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You’ve built a great business. You’re in the prime of your life. You don’t feel any pressure to start worrying about succession planning. What’s the hurry? Unfortunately, tomorrow is promised to no man. For years, I went to a music retailer in Staten Island. It was my go-to place to check out the latest gear. The store had a who’s who list of clients and close to 1,000 beautiful instruments on display, just waiting for me to start strumming. One day, I walked in, and the walls were bare. The children informed me that their father, the owner, had died suddenly. There was no formal

What if student events could be more than just a highlight of your lesson program? What if they became community blockbusters that generated huge word-of-mouth advertising and made dreams come true? At Wentworth Music, we turned a traditional student recital into a major rock production by going big! Instead of solo performances for family and friends at a local church or small venue, we organized and hosted a student bands event—promoting it the same way you might a major concert. We generated enormous local excitement, sparked our lesson program and gave back to our community by

What if student events could be more than just a highlight of your lesson program? What if they became community blockbusters that generated huge word-of-mouth advertising and made dreams come true? At Wentworth Music, we turned a traditional student recital into a major rock production by going big! Instead of solo performances for family and friends at a local church or small venue, we organized and hosted a student bands event—promoting it the same way you might a major concert. We generated enormous local excitement, sparked our lesson program and gave back to our community by

At 2015 Summer NAMM, Chrissy Hansen of Chicago Music Exchange and Reverb.com revealed why a successful YouTube channel is one of a music retailer’s most powerful marketing tools. Hansen described how her company’s YouTube channel went from 30,000 to more than 125,000 subscribers in two years. During that period, the channel’s 600 videos garnered 32 million views. She added that it all started with one video, “100 Riffs (A Brief History of Rock ’N’ Roll).” The video was filmed in one take, with one employee, a dynamic guitarist, playing the top 100 rock ’n’ roll guitar riffs. The v

Is your store’s profit in line with your expectations? Financial gurus Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe of Friedman, Kannenberg & Co. make it their business to help music retailers plan on profitability. At 2015 Summer NAMM, Friedman and Jobe gave retailers easy steps for building a working budget. Jobe stated that it’s important to create a budget and make changes month to month or as needed along the way, so you know what’s going to happen and can grow your business. “You wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint,” Friedman said. “Why would you run a business without a budget?

What happens when customers get behind on instrument rental payments or rental instruments aren’t returned? At 2015 Summer NAMM, Robin Sassi and Kimberly Deverell of San Diego Music Studio gave music retailers the lowdown on collections for rental instruments. Sassi and Deverell spoke frankly from 21 years of experience in business and shared valuable tips on how to avoid pitfalls, improve collections and help the bottom line. (Note: This is not legal advice. For more information, consult a legal professional.) When do you start the collection process? Deverell stated that it’s be

What happens when customers get behind on instrument rental payments or rental instruments aren’t returned? At 2015 Summer NAMM, Robin Sassi and Kimberly Deverell of San Diego Music Studio gave music retailers the lowdown on collections for rental instruments. Sassi and Deverell spoke frankly from 21 years of experience in business and shared valuable tips on how to avoid pitfalls, improve collections and help the bottom line. (Note: This is not legal advice. For more information, consult a legal professional.) When do you start the collection process? Deverell stated that it’s be

Shipping is more important than ever to your customers and your business. In the past decade, the shipping wars between major carriers UPS and FedEx have resulted in substantial price hikes. Tariffs for ground and air shipments will keep increasing. These and other factors, such as package volume, handling, tracking, weight and dimension, will affect your store’s shipping operations and impact your costs. Here are six best practices to consider for improving your shipping process: 1. Know your shipping data. Even though this may seem obvious, it’s often overlooked or dismissed. Un

At Summer NAMM 2015, Kevin Cranley of Willis Music hosted leading retailers Chris White of White House of Music and Gayle Beacock of Beacock Music, along with industry accountant Daniel Jobe of Friedman, Kannenberg & Co., for a FAQ and best practices session on music lessons. Here are their essentials for running a successful and thriving music lessons program. (Watch the video for the full session.) How should I organize my lesson program? Jobe shared that he’s often asked what direction to go with music teachers and commented that it generally falls into one of three bucke

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, “Breakfast of Champions” kicked off the 2016 NAMM Show. At this year’s session, NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond spoke with a rare and influential group, music industry game-changers, about the state of the industry and where it's going. Right after a high-energy musical performance, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro sat down to discuss his career and the ukulele explosion. Highlights from his interview with Lamond: The Smartphone of Instruments “It’s very easy to play right away,” Shimabukuro said of the ukulele. “You don’t feel like you have to

During “Breakfast of Champions” at the 2016 NAMM Show, Hal Leonard President Larry Morton discussed disruptive technologies with NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond. Morton weighed in on how his core business, print music, has evolved with digital technology. He also touched upon Hal Leonard’s distribution business and the importance of partnering with retailers. Highlights from the interview: How did you approach digital technology with print music? This was 1997 when we decided to launch the industry’s first digital sheet music website with our dealers. It was kind of a shocking t

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Annie Clark of St. Vincent stopped by “Breakfast of Champions” at the 2016 NAMM Show. Clark had come to the show to launch her own signature guitar through Ernie Ball. During “Breakfast of Champions,” she discussed guitar game-changers with NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond. Highlights from the interview: On her unique approach to the guitar: “I guess I always looked at guitar as a noise-generator,” Clark said. “It could be a monster, it could be a shield, it could be very gentle. So I kind of just tried to explore the full palette of what guitar m