Take the Advantage of having a Music Teachers Website

Being in the field of music education for many years, I have always used a website to help manage my business. I have used many music teachers websites through the years, including having my own site and building the site with FrontPage.

Having a website can help you advertise your studio business, as well as provide useful information about yourself as well as you studio to prospective students. The site I built with FrontPage allowed me to provide information, as well as posting my studio policy.

One very important step is to purchase your domain name for your website. Your personal domain name can be redirected to commercial music sites in which you sign up. The domain name needs to be a name that your students and prospects will remember.

Below are a few items you want to consider for management for your teacher website:

• Online Calendar showing scheduled lessons, Open Slots and Open Makeup Slots.
• Ability for students to go online and cancel / reschedule lessons.
• Accounting, including automatic invoicing, expense records, receivables report
• File storage so students can download music and material.
• Ability to email students from your music teachers website.
• Online new student registration.

For decades I could not find a site that would accommodate all of my needs, including the ones above. Some sites I tried out were too expensive. I was charged per student. Other sites had a few of the above features, but had a limited source of the productivity needed to run a music studio.

About four years ago I found a website which not only handled my needs, the students’ and parents’ needs were also handled. I get an email every day outlining the students for the day with notes on their last lesson. Every student and parent also gets an email on the lesson notes as well as an email reminder 24 hours prior to the lesson.

You also have a wide range of tools to help you prepare lessons and give aid to your students. There are sites that will give your student a series of test, either written or practical. One free site I use with my voice students gives two tones, and the student clicks on the correct interval. After every answer, the score is given as well as how many questions in the exercised the answers were correct. Most of these sites are free, so take advantage of this great opportunity.

There are also many sites on the internet that provide you with free blank manuscript paper, giving you the choice of printing out the type of staff needed (bass cleft, treble-bass cleft, and tablature). You just click on your choice, download, and print.

If you have not taken advantage of having a music teacher’s website, I encourage you to check the web for a site that would best fit the needs of your music studio. Search the internet and review the sites you find for compatibility with your music business. Every music teacher has their own needs, whether it is accounting, scheduling students, or providing information and marketing. We are in the age of the internet and all of its information. Take use of the internet and run your studio in the 21st century mode.