Welcome to Music Studio Success!

Hi! I’m Matt.

If you’re reading this book it’s a safe bet to assume you want to start a teaching studio. If I’m right about this, Congratulations! You’ve chosen a great line of work, and I think I can help.

This book was inspired in part by the many phone-calls and e-mails I’ve received from new teachers asking advice on how to get their teaching practices started. Of course I’m glad to help, and often I even get a free coffee in return – or maybe even a dinner! Unfortunately you aren’t buying me dinner, but you’re going to get more out of this book than I could ever offer you in an hour or two, and probably at a far cheaper price.

Is this book only for musicians? No way.

I’m a pianist myself, but you can use what you learn here regardless of your trade, from yoga to golf to scuba diving, this book can help you. Most of what’s here, in other words, can be applied to anyone who teaches clients for money.

My Experience

Like many of you, I was fresh out of college with some prestigious degrees and an impressive pedigree of teachers under my belt. (I also had an impressive amount of debt under my belt but we don’t need to talk about that!) A degree in music is tough – a lot more than some people assume. You’ve probably experienced something similar. Besides the occasional college party, earning my degrees took a lot of dedication, and grit; nerve-wracking auditions to music programs, endless hours of practice, honing my craft, and a lot of stress and hard work.

So you can imagine my surprise when I entered the real world: no one gives a damn.

While some schools provide awesome pedagogy and music-business classes, the vast majority of music students are training for solo careers that simply don’t exist. We spend lots of time perfecting our art, but precious little figuring out how to survive.

Don’t get me wrong: Your art is your passion and it’s important that you train to be your best at it. I get that. But we all have to be realistic about how we’ll put food on the table. If your art is deeply important to you, like mine is to me, then your mission is to find a way to continue practicing it once you’re out of school.

Sadly, many of us are convinced we have to switch careers if we want to make a living. This isn’t so. I and the many other teachers of the world are proof.

In many ways, school insulates us from what’s really required to make ends meet, and when we’re out of it and feeling the pressure of having to pay bills, get groceries, and pay off debt, we can feel quite rushed to “get a real job.”

Be happy you don’t have a “real job”

I pity those people who got business degrees and are now slaving away at a 9-5 office job every day . . . with some take-home work on the evenings and weekends to boot. Sure they have a “job” but I’ll let them have it. They can take their long commute, bosses and office politics, unreasonable deadlines, and everything else. I guess someone has to do it.

You have a skill you can use to build your own business around the lifestyle you want. You get to continue working in the field you love, make an excellent income, inspire many others, live where you want, make your own schedule, and have ample free time for your art.

In fact, that corporate system you’re feeling pressured to join probably won’t exist much longer anyway. The days of being able to commit to one company your whole life and retire safely are long gone. So not only are you a lucky jobless artist, you’re a privileged member of the new economy! The secret is learning how to leverage your unique skills so that you can offer people in your community something they value. And for those of you reading this book, believe it or not, a lot of people value information on your particular art or skill.

How do you get there?

That’s what the rest of this book is about. Starting a teaching studio requires that you know exactly what you have to offer, know how to market that effectively, and continually improve yourself and your business.

Through a lot of trial and error I’ve learned how to make a teaching studio run. I can’t do the work for you, but I can give you a nice push! Most of the advice here is not groundbreaking or new. All experienced teachers have learned many of these things by trial and error. I’m simply writing what I wish someone had told me at the beginning of the process over a decade ago.

How to Use This Book

Starting a studio is an intricate process. I’ve presented the material in what I think is the most logical order, but you aren’t required to read straight through. For instance, if you already have many of the preliminaries down but want to learn more about attracting students, you can always skip to Section 3.

A lot of this book is geared towards getting yourself online and attracting students through the internet. Unfortunately it’s impossible to cover all possible aspects of a subject like building a website in this book, but I’ve tried my best to give a very good outline. Whether we like it or not, this is the best way to get started in the modern era – at least in my opinion.

I am very interested in helping you succeed! If you ever feel confused about this subject or anything else in the book, you can contact me on my site pianoblog.com. I love hearing your comments and suggestions! I’ve also compiled short list of helpful sites and resources below.

OK I’ve held you long enough. . . let’s get started!

-Matt

Continue to Chapter 1

Resources and Table of Contents

How to build a website – This is a series of tutorials I made on getting you small business website online – quick and easy from scratch! (http://www.nobossninja.com/make-your-own-website)

Piano Blog Teacher Resources – A list of sites, articles, and other useful things! (http://www.pianoblog.com/resources-for-teachers)

CONTENTS

SECTION ONE: Getting your Studio Up and Running

1 – The Master Plan

2 – Your Quick Start Guide

3 – Building Blocks

SECTION TWO: Creating an Online Presence

4 – Elements of Your Online Presence

5 – Elements of a Good Website

6 – Building Your Website

SECTION THREE: Attracting Students

7 – Advertising in the Short and Medium Term