Civic Leader
By Katie Kailus
 
     At a time when marketing budgets are tight, Anthony Mantova has found a way to promote his store, Mantova’s Two Street Music, without breaking the bank:  community sponsorships.
     “Two things that work well for us are hiring knowledgeable employees and our community involvement,” said Mantova, who runs the Eureka, Calif., full-line dealership with his brothers, Nick and Matt. “We sponsor a lot of events and are the lead sponsor for many of them.”
      In particular, the company donates gear for use during charity events, linking its name with good causes.
     “What we do is we look for good events to sponsor, and then we donate our P.A. gear for the day and get the sponsorship,” Mantova said.
 
New Digs
 
     The Mantova brothers, who took over the former Two Street Music in September 2009, have made several changes to the store, which has been a community staple since 1976.  Mantova’s Two Street Music currently offers rentals, repairs, and lessons in everything from band instruments to guitars.  The brothers also opened a second location in McKinleyville, Calif., during the last holiday season.
     “We have made some changes,” Mantova said.  “We are putting the 6,000 square feet to really good use, and we are in the process of restoring the eureka location to what it used to be:  a million-dollar-a-year store.”
     The most recent addition to the Eureka location is its “Green Room” concert hall.  “The Green Room,” housed in the old guitar showroom, seats 150 people and serves as a venue for local bands to perform on Saturday nights.  Mantova markets these events on Craigslist.
     “We are really active in social marketing through our Facebook page and Craigslist postings,” he said.  “We do quite a bit on the Craigslist community board just by posting what events are going to be on the stage or what acts we are sponsoring.” 
 
Community Involvement
 
     The store has teamed up with different fundraisers, too, including a New Year’s Eve bash for the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life, and a Sounds 4 Hounds event, which raised money for animal rescue projects.  This summer, Mantova’s also joined forces with the Redwood Acres Fairgrounds in Eureka to sponsor a two-day summer music festival, which welcomed thousands of visitors from all across the area.
     “We get out in the community as a lead sponsor and really represent ourselves and try to promote {charities} that are doing good work,” Mantova said.  “From a marketing standpoint, any time you can get double coverage from radio and TV, it’s worth doing.”
     Mantova attributed much of his success so far to this doing-well-by-doing-good promotional strategy.  “Community involvement has been huge,” he said.  “I can’t even put a price tag on the results we’ve gotten from that.”

It is fingerprint resistant and goes a long way to preserving the look your guitar ought to have!

Non toxic.  Biodegradable and good general purpose cleaner!

Bottles only cost $5. And you can get refills for $1 apiece–just bring back the bottle!

Mr. Garret’s Cleaner will be on the Online Store soon!

We understand the temptation–money talks–but did you know that you often get ripped off when you buy music products online instead of at your local music store?

When you choose to shop online, you are choosing to buy an inferior product at an arbitrarily low price.

Check out this eye-opening article written by the Mantova’s Two Street Music Research Division!

1.  The Warranty Issue

Online shoppers have to pay more if they want a warranty to cover their purchase.  So lets say a guitar at MTS Music costs $500 and the same model can be found online at $399.  Big difference, until you notice it costs 49.99 for a warranty.  At this point, if you still decide to purchase the guitar online, you are only saving $50 that, as we will show, is going to get used up real quick.

Please notice at Mantova’s Two Street Music you automatically get a warranty with your purchase.

2.  Manufacturing Defects/Product Inspection

When buying online instead of at our store, you are choosing to pay a little bit less for an inferior product.  That’s because our technicians take a close look at every single instrument that comes in from our suppliers.  The truth is that we see manufacturing defects all the time from our own orders.  When this happens we either fix the defect and lower the price a little bit, or we get on the phone and send it back!

So how many defects does the stuff you bought online have?  How much money will you lose fixing those defects?

At MTS Music it costs at least $20 for a guitar setup.  Lets go back to our online guitar that sold for $399 plus $50 for warranty costs.  Let’s now say that that $450 online purchase had a couple minor defects on the assembly line and was dropped on the ground on its way to the UPS handtruck.  The costs for our technicians to fix the problem was at least $20.

So your online item now costs $470.  “But wait a minute,” you say.  “That is still $20 cheaper!”

Yes it is.  But we have some more costs to look at 

3.  Shipping costs–the silent but deadly cost-raiser

There is something about the human mind that doesn’t factor in the cost of shipping with the stated price.  Well, it should–money is money.

Now if this online guitar has a shipping cost of $39.99, then the price of your online purchase now sits at $510.  What was the price at your local store again?  $500.

Checkmate.

But you say:  “Some of the more well known online sites have free shipping!”  Yes that is often the case, but do you really think the price of your online guitar is completely separated and devoid from the shipping cost?

Think again.  The price of an item adds up all the costs that go into that item–including shipping.  Are you getting an even lesser valued item just so the business can keep the price tag low?  In what ways is the business devaluing your item so they can sell it cheaper?  Some stores buy product in the millions of units and in order to save costs the manufacturer cuts corners–Does yours?

Shipping cost is also an excellent opportunity to mention that shopping online means you have to wait for your product to show up.  Sure you can get it over night–for a price.

4.  Sales Tax sucks

“But what about sales tax?!” you say, “that still makes the store purchase more.”

Yes,  it could. But isn’t it worth paying an additional 8.5% to make sure that your products are covered by a warranty, not defective and get to you immediately?

5.  India-based customer service will never be as good as face-to-face.

Outsourced service will never match the customer service you will get at Mantova’s Two Street Music.  The well-intentioned and polite folks that are paid to handle your calls for online purchases have a script book they read for answers to your problems.  Not enough when the problem is your instrument.

The cost you pay online also includes what it costs to pay these outsourced phone-jockeys.  They make as much as .85 cents a call, its a pretty good deal for them.  Is it a good deal for you?

6.  Music Stores that fight to be the best carry products you can’t find online

Music stores that are worth visiting take their online competitors seriously.  At Mantova’s Two Street Music, we make sure that some of our products are items that you can’t find online.

For example:  We get Djembes that come directly from Ghana through a Seattle based middleman.  They surpass the quality of 99.9% of Djembes available on the online world.

7. You can’t make a special order online

What is a special order?  It is that thing you need that we don’t have on the floor.  Well you can purchase it online, or you can special order it through us.  Did you know that we oftentimes can throw your special order on top of an order we are about to make and get you free shipping?  Did you know that sometimes, our manufacturers have a special discount on the thing you want?

We have more flexibility on special orders than the online guys.

8.  There are no layaways online.

What’s a layaway?  It is a wonderful system where you can pay off your product over time in payments.  You can pay 10% down for us to hold that guitar you want for a month, or even 30% down if you want us to hold it 3 months for you.  It’s all yours when you pay it off.

No accumulated interest.  No hidden fees.  No nonsense.

What if you have hard times and cant make any more payments?  That’s ok–your money will become store credit, which you can use any time to buy our products or services.

Or, and this is on a case-by-case basis, you need a little more time to make a payment, we can talk about it 

9.  Trade

We will let you trade in your gear toward new gear.  The online guys don’t.

10  Good Music Stores help their community

Some music stores actively help their communities and others don’t.  Research which music stores empower their communities and support those stores.

Mantova’s Two Street Music recently helped raise money for American Cancer Society, The Breast Health Project and Relay for Life.  In April 2010 we will pay the advertising budget for The Brain Dance 2, a non profit that helps people with brain injuries with recovery.  In June we will be gearing up to help three animal-aid organizations with a fundraiser.  We also help out local music and sports programs as best we can.

Shop with local music stores that do good work, and you become part of the effort!

Still want to shop online for your music needs?

Courtesy of Baa Baa Sheepskins.  Available now at both Eureka and McKinleyville locations!

Keep your musician happy–get them a MTS Music Teddy Bear for Valentines Day!

Available on our online store soon!

As MTS Music hosts performers in the Concert Hall we select some for our Favorite Business and Band Directory.  If available, we also feature their contact information if you are interested in booking them for future gigs.  Please bookmark our Directory and check it once a week as we continue to grow the list with the area’s best entertainers!

Also keep an eye on the Favorite Businesses portion of the Directory.  In rough economic times, we ask you to patronize the mostly local businesses on our list.  Let’s insure that the businesses that provide the very best services survive this critical economic cycle!

Bands can now rent our Concert Hall at MTS Music for rehearsals. The Concert stage is fully stocked with drums, amps, mics, monitors–everything you need for a good practice session.

The rate is $30 for the first hour and $20 for each hour after that. We only book rehearsals during store hours (10am-6pm) for any day except Saturday. Your band can reserve up to 3 hours–pay up front.

We have posted rules of conduct that apply in all cases. Any questions–email Anthony at anthony@mtsmusic.com

With our stage you get free promotion, great gear and the atmosphere you need to make the most of your band!

High quality Titano and Excelsior accordions can be found in our accordion section!  Please ask for assistance before handling!

Accordion lessons are also available with Lindy Mantova, call MTS Music at (707) 445-3155 for more information

Locally-grown prodigy and now Hollywood-recording artist, Eric Sampson will perform from 5 to 7PM in the Concert Hall at Mantova’s Two Street Music. Eric Sampson will be joined by some other Hollywood-based performers. No Cover Charge and free coffee!

1.  Utilize Free service sites like Humboldtmusic.com and craigslist.

HumboldtMusic is free to musicians and allows you to seamlessly upload your music in a local setting that other local musicians will pay attention to.  Myspace is a must (we assume you already have one!), but to kick it up a notch, be sure to use these sites!

In Humboldt County, Craigslist plays a central role in the musician community!  The community board on Craigslist allows new upcoming musicians to get connected, experienced bands to network and find gigs, and also is a good place to find lost or stolen gear.  (Mantova’s Two Street Music and good Samaritans post updates on various instruments that are reported stolen on the community page).

2.  Get free attention with your media list! First, build a media list that covers all local radio and TV stations, newspapers and blogs.  The best way to get free attention is to fundraise properly–team up with one local business and 1 to 3 charities.  (Teaming up with too many businesses will muddle up your message).  Don’t email your media list more than 2 times a week.

Local media is able to grant matching ads to your cause.  So if you are raising money to fight cancer, local radio stations will give you live reads, and if you advertise–they will give you matching coverage!

(Mantova’s Two Street Music is very active with fundraisers, and promotes the bands that choose to help us with our efforts)

3.   Business cards are essential.  Don’t fall for the passing fad that business cards make you dorky or unmusicianlike.  Like with any other venture, without business cards you don’t exist.  If you can tolerate some self-promo graphics on the back, you can get 250 business cards for free at vistaprint.com

For other good starting tips on promoting your band, check out this article from cnjmusicians.com