Who’s the Music Middleman?
The Music Middleman is not actually a man, but a website. And it’s not just one website, but many websites that are popping up these days, built with the main purpose of “helping” teachers find students.
You’re probably thinking, “Hmmm, that doesn’t sound so bad!”…
But you haven’t yet heard that these sites hire teachers as independent contractors and take a cut from every student’s monthly tuition. You also haven’t heard that many of these sites allow students to schedule lessons “when they want” leaving a teacher (who… granted, signed up for this service) with a tragic looking schedule.
Now it’s starting to look bad!
The whole concept of a music middleman both saddens and excites me. I am saddened by the fact that piano teachers, who certainly aren’t among the richest demographic, think that they need to have their wages further garnished by a middleman just to help them find students (and maybe handle some billing and payments).
But I am also excited by all of these music middlemen, because their very existence tells me there are a lot smart business people who are betting that in the very near future (and even right now) a massive number of people will begin their search for a music instructor online.
And guess what? You don’t need a music match-making site to find potential clients online. In fact, being found online (especially for a locally-based business like piano teaching) is a piece of cake! You simply need a blog-based website, a little knowledge about search engine optimization, and a few internet friends.
Armed with a well-ranked website, you’ll be able to say “No Thanks!” to the music middlemen of the world who would much rather you be scared by words like “blog”, “search engine optimization” and “backlinks”.
But there’s no need to be scared, because next week we’re about to launch a blogging series that will provide you with tips and tricks to turn your website into a lead- generation machine!
Stay Tuned!
If you don’t have a website but are interested in possibly getting one, click here to send us a message and learn how you can get started.
April Hamilton says
I’m really excited about the coming series on websites! I’m sure there will be new things I can learn. In regards to this post, I’ve tried using the “middle man” before and haven’t gotten much from it. One place I signed up for a year and didn’t get even a single student from it. My website is my #1 way to get new students. I’ve also had good success with advertising in a local kids magazine.
It’s great to be in network with other piano instructors! 🙂 Thanks for your posts!