Music Teacher's Helper Blog

Have you ever requested that a student buy a certain book and had them turn up with something similar, but not quite right? Or have you waited weeks and weeks for them to find the time to head to the store, while you lose precious lesson time and momentum?

I became so fed up with the situation that I used to supply all of the books necessary for my students, and add it to their next invoice (this can be done using the Music Teacher’s Helper ‘Charge a Fee’ feature). However, the music store closest to me has recently closed down and now the extra time it takes to travel to another store, combined with the large number of students that I teach makes it near impossible to continue to do this. So I have started to explore other options.

In my research, I came across so many articles that mentioned the Amazon Affiliate Program that I went to amazon.com to investigate it for myself. Basically, you can sign up to become an affiliate of Amazon, and then list the products that are most used in your studio on your Music Teacher’s Helper website. When a student needs a new book, audio recording, metronome, etc you simply direct the parent to your website, and when they click through to Amazon you will be paid a commission per item sold.

You can find all the information about signing up and the commission rates on the Amazon website. Whether the amount of commissions you are paid is significant or not will depend on the number of students you teach, and the rate at which they require new resources. However, I think that the convenience of being able to list the exact editions of sheet music that you want your students to use and the reputation that Amazon has as an online seller makes this a worthwhile solution to investigate.

As I teach in Australia, delivery times and charges from Amazon do not make this a worthwhile option for my students, so I am currently speaking with numerous online suppliers in Australia to set up a similar program. I have found numerous suppliers who are interested in this idea.

Once I have a program set up on my website, I plan to have a list of additional resources that students might be interested in. When I was growing up, every birthday and Christmas I received a gift voucher to the local music store and would spend hours excitedly choosing the sheet music of whatever pop music was in the charts at the time. With the demise of the local music store, I would like to compile a list of appropriate resources that might interest students (Movie Theme Song Anthologies, Pop Music Digital Downloads, collections of Christmas Music, etc).

If you currently use an online store to provide music, recordings or other resources for your students please leave a comment below outlining your experiences.