Have you heard the corporate buzzword “Value Added?” When I worked in HR, I had only the vaguest idea of what it meant. In staff meetings, the bigwigs would start to talk about “adding value” and my eyes would glaze over. In fact, I had to start my own business to understand what “adding value” … Continue reading Add Value to Your Music Teaching Studio
What does it mean to be coachable? To me it means being able to take feedback about yourself, your playing, your teaching, etc., without getting defensive, and then doing what the feedback giver suggests. It takes tremendous trust and vulnerability to be truly coachable. You’re trying something new and all you have is your coach’s … Continue reading The Coachable Musician (and Music Teacher)
Music teachers, do you need a vacation? Like all of you, my fellow self-employed music instructors, I NEED vacation. When late June rolls around, I’m ready to sit on my patio with a cocktail for 2 weeks. Ditto for December 26 –minus the patio since I live in Minnesota. And yet, when we work for ourselves … Continue reading How to Take Vacation AND Retain Students in Your Music Teaching Studio
Something sort of perversely funny struck me the last time I was teaching Creating a Profitable, No Burnout Music Teaching Studio. One item on the long list of reasons why music is valuable was “creates self confidence and self esteem.” And yet here I was talking to a group of talented music teachers who struggled … Continue reading 10 Ways to Act Like a Professional [Music Instructor]
Have I told you lately that I appreciate you? Thank you for reading my blog! My dream for this business is to develop and publish a body of knowledge and a network of resources that will help all private music teachers be happy, healthy, relaxed, financially stable teachers. I’ve realized that while I am QUITE aware of … Continue reading Free Consultations in September!
Back on the subject of “Guru”, the Teacher, the Imparter of Knowledge, the one who is Heavy With Knowledge…. My own experience with my voice teacher (my Guru) has illuminated how I think of teaching piano. In case you don’t know, my first instrument is my voice, and I am a far more accomplished singer … Continue reading My Guru, My Teacher (Part 2)
My Teacher, My Guru Part I My dad is from India. Aside from a lot of really amazing cooking that happens at my parents’ house, another thing this means for me is that I’ve learned about a lot of Eastern ideas that don’t have good equivalents in English. One of these is the idea of … Continue reading My Guru, My Teacher (Part 1)
What is the purpose of having a policies document for your music studio? (Or if you’d like to call them something else, that’s fine too!) There are many! A studio policies document: Gives you a framework for how your music teaching studio works Sets expectations for your students about how your music teaching studio works Protects … Continue reading Why Have Studio Policies?
This post is a preview of Module 1 and 2 of Creating a Profitable, No-Burnout Music Teaching Studio Module 1: Mindset for Success What is a music teacher? What is a valuable professional? What is an entrepreneur? Very few of the music teachers I talk to feel that they are entrepreneurs or professionals. Even fewer think that their students … Continue reading Are You a Professional?
Well, here it is! A brand new website dedicated to business topics for private music teachers! This site will be a one-stop shop to subscribe to my newsletter, learn about and register for classes, and of course, to find blog articles! I hope you’ll subscribe and check out the courses!