[pianotech] Good business reads - perhaps OT

[phil at emvkeys.ca]

Hi list - if this should be listed as off topic, certainly say so

I'm still in my first year of business as a piano technician so I 
haven't much to contribute of technical value at this point.
I have, however, had many years in various businesses (successful and 
otherwise) and I'd like to make a suggestion in response to recent 
threads surrounding the various business aspects of our trade - that is, 
the submission to the list of short reviews of written business 
resources that are not specific to our industry

May I suggest a few good reads which, being principle-based, might have 
profitable application for those of us who don't have a full schedule, 
for whatever reason.

Here are two to start with

*1. Guerilla Marketing: /Secrets for Making Big Profits From Your Small 
Business /*- Jay Conrad Levinson* - *I was given this book as part of a 
marketing seminar I attend several years ago. It basically covers about 
a bazillion things a small business owner can do /virtually for free/  
to market his/her small business. Not everything applies to every small 
business but the clarified Guerrilla Marketing principles cause the 
reader to think differently about advertising methods and their 
effectiveness, highlighting the fact that small businesses have a huge 
advantage over large corporations with multi-million dollar advertising 
budgets. This book has spawned somewhat of a cult following as well as a 
number of follow-up books and resources. The original book is certainly 
out of date (pre-internet) but still valuable and available. Get it new 
or used from Amazon for about 4 bucks. Highly recommended by Phil.

Guerilla Marketing Website: http://www.gmarketing.com
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0395906253/guerrillmarke-20

2. *Raving Fans: /A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service/ - *Ken 
Blanchard & Sheldon Bowles* - *I ordered this book after listening to 
author Ken Blanchard at a leadership/management conference a few years 
back. On the surface, the book seems to be aimed at  businesses larger 
than our often one-person-does-everything model. Again, clarified 
customer service principles certainly have a place in the winning 
strategy of any sized business, including piano service. Blanchard 
partners with other excellent authors to produce a number of valuable 
written business resources. Get "Raving Fans " new or used from Amazon 
for about 4 bucks. Highly recommended by Phil.
 
Blanchard Website: http://www.blanchardlearning.com
Amazon: 
http://www.amazon.com/Raving-Fans-Revolutionary-Approach-Customer/dp/0688123163

cheers!

Phil Manning

  /Artist Piano Care/
E X C E L L E N C E ~ F I N E LY  T U N E D 
web: www.artistpianocare.ca
    tel: 416-907-3562
    cel: 905-626-3727
   phil at artistpianocare.ca

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090417/015d3078/attachment.html>