On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 8:21 AM, phil at emvkeys.ca <phil at emvkeys.ca> wrote: > 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 The original book is certainly out of date (pre-internet) but 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 > > Thanks Phil, I was also in some other businesses and my mother was in advertising for the last 30 years of her working life so I learned a great deal from her about advertising. All of that aside, I believe just as we can always learn more about our business/trade, we can always learn new methods of running and marketing it. So I again thank you for your information. Mike -- I intend to live forever. So far, so good. Steven Wright Michael Magness Magness Piano Service 608-786-4404 www.IFixPianos.com email mike at ifixpianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090417/4e0dbccd/attachment.html>
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