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 [...]

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 [...]

Almost nobody likes a deadline, but sometimes, deadlines are the only way something gets done.
In pondering the subject of this blog entry, I decided to use an example from my own studio – and hope the strategies and thought-processes I have used will be helpful to you.  I would be interested in hearing your thoughts [...]

Yesterday during a break between lessons, I checked my voicemail to find three messages from parents seeking a voice teacher for their children.  Three inquiries in a week? Completely normal.  But three in the span of two hours?
I got my explanation when a teacher from another local studio called and revealed himself as the referral [...]

In 2009 I had the pleasure of hearing Beth Gigante Klingenstein, author of The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook, speak on the question of “Who’s in Charge of Your Studio?” at the University of St. Thomas Summer Music Institute. The main message I took away from her workshop was that if we as studio [...]

I own and operate a small piano studio out of my home, and the summertime is always a bit of a financial struggle for me.
When I took piano lessons growing up, we always continued our lessons during the summer.  They were a bit more sporadic, since my teacher usually took a vacation and my family [...]

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 [...]