Why there is no best marketing method
People are always asking on forums, social media and in emails what is the best way to attract students or what marketing method is most effective. At some point you may have asked yourself the same questions. In this post find out why that's the wrong approach to take and why thinking in this way can hinder your progress.
Marketing methods don't matter
The most common advice you will see across forums or other websites when somebody asks how to get started finding students is along the lines of: 'send out some flyers around your town, put up some posters, get business cards printed, etc.' In other words, the typical advice guitar teachers receive is to use a few different marketing methods and see what happens.
While some times those teachers will have some success by following that advice, we often see the opposite. The same teacher will go back on the forum a month later complaining that 'nothing is working' and they need to try something else. Or they will send us an email complaining that they have 'tried everything'.
The problem here is that by focusing on methods, the important aspects of marketing are usually neglected entirely. The teacher cannot understand why nobody responded to their flyers or posters because they don't understand marketing properly. The reality is that marketing methods aren't what's important. Marketing principles are. With a thorough understanding of the right principles, you can be effective with almost any method.
So when a brand new teacher is told to 'try x, y and z', they're unfortunately missing out on the information that will make them successful.
How to become a marketing pro
While marketing is an incredibly deep subject, it doesn't take that long to learn the essentials needed to succeed as a guitar teacher. You don't need to study price elasticity, multivariate testing or the product life cycle to be effective in marketing your guitar lessons. What you do need is a thorough understanding of basic marketing principles and be able to apply them to your situation.
Marketing is a skill, just like teaching or playing a guitar. First you learn the basics, you practice, you learn more about the basics, you practice, then you start to apply it. Jumping on a forum and asking 'what is the best way to attract students' is the equivalent of a beginner student coming to you and asking 'how can I solo like Joe Satriani?'. If a student asked you that question you would explain to them that they first need to learn and develop basic skills before they can start playing any technical pieces. It's the same with marketing. First you need to learn and practice basic principles and concepts so you understand why they work before you can start using marketing methods to find new students.
Here's a quick to-do list on how to become an effective marketer:
1. Study marketing principles
2. Practice applying those principles
3. Learn how those principles apply to your situation
4. Work out what methods are suitable to your situation
5. Apply relevant methods
6. Use relevant principles to assess and improve the methods used
It might seem like overkill but in reality it's really quick and easy to go through the six steps above. The problem is that most people think they can just jump to step 5 and be successful.
How to succeed as a guitar teacher
Unfortunately we see teachers every day repeat the same mistakes over and over as they look for quick-fixes or best methods. So we created courses and resources to overcome these problems. If you want to succeed as a guitar teacher from the business point of view, here's our recommended to-do list:
1. Complete our 12 week Business Fundamentals Course - don't rush through it, really put in the effort and learn from each lesson
2. Work on building the foundation for your guitar teaching business before you go to step 3
3. Work through our Marketing 101 Course and take the time to think about and apply each principle and lesson covered
4. Apply the advice covered in the Marketing 101 course by using our BMK series of Business Guides
5. Use our Marketing Reports to get a third-party assessment of your progress
6. Continue to learn about different marketing methods and regularly review the previous course materials
7. Email us at any point along the way whenever you don't understand something
The most important advice we can give you is: don't ever give up! We've seen teachers give up because they didn't see results straight away and other teachers didn't even try because they felt it would be too much work. The only time you ever fail is when you give up so keep working towards your goals and if you work hard enough and learn along the way you will eventually succeed. The teachers who continue to put the effort in even when they aren't seeing any results always eventually succeed.
Always keep in mind that the effort you put in will determine what you achieve. Marketing is the key to attracting new students and succeeding in the long term as a guitar teacher so it's definitely something you will want to put effort in to.