Q. Would you like to see more pupil referrals in your inbox?
Teaching is your business so spend time presenting yourself the best you can, it makes a big difference! You're up against nation wide teaching agencies, tuition DVDs and online learning programs spending tens of $1000’s on marketing and promoting, so make sure you’re doing your bit too! It’s better to get too many referrals & have to turn people away than not enough! This article will help you get the most out of your Music Lessons Plus profile, signing up is step 1, making your profile awesome is step 2 (but it’s not difficult so don’t worry). I'd suggest you apply this not only to your Music Lessons Plus profile but also your personal website (if you have one).
A badly written or rushed profile may bring you a referral once every few months if you’re lucky, whereas a well written profile that covers all the important points and gives just the right amount of information can generate you a steady flow of new pupil referrals each month (as an 'ex' private teacher myself I know that’s what you want!).
General tip: Your profile should be geared towards the pupil, not you, don't try to impress, inspire!
- What will a pupil learn from you?
- What's the basic ethos behind your teaching?
- Who can benefit from your lessons?
- What can a pupil expect if they have lesson with you?
- What are your areas of speciality?
- Avoid directing your reader to another website for info, you have their attention & you need to keep it.
7 key factors to creating a great profile
Once you have registered, go to “Edit my profile” , I’ll give an importance rating for each section so you know which areas to pay most attention to. To keep this article short and sweet I’m not going to go into detail or explain all the hows and whys, but if you would like explanations of any of these points post a comment below and I’ll elaborate, let’s get started!
1. Town/City (9/10):
Often cities are huge & made up of different areas so don’t just enter the city name, but also your local area or district.. For example “Wandsworth, London” is much better than simply “London” / “Hollywood, Los Angeles” instead of just “Los Angeles”.
2. Picture (8/10):
Such an important aspect that surprisingly gets overlooked by quite a few teachers! Think friendly, professional, respectable, if it doesn’t tick all three of those boxes don’t upload it! Your profile picture could be anything from a cool looking shot of you playing on stage or just a simple portrait, teaching business logo, or an image that portrays your instrument/subject, just make sure its a quality image. We have standard images for you too choose if you don’t have a pro looking picture handy. Avoid quick snap shots, dark or blurry images and webcam pictures.
3. Introduction text area "Teachers intro" (10/10):
Most important part of your profile, don’t just copy & paste from your website, this should be a targeted piece of text one or two paragraphs long.
A good profile should have a flow;
- Introduce yourself & welcome the reader.
- Overview of your lessons and teaching, styles & genres taught.
- What you can do for the pupil/why they should have lessons with you.
- Call for action (prompt the reader to call or send you a message)
Mention “keywords” such as your instrument & your town/area a few times in this section.
Avoid writing too little or too much content, 1 or 2 lines of text will do you no favours and you’ll be lucky to get a response, but at the same time don’t go overboard.... too much text going into lots of detail will also work against you. Two paragraphs is perfect! Don’t get too technical in the introduction, you don’t want to baffle beginners (save the technical talk for “lesson details” section, page 2 of your profile). Avoid writing your ‘‘musicians life story’, save that for the bio section.
4. Location details "About your teaching studio" (7/10):
People will want to know about your teaching environment;
- Basic info regarding your teaching space & equipment
- Where you are situated
- Parking availability
- Access via public transport
5. Lesson details "Teaching methods" (6/10):
Beginners will most likely be content with the first page of your profile, this section is usually for musicians who are looking for lessons to progress & want to know more about what you can teach them. Explain the technical side of your playing & teaching, methods, specialities & areas of expertise, teaching programs or syllabuses that you teach/use.
6. Description (10/10):
Create a summarised text advert for your teaching service, it should be 1 or 2 lines long. We submit this to search engines like Google & Yahoo, so it’s very important if you want your profile on page ONE of Google. Avoid just copy & pasting a section of your intro. Make sure you include specific words: your instrument and area/town/city.
7. Keywords (6/10):
Think of 5 to 15 words that relate to your teaching business and separate them with a comma (,). List the subjects/instruments you teach, your city/town/village, playing styles, playing methods etc....
That’s it, these are the essential factors when it comes to creating a decent profile, if you apply all the above you’ll be giving your teaching business a big boost in the right direction. Obviously feel free to explore the other sections, adding details & more info, bio, pics/ video helps create a nicely rounded teaching website too. If you would like a constructive opinion of your own profile feel free to post your URL in the comment below, I'm more than happy to take a look & give you some personalised tips.
