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Want practical ideas to improve your YouTube channel and video marketing? Jen Lowe of Boom Boom Percussion moderated this exciting panel discussion with three YouTube and video marketing experts: Ben Werlin of MusicStoreLive, Nick Gordon of D’Addario and Michael Zapanta of MZFilms.tv. Get a 360-degree look at how to tell your company’s story using video, how to turn that story into sales on YouTube and how to use analytics to get better results on an ongoing basis. * PowerPoint not available for this session  

At 2015 Summer NAMM, Donovan Bankhead of Springfield Music hosted a motivating session on one of the best ways to drive traffic to your store: events. It featured a panel of retailers from the Independent Music Store Owners (iMSO) group: Gordon Wilcher of Owensboro Music Center, Don Tegeler of Tegeler Music Center, Allen McBroom of Backstage Music and Jim DeStafney of Blues Angel Music. Each iMSO member discussed his most successful store event to inspire fellow music retailers to get creative and plan events at their stores. Here are five signature events and proven strategies fr

In 90 seconds, Myrna Sislen of Middle C Music shares her big idea: Generate interest in new products by creating "unboxing" promotional videos. She films these offbeat videos of new products being unpacked, then posts the videos to YouTube, her website and company e-blasts. "It's new and a little bit different, and that's the direction we want to go," Sislen says.

Several months ago, I’d never made a cold call in my life. I shuddered at the thought of calling someone I didn’t know and asking for money or donations. Making my first call, I began dialing and stopped before I got to the last digit. I’d put a script together and been talking to myself in the car for days getting ready for this, but I still hesitated. If it weren’t for Mason Music, my retail business that I cared so much about, I might have never finished dialing the number—and opened the door to a world of sponsorship opportunities. 1. Getting started. Corporate sponsorships ar

At 2015 Summer NAMM, Will Thompson of Habitual Social revealed why he believes Instagram is the music retailer’s best way to acquire new fans and customers—and at the lowest price. Thompson, a digital marketing and media CEO in the music industry, shared how he used Instagram to build “Pensado’s Place” into a leading pro audio engineering online show with more than 100,000 subscribers. Here are more highlights from the session video: Why Instagram? Thompson advised music retailers to be deliberate about bringing Facebook users to Instagram by inviting them to follow you. He stated

There’s nothing more important to you than family. However, your family owned business supports your family, so when it comes to protecting both of them, you need to consider your moves carefully. Running a business presents tons of challenges, but passing a family business on to your children or other relatives can be even tougher. According to the Small Business Administration, only 33 percent of family owned businesses survive the transition from first-generation ownership to the next generation. Why is it so hard to keep a family business intact? Sometimes, it’s because no one

Of all the digital marketing tools, email is the most powerful—so said marketing and sales guru Bob Negen of WhizBang! Training at 2015 Summer NAMM. During his NAMM U session, he pointed out that social media works, but email is still the best way for music retailers to market their businesses. “It gives you the biggest bang for your buck,” Negen said. He then offered tips and approaches to make the most of your email campaigns. (Watch the video to hear all of Negen’s insights into maximizing your email marketing.) MAKE EMAIL MARKETING A FOCUSYou own the relationship. With Faceboo

At 2015 Summer NAMM, Larry Bailin hosted the NAMM U Breakfast Session “No More Average Marketing—How to Cut Through the Noise.” During the session, Bailin, a sales and marketing expert, gave the show’s exhibitors some tough love about their approach to greeting attendees. Bailin explained that he’d walked the exhibit floor on the first day of Summer NAMM. He turned his badge around, so no one could see if he was a buyer or not. “And I walked up every single aisle,” he said. “I walked past every single exhibitor—every one—purposefully, and no one said anything to me. No one said, ‘

Online marketing is a jungle that can ravage budgets in the blink of an eye. It’s never been more critical for music businesses to know what connects with customers, and what doesn’t. In this NAMM U Breakfast Session at 2015 Summer NAMM, Larry Bailin showed what it takes to succeed online and get more customers for less money. Bailin—who Yahoo’s marketing team called “one of the top minds in the business”—is an Internet marketing pioneer, best-selling author and digital pacesetter. He showed what it takes to cut through the noise online, identify the difference between opportunity

At the 2015 NAMM Show, Brian Douglas of Cream City Music revealed how to make your marketing more effective through having a cohesive, impactful plan—one that’s relatively inexpensive to bring to life. Douglas, an 18-year veteran of the music products industry and the owner of Cream City Music, faced distinct challenges when he purchased his store from the previous owners. “I went from being just a guy to being the guy.” He added, “I soon learned that the owner perspective is very different.” As it related to marketing, Douglas set about to establish his store’s brand, inspire cus

Your website is more than a parking spot for information. At Mason Music, we have invested a lot of time, energy and money into our website, and it has been worth every penny. In many ways, our website is the centerpiece of our marketing strategy. Every marketing piece we print, post on social media, put into a radio ad, banner, yard sign—you name it—everything points new leads to our website. You only get one chance at a first impression, so make sure it’s good. You have a vision for who you are and how you are going to create value for your customers and your employees. Make sur

Your website is more than a parking spot for information. At Mason Music, we have invested a lot of time, energy and money into our website, and it has been worth every penny. In many ways, our website is the centerpiece of our marketing strategy. Every marketing piece we print, post on social media, put into a radio ad, banner, yard sign—you name it—everything points new leads to our website. You only get one chance at a first impression, so make sure it’s good. You have a vision for who you are and how you are going to create value for your customers and your employees. Make sur