Private Music teachers are teachers who teach one
instrument, usually one on one with a student, or in small
groups of students. Often these lessons are in the teachers
or the students homes, or sometimes they are held within a
school situation, often with the student coming out of a
larger class to spend the time with the teacher.
Whether in a private studio or in a school, the financial
arrangement for this kind of teaching involves the parents
paying the teacher directly "per lesson", and it is this
kind of teaching that this article aims to help teachers
increase their income with.
In this article are four strategies for increasing income
as a private music teacher - some of them may not be
suitable for every teacher, but hopefully they will give
you some insights on how private music teachers can improve
their income.
Strategy #1 - Never refund or credit a lesson because its
in the clients best interest
Students miss lessons. It's a fact. People get sick, there
are special sporting events that happen, there are times
when for whatever reason students are going to miss their
music lesson. The fact is that this is unavoidable. What
you can do as a music teacher is have a policy that says
that "lessons are always made-up, they are never refunded
or credited to your account", however the important thing
that is often missed in this is the WHY of that
statement... it should be because it is necessary for the
student's progress on their instrument.
If you use this philosophy you won't ever have to argue
with parents over it - because its in the students
interest, not yours! If you start the arrangement with this
agreement in place you'll find it much easier to enforce it
- the parents will make the effort to make up the lesson
rather than you having to insist on it. If you have
outcomes for the student (such as an assessment or exam) in
place it makes it even easier to make sure that it happens.
You will need to make time to make the lessons up - it
might be necessary to allow one or two days in the holidays
or during non-contact time to do it, but you'll find that
the ability to do this will be worth it in extra income.
Very often the parents will not bother making it up, and
you'll not have to credit or refund any money!
Strategy #2 - Find your Niche and make yourself exclusive
in that Niche
If you have something special about your teaching you'll
find that you'll attract more and better quality students,
and you'll be able to charge more.
For example, lets say you teach the guitar.
If you teach anyone who comes you'll probably end up with
some young children, some high school children, and maybe
one or two adults and you'll have to teach a variety of
styles depending on the type of music that the students
like.
If however..... you start a niche business, specializing in
only one area you'll eventually find that people will seek
you out because you are a specialist, and you'll be able to
charge more for your services and you'll be able to only
take on the students you want.
Examples of a niche business for guitar might be: - A
business that specializes in guitar for young children - A
business that helps adults fulfill their dreams of playing
guitar in a band - A business that specializes in heavy
metal guitar
These are just examples - there are literally thousands of
possibilities, but the niche must be something that
customers actually want, it cant be something that you
think might be good!
Strategy #3 - Increase your retention rate and don't take
on every student
Increasing your retention rate is vital for all businesses
- but particularly for music teachers - where your income
is determined by the number of students you are teaching
multiplied by the dollars that you charge.
If you can cut down on the number of students you lose,
while you simultaneously increase the quality of those
students you'll have a better income, and a more satisfying
teaching career as well.
You should definitely NOT take on any student that is
offered to you. Not every student is going to be right for
you - they often are looking to learn different things to
what you offer, and they might not be as reliable in terms
of paying their fees and attending lessons as your regular
students, so you should always meet and interview
prospective students before you agree to teach them.
By avoiding "problem" students in the first place you'll be
able to spend your time with more productive activities and
better quality students.. and this will increase your
income in the longer term.
Most of the problems with retention can be traced back to
one thing - the students lack motivation because they don't
practice enough. We have various strategies for increasing
retention rate by encouraging practice at the Fun Music
company teachers blog, which you'll find a link to at the
end of this article.
Strategy #4 - Add passive income streams to your business
Teaching income is active income - if you stop teaching the
income stops. That is ok.. because it is like any earned
income. What you should be looking to do is also add
passive income to your business.
Do you write any of your own teaching materials?
If so you are in the perfect position to add passive income
to your income mix. All you have to do is find a way to
publish your materials so that your students and others can
access them. It can be as simple as getting the materials
printed and bound at a copy shop just for your students
only.
Do you on-sell books and music to your students?
If so you may be able to negotiate bulk discounts from
suppliers and then add the full retail cost of the books to
the students account. Parents will appreciate the
convenience of not having to go into a shop to purchase the
books if you put it through your business.
Can you sell leads to other teachers or businesses?
For example students all need to purchase instruments. It
can be hard to negotiate, but if you can get a system going
with a music store that they will actually give you a
monetary commission (or perhaps credit to use in their
store) if you refer your students to purchase their
instruments from their store. This is certainly possible on
the internet, via the use of affiliate programs.
I hope this article has given you some ideas of ways that
you can improve your income as a private music teacher. I
was a private music teacher for over ten years, and I've
used all of these strategies during that time. Private
music teaching should be fun and rewarding, and it gives
you freedom to practice what you love, which is sharing the
joy of music with others.
----------------------------------------------------
Kevin Tuck has worked as a private music teacher, and now
runs The Fun Music Company, an internet publishing company
helping music teachers and authors publish music and
educational materials on the internet. You can find out
more about the Fun Music Company and download heaps of
useful music teaching and business building ideas at the
Fun Music Company teachers blog:
http://www.musicteachersblog.com
No comments:
Post a Comment