I think the fall is probably an expensive time for most studio owners across the board as we prepare to head into another year of teaching…
Here’s what my business records show for this month:
Membership renewal in my national, state, and local teachers’ associations: $135
Ad in the local paper: $45
Ad in local parenting magazine: $100
New teaching [...]

One of the biggest challenges that any studio faces is keeping a steady flow of traffic coming through the door from week to week. Sure, on paper the schedule is full; but when you factor in illness, vacations, and extracurricular activities, often that schedule ends up with gaping holes in it.
I’ve been dealing with this [...]

Every Successful Business Has a Business Plan.
That being said, I have to admit that when I began my home piano studio, I did not write out a formal business plan or even a startup plan! I did, however, create professional documents such as a studio policy, studio brochure, business cards, tuition statements, and many [...]

Having been a piano teacher for nine years now, I have learned how very important it is to maintain contact with my clients.  I believe that keeping the lines of communication open with my customers results in a better lesson experience for all involved, and I’ve also learned that it helps my students and their families to feel as [...]

Social media has been a key component in the growth of my studio. In fact, I’ve never actually done any “traditional” marketing such as print ads, fliers, and so on. I jumped on the Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn bandwagon long before it was almost a necessity, and it has most definitely paid off.
But there are some things to [...]

About a year ago, my family relocated from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Bozeman, Montana, and I was faced with “relaunching” my piano studio in a new town.  When I opened my studio in Wisconsin the only marketing I did was to place an ad on craigslist — a dozen students soon followed.  After a few unsuccessful attempts at [...]

The book I have been making my way through the past couple weeks is called Corner Office by Adam Bryant. Mr Bryant is a NY Times columnist who seems to have dedicated recent years to tracking down and interviewing 100s of CEOs of companies both large and small. He has a Sunday column of the same name in the Sunday Business section of the Times. From these interviews he has drawn what he believes are five key qualities required of all business leaders. They are: Passionate Curiosity, Battle-Hardened Confidence, Fearlessness, A Simple Mindset, Team Smarts.

Back when I was in graduate school, I saw that my local music store was hiring voice teachers.  A job that allowed me to set my own hours and teach what I knew best?  Perfect.  I applied for the job and was hired soon after.
It turns out that I was the only voice teacher they [...]

Although your studio may be based on furthering artistic pursuits, a studio is a business, and a good part of its success depends on being realistic about this.  I taught and helped manage one music school where the board of directors hired an orchestra conductor with fundraising expertise as the school’s director.  Unfortunately, she’d had [...]

How does your studio stack up against the schools around you?  Do you try to match up with schools,  or to contrast with them?   A studio is a kind of school, so it’s natural to make the comparison.
While many studios probably don’t make a deliberate decision about it, some feel they are taken more [...]