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TEM92: Steve Dillon of Dillon Music on passion, becoming an authority and always thinking long-term
Steve Dillon of Dillon Music talking about his 30+ years in the music business. He touches on passion, becoming an authority and the importance of always thinking long-term.
Topics Covered:
5:30 - A summary of Steve's store, Dillon Music
7:23 - The story of how Steve painted a room for his grandmother and when he was in middle school and took that money and bought his first instrument which he immediately traded for two others
11:03 - Steve's lifelong passion for instruments and selling them and how that passion is contagious to anyone he comes into contact with
15:21 - How his passion has helped him become an authority on certain subjects which in turn has helped him to solve problems for people
18:40 - Why trying to monetize the research he's doing to become an expert or the time he spends building relationships with customers is the incorrect way to frame it
23:30 - The keys to why he has done such a great job of hiring people over the years (and why finding a partner to start a small business is the same thing as hiring your 30th employee)
30:45 - What direction he sees things moving on the manufacturing side of the music business
36:08 - How he thought long-term even when he first opened a retail store and was forced to think about short-term things like cash flow (and how that relates to a performer just getting their career off the ground)
47:57 - He talks about the Survey of Music Business course he teaches at New Jersey City University (and why he doesn't spend much time teaching stuff that the students can easily google on their own)
54:30 - Why networking is so vital to success in business (and how so few people are any good at following up with someone they meet in a class or some other professional situation)
57:42 - How Steve was the kid (way before email) that was always calling people asking them questions and how almost all people are looking to help others
Links:
Dillon Music
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Scott Hartman: Episode 48 of The Brass Junkies
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Dillon Music Facebook Page
Favorite Quotes:
"My business is my life and my life is my business."
"I think (my passion) has made me become an expert at certain things, thus made me become an authority."
"You have to get out there. You have to be personable and connect with everyone you can."
"When I hire a person I understand that there's gonna be good qualities and bad qualities. My job is to take them both and go to work with it."
"You always have to look long-term unless you're in it for the short-term."
"If you can get along with people, you can succeed."
There are two ways you can support TEM!
You can help me reach two specific goals I've set for TEM:
1. Help me get to $50 per episode on Patreon by pledging as little as $1 per episode to support the show: https://www.patreon.com/tempodcast
2. Help me get to my goal of 50 ratings at iTunes by leaving a rating and review.
And finally, a huge thank you to Parker Mouthpieces for providing the hosting for TEM.
Produced by Joey Santillo
