Three Ways to Being a More Professional Music Teacher. Are You Doing Any of Them?

It's safe to say most private music teachers consider themselves small business owners. Working for a music teacher software company over the years, I've met and talked to many of these small business owners. I soon discovered that many teachers lack the confidence or business awareness to implement simple business practices into their teaching studio that would translate into new and retained students. Below are three suggestions to help private music teachers put a more professional touch when interacting with a student or their parent(s).

1) Online Web Presence

Word of mouth is simply the best way to secure new music students. When a student's family recommends you to another family, you gain instant credibility and trust. Even then, that parent may look you up online. With that situation and those that start with searching online for lessons, a professional web presence is important. That starts with having a website. Creating and maintaining a website does not have to be difficult or cost money. Add your information to a simple About.me page or get a free music teacher website theme where you easily control the content. Both those options take minutes to get up and running. There are a lot of best practices for website content, but a few elements every music teacher should have are:

• A professional-looking photo of you and some of you teaching students.

• Phone and email contact information easily visible.

• Logos to music teacher associations you are affiliated with.

2) Notes For Child Students Emailed After Every Lesson

Do not rely on students to articulate to their parent(s) what they did during their lesson and how their lessons are going. Even if you chat with the parent(s) before or after a lesson, consistently emailing detailed lesson notes are crucial to providing practice instruction and describing progress. Parents will love being able to pull up these notes in their email and feel like they really understand what went on during the lesson. That helps build value for the lessons they are paying for.

3) Invoicing

Asking for money can be awkward. Emailing a professional looking invoice with your studio name and logo eliminates the face to face transaction as well as the hassle of having to remind students to get a check from their parent(s).

Also, many people want to pay with credit card and take advantage of reward points. Several years of lessons add up for families and being able to get cash back, airlines miles, or some other reward would be a nice bonus for many. Just build the added cost you pay for accepting credit cards into the price of your lessons. Don't add an additional fee to those paying by credit card. Doing that negates the emotional victory consumers associate with using reward credit cards. Using a service like Paypal is one way you can accept credits card payments.

Do these three business-minded actions well and you will increase the number of prospective students contacting you for lessons and you will also improve the relationship you have with current students and their families. Best of luck and happy teaching!

Andrew Nicoletta is the Marketing Director for Music Teacher's Helper. He lives in San Diego, California.

#TeachingTips #Professionalism