The Importance of Networking
About a year ago, my family relocated from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Bozeman, Montana, and I was faced with “relaunching” my piano studio in a new town. When I opened my studio in Wisconsin the only marketing I did was to place an ad on craigslist — a dozen students soon followed. After a few unsuccessful attempts at pulling in students in Bozeman via craigslist, I was forced to come up with better marketing strategies that would successfully reach out to my new community.
Bozeman — being an educated, college town and far from a big city — is big on networking. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I was going to need to find new ways to “plug into” the community of Bozeman in order to create interest in my studio.
Networking with other professionals
One of the first things I did after my craigslist flop was contact the president of my local music teachers association. Not only was she able to help me understand better how to attract students and brainstorm ideas for my studio, but she also provided me with my first three students. Since she was no longer accepting new piano students, she gave the families who contacted her for lessons my information, and I was able to begin teaching again just a few short weeks after my initial meeting with her. When I met other members of the group at monthly meetings, similar referrals soon followed.