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How to make a living in music - Teaching -
Part 2
by Keith
Kehrer
In the
first part
of this article we discussed where students come from. I am going to
continue with how to market and run a music teaching business.
How do you reel then in?
Well, like any product or service, you have to give a potential client a
reason to pick you and not someone else. What do you give them? Some people
use the term, USP (Unique Selling Proposition) which means pretty much the
same thing. Maybe you have decided that you are going to be the best rock
and roll voice teacher in the town. Ok. How do you do that? One thing is
that you can spend time in rock and roll clubs and make friends with the
singers in bands on a casual basis and make sure they have your card. You
can give them voice tips and invite them to come take a complimentary
lesson. You can also ask them to refer you to other singers. Music teaching,
(especially voice instruction) is all about someone coming to you because
they trust you or someone they know trusts you. Once you get that person in
the door then you can show them how good a teacher you are. Happy customers
are the best thing for you. That and free stuff. I always offered discounts
for people who would buy blocks of lessons. Make sure you are consistent
with follow-ups. I can’t tell you how many times, I have called someone and
they tell me that they were meaning to call you, but, lost my number. If I
had not called, I would lost them as a student. Musicians and people in
general need a lot of help in making their decision. Most times it’s the
ones that show up that get the job. So, always show up and always follow-up.
How do you teach well and keep them coming back?
1. In the beginning ask them what they want to accomplish and then design a
lesson plan to help them with that. You may want to lay out some milestones
like certain songs that design to master and set things up to give them to
skills to do that.
2. Set up recitals or showcases on a periodic basis, so they can show
friends and family what they are doing. This gives them something to shoot
for and can really build their confidence. Besides. It’s fun. Serve
refreshments. This is a good place to gain more students in a gentle way.
3. Reward steady students with little gifts and discounts on your services.
4. You really need to work hard at building a good, nurturing relationship
with your students. Not every one will stick but you can keep a core group
of people in your stable and help them grow.
How much do you charge?
The first lesson should always be free or discounted. You need to get people
in the door and money is always a consideration in the beginning. Once
things are going well you can charge your regular rates. Make sure that when
you raise your rates you keep your steady students on the old rates for a
few months so they know they are special. You will want to setup discount
packages for people who want to pay a month ahead of time or more. I have
actually had someone pay me for a year’s worth of lessons and I gave them a
huge discount. Usually packages of 4 or 8 lessons work well. You do have to
figure out what your time is worth and what you want to make. You should
check around and see what other teachers are changing. You can have someone
call for you or even just ask for a price sheet. You can then decide if you
want to charge a little less or more than your competition. You want to use
the tactic that beer companies use when they first introduce a product.
Charge a lot less than the competition and bring up your prices as you are
more well know. Be careful not to charge too much less because people will
think you do not know what you are doing. If you are really experienced or
have a unique approach you can charge more. As your reputation grows you can
bump up your rates every six months or so.
Alternate ways to make money from your knowledge and skill.
I am just going to list some ideas and you can run with them.
1. Online teaching service using message forums, chat, Skype or other
technologies to work with your students
2. If you have a knowledge and write well, you can write a book or course of
study. This a long project and you may have to self publish at first.
3. Sell yourself as a production consultant, such as voice coach for musical
CD production.
4. Write a column about teaching.
Keep up the good work. Live long and prosper.
I welcome feedback and questions so feel free to email me at:
kkehrer@msn.com.
Keith Kehrer
Kamakaze Music
From a classical music education
to playing in Phoenix-area bands to studio production to composing for the
award-winning film Standalone, New Jersey-bred film score composer
Keith Kehrer brings a variety of experiences to his work. Recently Keith sat
down with our Ed-in-Chief to discuss how it all came together.
How to make a
living in music - Teaching - Part 1
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