Look Beyond the World of Music Lessons
One of the best ways to improve your marketing skills and grow your music school is to look beyond the music education industry. I’m thrilled that you listen to my podcast or at least this episode. Perhaps you belong to some Facebook groups that cater to folks like us, music studio owners, but we exist in a bubble. One music studio shares a marketing tactic that sounds promising and other studios get inspired and give it a go. In this podcast I explore different ways to get more students for your music teaching business.
What Lessons Other Industries Can Teach You About How to Grow Your Music School
There’s a lot to learn about business growth and marketing from other industries. Anytime you meet someone who owns a small business ask them a few questions about how they market their business. Each industry has its own unique marketing challenges its own unique competitive environment. How we prioritize our marketing often depends on how competitive the market is.
What the Food Industry Can Teach You About How To Grow Your Music Studio
Look at coffee shop owners. They have to compete with the franchises, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, McDonald’s, Panera Bread-they also have to compete with the mom and pop coffee shops. That’s a much more competitive environment than the world of music teaching studios. The same applies to restaurants; it’s a similar dynamic. If you want to open a restaurant you better have a bulletproof marketing strategy otherwise you don’t stand a chance.
Music studio owners have it easy. We not only sell a product that everyone is aware of but we sell a product that most parents consider as an option for their children. We sell a product that’s value is clear to most people. I don’t care how competitive your market is, I have a feeling your local coffee houses, restaurants, and fitness centers exist in a much more competitive environment.
What the Health Industry Can Teach You About How to Grow Your Music School
Look at the world of fitness. There always seems to be some new fitness trend that catches on and is franchised. Can you imagine the marketing challenges the first pilates, yoga or CrossFit studio owners had in your community? The challenge of selling something that people might not even know what it is?
Look at CrossFit. It was developed in the year 2000. The fitness market was oversaturated and super competitive by the turn of the century. CrossFit was trying to sell a product AND educate the consumer on what the product simply was. We don’t have that challenge.
Music Studio’s Sell a Highly Desirable Product
Music studio owners have it easy. We not only sell a product that everyone is aware of but we sell a product that most parents consider as an option for their children. We sell a product that’s value is clear to most people. I don’t care how competitive your market is, I have a feeling your local coffee houses, restaurants, and fitness centers exist in a much more competitive environment.
A music studio can hang a flyer in a local coffee shop and begin to build a business. That’s how I got my first students. We can rely on word of mouth and never even think about marketing. Your studio might be limited in size with zero marketing beyond the flyer in the coffee house, but there’s no reason why you can’t establish a music teaching business by simply sticking a sign in your yard that says “music lessons” and “open for business” on your door.
The Achilles Heel to Growing Your Music Studios
The fact that starting a music teaching business is relatively easy to do is also the Achilles heel of owning a music studio. Most music teaching businesses set sail without a marketing plan. We get a strong breeze at our backs as people in our community begin to talk about us, but after a while, the novelty wears off and you’re stuck out at sea. Too bad you didn’t think about installing an engine before you set sail. Too bad you didn’t have a marketing plan for your studio.
Today’s Guest
Stacy Tuschl is a speaker, business coach, and the owner of The Academy of Performing Arts in Wisconsin. She started her studio in her parents’ backyard at the age of 18 and grew it into a 7 figure business. Her studio was strictly a dance studio, but she made the risky move of rebranding her business as a dance and music studio. A risky move that has clearly paid off. Stacy is also the author of the #1 International Bestselling book “Is Your Business Worth Saving?”
2 Secrets to Business Growth
Stay discusses these to essential components of business growth.
- Mindset
- Systems
Sounds simple, right? There’s a lot to unpack here and Stacy delivers in our conversation about how mindset and systems are the backbone of any small business.
Show Links
Stacytuschl.com
davesimonsmusic.com
Related Episodes
How To Grow, Scale and Manage Your Business with Rachel Lubchansky | Ep 52
How To Write For Your Music Studio’s Website With Abbi Perets | Episode 15
