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Marketing Tag

09 Aug

Innovative Advertising

by cconrad
in Marketing, Policies and Procedures, Program Development
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Last week I took an online training course to become a certified teacher of a new music program at my studio.  A great deal of time was spent on marketing, and teachers from all over weighed in and gave fantastic, orginal ideas that have helped them grow their studio effectively.  Here’s a few ideas I learned that I thought were worth sharing as we begin advertising for “back to school” at our studios:

  • Sample Classes-Set up a freebie class at your local library or community center for students to “sample” what you’re offering.  Bring enrollment forms and studio policy, and perhaps consider offering a one-time discount to families who sign up following the sample class.
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09 Jul

Marketing Your Studio in a Bad Economy

by cconrad
in Finances, Marketing, Program Development
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At one of my recent teaching association meetings, we discussed how even studio owners and music teachers are feeling the affects of the bad economy.  As families tighten their belts a bit more and look for ways to lower their budget, some of their children’s extra curricular activities are seen as unnecessary luxuries.  Use some of the tips below to prevent your studio growth from becoming stagnant during lean times:

Educate your clients

Make sure your client base understands the importance of the service that you offer, and why it isn’t expendable.  I use quarterly newsletters to reiterate the importance of music lessons by linking studies and data that show the benefits of learning piano.  I also write occasional articles for our local parenting magazine about the benefits of music education.  Doing so helps my students and their families prioritize music lessons and hopefully look to cut other things out of their budget if they are faced with making difficult choices during financial hardships.

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09 Apr

Decreasing Student Turnover

by cconrad
in Marketing, Performance, Policies and Procedures
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category119One of my goals as a piano teacher–and probably one of the goals of many teachers and studio owners out there–is to avoid student turnover.  I understand that many students who quit piano at a young age will go on to have regrets as adults for not sticking with music lessons longer, which I find heartbreaking.  I enjoy transitioning students from elementary level music to intermediate and advanced repertoire, and if a student quits music lessons too soon, I don’t get to experience this with them.   I also truly believe having happy students (and experiencing little student turnover as a result) is the best marketing strategy out there.  If students are happy, they are less likely to quit and leave me to quickly find a replacement before it causes too much of a financial strain.  And, if students are happy, they will provide excellent word-of-mouth references in my community–free advertising!

So far, I have managed to avoid much student turnover and my returning student rate each fall has been between 90 and 95%.  I have found the following strategies to be successful in helping me to achieve this rate:

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09 Feb

Why You Should Join Your Local Teaching Organization

by cconrad
in Marketing, Program Development
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blogOwning your own studio can be a bit lonely.  Especially if your studio is small, and you don’t have other employees and aides with whom you interact regularly.  But being a studio owner doesn’t need to be isolating.  There are many professional organizations out there that can provide opportunities for comraderie and collaboration and the reasons to join them are many.

Networking

When I first knew our family would be moving, I contacted the president of the local music teachers organization from the area where we were relocating.  When I got to town, I had coffee with her and discussed ways to get started with students.  She was incredibly helpful in helping me understand the market in my new town, and since her studio was full, she referred three students my way.  Through word of mouth, these three students grew to twelve students in a few short months.  Another teacher in our organization gave my name out to a local school, where I also picked up several students.  I have done my best to pay it forward; now that I have a waiting list, I have sent students to new teachers in our group and I know that they, too, have been grateful for the referrals.  It is my experience that teachers in these groups want to support one another and help each other grow their studios whenever possible.

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09 Jan

The Importance of Performances

by cconrad
in Marketing, Performance, Policies and Procedures, Uncategorized
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Two common struggles of teachers/studio owners are motivating students and keeping students long-term.   These are, of course, related to each other.  A student who isn’t motivated to practice his instrument probably isn’t enjoying the experience and isn’t progrPejman-Recital-Hollandessing, and it’s likely that it won’t be long before his family feels the investment is a waste of money and decides to pull their child out of lessons. 

That said, I’ve never been one to implement reward programs to try to motivate a student.  I’ve known teachers who provide prizes or even monetary rewards for students who practice a certain number of times per week, but in my experience these can be ineffective and expensive.  Instead, I have found that providing students with performance opportunities motivates students to practice and in doing so, helps encourage a long-term relationship with the student and his family.

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