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School bids can be frustrating. At some point, you’ve probably spent hours working up a bid, only to lose to a competitor. Still, there’s money to be made in school bidding, if you go about it the right way. Here are five ways to win in the school bid business. 1. Do the research. Know your state and local procurement codes. If you haven’t studied them, you need to. They are readily available on your state or school district’s website. You will gain credibility with band and orchestra directors if you can be a resource for them, as they often find the bid process frustrating, too.

School bids can be frustrating. At some point, you’ve probably spent hours working up a bid, only to lose to a competitor. Still, there’s money to be made in school bidding, if you go about it the right way. Here are five ways to win in the school bid business. 1. Do the research. Know your state and local procurement codes. If you haven’t studied them, you need to. They are readily available on your state or school district’s website. You will gain credibility with band and orchestra directors if you can be a resource for them, as they often find the bid process frustrating, too.

At the 2015 NAMM Show, three music retail veterans shared their insights and wisdom on starting music retail businesses. Former Steinway Piano Gallery owner Greg Billings, the moderator, was joined by Ellen McDonald of Hartland Music and Menzie Pittman of Contemporary Music Center. As diverse music retailers in differently sized markets, they addressed common business pitfalls and what they’d do differently, looking back. On Fear McDonald shared that she had a fear of looking stupid and not asking for help—a tendency of many new store owners. “I thought I knew how to do it all mys

Rand and Cindy Cook of The Candyman Strings and Things know a thing or two about rock camps—through research, hard work, and trial and error. The result is a summer rock camp that took home a NAMM Top 100 Award. At the 2015 NAMM Show, the Cooks shared their knowledge and paid it forward at a NAMM U session, “How to Host a Summer Rock Camp From Start to Finish (and Beyond).” Here are highlights from their session, touching upon their best practices, tips and hints. Watch the video for the complete session. How to Get Started • Create a task force of people in your community. Consid

Are you thinking of updating and redesigning your store? If so, it can make a big difference to your sales. At the 2015 NAMM Show, Jen Lowe of Boom Boom Percussion interviewed music retailers David Kalt of Chicago Music Exchange (pictured), Mike and Ray Guntren of Ray’s Midbell Music, and Mike Stryker of Spindrift Guitars to get their smartest and most effective store design ideas. Pictures tell the story, so watch the video for visual examples. Small Design Ideas With Big ImpactRepurpose and save. When it came time to update Ray’s Midbell Music, the Guntrens used old TVs for mon

Are you thinking of updating and redesigning your store? If so, it can make a big difference to your sales. At the 2015 NAMM Show, Jen Lowe of Boom Boom Percussion interviewed music retailers David Kalt of Chicago Music Exchange (pictured), Mike and Ray Guntren of Ray’s Midbell Music, and Mike Stryker of Spindrift Guitars to get their smartest and most effective store design ideas. Pictures tell the story, so watch the video for visual examples. Small Design Ideas With Big ImpactRepurpose and save. When it came time to update Ray’s Midbell Music, the Guntrens used old TVs for mon

Sooner or later, bad weather affects business. It might be a blizzard or hurricane. Maybe you’ll have to close for the day because of a blackout or hail storm. But the unexpected will happen, and when it does, you can take the day off with the rest of the world or get creative and turn it into an opportunity to market your music lesson program. We’re in New York, and winter always throws us a punch—either in the form of a giant snowstorm or roads covered in ice. Snow days are never easy. People want to sit home in pajamas, bake and watch movies. Heat waves are also hard because th

Sooner or later, bad weather affects business. It might be a blizzard or hurricane. Maybe you’ll have to close for the day because of a blackout or hail storm. But the unexpected will happen, and when it does, you can take the day off with the rest of the world or get creative and turn it into an opportunity to market your music lesson program. We’re in New York, and winter always throws us a punch—either in the form of a giant snowstorm or roads covered in ice. Snow days are never easy. People want to sit home in pajamas, bake and watch movies. Heat waves are also hard because th

This year marks the 10th anniversary of “Best in Show.” To celebrate, host Frank Alkyer, publisher of Music Inc. and UpBeat Daily magazines, has assembled a who’s who panel of independent music retail buyers. They’ve shopped the show floor, and here, they’ll reveal the best products and services at Summer NAMM. These are the standout products you’ll want to see before you go home—gear that’s certain to be a big deal in the fourth quarter. You might just find out about your next runaway best-seller.

This article is based off a NAMM U session at the 2015 NAMM Show. We've included a video of the session here. Want to create high visibility for your company? Tell the community that there’s “always something going on” at your retail business? Then start by hosting events that bring people into your store. ​One of the “power truths” in marketing is that people want what others want. So, if your store becomes a place where people want to gather, others will want to come in and see what’s going on. PART I: EVENT GUIDELINES Here are five tips to help make hosting events easy, fun and

At the 2015 NAMM Show, leading marketing expert Joe Pulizzi took to the show floor after his Breakfast Session. He gave audience members a kick-start on content marketing in a nitty-gritty NAMM Idea Center presentation, "Epic Marketing: Get Started With Content Marketing." “When we say content marketing, we’re talking about valuable, relevant, compelling content that we’re going to create on a consistent basis,” Pulizzi said. He shared six guidelines to keep in mind with content marketing: 1. Fill a need. Focus on who your core customer is and what need you want to fill for them.

At 2014 Summer NAMM, Monster Music owner Brian Reardon shared his runaway radio promotion success story. Reardon had his most successful sales month ever in March 2014 after launching a radio campaign on a local rock station. March sales even surpassed previous record months, including December, and strong sales continued into the spring. Reardon pointed out that people often assume that no one listens to the radio anymore, which isn’t true. He mentioned that many local markets have stations with a loyal following, and he wanted to reach those targeted listeners—in this instance,