BugFix: Students and parents were able to delete invoices. This is now fixed. BugFix: Some students were randomly being removed as participants in an event. This bug has now been fixed! BugFix: Some studios were having trouble accessing the "Receive Payment" page. This has now been fixed. BugFix: Emailing directly from the People List hasn't been working for a couple days. This is now fixed. BugFix: On rare occasions...
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Last spring as I made the decision to double the size of my studio, I displayed our phone number prominently on our website’s header and throughout the site. It worked wonders, because all of the sudden I was flooded with calls from prospective students and parents.
However, I continued to receive a generous amount of emails from prospective students and parents as well. And most often, those who contacted my studio via email actually followed through with registering for the waiting list and joining the studio.
Once the studio was at maximum capacity with a waiting list in the double digits, those phone calls started to become overwhelming. The emails were easy; I could simply personalize my standard email for prospective students and include a link to register for the waiting list. But with each phone call I received, I had the same conversation over and over again.
Feeling overwhelmed with your business planning?
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
Don’t hesitate to enlist help! Being an independent teacher, I am fiercely independent, self-sufficient, and sometimes stubborn! However, when I become willing to ask for help, it seems the teachers magically appear.
Everyone needs a little help every now and then. Many of us have not had the business training that running a successful busines requires – I am the first to admit that I am lacking in these essential skills. This month I will feature the newly formed Piano Teacher School founded by Kathleen Theisen and Kristin Yost. Kathleen Theisen is an assistant professor at Western State Connecticut University and Kristin Yost is the founder and director of The Centre for Musical Minds in Frisco, Texas. Both of these enthusiastic teachers are not only very successful in their music careers but are also thriving entrepeneurs. And now they are here to help! They have developed practical courses to help independent teachers with the myriad of different activities involved in the daily tasks of teaching.
Piano Teacher School offers affordable online courses in four areas: Business Planning, Organization Strategies, Image and Branding, and Technology. Their goal is to “maximize the efficiency and productivity of your music studio.” Each class offers videos on private links and includes personalized one-on-one coaching. There are detailed descriptions of the classes on their website at pianoteacherschool.com – each sound fabulous and I would like to take them all, if only I could find the time! Courses are also accepted by the Music Teachers National Association for recertification.
I am constantly looking for ways to generate income while providing excellent service. This year I plan to offer "one stop shopping" for my students on my web site. I am exploring several affiliate programs that will allow me to earn income based on their purchases....
Read MoreWhile talking with a friend this weekend, I was asked to give my job description. Hmmm… where to start?
We as teachers and business owners not only manage, promote, and create our studios… we fulfill a job description so extensive, anyone would be amazed.
Are you a planner? Then you are the events, lesson, & class schedule coordinator.
Are you a teacher? Then you are probably the one instructing – the main face of your studio.
Are you skilled in math? Well, even if you aren’t, you are probably the billing department.
Are you good with computers? Then you are likely the reason your website is kept up-to-date & people are always impressed with your professional documents.
Are you personable, friendly, and quick to respond to your customer’s and student’s concerns and questions? Then you are the human resources (HR) department.
Are you a person your students can trust, talk with, and relate to while in the studio? Then you are a mentor, a counselor, a friend.
Have you taken years and years of lessons in your field & do you continue to learn every feasible opportunity? Then you are a professional.
The list could continue, but you get the idea. Never underestimate the immense shoes you fill.