The problem is time. Over and over again, when I talk to people about social media, content and marketing their store, I hear the same problem repeated: “I just can’t find the time.” It’s not that store owners and managers don’t care. It’s that, more often than not, they’re stretched too thin and are dedicating themselves to so many other things than sitting down and working through things like brand identity, marketing ideas or creating social media content — let alon

I know, I’ve been writing a lot about video lately. This is the third part in this series (which began in the August 2018 issue and continued in the November 2018 issue), and then I’ll take a break to focus on other topics for a bit. But before that happens, I wanted to give you some tools to empower you to make some great video content for your store. Hopefully these columns have helped demystify the idea of making videos, and this will serve as a sort of primer to get you s

In the August 2018 issue of the Music & Sound Retailer, I wrote a column called “Make Video Content a Priority Now,” which talked about the value of developing original video content as a marketing tool. That column was one of the most-responded-to columns I’ve ever written, and it’s a topic I have a lot to say about, so I decided some follow-up columns would be a good idea. Consider this a kind of Part Two to that. Video marketing is the fastest-growing segment of content an

Last month, I began to discuss the rise of New Media and its impact on MI retail. I started by talking a little about the importance of generating original content, which can then be delivered via multiple channels, such as your Web site, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. In this month’s column, I want to dive a little deeper. Original content is any unique content you create yourself. This can mean photos, videos, graphics, blogs, tweets and Facebook posts. What it d

“Catalog Day” used to be a huge thing for consumers. You’d receive your awesome gear catalogs in the mail and browse through all the cool new gear, lusting after the latest and greatest in instruments, effects and more. When the Internet came along, e-commerce Web sites replaced those catalogs. At first available only to those with the budget to build one, such sites are now available to practically everyone through Wix, Squarespace or, with a little know-how, WordPress. Many

I’ve been talking about original content a lot during the past year, mostly about how important it is and what the general uses of things are. Along with the usual topics I like to cover, I thought it would be a great idea to start talking about various social media channels and delivery options, and how you can maximize your impact on those platforms. Instagram is a platform I started using only about two years ago for our store, and I’ve been experimenting with a variety of

Every day, we are exposed to ever-growing amounts of media. I’ve touched on this when talking about various mobile and Internet technologies and their impact on retail. In last month’s column, I discussed unstores and other emerging retail trends, many of which are experience-based, rather than being centered on purchase intent. If those concepts seem lofty or farfetched to you, don’t worry. You’re not alone. There’s a generation gap happening, and we’re all falling on one si