Here’s an outline of my best advice for musicians who want more students . . .
1. Make it easy for your ideal students to find you
If someone is looking for a teacher and they’ve heard about you, they’re going to look you up online. Make sure they find more than your performance or composition details. Have a website with at least a specific tab and page devoted to your teaching.
2. Make sure your Teaching Bio works as a “Call to Action”
An effective teaching bio is one that inspires your ideal prospects to click the “contact” button on your site. This means your teaching bio should NOT simply list your credentials.
The most effective bios go the extra mile by including these three elements: why you particularly love teaching, what you’re actually like to work with as a teacher, and what’s distinctive about your approach. (I know, easier said than done. That’s why I help clients with the process.)
3. Offer a relevant download
On your site, offer a free download for prospective students — something they can get by signing up for your mailing list or newsletter. To come up with something “juicy,” you need to have a clear sense of who your ideal student is and what that person wants and needs.
Let’s say you work with high school instrumentalists, maybe you can create a PDF worksheet with “7 Secrets for All-state Audition Success.” For more advanced students, maybe it’s “5 Tips for Memorizing Recital Repertoire” or what about a video of you demonstrating your favorite warm-up? (If you teach younger students, create something relevant that their parents would appreciate—such as “6 ways to make practice time more fun.”)
Devise a worksheet, checklist, or video that your ideal students (or their parents) would value. Something that would build connection and trust — and get them to want to connect with you.
4. Request referrals
Having current or former students who tell others how wonderful you are as a teacher — that’s of course your best marketing strategy. But let’s be real, those kinds of referrals don’t grow on trees. You need to do more than hope that students will spread the word for you.
You need a referral system.
My fabulous business coach Dallas Travers has a whole referral request methodology and program for coaches. It’s helped me enormously.
And though it’s not designed for recruiting music students, Dallas’ referral approach can be adapted and applied. I’ve helped a number of my clients use these essential principles for getting referrals — and they’ve found success in the process.
Case Study
A while back, my client Bill recruited 52 (!) students for an online Body Mapping course he created for musicians — far exceeding his anticipated goal. What’s more, this was the first time he’d offered a course online. The response was so great that Bill had to add several extra Q&A sessions to accommodate students.
Here’s what I coached Bill through . . .
A. Creating a compelling “sales” page on his website for his course: one that connected with his ideal students, spoke to their needs, detailed the course benefits, and included Bill’s own story. He modeled his sales page on a few examples I sent him. And we went back and forth with drafts and edits so Bill could hone his message.
B. I also helped Bill think through aspects of his course content, fine-tune his registration and confirmation pages, and edit his email outreach to successfully recruit students for his program.
C. Bill next made a list of colleagues he thought might each know a few students who’d be interested in his course.
D. He then wrote personal, individualized emails to these colleagues telling them about the course. He asked if they could think of 2-3 musicians who might be interested. And if so, would they be willing to forward the text about the course that Bill would supply them with. Bill’s colleagues said “Sure!” and the process worked like a charm.
Biggest challenge
Here’s where many musicians struggle—whether they’re recruiting for a course or ongoing private students—it’s in asking for help. I get it: no one wants to come across as needy. And no one wants to “owe” a colleague a favor. Or to risk feeling judged or rejected.
But the reality is, there’s a perfectly diplomatic and graceful way to ask for referrals (thank you, Dallas!) This involves letting go of seeing other musicians as “competition.” There’s a better way to go when it comes to connecting with others and building a mutually supportive network.
That’s why getting professional help to tailor your referral requests can not only help you fill your studio. It can also help you cultivate a healthier mindset and build a mutually supportive network.
Bottom line: for musicians who want more students . . .
Focus on your online presentation and on your teaching bio, and then build awareness and interest by making strategic referral requests.
If the tips above are enough for you to go on, that’s terrific!
But if you’d like help implementing any of this and want to explore coaching with me, let’s talk.
Here’s to your brighter future,
Dream Big, Plan Smart, Live Well
