Marketing

Keep in touch with your students.  You could call them your customers, since managing a studio is running a business.  But whether you call them customers, or simply your students, there is one important way to make sure you keep in touch with their needs:  Always keep in mind that behind that email address, that phone number, that invoice, that payment, is a real person.

Now, this may seem obvious, but there are many times when other concerns get in the way.  And those are often exactly the times when you need to remember how to treat your students well.

It is important to be efficient with your time, but don’t sacrifice your students for the sake of “efficiency.”  For example, those mass emails you can do in Studio Helper – it might be tempting to toss out the same message to everybody, but should you?  Think through what you are saying, and to whom you are saying it.  Make an email template that allows you to personalize the message by including each recipient’s name, and then think carefully.  Do you really want to send that note about payments to students who have already paid?  Do you want to ask for more signups for the recital and include those who have already signed up?

It’s worth a little extra time to think about such communications with students.  Above all, it’s important to be consistent in your treatment of them.  Using Studio Helper is a big step because

It’s important for any business to keep in touch with its community, which includes all its current and potential customers.  Your community may be your neighborhood, or your metropolitan area, or your online community, or any of the above.

We’re going to look at ways to keep in touch.  Speaking of which, this blog is interactive, and you are invited to add your comments at the end of the post.  Just submit your comment at the bottom where it says “Leave a Reply”.  It is interesting and helpful to hear about your concerns, questions, and experiences, on each topic.

This post is about keeping in touch with your community.  It’s a great time of year to be thinking about this, as the holiday season approaches.  People are looking for gifts, for events, and for plans for the new year.  You can provide all three.  If you would, please do leave a reply at the end of this post to tell us what you have tried in this regard, whether successful or not, and we’ll all appreciate reading about it.

Think about distinguishing your studio from others by providing services that individual teachers can’t offer by themselves.  Even if your teachers are basically renting teaching space from you, everyone can benefit from a few coordinated events.jam

Such events can help make students feel that they are part of something bigger than just taking lessons from their teacher, and as a result, they will feel more of an attachment to the studio–a plus for both the teacher and the studio as a whole.

Pooling talents is the key.  An individual teacher could offer services from any location, but if you combine the skills of various teachers, you can offer something people can find nowhere else.

Examples include introductory classes, ensemble classes, jam sessions, open house festivals, recitals or demonstrations, camps, and gig services.  Let’s take a look at these ideas…

Now is the time to take active steps to add students for your teachers. Acting now gives you time to implement solutions based on what responses you get to 'The Four Asks.' What are these mysterious questions? 1. Ask teachers if they want more students. It's possible your teachers would like to expand the number of students they teach. If so, adding time slots to their schedule in...

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As we know well, the transition to summer often interrupts the flow of our studio. There are issues around student/family vacation schedules, vacations for staff. There's even that 'lack of dedication' from students and others that's common when warm whether and outdoor activities sing their siren song. After a year of hard work, it's certainly understandable. Everybody needs a break. Manage Summer To Your Benefit Plan Something: Scheduling...

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