Sooner or later, bad weather affects business. And when it does, you can take the day off with the rest of the world or get creative and turn it into an opportunity to market your music lesson program. Here, Mike and Miriam Risko of Mike Risko Music share five ways they've turned snow days and blackouts into a promotional opportunity.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of “Best in Show.” To celebrate, host Frank Alkyer, publisher of Music Inc. and UpBeat Daily magazines, has assembled a who’s who panel of independent music retail buyers. They’ve shopped the show floor, and here, they’ll reveal the best products and services at Summer NAMM.

Want to be the go-to music retailer in your market? The most happening place in the community? Here, Tracy Leenman of Musical Innovations reveals five low-cost, high-impact promotions and events that helped put her store on the map. Discover new ways to get customers into your store—and keep them coming back!

Imagine if customers not only paid attention to your marketing but also looked forward to it, and wanted more! At the 2015 NAMM Show, marketing guru Joe Pulizzi showed how to make this a reality with content marketing—relevant, valuable marketing that attracts a defined audience. He delved into how to create a content marketing strategy from scratch and leverage social media to develop an engaged, loyal audience.

Monster Music owner Brian Reardon shared his runaway promotion success story at 2014 Summer NAMM. Reardon had his most successful sales month ever in March 2014 after launching a radio campaign on a local rock station. March sales even surpassed previous record months, including December, and strong sales continued into the spring. Find out how he did it.

Three years ago, Liane Rockley of Rockley Music made a calculated decision to gut her lesson program and rebuild it from the ground up. It’s now a successful, thriving program, as part of the new Rockley Education Center. And at the 2015 NAMM Show, she shared her strategy for making this happen.

You don’t need an accounting degree to take financial control of your music retail business. At the 2015 NAMM Show, Lori Supinie, president of Senseney Music, offered 10 simple financial tips that will help you make better decisions and give you financial peace of mind. Find out how to keep your music store in the black, create a fiscally minded staff, prevent employee theft and more.

Millennials—people 18–33 years old—are the fastest-growing segment of the workforce across all industries. At the 2015 NAMM Show, CJ Averwater of Amro Music showed music retailers how to attract, motivate and unleash their talent. “As managers and business owners, we have to understand and be able to relate to them,” he said.

At the 2015 NAMM Show, Donovan Bankhead and Misty Kristek of Springfield Music revealed proven strategies and tactics for creating a lesson program with sustainable profits. If you’re tired of music lessons just breaking even at your store, find out how to build a lesson program that customers will pay real money for—and make real money for your business.

Do you have one too many products celebrating a birthday at your store? Is distressed merchandise choking your inventory? At the 2015 NAMM Show, Bob Popyk, sales expert and Music Trades Magazine columnist, and Alan Friedman, music retail financial guru and partner at Friedman, Kannenberg & Co., teamed up to reveal practical ideas to move obsolete and dated merchandise out the door.