A few months ago I wrote a blog post about ways to communicate with your customers. I will now focus on specific ways the Internet alone makes contact with our clients simple and effective. I firmly believe that keeping the lines of communication with our business contacts open not only results in a long-term relationship with our customers but also a more pleasant and effective relationship for all involved.
The Internet makes it simple to keep customers up-to-date on everything happening in your studio–events, continuing education, performance opportunities. Using the Internet to frequently communicate information lets customers know that you are an active and involved teacher.
Summer can be a wonderful, creative time in our careers. We have more flexibility and time. The downside is that we often have no income. Zero. Zilch. So how do we survive on 9 months of income but 12 months of expenses?...
Read MoreAs music teachers we face a constant challenge. How do we live for 12 months when our regular, guaranteed income is only 9 or 10 months? Unlike school teachers, we are usually independent studio teachers or work for a music school that is unlikely to spread out our income over 12 months. Summer is wonderful, don't get me wrong. But financially it can be a...
Read MoreLast blog entry I discussed how I communicate with clients, faculty, and staff at my music school, Brooklyn Music Factory. This entry is going to be a follow up pointing out what seems to have worked and what seems to have failed for us. Assessing regularly your system of communication and outreach is vital, I believe, to ensuring that you are reaching everyone you intend to connect with. To me, efficiency in communicating is important because is allows my faculty and I to stay focused on what we do best which is develop our unique curriculum and methodology for teaching music to our 75 students.