At the top of my list of to-do’s over the holiday break? Whipping my studio into shape for the new year. It was badly in need of reorganization after the end-of-semester frenzy — and I’m pretty sure mine isn’t the only one!

That, of course begs the question: is your studio ready for 2012?

I started to feel a little overwhelmed as I wrote down all the tasks involved, but actually tackling them one by one was surprisingly enjoyable. The very best and most satisfying part was crossing them off the list, which looked like this:

• Scan printed sheet music
• Enter expenses and file receipts
• Finish thank you notes to students
• Frame and hang student artwork
• Clear out my inbox
• Part with unneeded programs, fliers, etc.
• Find homes for stray items in my storage closet
• Back up my computer on my external hard drive
• Put away Christmas music
• Pack up Christmas decorations
• Reorganize music bookcase
• Put instruments and equipment back in their place

Once all of these items were crossed off the list, I did a deep cleaning (including dusting, windexing, sweeping, and vaccuuming) and then took a long nap!

My studio reopens today after being closed for over a week; the fact that it is organized will make the transition into a new semester easier for both my students and myself. No rifling through stacks of sheet music and unalphabetized file folders or searching for missing books…at least until it’s time for spring cleaning/reorganization.

What’s on YOUR to-do list for project “Studio Readying 2012″?

Tool #1:
Studio Helper
I use this daily to track all clients and outstanding balances due. I encourage all clients to use the Paypal ‘make a payment’ link and so all payments flow easily into Paypal and then into Studio Helper. Essential!

Tool #2:
Paypal App
I have the Paypal App on both my iPhone and my iPad. I regularly use it to quickly withdraw funds from my Paypal account and deposit them into my Citi business account. It takes less than a minute and can happen from anywhere I happen to be in the world.

Tool #3:
Evernote
An absolutely essential tool for me that I use to basically capture any and every idea I have about how I can grow my business. For example, recently I was on the hunt for a new commercial space to hour our school. I walked the neighborhood and snapped photos on my iPhone (in Evernote) of anything I saw I liked. I then added any text notes concerning details about each property (though the contact info was already usually in the photo). I finally made a single ‘notebook’ within Evernote that included all the photos of properties and my text. After synching with my iMac at home, I could organize and decide which properties seemed worth following up on.
In addition, I use Evernote as my daily ‘to do’ capturing tool. I have a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday ToDo set of notes in one notebook. Each week I only put big picture ToDo items on those daily lists. I define a big picture ‘Todo’ as something that absolutely has to get done in order to grow my business. Ferris’ suggests that your list should never have more than 2 items on it. In other words, you need to look really hard at what is actually generating you revenue and translating into growth you want. Do not add stuff to your lists that just keep you busy. That, he argues, is pointless and ultimately causes burnout.

Tool #4:
Omnifocus
Considered by many to be the most thorough integration of David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done’ method, Omnifocus is essentially just a task manager. But it is a task manager on steroids. It let’s me categorize tasks by project, assign due dates, assign the context in which I will complete them (i.e.. phone, email, online, etc…) and it even gives push notifications so that I don’t forget something pressing. And, it works wonderfully between all three of my devices. Everything syncs perfectly.

Here is how I use Evernote and Omnifocus hand in hand. First of all, I learned a while back that my task manager is NOT the place to keep all my ‘someday maybe’ todo items. If it was just a brainstorm of cool things I could for Brooklyn Music Factory but wasn’t essential to day to day operation, it needed to go elsewhere. What happened was that I became totally overwhelmed by my todo list in Omnifocus and lost touch with what needed to happen immediately. Sound familiar? So, enter Evernote. I use it for capturing all of my brainstorms, all my notes from reading interesting blogs or business books, all my faculty meeting notes, curriculum notes, etc. Basically it holds everything except the list of todos that keep my business afloat.

So my workflow is simplified because I have one place that holds most everything on my mind (Evernote is great for clipping from the web or grabbing an email to reference later) while living in another zone is my actual day to day todo list. Above I mentioned that I do have a sort of larger view todo list in Evernote, but that is really just reserved for the BIG things that absolutely have to get done…examples might be: invoicing or 2-3 crucial emails to be sent.

Finally, if you have staff, as we do, then I recommend sharing these programs with them and getting them to sync with the necessary Evernote notebooks or Omnifocus projects. I simply add to my administrators todo list in Omnifocus and never need to send an email or bug him. I can look and see when he has completed a specific task or if he needs more time.

When running a small business, it is key that you develop a work flow for day to day tasks for yourself and your employees. While there are still times I fall down on the job of keeping track of all the moving parts, I feel more together under my current collection of tools and how I use them than I have ever before. There are many many choices and that alone can be overwhelming. I have found that the key is picking a few tools, learning how to use them well, creating a system/work flow with those tools, and then sticking to it long enough for it to become second nature. Often times, the final step is the hardest!

Who else uses these tools? Have you found some others that do the same thing but you like better? What is your method for getting things done day in and day out? Please share…..

This is a tough time for the economy and parents are often looking for ways to trim expenses… sometimes that may mean cutting the lessons and classes that support your business.What can you do to retain and add clients, because you “stand out from the crowd?”

Let’s think for a moment about how studio appearance affects perception. It’s important that your business is “inviting” to students and parents. They are, after all, your clients and keeping them happy is part of your success story.

These ideas come from the variety of work environments I’ve personally experienced… “cube land” in a large corporation, workspace in a small company with open cubes, large classroom teaching, group lessons and private lessons. I hope the diversity I survived helps you gain some insight.

Think about all those other business you visit. What makes one place feel “warm and comfortable” while another feels cold and unwelcoming? Here are some thoughts to help you assess that “unspoken quality” that makes people comfortable.

Entryway and Waiting Area

Signage: How do you feel about a business with lighted signs that are “over the top” or look ratty, perhaps have burnt out letters? Have you ever had problems finding a business because signs are small or hidden?

Visual: Are walls stark or decorated? Plants? Other “warming items”? A good mix of light and dark colors, texture variety?

Aesthetics: Is the entry cluttered, open space or “just right”?

Wasted Space: How about reception — is there an unused receptionist desk, serving no purpose?

Seating: Is it comfortable? New or worn? Enough for those wanting to sit?

Reading materials: Current or old (a 2001 Reader’s Digest just doesn’t cut it)? A variety of topics? Think of those hair places where the magazines are limited to Hollywood glam publications. A cross-section of news, sports and topical for your business might better serve to be welcoming.

Lighting quality: Is it warm & inviting or cold? Compact fluorescent lamps put off a better quality of light than overhead fluorescent light fixtures and will save money on utilities in the long run.

Lighting amount: It’s common to over-light spaces with overhead fluorescents. The typical office environment has about 200% of the light amount needed for work. It can be a distraction and cause visual fatigue.

Temperature and Air Quality: Those offices where the entry is cold have people “tucked into themselves” and time seems to pass slowly. Too warm isn’t good either. Neither are drafts of heat or cold. Is seating away from the outside doorway to minimize “temperature shock?” Is there a ceiling fan (on low) to keep air circulating rather than stale?

Accessory Areas

Restrooms: Are they clean, well kept, and well lit? Soap and other supplies kept stocked?

Hallways: Are they wide enough to let people pass without bumping?

Cleanliness: Is there hand sanitizer available?

Other Accessory Areas

For this category, check out gyms, etc.

Dressing areas: Is there a way to address privacy in any way? Kids can, of course, be self conscious about their bodies.

Lockers/storage: Are they kept clean and sanitary?

Studio and/or Business areas

“Feel”: Is work/meeting (for your studio, teaching) space cluttered? So sparse as to be uninviting?

Temperature: Is it appropriate for the usage? Think of that freezing doctor’s room, right? In your studio, if activity involves movement (dancing, martial arts), a cooler temperature is right. For stationary activities (music lessons?), a bit cooler is good. Stuffy is not ideal – moving air helps small rooms feel better.

Sound decisions: Hard surfaces reflect sound. So do flat areas at right angles. High ceilings make for lots of echo (and could make spoken instructions harder to understand).

Light: Blinding light gives headaches, dim light produces eyestrain. Overlighting is not uncommon in dance studios. Is there a way to soften it? Filters? Turning off half the bulbs?

Space to move in small areas: Ah, those tiny corporate conference rooms with room for a table, three chairs and a phone — but everybody has to be seated before the door closes! Personally, I find it better to teach music lessons where I can make eye contact with the student rather than being “frozen in a chair beside them.” That means having enough room to comfortably get in front of them and sometimes “dance around” a bit to illustrate points.

The right space: Cavernous conference rooms for a meeting also feel, well, hollow! For small studio classes, a huge space can make students feel isolated. If you can manage to add movable partitions, customizing the space for class size makes for a more inviting feeling. Instead of feeling “all alone,” students will feel they are getting personalized attention.

These are just a few ideas to jumpstart your studio’s image. Give it a bit of thought, perhaps add it to your planning for the future. Changes can be implemented in stages to spread out impact on your budget. The important thing is to consider how visual environment affects your customers’ perceptions.

On the one hand, this isn’t something that’s mandatory. On the other, would students and parents who feel welcome be more likely to keep coming back for lessons/classes, and to refer the studio to friends?