Category: Studio Business

Resources, Studio Business

My New Laminator

Joy Morin

Just wanted to show off a picture of my new laminator today…

I bought it a couple of weeks ago for $15 at Aldi, believe it or not!  At that price, I figured it was worth trying out.  I’ve been so happy with it and have been laminating a lot of my games and flashcards.

I am off to NYC for the MTNA conference very soon!!  I am very excited.  I will be taking off from blogging for most of next week, but when I return I will have lots of conference notes and photos to share!  I’m also looking forward to meeting some of the other piano teacher bloggers who are going.

Happy weekend!

Studio Business

Referral Thank You Gift

Joy Morin

I recently had a current student refer a new student to me for piano lessons.  The best kind of marketing is word-of-mouth, so I am always happy when parents/students are willing to tell others about my services!  So I decided to give a little gift as a token of my appreciation:

I created this T-shirt at printfection.com, and accompanied it with a thank you card.  🙂

Also: I wanted to use this post to announce the winner of the candle giveaway:  It’s commenter #12, Pauline!  Congrats!  Please check your inbox for an email from me.

The winners of the other giveaways will be announced over the next few days.

Studio Business

Sample Studio Newsletter

Joy Morin

A reader asked if I could share a sample of a studio newsletter, so here’s a few screenshots!  Click the thumbnails below to view each page larger:

 

For most newsletters, I also include a list of music events going on in the community.  I think it’s great for students and their families to hear and be inspired by good performances!  Here’s a post with other ideas for what to include in studio newsletters.

I created this newsletter using a template in Microsoft Word.

 

Announcements, improving as a teacher, Music Camps, Studio Business

My Summer Camp Plans for 2012!

Joy Morin

I recently started to do some in-depth planning for the summer camps I plan to offer this summer!  My studio policies provide students with two options for the summer months (June-August):

  1. Students ages 6-12 may participate in a camp each month plus take 5 lessons scheduled approximately every other week around family vacations, or…
  2. Students may continue weekly lessons (10 total) as normal.  Students who choose to continue lessons as normal are welcome to sign up for 1, 2, or all 3 summer camps on top of their lessons if desired, at a special rate.

Because I have such a range of ages/levels in my studio, I decided to make my camps very flexible so that students of a wide range of musical backgrounds (even those with no music background) can attend camp.  When my studio is larger, I will probably design camps for certain ages/levels.  For this year, I think it’s best to be flexible.  I’m encouraging my students to invite their friends to attend camp and I’ll put posters around town too.  I’m hoping for a turnout of about 4-8 students attending each camp.

Below are the descriptions I came up with for each camp.  What do you think — do they sound like fun?!  🙂   Continue reading “My Summer Camp Plans for 2012!” →

Studio Business

Humidity and My Piano

Joy Morin

Here in Ohio, the winter snow is finally upon us!  We were spoiled with an extraordinarily mild December, and only recently have have had a few inches of snow actually staying on the ground for more than a few days without melting.

The snowy weather outside means, of course, that the air gets very dry indoors.  The old radiators in our home are running almost constantly!  As a recent first-time piano owner, last week I decided I should buy a hygrometer to see just how low the humidity is getting in our home, for the sake of my piano.  I ordered this hygrometer from Amazon and it arrived just a couple of days later (love that).  I was shocked, however, to find that the humidity in my studio was under 20%!  Not good.  Continue reading “Humidity and My Piano” →

Questions, Studio Business

Forum Q&A | Saying Goodbye to Piano Students Before Moving Away

Joy Morin

At our last Forum Q&A discussion, we talked about new year’s resolutions for piano teachers!  Click here to view the responses.

Over the weekend, I received an email from a reader who is preparing to move and must say “goodbye” to all her students.  I’d love to start a discusion about piano teachers saying goodbye and moving, so here goes:

Have you ever had to move and “give away” all your students?  How did you break the news?  Was there anything you were able to do for your students to make their transition to a new piano teacher easier?  What other advice can you offer to a piano teacher who is preparing to move? 

I’ll post my answer in the comments below, including the “goodbye letter” I wrote for my students last Spring when I moved after graduation.  Please add your own thoughts to the comments below!

Professional Development, Studio Business

Semester Planning & Organization

Joy Morin

I’ve been doing a bit of cleaning and reorganizing in my studio, like putting all those music books that always seem to migrate to the piano top back in their proper place on their shelves.  🙂

I also visited the music store today to pick up new books for some of my students.  I’m so happy to have a music store in my area again.  In the town where we were living back in Michigan, there was no music store within an hour’s drive.  I won’t take it for granted again, and will do my best to purchase music books from them instead of ordering online!  Maybe I can help keep them in business.  😉

With the arrival of the new year, it’s also time to plan ahead for the student events that springtime inevitably brings!  I’ve been using my Studio Planning Calendar (pdf is available for download on the Printables > Studio Business page) to plan for upcoming festival and event dates held by the music associations in my area.  I’m excited about all the different opportunities there are for my students to participate in, and I’d like to send at least a couple of students to each event.  I also have a few students that I might enter in The Achievement Program for assessment in May, provided they are interested.

How is the New Year going for you?  🙂

improving as a teacher, Professional Development, Studio Business, Teaching Piano

Forum Q&A: Lesson Planning for Private Lessons

Joy Morin

It’s been a while since we had a Forum Q&A!  Sometimes I run out of ideas for discussion topics, so if you ever have a question you’d like to see addressed here to get other teachers’ input, please let me know.  🙂

Last time, we discussed the role of the parent in private lessons.  We received some well-thought responses, so thanks for that!  Click here to read them, and remember, it’s never too late to add your thoughts.

Here’s today’s discussion topic: Lesson planning!  Here’s a few questions to get you thinking:

Do you create lesson plans for the private piano lessons you teach?  Why or why not?  If you do create lesson plans, what is your process?  How much time do you spend lesson planning each week?  Is your method feasible for even if you full studio of say, 20+ students? 

Although I’ve been teaching privately for over 6 years now, I still don’t feel I have a good system for lesson planning.  Fortunately, I have a pretty good memory for knowing where in their books my students are at any given time.  However, I have a feeling that eventually if I get over 20 students to keep track of, this would be become much more difficult.  I need to keep better records so I can be more effective in preparing to introduce new concepts to my students before the method book does!  I’d love to hear any thoughts you have on this topic.  🙂

Photo Credit: Bright Meadow | CC 2.0

Announcements, Studio Business

Halloween Candy = Opportunity for Free Marketing

Joy Morin

Thanks to the wonderfully helpful ideas that YOU all submitted in reply to the Forum Q&A last month about advertising, this year for Halloween I am passing out candy that has a note with my studio name and information on it!

I created these tags in Microsoft Word and printed them onto cardstock paper.  I cut out each tag and used a circle of scotch tape to attach the candy to the backside of each tag.  The tags have my studio name, what I do, and my contact information.  Continue reading “Halloween Candy = Opportunity for Free Marketing” →

improving as a teacher, Studio Business, Teaching Piano

Forum Q&A | The Role of the Parent

Joy Morin

I apologize for being a bit MIA around the blog lately.  I have a couple of projects that I am working on right now for my local MTNA association.  One of them is designing a website.  It’s about half-way done and if you’re interested in taking a sneak peek, you can click here to see it.  🙂

Anyway, our last Forum Q&A was a discussion about accepting and then teaching adult students at the students’ homes.  We also hit on a few other situations, like females teaching male adult students at the teacher’s home.  There was a good overall consensus about handling such situations.  It’s so great to get advice and support from others, so thank you all for your contributions to the discussion!  (As always, it’s never too late to comment if you haven’t already!)

Here’s the question for today:

What is the ideal role for the parents when it comes to piano lessons?  If a parent asks about what they can be doing to help and support their child, what is your answer?  Do you require or encourage parents to sit in on lessons?  Do you require parents to help young beginners practice?  Do you hold yearly or semesterly meetings with parents to discuss progress?  

Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo Credit: woodleywonderworks | CC 2.0

Professional Development, Questions, Studio Business, Teaching Piano

Forum Q&A | Safety Practices for Traveling Teachers

Joy Morin

Wow, last week’s Forum Q&A received some great responses about advertising!  Thank you, and be sure to read what everyone had to say by clicking here!  As always, it’s never to late to add  your thoughts to the discussion.

A few days ago, I received an email from a Color In My Piano reader with this question:

When traveling to a new students’ homes, how can you screen students before agreeing to teach them?  What kind of safety precautions can be taken before going to a stranger’s house (especially an adult student)?  If they sound questionable on the phone, is there a way to politely decline giving them lessons?

Please leave your advice in the comments below!

Photo Credit: CarlosLie | CC 2.0
Studio Business, Technology

Studio Marketing: Social Networking & More

Joy Morin

I’ve been intending to write this post in the “Studio Marketing” series (perhaps the last one) for awhile now, but I was stalling in hopes of being able to include more information about the new Google+ social networking site……I’ll get to that in a moment.  Read on. 🙂

What can Social Networking do for YOU? 

I’ve discussed before about how important it is today to have a website for your business.  It’s important to have an online presence, period.  Utilizing social networking helps built rapport between you and your current & potential customers.  Marketing is promoting your business.  It’s about reaching people where they are.  And it’s about creating an image for your business that people want to identify themselves with.

The good news is that social networking is free.  Yes, you will have to invest a little time to set things up and update things now and then, but I think you will find it a very rewarding activity if you aren’t doing it already!  Continue reading “Studio Marketing: Social Networking & More” →