The Life Changing Magic Of the Banjo
Barry Hunn
Sales Manager
In a movie I watched recently, the hero and the leading lady were getting married after being separated for many years when one of the wedding guests made a philosophical observation, “…how much of human life is spent waiting.”
While waiting is a natural part of life and business, how often must we wait because of actual barriers and how often do we wait because of imagined barriers. If someone with authority tells us, business is bad, better hold back, don’t waste your time pushing… what kind of advice is that? Isn’t that like telling Tony Melendez, the young singer/guitarist born with no arms, who played the guitar with his bare feet, who brought tears to the eyes of the Pope and millions of listeners around the world, young man, you have no arms, don’t waste your time trying to play the guitar! What a loss to the world it would have been if he had listened to the negative messages that were thrown at him.
Insight and experience are commodities that, no matter how expensive they are, they are undervalued.
One of our accessory suppliers in the past read a motivational story that we had given to him at a trade show several years ago. He was so moved by the story, he had the story framed and hung it up in his office. In a subsequent phone call, reflecting on his inspiration from the story, he made the statement, “business is about moving forward….not holding back.”
When I first heard this statement, I was struck by the strength, courage and wisdom in these words. I realized that this is a great philosophy for life. In fact, I made a note on a piece of paper to keep in front of me at home and at the office that says, “LIFE IS ABOUT MOVING FORWARD…NOT HOLDING BACK.”
While attending a festival and having taken thirteen Goodtime banjos in the truck, my co-worker and I sold all of the banjos we brought with us. Only one banjo was bought by a customer who could play “a little”. Every other banjo was bought by people who had never played a musical instrument. By teaching them the simple “two finger method”, (see the Deering two-finger method DVD). utilizing the beautiful, inherent simplicity of the open G tuned banjo, these twelve customers experienced deep, intrinsic, positive life changes by learning to do something they had always yearned to do, but had no idea how to get started.
They all bravely seized the opportunity to enrich their lives with the magic of music, and with only a 15 minute “lesson”, they started moving forward on a mission that changed their view of music and life. These customers moved forward, and didn’t look back.
Think about this… these brave souls moved forward to do something special for themselves, buying a new American-made banjo during one of the “most difficult economic times in recent world history”.
Why did they buy? Every person who came into our booth was greeted with the question, “Are you a banjo player?” If the answer was no, we offered to teach them to play a few songs within fifteen minutes.
We did NOT focus my attention or their attention on money by asking what they wanted to spend. We did NOT direct my attention or their attention on money by talking about how great our banjos are for the money. We kept my attention and their attention on the magic, joy and ease of learning how to play the banjo. We taught them to play with an attitude that we are not here to sell you a banjo, we are here to bring the magic of the banjo into your life.
They bought banjos because they all wanted the magic that we showed them how to find in these instruments. This was not difficult. This was not sneaky. This was not even expensive for either of us.
This was easy. This was fun. This was simple. This was direct and honest. This was the lowest cost advertising and public relations we could do. This is what we all are supposed to do: Focus on the magic of the banjo.
It is time we all quit focusing on dollars, and start focusing on moving forward in life and business. Finding a “hot” or “killer” deal where you buy your new banjo for a low price is ok, but finding the magic of music and sharing and spreading this magic is the entire reason we are embarking on this mission. If you are a person who has been thinking about learning to play the banjo, remember to focus on the reason for buying your banjo... learning to play and bringing the magic of music to humanity. Long after you’ve forgotten what you paid for your banjo, you will be bathing in its golden tones and joyfully creating your own magic.THAT’S THE REASON FOR BUYING A BANJO!
Immerse yourself in the magic. Money comes and goes but the magic of the banjo will be with you all the days of your life. Move forward, not back. Change your life for the better.
