We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jon Liebman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jon below.
Jon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I’d been a professional bass player for many years, performing, touring, recording, etc. I’d also written several best-selling bass instruction books. One day, I got an email from someone who said, “Jon Liebman. I love your books, I love your stuff, I love what you do. I looked all over the internet and I can’t believe there’s no jonliebman.com.” I smacked my palm to my forehead and knew this was something I had to do.
Jon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My dad was a rock & roll radio DJ in the ’50s and ’60s. He’d take the family to concerts where we got to see the Dave Clark 5, the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Association, and best of all, the Beatles! So I was into music from the beginning. I studied music all through school, including college and graduate school. I eventually embarked on a career as a professional musician, playing, writing, touring all over the world, recording, etc. While on one of those tours (in Colombia, South America, in fact), a friend suggested that I write a bass book. I got offers right away from several publishers and ended up going with Hal Leonard, the largest print music publisher in the world. To date, I’ve written 10 bass instruction books, all published by Hal Leonard, many of which have been translated into French, German, and Japanese. Once book sales topped 100,000 copies, I decided that the online game was the most logical next step. So I launched forbassplayersonly.com, originally as a music magazine for bass players, then adding an instructional component. The site has attracted members from nearly all 50 states and about 50 countries worldwide, who are learning bass. All told, I’ve helped over 130,000 people learn to play bass. I’ve also published over 800 consecutive weekly bass player interviews, including Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee, Sting, Gene Simmons, Geezer Butler, as well as a lot of jazz and R&B luminaries, like Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Jerry Jemmott, Larry Graham… Most of my audience is made up of men in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, who want to play classic rock on the bass guitar. My unique system and framework for teaching bass really seems to hit the spot with that group.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I started the business with $500 and paid myself back pretty fast. For a while, I was seeking some investors to make things happen faster. For some reason, though, they didn’t seem to understand my concept. Today, I’m more thankful than ever that no one was willing to take a risk on me. I’ve been growing my business since 2009 and I’ve never looked back!
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
In my case, I can’t really call it “manufacturing,” but all my resources are original. Once I hit on a framework that was getting people results with playing bass and making music, I just kept pouring gasoline on the fire, making it bigger and better. That’s the case for all my print publications, as well as my membership and my digital courses. I’m constantly seeking new and better ways to serve my audience, including surveys, one-on-one calls, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://forbassplayersonly.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forbassplayersonly/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForBassPlayersOnly
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/fbpo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/forbassplayersonly