies, although I’ve got some business books on my to buy list as well). I enjoy reading a good book. It’s as simple as that and I want to do it more often. Early weekend mornings or late evenings after a busy day… Man, I just love having some time for myself and reading a good book.

Secondly, like so many other people, I stay motivated by my progress. Of course the greatest pleasure is reading the book itself and getting something out of it, but I’m not going to lie: expanding my bookshelf gets me more excited about reading. I read a book, enjoy it and can’t wait to read another one. Also, the reason I’m posting this is because like so many other people, publicly announcing something is a motivating factor that pushes me. The fact that I’m telling someone I’m trying to read two books a month makes me try harder to find more time for reading.

Sure two books are month isn’t too much, but I don’t want to set goals I know I can’t keep. I’d rather feel good if I happen to read more than that than feel like crap if I fail. I’m a busy guy and I think this is a good start.

What inspired me to post this tonight? I just finished my first book for May 2010: The Power of Less by Leo Babauta.

BB FOOLS DAY SALE – During April 1st only, buy 1 CD, get one FREE, buy as many as you want – more details at www.brutalbands.com

My initial reaction was holy shit and a split second later I wondered whether this was a lousy, lousy April Fools’ Day joke. It would’ve been a (mean but) good joke if it hadn’t specifically mentioned it was April Fool’s Day, but it did, so I wasn’t sure whether it was for real or not. I headed to their site thinking it must be real as they would’ve ruined the whole joke by reminding people what day it was, but I was also tiny bit scared I might be let down. I wasn’t. Holy shit!

I have a “to buy” list of music and I was planning to order from Brutal Bands in the coming weeks anyway. Without this sale, I probably would’ve bought 3—6 CDs as I’ve done in the past (I’ve always gotten very good customer service from Scott and he’s always my first choice when I want to order brutal death metal). Now I bought 14. Fourteen! Pretty effective way to influence your customers, I would say. Is there a lesson here? I think so.

I was going to order in the coming weeks, now I ordered immediately. I was going to order my usual amount without this offer, now I more than doubled my order. Did I tell my friends about this deal? Of course! Did I retweet the announcement? Yep. Did I tweet again as a happy customer after I had placed my order? Did I share my order on Facebook and compare orders with a friend? Did I praise the customer service on a forum? Yes, yes and yes.

Let’s not fool anyone: I have a pretty good understanding how much wholesale prices for these CDs are (and how much the bands make) and while I ordered 14 CDs, I only paid for 7. Shipping was calculated on those 7 as well. There’s no way Scott was making too much money from my order and who knows, he might have made a whopping $0 from the whole day and of course he has to pack and ship all these orders too. So what’s the point? I was restless in sauna, because I wanted to go browse through his whole web store. I haven’t felt like that about shopping in a while! I told my friends not only about his sale, but about his business, that I ordered from him and that I’m happy doing business with him. He might have made $0 one day out of the whole year, but I’m sure he got a bunch of people excited, spreading the word about his business (whoever does crazy deals like this is worth keeping an eye on in my opinion) and I doubt I was the only person who made a decision to buy just like that and ordered more than they usually would have. How much is this worth in the long run? I doubt Scott lost any money, but I’m sure he gained something that’s actually worth something in the long run. All this for the cost of $0 isn’t that bad after all, now is it?

And not only that, but I actually discovered new music while browsing through the store. Whenever I came across something I thought might be my cup of coffee I checked it out on Myspace. “Prices like this, sure I can buy an extra CD as this band sounds promising.” In the end I bought albums from three bands that I’ve never listened to before and I have a pretty good feeling I won’t regret those decisions (not just because I paid $5 per CD). AND what if I really end up liking those bands I just discovered? Well, I know where to go when I want to buy their previous/future albums.

You can look at this two ways. 1) Scott made very little to no profit for a whole day’s sales which I’d imagine would be higher than an average day and all the work that comes with sales: emails, packing, shipping, re-stocking etc. What a dumb decision. 2) He got good publicity, sales and customer satisfaction for $0. Not bad.

Ain’t it funny how the smallest things can make people excited about your business? And something I’ve learned from personal experience as well; if you want to get people moving, give them something for free. Maybe you won’t make profit for one day, but you probably got something more valuable in return.

Here’s the 14 CDs that I ordered. For $76,6 / 56 € including shipping to the US where I’ll be visiting in couple of weeks I would say it’s the best deal I’ve ever made.

• Deeds of Flesh – Inbreeding the Anthropophagi
• Deeds of Flesh – Of What’s To Come
• Disgorge – Paralells of Infinite Torture
• Disgorge – Cranial Impalement
• Disgorge – She Lay Gutted
• Embryonic Depravity – Constrained by the Miscarriage of Conquest
• Hour of Penance – Paradogma
• Insidious Decrepancy – Extirpating Omniscient Certitude
• Inherit Disease – Procreating an Apocalypse
• Kronos – The Hellenic Terror
• Putridity – Mental Prolapse Induces Necrophilism
• Septycal Gorge – Erase the Insignificant
• The Berzerker – Animosity
• Vile – The New Age of Chaos