Advertise Piano Lessons

Starting your own piano lesson business can be exciting, but in order to make it successful, you will need to know how to properly advertise your services and draw in customers. When learning to advertise, knowing where to advertise is just as important as knowing what to say.

Steps

Where to Advertise

  1. Contact nearby music stores.[1] In order to advertise with a music store, you will need to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with one. Make phone calls to several of the nearest music stores. Let them know that you are a new piano instructor and inform them that you are looking for a good store to send your students to. When faced with the prospect of getting new customers, most music stores will be interested in building a good relationship with you. Determine which store seems to suit your needs best and let them know of your intention to direct students there. Then, ask them if you can leave business cards or pamphlets with them.
  2. Ask the local schools to distribute your flyers. If you can prove that you have a legitimate business, do not have a criminal record, and have the qualifications to teach piano, many schools will be willing to send a flyer home with their students. You can contact both public and private schools at all grade levels. Make sure that the flyer looks professional and includes all necessary contact information.
  3. Pin a bulletin up on your church bulletin board. If you have a place of worship and they have a bulletin board, ask permission to place a flyer there. If your church does not have a bulletin board but does have a weekly bulletin, ask about the possibility of putting a short announcement or insert in there. Many places of worship are very eager to help their members.
  4. Look for creative places to advertise.[2] Consider pinning a random flyer to a tree on a vacant back road or leaving one at your table for your waiter when you leave a restaurant or cafe (just make sure you leave a proper tip, as well, to avoid making a potential client angry). With as crowded as bulletin boards and traditional places of advertisement can be, advertising in an area that is not over-crowded with advertisements is an effective way to make your advertisement stand out. You may not reach many potential customers that way, but the ones you do reach will certainly remember you.
  5. Start a blog. Blogging can be an effective marketing tool as long as you know how to do it right. Learn how to optimize your blog for search engines. Make sure that your posts are informative and interesting, and be active enough in the blogging community to draw others to your own blog.
  6. Create an online video. An online video, posted to a popular online video community, can be a strong promotional tool. Get creative. The funnier or more interesting you can make the video, the more attention it will get. Your video does not need to go viral, but it helps to make it enough of an attention-grabber to attract a large number of hits.
  7. Use social media. Start a Facebook page and Twitter account for your business. Be active on the social media sites you use, continually updating your pages and commenting on others' pages. The more attention you can attract, the more opportunity you have to advertise your lessons.

What to Advertise

  1. Find a niche. Piano lessons are a dime a dozen. To make your lessons seem more promising, aim them toward a certain group. If you specialize in beginning lessons, say so. If you have a flair for jazz improv or classical adaptations of contemporary songs, indicate your ability and desire to instruct students in the same way. You do not have to base your lessons solely around your niche, but focusing your advertising campaign on something unique is a good way to make your business stand out.
  2. Offer free workshops.[3] Advertise a free workshop or demonstration. Many people, even those who have no present interest in taking formal lessons, will be willing to attend something free. Conduct a live demonstration and review a few basics. Focus on information or skills that are less common. By the end of a successful workshop, you will likely have a few participants who will begin considering formal lessons. As long as they know you offer lessons, you will probably be the first person they think of when they take the plunge.
  3. Look for a place to advertise your own talents. While fairly uncommon, some hotel lobbies, cafes, and other establishments have a piano as part of their decorations. If the piano is in operable condition, ask if you can play it. Offer to play it on a volunteer basis to attract customers. In return, ask if you can offer a business card to anyone who seems interested in taking lessons.
  4. Find excuses to give free lessons. While you certainly cannot make every lesson free, the occasional free lesson is a good way to draw students in. You can offer to make the first lesson free or you can provide a free lesson to a current student for each new student that he or she refers to you.
  5. Advertise your knowledge. Write an article about music or piano and look for places to submit it. Local newspapers and magazines are best, since they provide you with a means of advertising locally, but even non-local journals and websites can provide you with a way of proving your expertise. Potential students may feel more inclined to take lessons with someone they feel is an expert in the field.
  6. Include testimonials. The trick to a good testimonial is knowing whose to use. Your nephew and your mother might be huge fans of yours, but they are also biased, and people who see your advertisement will think as much, too. Choose testimonials from past and current students as well as other instructors or members of the local music community. Be as specific as possible, giving out names and photos when possible. Writing that the comments came from "a former pupil" or "an expert in the field of teaching piano" will only make people doubt the legitimacy of the testimonial. However having something like an autographed photo from a well known pianist who taught you probably won't hurt. Pictures of piano contests you won won't either, accompanied with the certificate or plaque.

Sample Flyer and Template

Doc:Piano Lesson Flyer,Piano Lesson Flyer Template

Tips

  • Talk to a piano tuner. The next time you have your piano tuned, talk to the tuner about what he knows concerning other piano teachers in the area. This is especially valuable if you do not plan to join an association. The piano tuner might be able to put you in touch with another teacher who can offer you guidance, and at the very least, he might be able to give you an idea of how much competition or interest is in your area.
  • Consider joining a local piano teachers association. Do this first, before you even begin your business. The members of the group can give you advice about the rates you should charge and the best way to recruit new students in the area. Being part of a network of piano teachers is a quick way to further your knowledge, but you should be prepared to contribute to the association in whatever way you can, as well.

Things You’ll Need

  • Flyers
  • Business cards

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.composecreate.com/marketing-piano-lessons-102-moving-to-a-new-community/
  2. ↑ http://www.teachpianotoday.com/2012/01/18/advertising-piano-lessons-dare-to-be-different/
  3. ↑ http://www.musiclessonbusiness.com/advertise-free.html

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