Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Lower Rates... bad idea?

Me too.
I think the turtle or even lower rates would be a better ideas, but still, it could be interesting to see a thread titled:
Self immolation...bad idea?

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'm convinced I shouldn't lower my rates, and you've all given me some food for thought. I need to get out there more, so I'll see what I can do.

In the meantime, where are my matches?

Sorry, Scott,

You have a very interesting and timely subject on the table, and I seem to have opened the Gufaw Box again.

I could not agree more with Morodiene here:

In fact, I posted these precise ideas about six months ago, and I believe it was on the Teachers’ Forum.

I know you mentioned having visited the schools and some music retailers in the fall, and I firmly believe in that one-to-one, personal conversation. Not to hammer and hammer on this point, but it might be time to go back(?) This is a topic that AZN and I have discussed before, also: You, AZN, and many others have something truly special to offer in your devotion to music, and your desire to teach it “right”. In some way, you need to convey that uniqueness TO SOMEONE WHO MIGHT APPRECIATE IT. And who might that be? Other musicians, for starters!

After seeing you a couple more times in person, getting to know you some, and realizing that your studio is local and “for real”, other musicians (school teachers, store owners) are going to feel more comfortable about recommending you to the parents of prospective students. Others have mentioned the idea of you performing personally. This brings me to the thought of OFFERING to the school teachers to be a “guest artist” at one of their general music classes, showing all the different sounds that a piano can make, and answering questions. A miniature Master Class, if you like.

Ed

We have always maintained that you were -- wait for it -- matchless.

Scott, I think your rates are fine, and the fact that a teacher with your strong background is willing to make house calls - when you also have a home studio - is noteworthy, and very attractive to many people.

Perhaps the period when you had 50 students in Maryland was the anomaly, and should not be considered your benchmark. Or perhaps you are forgetting that students were quitting then as often as they were starting. Or perhaps you are forgetting some explanation for your East Coast success that you can't presently duplicate in suburban Chicago. Weren't you connected to a school? Did that provide students?

In the meantime, keep teaching well, and preserve your core of 20 students. I've had good years and lean years as an independent piano teacher in different locales, and I have given up trying to explain why. Just be consistently good at your teaching, and continue to market yourself as you see fit. (I like the turtles as a concept...)

I'll send you a PM as well.

I would recommend teaching one day a week at a music school/store. You will be paid much less than what you charge privately, but will develop a contact base that is unrivaled. Unless you have signed a legally binding agreement with the school, you can quit after a certain point, and take the students with you. Even if you don't quit, you may get enough word-of-mouth referrals from the students who study with you at the school. This has been my how I built my studio here. The tremendously low rate that you subject yourself to may repay you later on in the form of how many wonderful, dedicated families you are introduced to in such a short period of time.

I've been in my location for the same length as you - a year and a half - and have been getting on an average of a call (or email) a week for the past 6 months. NONE of these calls - not a single one - has come from my website, flyers, online teacher directories, or any effort I made at all at advertising (and I did a heck of a lot). Every single one has been a new student at a school where I teach, or (even mores lately), somebody who has heard of me FROM a student at a school I teach at.

I think there is something about the human psyche that is more disposed to becoming a customer of a place they physically see often. These schools and piano stores are often on big, bustling boulevards that thousands of people drive by every day (and tens of thousands of different people in a month), so of course statistically the chances of bringing in students are going to be astronomically higher than a specified web page or teacher directory. (Granted, I'm talking about the average, run of the mill person interested in lessons here. Advanced students or very serious people will do their homework. Alas, the latter is a much smaller group than the former).

I was thinking...HOT STUFF!!

I think I read this the other day in my fortune cookie

Peter raises a good point here. Sometimes having 50 students isn't really that great, even for your pocketbook. With 50 students I have to assume they are getting only half hour lessons, and so I wonder are you teaching your 20 students half hour lessons? If so, you may want to consider increasing them to 45 minutes if they can manage it financially. When I started teaching 45 minute lessons as a standard and saying that 30 minutes is only for the very young student, it made a huge impact on the quality of my lessons. Just having that extra time to work on theory and sight reading and repertoire that I would normally have to skim through or skip that week due to lack of time made such a difference! Your students will be happier with it too as they see their progress.

Speak to parents about the possibility and tell them the benefits for doing so. Some won't be able to, but then you've planted a seed and perhaps in 6 months you can increase them.

I currently teach 17 students (2 of them take voice and piano, so that's really like 19 students) and most of them are 45 minutes. With my performing schedule I feel like I have a full studio.

Fortune cookies miss the boat by failing to hire creative writers who could really enhance the experience of getting a fortune cookie.

Thanks everyone! I'm really glad I posted this thread. I definitely feel a renewed sense of hope that I can do something about this. All your ideas have given me good things to think about and I'm feeling like I can start working harder on getting out there instead of just waiting like I have been. Thanks!

The schools in my area are always hosting silent raffles etc. for fundraisers. Maybe donate a set of 8- to 10-introductory lessons to one of the fundraisers. It's good publicity, a tax write-off, and I bet there's a good chance that the family who wins it will continue.

I would also contact the school administration and see if there are any possibilities for sending home flyers with the students. It probably varies by school or school district, but my kids' schools were always sending home flyers from karate studios and the like.

I agree with the others that you should not lower your rates. The amounts you are talking about would not be a deal-breaker for most families, and the risk of alienating your current families is way too high, imo.

On the idea of offering current students an incentive for referrals, I'm thinking of something different than the standard free lesson, etc. What if I offer my current students this?...

"For every student you refer to sign up for lessons you'll receive $10 off your monthly tuition for as long as each new referred student stays enrolled, up to 1 year."

I would lose $120 in a year from the student making the referral, but from a new student paying $90 per month I would make $1080, still netting $960. I figure even if a student referred 9 students and I had to give them free lessons, I'd still have 9 new students. Can anyone think of a reason why this might be a bad idea?

Thanks Monica, I'll see about the flyers. And I like the fundraiser idea. Wouldn't have ever thought of that one!

This could get messy because it's something you'd have to keep track of over time. Plus a one-time free lesson is far easier to manage than financially taking a hit each month. What happens when a student is sick? Do you make it up as if they paid for it in advance? What if they decide to go shopping last-minute rather than come to lessons? I think you'll find lessons are much more likely to be missed, not prepared for, and rescheduled in the above scenario. Granted, it is an extreme case. But consider that the message to the parent does eventually become "cheaper lessons" or "free lessons", which devalues lessons subconsciously for most people. This is why setting a good lesson rate is so important - too low and you're not appreciated.

I can't take credit for it... I saw it mentioned here in some previous thread a while back, but I can't remember who suggested it.

I don't like the idea of find-me-a-student-I'll-lower-your-tuition-a-little. Nor do I like the idea of giving a free lesson in return for a referral. It sounds mercantile, and as Morodiene observed, maybe complicated. Besides, kids don't pay for their lessons anyway, so it's not an incentive to them. Thirdly, $10 a month is trifling.

But you could certainly remind each family in your studio that you welcome referrals. That's more dignified. If you actually get a new student, then you can always improvise a thank-you for the referral if you wish.

As a young teacher I did give a free lesson for new students who enrolled in lessons via referral from a current student. This was relatively painless and it got my students talking about me. The kids did it more because they were then aware that I had openings and they wanted to help me out. The parents did it because they wanted the free lesson.

At some point, however, I no longer offered that as a "perk" just because I didn't need it. I think one could probably get the same effect to just make students and parents aware that you have openings and ask if they know of anyone who might be interested in lessons. I do that now and this helps a great deal.

Thanks again everyone. Thinking about all this some more, I've concluded that anything that involves lowering my rates should be avoided. There are plenty of other things I can focus on to help get more visibility. I appreciate everyone's input!

I've done the school fundraiser thing before. The school does their fundraiser in the spring, so I donate 5 lessons to be given the following summer. I've always retained these students!