Losing students again in summer time, what to do??? Please help.


ttilic
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Joined: 06/14/10
Posts: 7
ttilic
Registered User
Joined: 06/14/10
Posts: 7
07/01/2010 10:00 pm
Hi to all,

I've been teaching for 3 years now and I generally have done ok so far, but this year it seems to be a nightmare moneywise.

I paid a big tax bill in April and again 2 weeks ago, so my bank account is low and on top of that, I had 8 out of my total of 31 students tell me that they will be busy this summer with other activities so they want to 'maybe continue' in September. All of this just happened over the last 2 weeks! That's a big hit financially that couldn't have come at a worse time. I usually have some people drop off during the summer, but never so many all at once, and it's just the start of July!

Seems like summer is always a hopelessly slow time. For guitar teachers here, what do you do to minimize the income losses during this time of the year?
I really need to find some way to fill my roster of students back up ASAP.

I put up ads in some places around town locally but the students I get from that are pretty few and far between. I offer a free lesson in my flyers and sometimes I get people who come to take it and then never hear from them again. I'm also on several of the teacher directories (a couple of which I even paid money for), but they got me only 1 student in 3 years.

Any ideas or suggestions are welcome and appreciated..thanks!
# 1
RickBlacker
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RickBlacker
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Joined: 10/08/08
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07/01/2010 10:31 pm
Advertise in your local news paper?

This may sound off the wall, but what about standing on a street corner and do some sign twirling????? :o
[U]Ricks Current Mystery Video[/U] - Updated Monday March/02/2015
# 2
shred-zombie
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Joined: 05/07/10
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shred-zombie
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Joined: 05/07/10
Posts: 14
07/03/2010 8:11 am
I am in a similar boat right now as you (OP). I recently have been getting email adivce about teaching from this guy: http://tomhess.net/FreeGuitarTeachingTips.aspx and he has some good stuff to say that you might find helpful to fill that roster. Not sure yet if I am ready to do his programs, but you can check it out and maybe it can help you. His students seem to speak highly of him.
# 3
guitarium
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guitarium
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07/10/2010 8:47 am
What other advertising do you do besides just flyers? Make sure not to put your eggs into one basket when doing the advertising for new students. Nothing wrong with flyers but if you can advertise in more than one way it will help. Do some online promo in your local area too (like Craigs List and local directories). I recommend keep doing the free lesson. It will help in the long run.

You should check out Tom Hess' site as the poster above me said. I started checking out his free info for guitar teachers a few months ago and after applying some of his suggestions about marketing, I'm doing a lot better this year as far as keeping a consistent number of students. I think there is some stuff on his site that can help you.
# 4
ttilic
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Joined: 06/14/10
Posts: 7
ttilic
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Joined: 06/14/10
Posts: 7
07/13/2010 9:44 am
Thanks guys. I haven't thought of doing ads on Craig's List, seems like an obvious thing to try! Will get on that.
I looked at hess's site today and got some of his email tips already. Looks pretty helpful, thanks for the link.
# 5

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