Growing your Guitar School

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ken Rhodes on November 19, 2010 at 10:36pm

Good for you! Being your own boss is so much better than working for someone else.

Permalink Reply by Valerie Elizabeth on November 21, 2010 at 8:50am

Hi David.
The idea of your school is great and the price is very comfortable for the students, but it is way to little for you. I'm 18 and I charge $20 per student for a 45 minute period. Your rates are extremely low and if you keep them like that, it will be very difficult for you to make a profit and even more difficult for you to raise prices.
As for expansion, a banner would be great. If you could put it outside of the building it will get noticed.
Also, a simple craigslist ad will help. Just don't put your address up, just your number and/or email for people to contact you.
If your students are having a good time and are learning what they should (not only what they want), they should be passing word around about the school without you even asking them to.
But use sites. Acousticguitar is a good one, craigslist, facebook, twitter - all that good stuff.

Valerie

Permalink Reply by Donna Zitzelberger on November 21, 2010 at 9:29am

I've based my marketing philosophy on the Starbucks method. I was always amazed at how Starbucks never has a dull moment and the line is out the door. So I read the book, "Tribal Knowledge; Business Wisdom Brewed From the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture" by John Moore. I was also amazed at how Martha Stewart has survived loads of pitfalls and read her book, "The Martha Rules". Both of them basically said the same thing: Create a quality product; put your money into your product. The result is that you will be giving very high quality lessons which will deliver high quality outcomes which will naturally bring in students by the best advertising ever - Word of Mouth. If you do this, you will start out small, but you will see a steady growth in numbers. You will need to be patient and work very hard; but I have found it is the key.

Permalink Reply by David Karelse on November 22, 2010 at 4:47am

I must admit- I totally forgot to mention that I'm from South Africa. The price is reasonable here. Our currency is the Rand. So, I charge R200 per month. Works our R50 per lesson. Thanks for posting your comments

Regards

Permalink Reply by Jay david Sims on March 3, 2011 at 12:56pm

I think that word of mouth is the best advertising you can ever get.  Don't be afraid to charge what you're worth either.

In my area, 13.00 per half hour is standard, anywhere between 25.00-30.00 hr easily.  I began with 3 students.  Within

a year I was at 30 and still have 30. If you have strong points in your own abilites and teaching abilites, use them to the fullest, and don't offer what you cannot deliver. I'm not a lightning speed lead guitar type of player, for example, so I don't offer that style.  I focused on kick starting guitar for novice players, as well as standard lead/rhythm skills that are not out of grasp,and did that to the best of my abilities, and it grew fast.  I take more advanced students to gigs with me, and sometimes the recording studio. I read alot of Tom Hess articles as well.  He is a very successful instructor and offers alot of insight free of charge (TomHess.com)

Hope this helps

Permalink Reply by GuitarMC on March 31, 2011 at 10:53am

Aside from advertising in newspapers, with flyers, business cards, at your own live performances, word of mouth, etc.; online advertising is a great way find new students. Create a website devoted to teaching and optimize it to meet search engine standards. To enhance the experience of my website, I offer guitar teaching lesson plans to everyone at no charge on my website at this link:
www.guitarstyles.org

Here is information I posted on a blog a few years ago in regards to online advertising:
What are some good websites that will market your teaching program?
There is a large selection of Internet service companies that offer to market and advertise your services. Some of them allow you to create a profile on their website at no cost while others charge you relatively high fees. Do these services work? I have only signed up with a couple of fee oriented marketing companies and I still have yet to determine if they are worth the investment.

Marketing Services that Charge a Fee
www.adwords.google.com
This promotional tool has been very effective for me. Set up is a bit complicated and the fee system is not very clear, but it posts your advertisement in very prominent places on the web pages that display it. Keywords that you choose drive regional customers to your advertisement.
www.getlessonsnow.com
This was a free service until recently. The annual expense is currently a set fee of $50. It has provided me with about three students each year. It is displayed on the top of most regional Google searches giving your advertising campaign a prominent position for marketing your business.

The Top Three Marketing Services That Do Not Charge a Fee
www.craigslist.org
Everyone knows this monster of marketing. The competition on this site is fierce but very effective. I have learned to use basic knowledge of HTML to display clickable images/brochures within my advertisements.
www.google.com/local/add
This advertisement provides you with a prominent position for regional searches.
www.listings.local.yahoo.com
This is the Yahoo version of Google’s free local advertising campaign. This is also a must have.

Other Marketing Services That Do Not Charge a Fee
www.barebonz.org
I can’t say I ever received any leads from this website.
www.citysquares.com
This site occasionally appears at the top of the page on a search.
www.local.com
You can post your information at this website, but there is a fee to be displayed at the top of their selections.
www.musicpeeps.com
Here is a very nice looking website that is not very effective.
www.musicstaff.com
This site has recently upgraded its format, but it still doesn’t drive very many students to my lessons program.
www.teachlist.com
Not a very effective website, but you never know.
www.wholenote.com
The website provides good instructional material and tablature to the public, but it doesn’t market teachers very well.

Keep in mind that your online marketing campaign will be much more effective if you have a website that is devoted to your music lessons program. You can send a potential student to your performance website, but if you send them to a website that clearly outlines your lessons program, you will be viewed in a much more professional manner.

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