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I have recently hung up posters around my neighborhood advertising my services as a piano teacher. I have included my phone number on there for people to call. Since I have never advertised before (all of it came by word of mouth) I have some questions. I teach young children in my apartment complex out of my apartment. I hung up posters to similar complexes around me and also had my mom hang up posters at her job since she works with many of the parents who live in our complex. I am basically expecting parents of young children to call me since that is who I was advertising to and young children are the majority of the students that I currently teach....but what if I get someone who does not have the best intentions? How can I weed out people who may be looking to harm me, etc? I do not want to invite some random stranger into my house and then have them hurt me in some way.

While this may sound paranoid, I am looking at this realistically and would really appreciate some advice on what to do if I get a call from someone who sounds suspicious.

I think it's unlikely, as I genuinely doubt someone dangerous would be seeking out a piano teacher in order to go to their house to attack them. But the answer is you just don't know. There is an element of trust involved I guess. You could try having someone in the house with you when you meet students for the first time. Though it is your absolute right to turn away anyone who you don't feel comfortable with after you speak to them or meet them - you just need to have a few ready prepared excuses about your waiting list, or the fact you're only interested in teaching children currently or whatever. Practise them first.

Do an extended phone interview before you let anyone into your home. The more specific your questions are, the more easily you can weed out the suspicious customers.

This might be weird, but I google every single one of my students/students' parents before I contact them. I get most of my requests online so I have their name before speaking with them. I'm a bit paranoid about it too, but I'm a young woman going into people's houses and I just like to make sure people are who they say they are. (Usually nothing weird comes up, but there was one woman who came up in a very recent article about stealing $1,000 of clothes at a local high end clothing store - not someone I would want to work for.)

Even though 99.9% of the time people have good intentions, it's good to play it safe however you can. There is a bit of a risk involved for anyone working in people's homes/having people come into your home.

I think it's unlikely that anyone would come for a piano lesson with any other intention than learning the piano. If you are teaching children then anyone turning up is going to have a child with them surely?

Mind you I do sometimes turn away callers who I'm unsure about by telling them I have no space, which is often the case anyway. It's usually the ones who have no time, no instrument or intention to get one or those who sound like terminal teacher hoppers. Last week I had an enquiry from someone who started the conversation by pointing out that there were four other teachers in my area who charged less and also offered free consultations. Sorry, fully booked!

Meet them at Starbucks instead of at your home.

Jeff, you beat me to it. I was going to post the exact same thing.

I would never have the first meeting in my home.

Really?

If someone calls to enquiry about lessons you wouldn't seriously expect them to meet you in Starbucks would you? I would think that this would raise suspicions on their part and they would be very unlikely to sign up.

I suppose there is a small element of risk involved but if you worried about things like this too much you would never leave your house. When you think about it there is more risk in taking your child to the home of someone who has put a leaflet up claiming to be a piano teacher. Just saying.

There is a difference between going out of the house, and letting people into your house. Even when going out, women have to be more careful than men - that is the sad reality. I think this has all be discussed before, and at the time there was a similar divide where many of the male teachers didn't see a problem - because obviously there isn't one for them. Male teachers have other problems.

Remember that we are talking about someone advertising lessons for children. If a large guy shows up with no child then don't let him in. Don't apartments have a spy hole so you can see who is there before you open the door?

Do you ever let people in to repair an appliance or deliver items or read a meter?

If you meet someone in Starbucks and they seem okay what's to stop them turning nasty once you let them into your house?

I mean, where do you draw the line?

Wherever you think it is safe to draw the line. That is a personal decisions that each of us has to make. In regards to delivery people etc., there is a protocol where they must present clear identification which is also borne out by the home company. Not so long ago a man came to my door claiming to be from the phone company. When I called, they said they had not sent anyone and the door was not opened for him. In this case it was some kind of sales scam, but still.

I am a guy, and had a young male student show up for lessons with whom I felt uncomfortable. I have learned to trust those feelings.

After the lesson I Googled him, and found that he had been arrested for a violent crime and was on parole.

On the second lesson (first lesson after Googling him), his hands shook real bad, so bad it was impossible to play the piano; A clear sign he was on speed, most likely meth.

You never know about people nowadays. Women have to be very careful, and men do too.



FYI, some criminals are women, acting alone, or with partners.

By all means trust your feelings, and if you feel that you need to put up a screening barrier (such as holding your first meeting at Starbucks), then by all means do so. Don't be ashamed of being too careful.

Is the OP really small? If not, a normal or big person could always fight the student if they are dangerous. Don't be threatened, they should be scared of you instead of you being scared of them.

Wow, there's a first for everything.

Yikes! Indeed!

I don't get that... I do keep a low cautionary sense in my head, but rarely there's anything to worry about over here. Plus all my appointments are done out in the public, as a first meeting, thus most problems are eliminating.

This applies to most people, even professional musicians. My studio is a bit withdrawn from public means of transportation, so I usually offer to pick up my guests from the metro station. This means that the final screening is done on the road. If they don't feel comfortable they don't get in the car. If I don't feel comfortable I don't get them in the car.

Of course there's two things that seem to help out:
a. I'm BIG! I'm quite huge, so I don't get the random hassler problems.
b. My online profile is very complete, which helps for those who find me from the internet.

Are you kidding? I don't know about anyone else, but I've never had a physical fight in my life. Who knows what I could do if my life were actually threatened, but to say that I "could always fight the student if they are dangerous" seems pretty far-fetched to me.

If I was worried, I would not put up flyers or advertise. Word of mouth is safer. You sound like a young woman living at home with a parent, maybe alone often. I could be wrong, but that is the idea I'm getting. If anything, I'd not have strangers meet you at home for the first time and I would ask a friend to be at the coffee shop at a different table for the interview if you decide to advertise by flyer. You might also consider another person to be in the home for the first home lesson.

I like the idea of Starbucks, or maybe even Chuck-E-Cheese. You could tell “him” that you wanted to get a good look at him in the daylight first.

Also warn him that you will be “Goggling” him, but only if things go well.

Make certain you use the standard dialog, as in you are looking for a “classical” relationship, but don’t want anything too serious. If he comes forward with something like, “But when do I get ‘to play’,” gently remind him that YOU are the teacher.

Be sure to close the conversation with the fact that you are not looking for a long commitment . . .

OOPS! Wrong Forum . . .

Yes, it is the wrong forum for making fun of people.

Not making fun of anyone, but the Starbucks idea did capture my imagination . . . and let us not forget Google . . .