My business is located in the north suburbs of Chicago – the population in my ‘burb is around 75,000 people and there are at least six or seven other suburbs nestled around it with populations that have the same general head count.
In areas with populations that large, there are usually several music stores/lesson studios that serve the area. They may not be located right next to each other but they are in the same general area.
When I first opened my business I felt threatened by all of them – particularly because I was doing advertising on some of the free bulletin boards out there on the Internet so the other ads would be listed right next to mine. Anyone that taught guitar was the competition and needed to be kept at bay and outwitted!
But as I was driving to the grocery store one day a realization hit me. Much like a grocery store, my lesson studio services my immediate area. Even though there are 75,000 people in my suburb, they aren’t all located in close proximity to where I’m at. That’s an important distinction to make.
I don’t drive 20 miles for groceries. There are two major stores within 5 miles of where I live and they get my business because a) I’m usually very time strapped and don’t have the time to explore other options b) they serve my needs so I don’t need to look anywhere else and c) even if a place across town had groceries that cost slightly less than what I was buying, the cost in gas money and time would wipe out any advantage I would get by shopping there.
The same applies to your lesson studio. Parents are busy, often working full time and juggling a full schedule of shlepping their children around to after school activities, day care, everyday errands (like the grocery store!) and if we’re fortunate, music lessons. If they have the choice of going to your lesson studio, conveniently located 5 minutes away from home, or receiving world class instruction from a renowed pianist 20 miles across town – odds are, as long as you provide good service and a decent value, they are your customer. There just aren’t enough hours in the day to do otherwise (unless you’re in a remote area and there are no other options)
Think in terms of a five to ten mile radius around your location in a larger market. If you’re in a small town, think in terms of your “end” of the town. Odds are that if you were to convert even a percentage of those residents located within a file mile radius into music students, you would have more business than you could possibly handle (which would be a great problem to have!)
Before I opened my business I made an effort to contact other guitar instructors and music stores that were located at least 25-30 miles away from where I was at and ask for advice or tips on opening a business. Most thought I was crazy and more than a few said they were not about to give that away to the the “competition”.
When was the last time you drove 30 miles for music lessons in a major metropolitan area on a weekly basis? It doesn’t happen very often. So are you really in competition with the other stores located that far away from you?
Odds are, probably not.
So the real competition for your lessons in the 5-10 mile radius around your store must be something else. Namely, video games, cable TV, the Internet, after school sports programs, etc.
If we all keep this idea in mind – that other instructors located outside our immediate area aren’t competition but potential sources of info and members of our team – how could that affect and inspire our business? Could we help each other out? Pass along valuable tips on marketing and building our businesses?
In 2009, let’s keep that idea in mind and see how we can help others who do what we do and in turn, help ourselves in the process and feel good about it.
Why not start now, right here? To anyone reading this – list the most valuable marketing method that worked for you in 2008 and why it worked so well. Let’s see if we can get a nice long list going.
Great article! Also, I would just like to add that other studios may have a different target market. I am nearly full for next year now – YAY! – and as I specialise in teaching adults, I have made the decision not to take any other children as students. I have contacted another local piano teacher and she is happy for me to refer any children on to her. This way, I don’t have to turn students away without giving them somewhere to go, and in the future, maybe the other teacher and I can collaborate in concerts, or workshops, to add value to both of our studios.
My most valuable marketing method has been my website and having links online on free music teacher sites and Yellow Pages online (Australia). Having a website that is professional helps with the overall impression of your studio before they even meet you, and with MTH, it is so easy to set up your website, you’d be silly not to!
I have tried several ways of advertising my coaching over the past ten years and I have to say that the very best return I get is online advertising, my web site, direct mailing several times a year to targeted schools and personal referrals.
You have to put in the time to keep your web site updated and professional looking. Use advertising links to get traffic to your site and let the site do the work for you. The web site has to be the “billboard” that showcases your students and teaching. Make sure it includes photos, videos, sound bites, student accomplishments, etc.
In my case, I don’t have to rely on advertising or worrying about the “competition”. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.
Thanks for the comments, Leah and Heather.
Heather – you mentioned advertising links. Are you using Google AdWords to drive traffic to your site?
It’s interesting that such a large percentage of your local population is on the internet actively searching for music lessons and find your website as a result, without a need for you to actively go out and find them. That’s a nice problem to have! Are you located in a large metropolitan area?
Would you mind sharing how the potential students in your local area are being exposed to your advertising links? That would helpful to all of us.
Thank you again for your valuable input!
In my town, the local Parks & Recreation department puts out a flyer several times during the school year announcing upcoming leagues forming and that sort of thing. I managed to get a one line ad placed on it (for free) simply stating that I give guitar lessons, my name, my phone number, and my MTH website address. This flyer is not only available at the desk of the Parks & Rec department offices, but it goes home with every school kid in the public schools for the whole community. I’ve had more leads from that one line of text than any of my flyers and other advertising combined.