I am completely fascinated with online networking.  It’s such a fun way to interact

Computing.

Are you a social media expert?

with people you know and meet people you don’t.  In fact, social media is all the buzz in advertising in today’s market. It’s free, it’s fast, and you can hit a large market.  Big companies are even hiring social media experts whose full time job is to tweet you, text you, and message you about hot deals and cool stuff.  It’s the next big thing in marketing.  But should you use it for your private music teaching studio?  I do.

Read more…

Read More » Comments (1)

Posted in Customer Support, Music & Technology, Music News, Press, Promoting Your Studio, Site Announcements, Studio Management, Uncategorized, Using Music Teacher's Helper

Many of us associate famous musicians with their instrument and the instrument’s builder. That powerful imagery has become a marketing tool that has beneficially served both the artist and the instrument builder.

But as a teacher, we have the power to influence a great number of people as well.

For years, I played Ibanez Soundgear basses, Ovation acoustic electric guitars, and Les Paul style guitars. After a year or two, my beginner students would start moving on from their starter instruments. There was an unusually high percentage of Ibanez Soundgear basses and Ovation acoustic electrics in the mix of new purchases.

Later on, I acquired a Gibson SG and switched to playing Spector and LightWave basses. Not surprisingly, the next batch of students tended to gravitate to SG style guitars (made by a wide variety of builders…Samick, Epiphone, and even Ibanez) and a few Spector basses entered the mix.
Read more…

Read More » Comments Off (0)

Posted in Press, Professional Development, Promoting Your Studio, Studio Management, Teaching Tips

Every professional or aspiring professional music teacher needs a well crafted bio. Your personal bio is your way of introducing yourself to new students, fans, and music industry types in a way that puts your best foot forward.  Here are some very important concepts to keep in mind as you craft your own bio.

Target Your Audience

Before you begin your bio make sure you have a clear idea of who your main audience will be. What details will the people who are interested in your talent and music instruction want to know about you? This should frame how you go about writing your personal bio statement. Always keep this in mind as you write.  Who is my target market?  As an example: If I were a music teacher trying to market my lessons toward aspiring singer/songwriters I’d make sure that I mentioned my extensive knowledge of Beatles tunes, James Taylor songs, or John Mayer songs etc.  In addition, I’d  also mention whether I’d played on any albums released or performed in any local venues….

Read more…

Read More » Comments Off (0)

Posted in Financial Business, Press, Promoting Your Studio

So-called “social” online networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Ryze and Twitter generate a lot of buzz in the press. But can they really be productive business-to-business networks for you — or are they just a waste of time???Consider these issues before taking the plunge: Read more…

Read More » Comments (2)

Posted in Music & Technology, Press, Promoting Your Studio, Studio Management

daily observations “classical music insights” Charles Noble is the Assistant principal violist of the Oregon Symphony.  He blogs about his experiences with the orchestra, as well as his deep love of good coffee.  Follow Charles on Twitter.

Dial “M” for Musicology “Music, Musicology, and Related Matters.”   “This is a musicology group blog that features the prose stylings of Jonathan Bellman (University of Northern Colorado) and Phil Ford (Indiana University Jacobs School of Music). It is a place for us to work ideas out publicly in what is still, for our field, a somewhat new medium. We are members of the American Musicological Society, but our views are entirely our own and should not be taken as representative of the AMS or any other academic organization. “Dial ‘M’ for Musicology” is an academic blog, but it wants to be friends with everyone. Welcome to all critics, musicians, bedroom air-guitarists, louche aesthetes, prickly autodidacts, and random passers-by!”  There are also several new contributors who have joined the fold.  Often thought-provoking and always interesting, this is a great place to find things to think about.  4-8 posts monthly.

dramma per musica “My name is Bob Kingston. I’m a librarian, free-lance musicologist, lapsed bass-baritone, and self-professed opera fanatic living in Portland, Oregon.  I give all of the pre-performance talks for the Portland Opera, and I also lead music history classes for the company’s Studio Artists. I love collecting historic vocal recordings, and I often use examples of these in my classes and presentations. So, don’t be surprised if I post a clip of some obscure Russian tenor or Italian baritone from time to time.”  4-12 posts monthly.  I enjoy Bob’s tweets immensely.  Follow Bob on Twitter. Read more…

Read More » Comments (2)

Posted in Composing & Arranging, Music & Technology, Music History & Facts, Music News, Music Theory, Performing, Practicing, Press, Promoting Your Studio

A Liberal’s Libretto “A Liberal’s Libretto is the place to look for news, commentary and real-life stories related to the ARTS and POP CULTURE.”  2-4 posts daily.  “American bass-baritone James Newman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice Performance from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and continued his education in Opera Performance and Conducting at Arizona State University. He then moved to New York City where he began studying with internationally renowned soprano, Maria Spacagna with whom he studies today. When he’s not performing, James Newman blogs, follows politics, the arts and pop culture tirelessly and loves hanging out in Park Slope with his wife, soprano Jenn Raithel Newman and their daughter, Lyla.” Follow James on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JamesNewmanNYC

Alex Ross: The Rest is Noise “Books, articles, and a blog by the music critic of The New Yorker” Author of book The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century. Posts infrequently: Newly changed over to Unquiet Thoughts under the aegis of The New Yorker magazine. He plans for several posts weekly.

Artistic Discourse… because the future of the arts depend on it “This blog is about many things: technology, sociology, economics, politics, arts policy and any other potential category of discourse that peaks my interest at the moment.  However, the underlying theme to all those sub-categories will always be, THE ARTS. Whether you agree with me or not throughout the course of this blog, I would hope that you share your thoughts.  I appreciate dissenting opinions almost equally as much as affirming ones.” Was posting Read more…

Read More » Comments (6)

Posted in Music & Technology, Music History & Facts, Music News, Press

Do you have a passion for music, teaching, or writing? Do you have experience and insight you’d like to share with other music teachers across the world? Do you want to make yourself known in the music teaching community? Or would you like to be the catalyst for interesting musical, educational, technological, or business discussion?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then send us an email! We are looking for additional bloggers to write articles or posts that will be of interest to music teachers. Our goal is to provide an even more valuable resource and community for music teachers here on our blog.

The requirement is one article per month. If you’re a current Music Teacher’s Helper subscriber, compensation will entail all of your monthly subscription fee being waived (yes, you get a free Music Teacher’s Helper account!).

Applicants must have excellent English grammar and be familiar with the needs and interests of music teachers.

I will be accepting applications until November 10th, 2009. To apply, just send me an email with the following information:

  • Outline of your writing experience (none required, we’d just like to know).
  • Ideas you have for interesting post topics.
  • Write and attach an article, which could be used as your 1st article if you are one of the chosen few.
  • A brief bio.

The article you write needs to be written in text format, using a text program such as NotePad. The embedded formats in software such as WORD does not work.

We may bring on several individuals, so if you’re at all interested, don’t hesitate to send us an email.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Ronnie Currey

Director of Member Services/Editor
Music Teacher’s Helper

ronnie@musicteachershelper.com

Read More » Comments Off (0)

Posted in Press

Hello members of the Music Teacher’s Helper Community. As we are constantly growing, so is the quality and quantity of articles on our blog and newsletters.

You can use the blog for a splendid tool for gathering much needed info for your studio and use of Music Teacher’s Helper. Below are a few ways to make the blog work for you:

  • Click on one of the Categories in the right sidebar, which will bring up all the years of articles in that Category.
  • Enter a work in the Search box at the top of the right sidebar. This will search all of the articles for the word in which you are searching.
  • Like a particular author? Click on their name to bring up all the articles written by the author.

Remember to click on MORE to read the complete article, and leave a comment for the author. I know they appreciate your comments and will answer any question you might have.

Please enter a comment, or email me at ronnie@musicteachershelper.com if you have any questions, comments or suggestions concerning the Blog or Newsletter. Also let me know if you have a particular subject that you would like to share with  other members. A good article of interest by you could be published on our blog and newsletter for over four thousand of our members around the world to read and gather ideas to improve their studio.

Thanks for your support and interest in Music Teacher’s Helper.

Ronnie Currey
Director of Member Services/Editor
Music Teacher’s Helper
ronnie@musicteachershelper.com

Read More » Comments Off (0)

Posted in Customer Support, Press, Using Music Teacher's Helper

Free listings can’t be beat, especially from Google, the Internet’s most powerful and popular search engine. How many times have you looked up “plumber” or “pizza” online, and above a host of links, Google has a handy map with all of those plumbers and pizza joints pin-pointed and links to their business address. Not only does Google list these businesses at the top of their searches, but also these listings are free!

Read more…

Read More » Comments (3)

Posted in Press, Promoting Your Studio, Studio Management

MTNA TorontoWe just got back from this year’s Music Teachers National Association Conference in Toronto, Canada. We had a great time talking with all the teachers there and showing them how Music Teacher’s Helper can help them manage the business-side of running a private studio. Teachers really lit up when we mentioned how they get their own website with it where students can login to check schedules, and that it could MTNA Booth Showingautomatically email their students reminders before each lesson and event, and lesson notes after each event. The idea of automatic invoicing and online credit card payments was also very popular, as well as the lending library, since teachers tend to lose so many books that way.

MTNA BoothWe really appreciate everyone who stopped by our booth to talk to us and check out our program. We handed out brochures like crazy so hopefully the word will continue to spread. We’ll be announcing the winner of the Free Portable DVD Player Giveaway shortly.

Read More » Comments (2)

Posted in Press