Self Promotion & Marketing Options

[organist_matt]

To all teachers of music!

I am currently doing a module at university about self promotion and marketing as a musician.

I am interested to know how, as qualified music teachers, you promote your services in your respective areas and which methods you have found most useful.

I'm aware of sites such as musicteachers.co.uk and have taken time to question teachers who use this website asking them how much business this has helped them acquire.

I would be interested in hearing from you!

[owainsutton]

Almost 100% of my enquiries and eventual customers (business hat on (IMG:style_emoticons/default/party1.gif) ) come via my website, the vast majority having found it via Google, either through organic search or through Places and Adwords links. I'm quite happy for you to email me if you've got more specific questions about how I go about this.

There's been various discussions here in the past on 'best places to advertise?'-type questions, and the answers vary a lot. What tends to come across is how individuals have different strengths which they're able to exploit: some people are natural salesmen and can generate word-of-mouth reputations with ease, others have numerous children and the word spreads at the school gate without any effort. I'm a geek who enjoys tinkering with anything involving computers, hence the website being my success story.

[lorraineliyanage]

Same here, my web site is the biggest source of enquiries about lessons, although I am lucky enough to have been a web designer in the past, so it was quite easy to get the site high up on the search engines.

I don't get many enquiries through MusicTeachers.co.uk but I did find the UK Piano Page a better source for finding me new students.

There is also a lot to be said for word of mouth business.

[Czerny]

There is also a lot to be said for word of mouth business.

Agreed. That's how I've got the majority of my private pupils.

[lorraineliyanage]

I don't think it's worth paying for advertising either. I get emailed quite often by new teacher listings sites always trying to get me to sign up for ??s a month. The free listings sites are good enough if combined with a decent-ish web site. Wordpress is fantastic for those that don't do web-coding. A photo of the teachers plus some videos of the them playing is always good!

If you really can't get a web site together, then advertising in the local library, music shop or even newsagents windows is a cheap way to start. Volunteering to play the piano at Sunday School was another top way that I got loads of students!

[Seer_Green]

Just about all my enquiries come through my website. I've virtually removed myself from most other listings sites, and don't tend to pay for any advertising these days. Of course, word of mouth is a large part too. I could pay to be in some of the local magazines that are delivered, but most charge ?25-?30 a month, even for the smallest advert. I've done this a few times in the past, but enquiries have been few, if any at all.

I approached the local music shop about 18 months ago and got a very firm "We've got quite enough music teachers round here already" in response: suffice to say they were not willing to put up a card (and they haven't got any business in return from me!). The local library also doesn't have anywhere to 'advertise' anymore. I went all over the local area putting cards up in shops, but only one enquiry from those. I've also printed and delivered flyers (including a special offer!) but again, not a single enquiry from those. Money is tight for everyone at the moment, and at the end of the day, music lessons are a luxury.

My feeling is that in the current economic climate, those who are looking for a teacher will find you (almost certainly online). Advertising in the hope that someone might think "I'd never though of that...let's give it a go" is much more difficult to do these days, and again, in the current economic climate, I don't think there are so many of those people around.

An awful lot has to do with the area in which you are, and to a certain extent, the people you know. For me, the past 18 months has seen a real downturn in enquiries around here. I know though of other teachers in other areas who've experienced the complete opposite!

[angelvoice]

I'd say word of mouth is my biggest friend- but I live in a small country town where everyone knows everyone. I get a handful of enquiries from musicteachers but normally I have to turn them away as they haven't read my teaching details properly (eg- no weekend or late evening teaching). Recently I've had more and more enquiries come through from my website, some of those went searching for me in the first place and some happened to come across it by chance.

I've never paid for anything (bar my website costs) advertising-wise. But as I mentioned before, I live in a close knit community, I'm sure things would have been different if I lived in a big city. I was also in a unique situation where I was being supported by my now husband so it wasn't a massive panic at the beginning to find pupils. I've gradually been able to develop my student base to over 60 now.

[organist_matt]

Thank you all very much!

This information has been really useful and interesting to read.