Like many of you, I teach out of a music store that is in no way affiliated with the local public school system.  We don’t observe school holidays, snow days, or records/conference days, and we certainly don’t observe spring break.  At least, we didn’t observe spring break until this year…

To be fair, the store itself still doesn’t observe public school holidays, and the four other percussion teachers are still hard at work this week.  In the past, I worked through spring break as well, teaching lessons to whomever was still in town and sorting out money/make-up issues with those students who were on vacation.  Frankly, teaching during spring break always seemed like more trouble than it was worth, so this year I decided not to do it. One of the benefits to being a private music teacher is that you don’t have to teach when you don’t want to!

Try as I might, I have found through experenience that I can’t fully separate myself from the public school calendar.  If you teach primarily K-12 students, you probably find yourself in the same boat.  Right or wrong, most families naturally expect all of their extra-cirricular activities to fall in line with their school’s calendar.  They will expect “excused absences” whenever school is not in session.  Instead of fighting against this trend, I urge you to embrace it.  Here are some tips for helping you follow your school system’s calendar:

- Get a copy of the school year calendar! (you can usually pick on up at Central Office or from the school system’s website)

- Plan ahead.  Mark school holidays on your own calendar and talk to families about their plans weeks ahead of time.

- Bookmark your school system’s website and find their cable access channel (assuming both things exist).  That way you’ll stay up to date with school closings and other emergency procedures.

- Don’t lament school breaks.  Instead of moping around your empty studio during spring/fall/holiday break, take a trip yourself.  Another option is to spend that week catching up on paperwork, lesson plans, etc.

- Offer additional services during breaks.  Those students who do not go on vacation will often be sitting at home looking for something to do.  Take adavantage of this by offering additional services/masterclasses that week (possibly even during the school day hours).  Our store is offering a “hands” camp and several music reading workshops this summer to take adavantage of everyone’s extra free time.  Remember, the more services you provide, the more people will pay you!

Unless you’re the superintendent of a school district, school closings and holidays are completely out of your control.  All you can control is how you react to them and how you manage your time.  I’m not saying you should always cancel your lessons when school is not in session (that would be financial suicide for me!).  But simply being aware of the calendar and planning ahead can save you from dozens of make-up lessons and even more headaches.

Your Turn

How do you accomodate your local public school system’s calendar?  Leave your answer in the comments below.

Scott’s writings are essential for anyone who wants a successful teaching practice.

Two seemingly contradictory statements, yet I assure you they are both true (well, I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt on the first one).  Scott Ginsberg writes about approachability and marketing over at www.hellomynameisscott.com.  He’s appeared on 20/20, and his blog is ranked in the Top 100 Business Blogs on the web.  Oh, he’s also gone 3000+ consecutive days wearing a nametag.

I’ve been reading Scott’s blog for over two years now.  His ideas have helped me to attract more students and be more authentic with currents students.  Scott has recently published a new book, Stick Yourself Out There, and took some time to do an Q and A for MTH readers.

For our readers who are completely unfamiliar with your work, can you give us a brief introduction to what you do?

Occupation: Writer. Job: Entrepreneur. What I Do: Teach people about approachability through writing, speaking, renting my brain and online learning systems.

You also mentioned you were a lifelong musician.  What instruments do you play?

Guitar is my bread and butter. I also play piano, bass, mandolin, banjiatr and pretty much anything else I can get my hands on.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of Scott Ginsberg is “approachability.”  What exactly do you mean by that?

Comes from the Latin “to come nearer to.” It’s about sticking yourself out there and getting people to come to you. Two way street.

Why is it important for people and businesses to be approachable?  Why isn’t “quality of product (in this case teaching)” enough?

When teachers are approachable, students listen, learn more and feel comfortable around you. Ever learned a lot from a teacher you HATED?

Okay, I’m a music teacher who has just decided to become more approachable.  What are some specific actions I can take to start being more approachable?

ASK YOURSELF: How are your words laying a foundation of affirmation and positivity?

ASK YOURSELF: Do your words alienate or engage? Do your words sound like suggestions or orders? Do your ideas liberate or imprison people?

ASK YOURSELF: Are you giving people permission or shutting people down?

ASK YOURSELF: What has this person done right that I could compliment first?

ASK YOURSELF: Are you giving lectures or having conversations? Do you require progress or perfection?

ASK YOURSELF: Is this an observation or an accusation? Is this an observation or an interpretation? And are you granting this person enough space to BE and SAY what is true?

ASK YOURSELF: Is this an observation or a judgment? Are you giving advice, evaluation, or feedback? Are you informing people or controlling them?

A lot of us music teachers work primarily with children.  Do you think your ideas on approachability and marketing are still applicable to that age group (K-12)?  Is there anything in your philosophy you would amend when dealing with a younger audience?

Treat them like PEOPLE, not kids.

You’re a big proponent of daily routines and Structuring Your Day.  Can you walk us through a typical day for you, or even just your morning routine?

4:00 AM – Start writing
9:00 AM – Stop writing
9-10: Daily Appointment with Myself
10-12: Sales time
12-2: Lunch
2-4: Creative Project Time
4-6: Yoga:
7-10: Music

Music lessons are often one of the first things families drop in times of economic trouble.  What advice would you give to private music teachers worried about the “economic downturn”?

Do it for free. If they love you, they’ll come back with money AND a friend with money.

Finally, for those readers who can’t wait to get more of The Nametag Guy, can you recommend some of your blog posts or books that would be a good starting points?

Turn Vulnerability into Profitability
http://hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-turn-vulnerability-into.html

Instantly Engage ANY Audience
http://hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-engage-any-audience-instantly.html

Maybe you don’t have a five page Word document outlining every little detail of your studio (or maybe you do), but you still have a lesson policy.  You have teaching methods and materials that you regularly use.  You have acceptable methods of payment and behavior.  You have certain times available for lessons and certain times when you won’t teach.  Even if you think “No way!  I’ll teach anybody, anywhere, anytime, in any style, under any condition, for any amount of money!”  Guess what?  That’s a policy.

Assuming that your lesson policy is a little more particular than the above example, here are three tips to help students and families participate in your policy and adhere to your guidelines. 

Write It Down

Putting your lesson policy in writing serves three important purposes.  First, it helps you clarify your own ideas.  What types of payment do you accept?  How do you handle missed lessons?  How much do expect your students to practice?  When you’re explaining these ideas verbally to another person, it’s easy to leave a lot of grey area.  (“Well, we’ll just handle that when it comes up…”).  Explaining these policies to a computer screen forces you to use more black and white language.  Writing things down also forces you to think about situations before you’re dealing with them face to face.

Second, it presents your entire policy to the student at one time.  Students appreciate consistency and knowing what to expect from you.  Nothing will agitate a family more than learning five months into lessons that you only do make-ups on Tuesday nights during their Boy Scout meetings.  Nothing will embarrass a family more than learning you only accept cash when they show up to pay with a credit card or check.  Presenting your policy in written form will let families decide if your studio is a good fit for their student before anyone becomes too invested (financially or emotionally).

Finally, putting your policy in writing allows to maintain consistency across your entire studio.  You no longer have to make decisions on a student-by-student basis (Steve can have 3 make up lessons a month because he’s into the same music as I am; Anna only gets 1 because she always chews gum and that annoys me).  All your decisions are made up front, at the time you write your policy.  Then, when a situation arises, you simply consult your own policy.  “Oh, X happened.  That means I do Y.”

Make the Family Sign Something

The back page of my lesson policy has a place for the student and their parent(s) to sign, stating that they’ve read and agree to abide by my lesson policy.  This accomplishes two things.  One, it makes the policy feel more like a contract (which it really is).  Two, it gives me leverage when students object down the road.  “You don’t like Policy X?  Well, you signed here that you would agree to abide by it.”  No family has ever continued to argue with me after I show them their own signature on my policy.

Be Strict In the Beginning

On the first day of kindergarten, my whole class thought our teacher was the Wicked Witch of the West.  By January, she was Glinda, Good Witch of the North.  I’m the oldest of eight children, seven of whom had the same kindergarten teacher, so my family got to know her pretty well.  She mentioned once how she was always deliberately “mean” at the beginning of the school year in order to establish control over the classroom.  As the year went on and the children knew what to expect, she could lighten up.

She based her plan on the fact that you can never become more strict; you can only become more lenient.  Once you make an exception for a family, they will invariably expect that special treatment all the time.  Special treatment may be fine for a few families in your studio who genuinely have difficult circumstances, but you’ll lose your mind if you have different policies for every student.  For the first few months of lessons, I adhere to my lesson policy word for word, no exceptions.  This prevents families who are less serious about lessons from taking advantage of me and my time.  As I get to know each family, I allow myself to make exceptions to my policy when I feel they are warranted.

Your Turn

What other strategies do you use to promote and enforce your lesson policy?  Leave your answer in the comments below.

Cell Phones are Physically Distracting

Your student is preparing for a tough audition, and they are playing you one of their pieces.  Halfway through, you cell phone rings.  At this point, you have two options.  You can take the call and then politely apologize for the interruption, or you can decline the call, give a sheepish embarrassed look, and motion for the student to continue.  The student however, has zero options.  Their lesson has been interrupted by your cell phone, and they have to wait while you deal with the call.  Anytime a student hears your phone going off, the lesson has been interrupted, even if only briefly.

Cell Phones are Mentally Distracting

Turning your cell phone on “silent” only solves half of the above problem.  Again, your student is playing through an audition piece when your phone vibrates in your pocket.  You slip it out discretely and notice the call from Steve.  Now you mind takes over: “I wonder what Steve wants.  He knows I’m teaching now, so maybe it’s an emergency.  I wonder if it’s about the gig Friday.  I hope it’s not cancelled, because I could really use the money.  I wonder if my student noticed I got a call. etc, etc.”  Meanwhile, you student has finished the piece and is asking you “how was that?”  In truth, you have no idea how the piece was because you were too busy with your cell phone.  Every phone call you notice during lessons steals mental energy that should be reserved for your students.

Cell Phones Make Students Feel Slighted

I have taken lessons with 15-20 different private teachers in my life, and I can only think of two teachers who never let a cell phone interrupt my lessons.  Some teachers would actually take phone calls and leave the lesson room for up to five minutes!  Meanwhile, I’m thinking, “How much am I paying for this?  I’m not paying to have my teacher talk on a cell phone!”   Remember, your students paying you not only for your expertise, but also for your time and attention.  They are entitled to expect all three from you for the duration of their lesson.  Every time you take a phone call during lessons, you’re sending a message: “This phone call is more important than this lesson.”

But I Need My Cell Phone!

Unless your wife is nine months pregnant, you probably do not need to have your cell phone on during lessons.  The performance offers, the calls from students, and the calls from friends will all be there when you finish teaching.  Will Steve really not use you for that gig on Friday because you called him three hours later?  I highly doubt it.  If you have a long teaching day (6-8 hours on a Saturday, for example), schedule yourself a “phone break” where you can check your  messages and return calls (and probably eat lunch, too).  Otherwise, turn your cell phone off when you start teaching and turn it back on when you finish.

I recently read an interview with actress Jenna Fischer (Pam Beesley on The Office).  She has started leaving her blackberry in her trailer during shoots, checking her messages and email only on scheduled breaks and at the end of the day.  She says this has really improved her work environment.  She is now able to be more present and focused on the set, because she is not constantly worried about her phone.  If an Emmy-nominated actress making millions of dollars per year can let her “important” phone calls wait to focus on her work, surely you can too.

Your Turn

Do you take your cell phone into your lessons?  Why or why not?  Leave your answers in the comments below.

1. It adds to your credibility.
Parents frequently ask me “do you play out?”  It’s as though they’re testing to see if I’m an actual musician or just some elaborate and expensive babysitter.  For the most part, they have a point.  You can’t really consider yourself a professional musician if you never create music in some sort of public setting.

2. It provides an additional income stream (most of the time).
It’s great to know that when little Timmy forgets his lesson check, I’ll get another check that evening for a gig.  Granted, the gig check doesn’t solve the problem of Timmy paying on time, but it does provide a nice buffer just the same.  Also, don’t forget the more you diversify your income streams, the less likely you’ll be in trouble when one dries up.  I know not every performance opportunity pays, but if you perform enough, you’ll find plenty that do (then you  can start saying “no” to the ones that don’t).

3. It’s great networking.
By playing in bands or ensembles, you’ll meet fellow musicians, some of whom will undoubtedly be music teachers themselves.  The benefit of meeting other teachers deserves a whole article itself, but in short, you’ll have more people to draw on for resources and referrals.

4. It’s socializing with adults.
The average age of my students is probably 10, so at the end of a teaching day I’m ready to hang out with people who understand three-syllable words.  Teaching is also primarily a solitary profession, and most of us probably don’t have too many co-workers, at least in the traditional sense.  Performing (and rehearsing) is a great way to do something you love (music) with people of your own age and ability level.

5. It’s a reason to keep your chops up.
When I first started teaching, I increased my practice time considerably, thinking I really needed to hone my skills for teaching.  It only took me about a month to realize I didn’t have to be a virtuoso to teach 6 year-olds how to play quarter notes on the snare drum.    Since my students don’t provide me with motivation to practice, I draw that motivation from performing and playing in bands.

6. It’s free advertising.
When you perform, you never know who is in the audience.  You could be playing for your next new student (whom you just inspired), or you could be playing for a parent who’s been thinking about lessons for their child.  The more people see you as a local professional musician, the more they’ll think about taking lessons from you.

7. It’s fun!
This one is rather self-explanatory, but most of us probably got into music because we enjoyed playing.  If it’s been a while since you’ve performed, get back out there and see how much fun it is!

Your Turn
Are you performing as much as you’d like?  What are some other benefits you receive from performing?  Leave your answers in the comments below.

Basic Ideas

Metronome Operation

Make sure each of your students knows not only how to operate “a” metronome, but also how to operate their specific metronome.  I have my students bring their personal metronomes in and run through all the different operations: turning it on/off, adjusting volume, adjusting tempo, and adjusting any meter/subdivision options.  The more comfortable your students are with their personal metronomes, the more likely they will use them.  Consider making each of you students pass a brief “metronome operations test” in the first few lessons.

Playing With a Metronome

As the most basic idea, simply turn on the metronome and have your students play a piece to it.  For some students this will be old news, but for some this will be a brand new experience.  The more familiar your students are with playing to a metronome, the more likely they’ll practice to a metronome at home.

Speeding Up Difficult Sections

Take a difficult section of a piece and have the student play it at a slow tempo with the metronome.  Then speed the metronome up 1-2 clicks, just like you would do in your personal practicing.  Sometimes, I will actually play an example from my practice routine for the student so they can see just what practicing with a metronome looks like.

Sightreading

Use a metronome whenever you have your students sightread, even if you need to set it at 40-50 bpm (in fact, that’s usually where I set it).  Using a metronome gives students the impression they’re playing with another person or an ensemble, so they can’t slow down just because they miss a note.

Playing With a Non-Quarter Note Metronome

The most obvious metronome setting is to place the click on the quarter note.  Students can learn a lot about their time feel, however, if you reduce the number of clicks per measure.  Try setting the click on “1,” “1 and 3,” and “2 and 4″ (for 4/4 pieces) and see how your students perform.

Lesson Specific Ideas

Chart an Exercise

Play the same exercise or warm up with a metronome every lesson for a number of months, charting the student’s progress as you go.  Progress in lessons is often slow and incremental, causing students to feel like they’re not improving much.  By tracking the same exercise over a period of months, students will be able to see a dramatic improvement on a single sheet of paper.

Depending on your studio set up and your teaching style, you could also chart the same exercise for every student and post their metronome markings publicly.  This can foster a sense of competition and spur some students to practice more.  It also gives your more successful students a sense of pride, as they can see they’re at the top of your studio.

Clapping With a Metronome

With beginning students, the idea of playing to a metronome can be overwhelming.  To get them familiar with the idea, I’ll have them clap to a metronome instead.  For some students, this comes very naturally.  For students who don’t immediately grasp the idea, I’ll have them clap every 4 clicks instead of every click.  Then we move to every 3 clicks, then every 2 clicks, and finally 1 clap per click.  This allows the student to hear subdivisions between the claps (or beats).  We then talk about how they have to hear these subdivisions in their mind while clapping with every click.  You can also try variations where the student claps on “1 and 2,” “1 and 4,” etc.

Drum Set Specific Ideas

Same Groove, Drastically Different Tempos

When playing a new groove (or any groove, come to think of it), most of my students instinctively hover around the 80-100 bpm range.  Often, I’ll use a metronome to break them of this habit.  I have them start out playing a groove of their choosing at a tempo of their choosing.  Then I’ll cut the tempo in half and have them play the exact same groove.  Then I’ll double the original tempo and have them play the exact same groove again.  This gives the student a feeling of what it’s like to play the same thing at, say 40, 80, and 160 bpm.

Switching Places

Because of the physical size of my studio and its proximity to other studios, I can not put the metronome through an amp or pa.  In order to keep the drum set from completely drowning out the metronome, I’ll usually play quarter notes on a cowbell or jam block to help the student hear the time.  Occasionally, I switch places with the student.  I play a groove on the drum set and have the student pound out the quarter notes.  My students can then focus entirely on developing solid time with worrying about all the coordination issues that go along with playing drum set.  Quite a few students have had eye opening experiences due to this teaching technique. (“Wow, my time really needs to be solid,” or more often, “Wow, I really need to improve my ability to play in time”)

Your Turn

How do you use a metronome in your lessons?  Leave your answers in the comments below.

Put Your Contact Info on Everything

Literally.  Put your contact information on everything you hand your students.  Put your contact information on you lesson policy, on your invoices, on your business card, on your website, on your handouts, and on anything else you ever hand your students.  That way, your students have absolutely no excuse for not getting in touch with you.

Some of you are probably thinking, “that’s ridiculous; I shouldn’t have to babysit my students and their families like that.”  You’re right, you shouldn’t have to.  In theory, you should have families your contact info at the initial meeting and be done with it.  We all know, however, that it never works like that in practice.  People misplace things, spill coffee on things, throw things away accidentally, leave things in rental cars, etc.  You can’t afford to have your contact information be one of those things.

Think about the last business card you received.  What about the last pamphlet from your child’s school, your church, or your gym?  Do you know exactly where it is?  Maybe, but if you’re like most people I know, you have a stack of papers just like that sitting around somewhere “to be filed.”  The more often your contact information is in that pile, the easier it will be for families to get a hold of you.

Also, don’t forget that students might be looking for your contact information to give to their friends and classmates for referrals!

Be on the Internet

Last summer, I went to my college roommate’s wedding and met a woman named Carrie.  We were seated at the same table for the rehearsal dinner, hung out at the “after rehearsal dinner” party, danced at the wedding, and hung out after the wedding..  The night of the wedding, we left it at “see you tomorrow at brunch.”  Except Carrie never made it to brunch, and I headed home with no phone number or contact information of any kind.

On Monday, I spent about 30 minutes scouring the internet for a way to get a hold of Carrie.  She wasn’t on Facebook, she wasn’t on Myspace, and she didn’t have a personal webpage of any kind.  Her last name was reasonably distinctive, so it’s not like she was lost in a sea of Carrie Smiths.  She simply wasn’t on the internet.  By the time I got her number a few months later from the groom, she was already seeing someone else, who, quite frankly, is probably less cool than I am.

The moral of the story is don’t be Carrie.  Your students and prospective students will not spend 30 minutes looking for you on the internet.  More likely, they’ll spend 30 seconds.  Google yourself often and make sure that you appear on the first page of the search results.  If you have a common name like “John Smith” then you might not be able to pull that off.  Still, do what you can to make sure you appear on the first page of search results when someone googles “John Smith music teacher” or “John Smith your instrument.”

Having a personal webpage is a great boon to being findable on the internet, simply because you can control your own meta tags (or have someone do that for you) to increase your search engine rank.  It’s even better if you own your own name as a domain.  Frankly, the first place I’m looking for John Smith on the internet is at www.johnsmith.com.  Most web hosting companies now offer a service where you can buy a domain name for around $10 per year and then have the site redirect to somewhere else (your MTH page, for example).

Personally, I have my own website (which admittedly is now several years old and desperately needs to be updated, but it still has valid contact information), a web site for the music store where I teach, and accounts on Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.  I try and put as much contact information as possible on each of those pages so that I am as findable as possible.  I like to think that the average 6th grade student, given my name and an internet connection, can have me on the phone in five minutes or less.

Your Turn

How do you make yourself findable?  Leave your answers in the comments below.

1. Practice

Getting up and going straight to your instrument sends a very clear message to your brain: “I am a musician, and I am going to have a musical day!”  Can you think of a better way to musically start your day?   Practicing first thing in the morning not only sets the tone for the day, but it also “gets it out of the way.”  How many times have you gone to bed thinking “I wish I had found more time to practice today”?  Between teaching duties, administrative tasks, personal time, family time, socializing, commuting, and other activities, it’s easy to let practicing fall through the cracks.  Practicing in the morning insures that will never happen.

Living situations can sometimes present challenges to morning practice.  I, for example, play primarily drum set and live with a roommate.  My roommate does not appreciate being woken by the sound of a full drum set (nor would he appreciate being woken by trumpet, trombone, or electric guitar, I suspect).  As a compromise, I practice on a pad in the morning and a full set in the evening.  Most people who have voluntarily agreed to living with a musician will usually be open to some type of compromise.  Alternatively, you could always head to a studio or other location for morning practice.

2. Write

In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron recommends starting each day with “morning pages,” three long-hand pages of stream of consciousness writing.  Morning pages are a great way to capture all those half-thought-out ideas floating around in your mind.  You can also use morning pages as a journal, recording events and working through challenges in writing.  Oftentimes, I’ll brainstorm lesson plan ideas or marketing strategies.  I find morning pages particularly effective for this, simply because I’m too tired to censor myself early in the morning.  There are no stupid ideas at 6am.

Another early morning writing option is to start on actual writing work.  This could include writing a blog article, your newsletter, or possibly composing a piece of music.  Writing first thing in the morning allows you to create without the day’s distractions cluttering up your mind.

3. Exercise

This is my personal favorite and also the early morning strategy I use most often.  Exercising naturally increases blood flow and energy, and it also enhances your mood, leading to increased feelings of happiness.  That’s exactly what I need first thing in the morning.  I find that when I start my day by going to the gym, I have more energy throughout the day, and I’m more enthusiastic with my students.   I belong to the YMCA, but you don’t have to go to a gym to exercise.  Try starting with a 15-20 minute walk around your neighborhood in the morning and see how you feel the rest of the day.

Most people who exercise regularly also experience additional confidence with their bodies.  Being more confident with you body will ultimately lead to being more confident with students and parents.

4. Meditate

I saved this idea for last because it’s the only one I haven’t personally tried, though I know many people who love to start their day with meditation.  By meditating, they clear their mind and set their focus or intention for the day.  Some people even watch their whole day unfold in their mind, which helps them immensely when challenges present themselves throughout the day.  Personally, I can’t meditate in the morning because I just fall back asleep.  To each his own, I suppose.

Your Turn

How do you start your day?  What morning rituals do you use to set the tone for a successful teaching day?  Leave your answers in the comments below.

Step 1 – Create advertisements with resolutions in mind.

A few people will blatantly resolve to learn a musical instrument or get better at their particular instrument.  You probably won’t need to market specifically to those people, assuming of course that you’re already marketing yourself in the traditional ways.  If they’re dedicated enough, those people will find you.  Our goal is to find those people whose resolutions could, but don’t necessarily, include taking music lessons.

Here’s a brief list of the resolutions I’m talking about:

I resolve

• to try more new things
• to have more fun
• to learn a new skill
• to spark my child’s interest in something
• to do more to prepare my child for high school/college
• to spend more time with my children (if you do family or group lessons)
• to be more courageous (what takes more courage than performing?)
• to raise my grade in band (students)

People will make hundreds (if not more) of vague and general resolutions this year.  Your job is to figure out which of those resolutions your ideal student is making, then create an advertisement centered on that particular resolution.

Step 2 – Distribute your advertisements.

Step 2 is kind of a no-brainer after Step 1.  After all, why bother creating advertisements if you’re not letting anyone see them?  With New Year’s marketing, the two keys to success are timing and location.

Since so many people drop their New Year’s resolutions by the second or third week of January, you don’t have a large window of opportunity to act.  Resolutions are no longer on the forefront of people’s minds by January 10th.  Most businesses are closed on January 1st but are open on the 31st and the 2nd.  Ideally, you want all of your ads placed on the 31st so that people will see them first thing in the new year.  If you place your ads too early, people are still recovering from Christmas and might not call.  People are the most ready to act during the first week of January, so that’s the ideal time for them to see your ad for the first time.

As for locations, think about all the places that experience increased traffic because of resolutions, such as gyms, the YMCA, “Whole Foods” stores, and the public library.  Most of these locations have community bulletin boards where you can place an ad for your lessons.  Obviously, you should also place your new ads in all your regular venues, such as music stores and schools.

Keep in mind that these ideas will only work if your target clientele makes resolutions.  If you only teach music lessons to pre-schoolers, you can probably ignore most everything in this post.  Otherwise, best of luck to you in recruiting new students in 2009!

Your Turn

How else can you get the new year to market for you?  Share your ideas and your success stories in the comments below.

1. A newsletter can serve as a polite, subtle payment reminder.

I distribute my newsletter the last week of the month, and I always include a small reminder that payment is due next week (the first week of the new month).  I prefer this method to invoices, because it’s more subtle.  I don’t want my students thinking I’m just out for their money, and I don’t want them to dread paying for lessons (like they dread paying their other bills).  Before I started my newsletter, it usually took until the end of the month to collect all the money.  Now, over 90% of my students pay the first week, and I usually have 100% of my money by the second week of the month.

2. A newsletter is a great way to inform parents.

Some parents keep in touch with me on a regular basis via phone calls, email, or casual chatting when they drop off their child.  Others, however, barely slow down while their child jumps out of the car in front of the music store (kidding… sort of).  The newsletter is my way of communicating policy and schedule changes to these parents I hardly see.  It’s much more efficient than leaving voicemails or playing phone tag for a week.  I also receive fewer calls and emails asking questions like “which week will you be out of town again?”  Families now have something tangible they can refer to at home.

3. A newsletter makes you appear more professional.

When I distributed my first newsletter, most parents responded with “ooh, fancy!”  Although my newsletter is far from “fancy,” it does make me look reasonably professional.  Think about other organizations that send newsletters to families, such as schools, churches, neighborhood associations, and various city offices.  You want your teaching practice to be on the same level as those organizations in the parents’ minds.  Keep in mind that most parents are completely unqualified to assess your playing skill and your teaching skill.  Parents evaluate you based on how much their child enjoys lessons and how professional/organized you appear.

4. A newsletter adds value to your lessons.

I always include at least one educational article in my newsletter.  I’ve written about many topics including (but not limited to) warming up, practicing, instrument maintenance, drum head selection, and drum tuning.  Not only does this give the students something to read/learn outside of the lesson, but parents also tend to appreciate these articles because they don’t get this information during the lesson.  Remember, the more value (or perceived value) you add to your lessons, the more you’ll be able to charge for those lessons.

5. A newsletter helps clarify your ideas (and your schedule).

Drum teachers, do you know how to tune a drum?  You probably do.  Do you, however, know how to teach the process?  Do you know how to teach the process so well that you can create a set of written instructions that can be followed by an 8-year old?  Writing educational articles, even short ones on mundane topics, will help you solidify concepts in your mind.  I encourage everyone, whether they distribute a newsletter or not, to try writing out instructions for some basic techniques on your instrument.  You may be surprised at just how unclear your ideas are (or conversely, you may be pleasantly surprised at how strong a handle you have on certain ideas).

Additionally, having my newsletter ready by the first of the month forces me to look at my teaching and performance schedule weeks in advance.  This doesn’t help my students as much as it helps me prepare for the upcoming month.

Your Turn

How else do you use your newsletter?  Leave you answer in the comments below.