I have no professional training, I have no professional education in music education. I have played in a few bands, and my good friend and I can play "Medditeranean Sundance", the live version with Paco De Lucia.
But all I ever wanted to do is teach, I'm 17 years old,a nd I've given casual lessons to two of my buddies, who ended up getting really good, and I imagine that if I had had a professional agreement with them, they would have continued progressing, but I can only give so many freebies.
Mish-mash aside, how should I advertise myself? I plan to post some posters at elementary schools and guitar stores that give super-expensive lessons, and say that I am "COMPETENT, YOUNG, MOTIVATED" but really, I am looking for a way to ensure some students.
...help!
doesn't it seem like 99% of the people who start psots here are 17 years old :idea:
I don't follow my dreams, I just ask em' where they're going and catch up with them later.
-Mitch Hedburg
Did you see that!
Ah, marketing... the thing that separates the pros from the amateurs!
Seriously, that's the difference. If you market successfully, you make money. You could be the worst teacher in the world (I hope you're not, of course), but successful marketing makes for an income. Great ability without marketing makes for a hobby.
Posters are a start, but not great. Kids in elementary schools may see them, but won't remember the details - and they'll go home and tell the decision makers (Mom & Dad) that they want guitar lessons... and off they go to another teacher. Better to print up a few hundred brochures for distribution to the students, if the school will let you.
Music stores offering expensive lessons won't let you put up posters. You're the competition. Stores take a cut of on-site lessons - in my area, they take 30-70%, so why should they give up income to help you?
The absolute best way to advertise is word of mouth. Starting out, you don't have any of that, so you need a way to get the word out. When I started, I taught in a music store (they took 50%), so somebody else did the marketing for me. When I first opened my own place, I distributed 5,000 flyers in the neighborhood. I only had to do that once, and then I could build on the traffic.
What works is going to vary by area - when I lived in Chicago, local newspaper ads worked. Where I am now, they don't - I'd get only 1 call per $200 in ads, so I stopped running ads. What works for me now is flyers (about $15/100 at Office Max, and I get about 2-5 calls per 100 brochures - you can see what mine looks like in pdf form on my website) distributed at local CD stores.
You need to answer basic marketing questions to design an effective marketing piece:
Who is my target market? (in your case, elementary age students)
Where can I reach them? (school, day camps, etc)
Who makes the decision? (Mom/Dad)
How do I best reach both? (the crux of flyers vs posters)
Why would they choose me?
That's the critical question, and the difference between success and failure. Don't sell price - sell benefits. My flyer talks about why you should learn an instrument, why you should consider the guitar, what you can learn to play, why lessons are important, etc. There's very little about my qualifications.
That's because your qualifications don't matter. They don't care how often you perform, where you studied, or anything else. What they want is to learn how to play - they don't care how YOU learned how to play!
If you do play out, get business cards. Keep them with you all the time. When you talk to people between sets, get your marketing hat on - don't sell, market. If someone says "I wish I could play guitar", you say "really? It's pretty easy to learn - I give lessons" and hand them your card.
The reason cards and brochures are so much better than posters is that making a sale is really a 3-step process: first, raise interest. Second, make personal contact. Third, close the deal and get a student. Posters might raise interest, but they can't set it aside to think about it... if they get to part 2, they will call anybody. If they have something to keep for later on, they'll call you.
Oh yeah - when I started, I offered one free lesson (I got a rubber stamp "Good for one free lesson - limit one per student" and stamped the back of my cards). I haven't had to do that in ages, but it helped convince people to try me.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
thank you. I will approach making the cards now, and start doing more open mics. Though those tend to drain me. Then I'll see what I can do with some brochures.
I don't follow my dreams, I just ask em' where they're going and catch up with them later.
-Mitch Hedburg
Did you see that!
Alternately, you might try the music schools themselves. We have a very good one here and they are often looking for more teachers. They also may have a curriculum that might help you strengthen your teaching approach.
Even if he doesn't hire you, the owner may share his wisdom on the local business, and give you suggestions on how to get started.
Just a thought...
Laz
I'll second working for a store as a great way to get started. You'll be able to refine your teaching skill WHILE building a nice set of future references.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
I'll second working for a store as a great way to get started. You'll be able to refine your teaching skill WHILE building a nice set of future references.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
yeah, I could've worked for a store, but there's very few of them here, two of them are impossible to be hired for if you aren't a good friend of the owner, though I've tried. Even in the teacher training process.
I don't follow my dreams, I just ask em' where they're going and catch up with them later.
-Mitch Hedburg
Did you see that!
