Questions, Studio Business

Forum Q&A | End-Of-The-Year Tasks

I’ve let a few weeks go by again without doing a Forum Q&A, so I think it’s high time for another!  🙂  Last time, we discussed attending conferences but only received a few comments.  Feel free to add your thoughts.

The school year is wrapping up — at least for those of us in the U.S.!  So, I’m curious:

What are you up to?  What end-of-the-year preparations preparations are you working on?  Summer scheduling, progress reports, re-registration for the fall, planning summer camps, etc?  Fill me in! 

Leave your comment below this post.  🙂

Reviews

Review: The Matthew 6:33 Piano Teacher eBook (and giveaway)

Piano teacher KM Logan has sent me a copy of her ebook and asked if I’d be willing to review it, to which I happily agreed.  Her ebook is called: “The Matthew 6:33 Piano Teacher: How To Teach Piano To The Glory Of God.”  It is 79 pages in length and is available on her website, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

In case you are wondering, here is the verse mentioned in the ebook’s title:  “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” — Matthew 6:33  This ebook is written very much from a Christian perspective (which I very much appreciate), asking the reader to consider things like whether piano teaching is God’s calling for you, how God can make a difference through your teaching, and most of all, how the piano teacher can do all they do for the glory of God.  Unfortunately, I’m not sure the book provides many clues for the answers to those questions, but it does ask you to consider those things.

Writing Style

Here are some comments regarding the ebook from a purely writing perspective.  The tone of Logan’s writing is very conversational, which has its benefits and downsides.  The writing is easy-to-read, but I feel the eBook would benefit from a more academic style of writing.  For example, if I were the editor, I would eliminate all the contractions and restructure the sentences so they don’t use “you” so much (so the writing doesn’t sound as “preach-y” and direct).  Also, I hope you like rhetorical questions, because the author makes use of them a great deal throughout the ebook!  For example, the eBook opens with 9 questions in a row.   Continue reading “Review: The Matthew 6:33 Piano Teacher eBook (and giveaway)”

Conferences, Professional Development, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Getting Started With Online Marketing

On Monday of the conference, I attended the Faber Exhibitor Showcase and the Keynote Address given by the wonderful Benjamin Zander!  Natalie has already posted notes on these sessions that are very similar to mine, so I’ll let you read her summaries here and here.

The next session I attended was given by the MTNA Collegiate Chapter at Butler University called:

Getting Started With Online Marketing

The presenters began by stating: “First impressions are everything!”  Nowadays, that first impression is often online.  We need a good first impression so that it will turn into a phone call.  Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Getting Started With Online Marketing”

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Legal Issues

3:00pm – Ignorance Is Not Bliss: Legal Issues for the IMT

Led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein, and Scott McBride Smith.

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Financial Success

1:30pm – Financial Success: Taking Control of the Present and the Future

Led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein, and Scott McBride Smith.

Why are independent music teachers (IMT) so underpaid?  Beth had quite a list of contributing reasons!   Here’s a few:

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Finding Students

11:30am – Finding & Keeping Students

Led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein, and Scott McBride Smith.

This session involved a lot of discussion as a group.  Attendees raised their hands to share ideas for finding and keeping students.  Here’s a few ideas that I jotted down:

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Creative Curriculum

10:30am – The Creative Curriculum

Led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein, and Scott McBride Smith.

Make a plan for yourself, to focus on (1) continual growth, (2) quality, and (3) innovation.  As Peter Drucker once said, “We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.” Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Creative Curriculum”

Conferences, Studio Business

MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Studio Documents

Here begins my notes from the 2012 MTNA Conference in NYC!  I had such a wonderful time, and I learned so much.

Saturday is always an optional day at the MTNA Conference.  For an extra $75, you can attend Pedagogy Saturday or choose the Professional Studio Institute track.  I chose the latter, which was led by Lee Galloway, Beth Gigante Klingenstein (author of The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook), and Scott McBride Smith.

9:00am – Studio Documents That Work!

Having studio documents is important for professionalism, to protect yourself, to save time, for marketing, and for organization.  Some documents you should consider having for your studio:

  1. Mission Statement – a statement of the purpose for your life or career.  It establishes goals and can help you stay focused.  It has four parts: (1) What you do; (2) Who your target market is; (3) What benefits there are for them; and (4) What benefits there are for you.  Example: I bring joy to others, enriching lives through the gift of music in a fun, energetic, and inspired environment. Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Prof. Studio Institute: Studio Documents”
Studio Business

Sample Studio Newsletter

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.

 

Professional Development, Studio Business

Semester Planning & Organization

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?  🙂

Professional Development, Questions, Studio Business, Teaching Piano

Forum Q&A | Safety Practices for Traveling Teachers

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

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”