TakeLessons, Thumbtack, Yelp

Hello again!

It's time for a long overdue update. I hope everyone had a wonderful summer!

With the school year just starting, I've been receiving quite a few inquiries about piano lessons. I've also received questions from fellow musicians looking for work, on how I've managed to build up a pretty successful little music school. I am here today to share a little bit of this :)

It's been almost 2 years since I've moved to New York. I grew from a student base of zero to a little over 30 students. It wasn't easy at first, but the hard work has paid off :)

I wrote a blogpost back in September last year about Thumbtack Vs Takelessons, I'd like to give a quick update on that. In addition, I am also on Yelp now! I will talk about that too. And again, a disclamer: These are just tips and advice and how I went about building up my student base. This does not guarantee you will get students!

I am still on both Thumbtack.com and Takelessons.com. I was on MusicTeachersNetwork, but I cancelled my membership after a year. I only ever received 1 student from that website.

Thumbtack and Takelessons are both websites that one can use to find service providers. Both are great avenues and resources for finding students. Both have amazing user interfaces! Takelessons, as its name suggests, obviously is more oriented towards education. On Thumbtack however, you can find anything from photographers, movers, interior designers - and of course teachers. I've personally used Thumbtack to find photographers and videographers!

How Thumbtack works

For a customer looking for a service, it's free. As a service provider, you pay money to buy credits. Using these credits, you can send quotes to customers who request for your service. Each quote costs between 2-9 credits, and each customer is limited to receiving 5 quotes unless they ask for more. I'm pretty sure I've "missed out" on some opportunities because I was too slow!

I have it set up so that my phone receives a text every time someone within 10 miles of me requests for a piano/drum/guitar/vocal teacher. If the potential student seems like he/she would be match, I send a quote. I've lost track but I've gotten at least 15 students from Thumbtack. I've earned all the money I spent on buying credits back!

People complain about sending many quotes, but not receiving any responses. Read on to find out tips on how to increase the likelihood of your quote being responded to.

Here's a screenshot of what the credit system looks like and how much it costs!

Amazingly, I ended up as #9 best music lessons in NYC :)

Tips!

1. Send personal quotes. I let a friend of mine read my quote and he said, "wow yours is long! I literally sent two sentences!" I have a template I work with, but I edit each message to show that I actually read the quote and I address the issues that are brought up (e.g. "I have three kids so I'm looking for a good deal", "My son is autistic", "We are free Monday-Wednesday evenings") As someone who has used Thumbtack to find photographers and videographers, I can tell you from a consumer standpoint that I can clearly tell who simply copied and pasted their standard template without bothering to read my request.

2. Update your profile - that means having good pictures, videos and accurate information. In my case, I put nice DSLR quality pictures of my studio and of myself teaching my students, and a video compilation of my students playing the piano. I also have a separate website I use for my educational purposes - this one for instance (www.tcmusicstudio.com) is separate from my other singer-songwriter portfolio website. It leaves a better impression. So, clean up your studio and have someone take pictures of you and your students!

3. Follow up with quotes - If they don't read/respond to your initial quotes, send them another message within the next 24 hours. Sometimes they need a little reminder! You've already spent the credits, you won't be charged again! Text if they leave a cell number. Arrange a call. Build rapport!

4. Have a target audience - I used to send quotes to everyone and realized a pattern. Maybe it's due to my pictures on my profile, or my age and experience level, or my rate, but I never had any success with anyone past their mid-20s. So, I focused on a specific age group. Zooming in on a specific demographic or market will help you fine tune your quotes and help you build a reputation. Do you teach strictly adult-beginners? Are you really good at preparing your students for auditions? Do you prefer teaching hobbyists?

5. Offer an incentive - a free trial lesson won't harm anyone :) Also, do your best to hold recitals if you are a music teacher, or some kind of activity to indicate and show progress if you're more academic (art exhibition, graduation, competition?)

6. Get reviews! - some of my students or their parents have left me reviews. Some may need prompting via a text or email, but most of them would be more than happy to!

How TakeLessons works

A screenshot of my takelessons header page

Students basically search for a teacher, and if you're lucky, they pick you. I have also had experiences where TakeLessons places students with me. Takelessons cleverly changed their model recently - they take 40% commission for the first 5 lessons, 30% for the next 5, 20% for the next 5, and 10% for the next 5! Very clever move I must say, because in the past they took 15% constantly. As a teacher, I have an incentive to work more - the more I work, the more I earn! I've gotten about a few students from thumbtack and a few of them are still active.

TakeLessons is an excellent tool - I wish they could integrate their payment and scheduling system into Thumbtack!! I've never had to worry about reminding students about paying lesson fees on TakeLessons, and they are less likely to cancel last minute on me because of a built in 24-hour cancellation policy system.

Speaking of payment system, they have a new BookWithMe tool which allows teachers to include their own private students into Takelessons payment and scheduling system. They take a small percentage - I can't remember what it is but it's between 1-3%. I have yet to use this tool.

The only tip I can give for this is get reviews. The more, the better.

Takelessons lets you decide your availbility!

Yelp

Yelp... is a whole different animal.

When I started this website on wix, a few months later I agreed to get a "business package" of some sort, where I'd get an email address and be listed in countless of listings on the web. I ended up getting bombarded by calls from all kinds of companies, and got VERY annoyed. YellowPages, SEO companies... Yelp was the first company to contact me. I joined an SEO company out of curiosity and naivity, and ended up canceling my monthly subscription. Yelp has been great, although I wince at the monthly $350 cost I pay (YIKES. And that's the lowest too!) I cannot get off it otherwise they will do things like take away my video on my page, remove advertising, etc... But I must say a lot of people find me on Yelp. It has also led me to consider selling instruments because so many people here call asking if I sell guitars, picks, violins, etc.

I'd say Yelp is for the more established music businesses. I believe you might be able to create a free listing. If you can, you should!

This was a long one! Good luck everyone!

Ms Tammy