Looking for Value?

Looking for value? Looking for new ideas? Looking for a fresh approach to your business. Our best of 2018 blogs should provide you with the answers and inspiration you’re looking for.

Improve Your Website

Do you have a picture of a piano keyboard or guitar neck as the main image on your music teaching website? What are you selling-music lessons or instruments? As Donald Miller says, ‘If you confuse you lose’. Why You Might Be Confusing Customers

Write Better Email

An email subject that raises a question, or sets a readers curiosity on fire, is more likely to get opened. An email that just says “Sign up for fall lessons” is destined to get tossed in the digital trash. How to Get People to Open Your Emails

Customer Experience

Going beyond expectations will go a long way. That little extra effort shows you care. That little extra effort leaves a lasting impression. That little extra effort will get your customers talking to friends. Happy customers who can’t help but rave about you turn into a referral machine. 12 Ways to Amaze Your Customers

Amaze Your Customers

Send a short personalized email to each camp parent during camp. “Just wanted to let you know I sat in to watch Claires’ band today. She has made so much progress on guitar this week.  She seems to really be having a good time” How I Made $50k in Summer Camp

Understand Your Customers

People don’t buy things-they buy feelings. People buy products for what they represent and how it fits in with their aspirations.  How do you feel when you step into a Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee? Do you feel that same way when you step into McDonald’s to buy a cup of coffee? Which coffee is better? That’s a matter of taste and preference. Which brand has a message that resonates with you? Which brand best represents you? Why People Really Take Music Lessons

Why Competition is Good 

Without competition, we get lost in our day-to-day routine of implementing and maintaining operations. It’s hard to prioritize growth and innovation when the bills are paid, payroll is met and there’s no clear threat on the horizon. Why Competition is Good for Your Music Studio

Music School Franchises

The mom-and-pop music-shop can’t rely on homegrown charm and hometown loyalty. You have to learn how to compete against these well-oiled operations. You gotta think like David if you’re gonna dance with Goliath. How to Compete Against a Music Franchise

Music Franchises II

This is not a battle of attrition. It’s a battle of creativity, insight, and action. The scrappy music school can easily outmaneuver the slow and lumbering franchise. How to Compete Against a Music Franchise

Music Franchises III

A franchise relies on reports, surveys, and estimates to understand their customer. Your data is live. It’s hands on. It’s more accurate. It’s of a greater value. What you DO with this data is what really counts. How to Compete Against a Music Franchise

Automate Your Music Studio

Systems are the very essence of a franchise. The locally owned music school often lacks systems and could benefit from taking a page out of the franchise playbook. With solid systems in place, a mom-and-pop studio can outflank a franchise through grassroots marketing, referral systems and relationship building with current customers. How to Compete Against a Music Franchise

Automate Your Music Studio II

Document-as-you-go. Make note of all reoccurring tasks in your studio. Any task, email, procedure or process that you will likely have to implement again should be documented and organized for future reference. Document-as-you-go requires no additional brain power or time. It will save you time and and reduce stress levels and increase productivity. Automate Your Music Studio

Raising Your Rates

People don’t care about the price. They care about the value music lessons adds to their life. They care about how lessons make them feel…People also don’t care about what your competitors charge. Few ever check. They care about value. They care how your service makes them feel. What Customers Really Think of Your Teaching Rates

Raising Your Rates II

Price is a statement of your confidence in your product. Confidence in the promise you make, the value you provide and the quality of your product.What Customers Really Think of Your Teaching Rates

Raising Your Rates III

Money is emotional. People get emotional when they make or part with money. The highs and lows are significant. No one will give a sigh of relief when you raise your rates. Few, if any, will leave. The emotional and logistical price for quitting costs more than your $10 increase. What Customers Really Think of Your Teaching Rates

How to Hire a Music Instructor 

A great music instructor is a great communicator. They are able to take an abstract concept and bring it down to earth for their student. The interview is an opportunity to see how the interviewee breaks down and simplifies complex ideas. How to Hire a Music Instructor

Why You Need a Mission Statement

Finding your WHY is the true challenge. Your WHY is not about you. Your WHY has to be about the customer. What problem do you fix for your customer? Your love of music and your ability to teach is about you. Why Do You Even Own a Teaching Business?

Sales

If you can articulate your prospects hopes, and connect that with your service, you will be perceived as an empathetic expert. Empathy and expertise disarms a prospect and establishes trust. Why the Phone is Your Best Sales Tool

Summer Camp

Each day of camp needs to be unique. If camp days feel too much the same; camp gets boring. Boring is a camps worse enemy. How I Made $50K in Summer Camp

Summer Camp II

Being deliberate in your effort to create magical stand out moments will elevate your camp experience and plant the seeds of nostalgia. Nostalgia is what motivates a camper to return summer after summer.  How I Made $50K in Summer Camp

Curing the Practice Problem

When it came to music, success was measured by practice. Many of the parents described it as a “battle” they have with their child. Parents often view music lessons as a painful rite of passage. Curing the Practice Problem: Part I

Curing the Practice Problem

Music is a language and children should be taught music the same way they learn a language. By listening, imitating and speaking. Once a child can speak they can then learn the rules of reading and writing. Most kids are taught the rules of music before they can even speak music. Curing the Practice Problem