EXP-00 Multiple Streams of Income

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About this guide

The traditional path a person takes when they become a guitar teacher is to teach privately either one-on-one or group lessons. In the future the teacher may open a studio however the majority of teachers do not do this. Many guitar teachers view teaching as a part time job while others teach guitar privately as their main source of income.

The purpose of this guide is to show you that you can earn multiple streams of income as a guitar teacher. There are so many options available now that you are not restricted to earning money only with private lessons. In this guide you will learn why it's important to look at earning multiple streams of income and how to do it.

Multiple Streams of Income

If you currently teach guitar face to face with students, that's one source of income or a 'stream'. Many guitar teachers only have one income stream - private lessons. Having multiple streams of income is when you earn money from different sources at the same time. The main reason you would want to do this apart from obviously earning more money, is for security.

Security

In the investment world a common saying is to 'diversify your investments' and 'don't put all your eggs in one basket'. Investors spread their funds across different assets and investments to prevent a situation of one bad investment wiping their total portfolio out. As a guitar teacher you can do the same thing. Having multiple streams of income will give you security in case something happens and you're unable to earn income from a main stream. As an example you could become sick and unable to teach face to face for months. Having multiple streams of income will ensure you still earn money even when you can't teach.

Active and Passive Income

Apart from the security multiple streams of income provide you, there is another benefit. Income can be described in two main categories: active or passive. Active income is when you have to work to earn it. Teaching face to face is active income because you need to work 30 minutes to receive 30 minutes worth of income. Passive income can earn you money without having to spend time working. An example of passive income is selling affiliate products: you could write a book/product review and earn commissions for this for years without any extra effort.

While there will always be some work involved to set up passive income streams, all the work you put in adds to the value. Think of it as you will be working on building an asset instead of working for an income.

Scalability

The final benefit of multiple streams of income is the ability to scale. Think of how many face to face lessons you can fit in your week. You might be able to fit a maximum of 40 students in your week. As you have limited time you can be available for face to face lessons, they aren't scalable. Something is scalable is able to handle more and more students and can grow over time. An example of a stream of income that is scalable is selling online training courses. You're presence isn't required for people to complete an online training course so potentially thousands of people could complete the course will little work on your part.

Building streams of income that are scalable can make a significant difference to your financial situation. Here are a few examples of things you can do to create scalable streams of income:

  • Sell online courses (see EXP-03)
  • Build an email list (see EXP-04)
  • Sell affiliate products/services
  • Run a podcast
  • Create a YouTube series

Have a think about different ways you could create something that doesn't specifically require your time or presence. New ways of earning income are being discovered every day so it's worth spending some effort on figuring out.

How To Get Started

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New Business Guides: Advertising Using Facebook

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Most of our business guides so far have focused on free strategies to attract new students. There are times when these won't be enough and paid advertising will bring you the results you're after. If you want to quickly build up your student base or spread the word, paid advertising can be significantly more effective than free methods.

Facebook Ads are an easy way to target specific people unlike any other advertising. You can target people based on location, age, gender and interests - something that isn't possible with almost all other advertising options. To use Facebook Ads effectively, you need to understand what makes a successful advertising campaign and how to set it up properly.

We've created two detailed guides to help you set up a Facebook Ads campaign and how to track it once it's set up. By the end of the guides you will be able to create an effective ad campaign and understand what needs to be done to improve it's effectiveness. We've focused the guides on advice to make sure you don't waste money. We've tested the ads out with teachers and know what works. Read through the guides to use the ads properly.

BMK-14 Using Facebook Ads: Setting Up A Campaign

BMK-15 Using Facebook Ads: Keeping Track of a Campaign

Of course if you need further support, we're happy to provide you specific advice and guidance for your personal situation.

BMK-15 Using Facebook Ads: Keeping Track of a Campaign

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About this guide

This guide follows on from BMK-14 which introduces Facebook Ads and how to set up an effective campaign. Once you set up an ad it's important you understand how to keep track of it and make improvements. There will be changes you can make that will improve the effectiveness of an ad. This guide will explain what to look for and how to make improvements.

The purpose of this guide is to teach you how to work out if your ad is running effectively and what to do to improve it's effectiveness. The end result is you will get the most out of your ads as well as be able to identify any ads that aren't effective. This guide will save you a lot of money over time.

NOTE: this is an older guide before we created the Facebook Ads Course. While the information here is still relevant, we highly recommend working through the course as it digs far deeper and contains more up to date information and advice.

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BMK-14 Using Facebook Ads: Setting Up A Campaign

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About this guide

Understanding how to use advertising properly will ensure you don't waste your money. The purpose of this guide is to show you step by step how to set up an advertising campaign using Facebook Ads. You will be able to target specific people with the highest chance of being interested in your guitar lessons.

Information on how to set an advertising budget based on the different available options are given. Without using the information in this guide you risk losing significant money. It can be tough to set up an advertising campaign that works so we've put a lot of effort and money into providing you with all the important points you need to succeed.

NOTE: this is an older guide before we created the Facebook Ads Course. While the information here is still relevant, we highly recommend working through the course as it digs far deeper and contains more up to date information and advice.

Why Use Facebook Ads

Facebook is incredibly popular and although you can attract a lot of new students using Facebook without spending money at all (see BMK-06 & BMK-07), using their advertising options can help you quickly attract new students. The main reason you might want to use Facebook Ads is it gives you the ability to target specific people likely to be interested in your business. You can target people based on age, location, gender and interests. With these options you can display your ads only to people interested in lessons.

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BPL-05 Choosing a Business Name

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About this guide

If you're just getting started as a guitar teacher, you may have considered choosing a name for your guitar teaching business. This guide will help you choose a suitable business name and more importantly - help you understand what makes a good business name. Choosing a good business name depends on a few things and is an important decision. By the time you finish reading this guide you will know what type of business name to choose.

The Biggest Mistake With Business Names

When people decide to teach guitar and start thinking of business names, they often feel that they need to have a creative name such as 'Light Speed Guitar Academy' or 'Fretboard Wizardry Inc.'. There are a few problems with names like these but the main problem is related to how easy people can find the business. If somebody searches online for 'guitar teachers in [my town]', it's very unlikely that the search engines will know what type of business 'Fretboard Wizardry' is and whether it should show up in the results. Read through BWS-02 SEO Basics for Guitar Teachers to gain an understanding on the details behind this.

You don't need to have a super creative business name. What you do need is something relevant based on your purpose as explained next.

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TTL-01 Learning From Your Mistakes

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About this guide

Regardless of how long you've been teaching guitar, you constantly make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes and that's fine. It's how we learn and develop. It's practically impossible to give a perfect guitar lesson. That means in every guitar lesson you give, you're making mistakes. The good news is that you can put those mistakes to work to help develop your skills as a guitar teacher.

This guide will explain how you can learn from your mistakes and develop your guitar teaching skills. This is extremely useful for guitar teachers just starting out but it's also helpful for experienced teachers to pick up on bad habits. Unless you learn to identify the mistakes you're currently making, you're guaranteed to repeat them in the future. This guide will help you prevent mistakes from repeating in your future lessons.

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New business guide: Understanding the Sales Process

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You may not think of your job as a guitar teacher as a sales role. But the reality is everybody is a salesperson. Every time you try to convince your student to practice or get them to learn something new, you're selling. Of course whenever you speak to a prospective student, you're selling yourself and your lesson service.

Because sales is a big part of our professional lives, it's important to learn the sales process. We've created a new business guide to explain the basics of the sales process so you can use it to attract more students and keep the students you already have.

After reading the guide you will be able to use marketing much more effectively and know how to control the entire sales process from start to finish. If you're just starting out as a guitar teacher this guide will help you start on the right foot to attract your first students. On the other hand if you've been teaching for years, the guide will give you a way to refine your skills and stay competitive in the future.

Access the guide here: BMK-02 Understanding the Sales Process

Once you finishing reading the guide, it's recommended you do a self-assessment of your current sales process to see where you can make improvements.

BMK-02 The Sales Process

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About this guide

Having an understanding of the process people go through before they decide to become your student will help you improve your marketing efforts and get more students. Just like a salesperson can make more sales if they understand the sales process, you will be able to use this information to get more students.

By the end of this guide you will have a good understanding of what stages people go through before they decide to commit on guitar lessons with you.

You will be able to use this information to:

  • Improve the effectiveness of any advertising or marketing promotion
  • Get your website to convert more visitors into students
  • Convince prospective students over the phone to try lessons out with you
  • Focus your attention on the things that actually make a difference

After you finish reading the guide it's recommended you do a self assessment on your website and any marketing activities you're currently using. You'll be surprised how easy it will be to improve them.

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New business guide: Building an email list

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One of the most effective strategies you can use straight away to grow your guitar teaching business is to start building an email list. The main reason you would want to do this is it will allow you to build up a potentially large group of potential future students or customers. Even if you don't feel the need to grow your guitar teaching business now, having your own email list will provide you protection from future events.

Think of an email list as an investment in the future. You spend a bit of time to set it up now and a couple years from now you could have a significant number of people keen to hear what you have to say.

To achieve this we have put together a detailed guide that will explain exactly what you need to know to set up your email list. Read through the guide and if you need extra support in putting your list together, ask us to give you a hand.

Access the guide here: EXP-04 Building an Email List: Getting Started

We are currently working on more guides to show you how you can use your email list to generate multiple streams of income. Get your mailing list ready so you can use the strategies later on.

EXP-04 Building an Email List: Getting Started

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About this guide

Building an email list is a great way to grow your guitar teaching business as it gives you direct contact with people who are interested in what you have to say. These people could one day start taking lessons with you or may purchase any courses or products you decide to sell in the future. Think of an email list as a way to warm people up to you so they will be more likely to buy any services you offer.

It's actually quite easy to set up everything you need to build an email list. The best part is once it's all set up, you won't have to do much work to keep it running. If you set everything up properly, your email list will gradually build up over time. The time and effort you put into creating a mailing list now will pay off in the future. Think of it as in investment in your future self.

By the end of this guide you will be able to:

  • Decide if creating a mailing list is right for you
  • Understand how you could use an email list
  • Follow the steps to create your own email list

We will cover the best options to create your list so you can make an informed decision on what to do to put your list together.

NOTE: We have created a training course that explains list building in more detail with examples and instructions. After reading through this guide we recommend you check out our Email List Building Course for more details and advice.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

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