advertising

[Jon Page]

It always helps for future reference to have one's name etched on
some part of the piano. That way when the next guy tries to pull
your business card off, he will not have to curse whether it was
adhered with hide or alephatic resin glue.

Jon Page


At 12:37 AM 7/31/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Yo,
>
>At the risk of injecting a degree of negativism into the poll, I would like
>to offer the observation that no form of paid advertising to which I have
>succumbed through the last 21+ years has ever paid for itself. I have always
>carried a minimal yellow page ad to satisfy what I have come to regard as
>the "illusion of legitimacy". Virtually all of my business comes from
>referrals. I don't give away pens, calendars, teacher discounts, or European
>vacations. I don't send out reminder cards, nor schedule the next service
>when I do the current service. I don't keep card files with the name of the
>dog, the upcoming competitions the kids will be participating in, or any
>other information I could use to give the impression that I am anything
>other than a (I hope) first rate piano mechanic. I make no pretense of
>adoption, or undue fixation on the families in posession of the pianos I
>service. I just try to treat them like I would like to be treated, and
>render them the best service of which I am capable, at an appropriate price,
>with a minimum of flim-flam (stupid jokes aside). Oddly enough, people you
>wouldn't suspect of being capable of noticing anything that straight-forward
>and simple will surprise you by not only calling you back like an old
>friend, but will refer a bunch of other folks to you for service. The Golden
>Rule sounds like a corny and out-dated sort of cliche, but it works better
>than any advertising you can buy. It will cost you a couple of bucks from
>time to time, but the long term pay-back is amazing and wonderful.
>
>
> 
> Ron 
>
>