I often wish I was really great at just one thing. Unfortunately I’m a “jack-of-all trades” kind of guy. And it’s been like that my entire life. I was always good enough at sports to compete at a high level, and dedicated enough towards my schoolwork to achieve well in academics. But I was never the best of the best.
So, you could never pigeon-hole me as “The person who…” And I suppose being well rounded is a good thing (but sometimes I wonder if that’s what is said to those who are good enough… but not great).
But when it comes to running a business, like a piano studio, you need to be more than well-rounded. You need to be memorable. You need to be the piano teacher who… (fill in the blank with anything that makes you memorable).
That Piano Lesson Was Nice
As you’ve no doubt heard me say a million times before, the piano teaching business is a word-of-mouth business. And when it comes to word-of-mouth, piano lessons that are “nice”, are not good enough to grow a base of raving fans. What your piano lessons really need to be is memorable.
When piano students leave your studio, what is the first thing they say to their mom or dad when they get in the car? What is the one common response your students would say if they were asked to complete the following sentence:
Mr./Mrs. Smith is the piano teacher who (common response goes here)
Was That a No-Brainer?
If you were able to fill in the blank above in a moment’s notice, I’m going to bet you have a waiting list a mile long. Unless, of course, your response was something like…
Mrs. Smith is the piano teacher who has eleven cats. OR
Mr. Smith is the piano teacher who sweats profusely.
If filling in the blank above was a challenge, then it might be time to sit down and determine what it is that makes your piano studio special. But don’t be discouraged; just because you struggled to fill in the blank doesn’t mean your piano studio isn’t special. It simply means that you may not be aware of what makes you special and therefore you do not advertise, promote, or share your unique advantage with your piano students.
Everyone has, or can have, a unique advantage; but if you are not well aware of your specialty, than your piano students and their parents certainly won’t be either.
Share Your Thoughts and Be Entered In Our Giveaway
In the comments below, we’d love for you to share that “something special” that makes you and/or your piano studio stand out from the rest. To do so, leave a comment that completes the following sentence…
I am the piano teacher who…
Comment before midnight tonight (February 12, 2014), and be entered to win a copy of Pssst. Your Piano Teacher Thinks This Is Theory… and then you can say “I am the piano teacher who teaches theory in a unique and memorable way!” We will let you know who the lucky piano teacher is at the end of Thursday’s blog post.
