“It is important to bear in mind that political campaigns are designed by the same people who sell toothpaste and cars.”
― Noam Chomsky
Let The World Knows
Hello,
Advertising is a wide and complex activity that has become a rotten hell, full of unscrupulous minds that make lies a new normal, for the only purpose to procured costumers to spend more money in a very convenient way.
Corporations across the world, follow the same methods and techniques. The philosopher George Santayana said:“Advertising is the modern substitute for argument; its function is to make the worse appear the better.”
However, advertising is an important tool in business; big companies spent millions just to put their bran names out there in the minds of the consumer in an effort to promote sales or attendance. They do not; and I repeat this: They DO NOT limit any efforts to accomplish this.
But the same rule applies to small or medium companies, in fact; politicians and even religious leaders rely on this rule, whoring themselves inexorably to remain in the game. The techniques of advertising are countless, among them, the most popular by far has been: “repetition”.
These techniques can be ruthless, they manipulate information to get the masses "want" what they do not "need", their deceiving powers are not far from being illegal, but some are surely unethical. They do indeed, play with human emotions. Advertising practices had become a bloody battle field.
If we talk about advertising techniques online, the dynamics are the same. Why on earth would they be doing anything different?, But it is another monster I am not willing to argue, there's no need, because they for sure, applied the same unethical approaches.
So, moving on from my laments, I have to mention that when I opened my piano studio, I did not know exactly what to expect, I knew I needed to make a living and I had chosen to do it by teaching music. But I didn't have money to pay for ads, therefor; I relied on word of mouth advertising to gain new students.
Tim Sigurdson was the master mind of my success, without his help, I would NOT had made a small mark on the world (I would like to think I did, after all, I taught many kids and adults alike for so long). He would print professional looking flyers and we would walk systematically around the neighbourhood issuing the printing material.
In the beginning, going from door to door delivering the flyers to announce the grand opening and talking to people on the street were by far, the most artful and of course, productive way to gain attention.
I had to learn the necessary skills to run a business while, at the same time, getting busy teaching; I made mistakes, and Tim was always there to lift me from the ground. With HIS help, by doing the right things, I earned a place in the micro-space of music.
Teaching piano from home is overall, continuing to be, a very well respected career, there is a lot of compromised on both parts: The teacher and the student; because for the instructor, it means to open up a private space; for the student, it means to have a certain decorum acceptable in that private place. Both parties under mutual respect, have to agree to unseen, common sense regulations.
I knew that playing the piano was NOT enough, it is a dog eat dog out in the world, the competition is fiercely. So, If I wanted to succeed, I knew I had to practice harder and longer than any of my students. I needed to be prepare for any eventuality that came rushing my way. I never made it to "Carnegie Hall" but I was able to make a living doing what I love.
Yes, to let the world know you are open for business, there are many handy tools available. But in todays world, the main objective is to create a need, a fantasy world that would make life easier, a world where we'd be happier if only we'd buy this instead of that, mocking human intelligence.
Piano schools and teachers alike, make unbelievable statements regarding learning the piano, to make an extra buck. What they don't mention is that it takes less than 5 minutes to play sometime smooth and simple, yet, it takes a lifetime of experience and hard work to make it sound smooth and simple. These are some of the statements included in ads I've seen:
- Sing up NOW and learn how to play piano in 2 WEEKS
- Discover in a flash ALL the secrets to play like a pro
- Playing piano would cause to do BETTER in school
- Learning to play a music instrument HELPS with anxiety
The U.S. is a country that resembles a giant shopping mall. Products and services are at our disposition night and day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. WE all know the dark side of advertising, and yet, over and over, we fell for it and buy good and services we don't need with money we probably don't have.
I'd like to let the world know, that is, if the world just happens to be reading this letter and the world is not busy purchasing goods and services, that I am dedicating this piece to Timothy Sigurdson. To thank him for making my music journey a reality, for teaching me about advertising, for making my life easier, for being there all the way and sharing wisdom and knowledge.
Enjoy!