Apr 23, 2019
Stu Tinker is a lifelong resident of Bangor, Maine. Along with his wife, he owned and operated Betts Bookstore for 20 years, where they specialized in Stephen King books and memorabilia. Stu, also owned and operated a limousine service for a number of years transporting people like Stephen King, Drew Barrymore, Kenney Rogers, Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart, John Mellencamp, Cheap Trick and many others. His knowledge of the King world in and around “Derry” is second to none.
In 1990, Stu and his wife bought Betts Bookstore and always kept a complete catalog of both Stephen and Tabitha’s works in stock in hardcover and paperback for 20 years. Because of the help that the King’s gave his business, his store became well known throughout the world as the place to go to for Stephen King items. During the last 9 years that we owned the store, we were 100% Stephen King. After selling the store, he and his wife decided to do Stephen King Tours in “Derry.”
In this episode:
4:00 – The story behind Stu Tinker and his wife Penny started their Stephen King bookstore in Bangor
8:01 – Why Stu sold the store and transitioned into Stephen King Tours
10:49 – How the Internet started to bring people from all over the world to experience Stephen King tours.
11:51 – How technology and the web have made making business easy for Stu do more business and plan tours several years in advance
15:55 – Why Stu has learned more about computers and marketing to improve his business
16:53 – The value of tourism in Maine and the professionals who can help you get started with a business in Maine
20:03 – Stu tells Nancy the best way he measures success and what has been the number one reason for his success
21:25 – How Stu has built his personal network in Bangor, Maine and his relationship with super collectors
23:09 – Nancy talks about the value of a tribe of fans that love your brand
27:12 – How word of mouth advertising has helped grow his business and attract people to fly in to Bangor
29:08 - Why Stu focuses on low price tours and has decided to make kids under 12 free and provide pet-friendly tours
32:24 – The value of a quarterly e-newsletter and publicity and public relations
33:25 – The significance of five-star ratings for SK-Tours on Trip Advisor
Links:
SCORE - https://bangor.score.org/
Acadia National Park - https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm
Greenville, Maine - https://greenvilleme.com/
Moosehead Lake - https://visitmaine.com/things-to-do/parks-natural-attractions/moosehead-lake
Sleeping Beauties book - https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Beauties-Novel-Stephen-King/dp/150116340X
Trip Advisor page for SK-Tours - https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g40502-d3442122-Reviews-SK_Tours_Of_Maine_LLC-Bangor_Maine.html
SK-Tours Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/sktoursofmaine/
People:
Stephen King - https://www.stephenking.com/
Tabitha King
Joe Hill - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill_(writer)
Owen King
Quote: About owning a business: “It’s hard work, but it is so rewarding. It’s so much more fun than working for someone else.”
Looking to Connect:
E-mail at SK-Tours@MSN.com
Web page at WWW.SK-Tours.com