inding your first 10 students can be a challenge. Especially if you have recently moved to a new town or are just starting your own private music studio. Here is a list of 12 places where you could start looking for your first 12 students.

If you try all of these ideas and only found 1 student from each places, you would have your first 12 students! Which is incredible in itself, but imagine if you could find 10+ students within 1 month! Wow, that would be a great start!

So let’s take a look at these tips and start finding your first 12 students!

#12 – Local Restaurants/Cafe’s

Every town has a hub where local people like to go. It may be your downtown area or a strip-mall. It’s doesn’t matter the size of your town people always look for things to do. You might have a particular place that you enjoy going to. If you do, ask the Owner or Manager if you could leave a flyer and/or business cards. Coffee houses are great for this type of thing because they usually have a bulletin board with local activities posted.

Another idea, which is even better, would be to offer to play live background music. Most restaurants and coffee houses love the idea of live music but would be skeptical to pay or setup a long-term agreement without testing the water first. Make sure you clarify that this would only be temporary (one or two times) and that you would do it for free or for tips. Later on you could establish a business agreement (play for $$) but that is not your goal here. You are trying to establish yourself as a musical authority and get some free advertising along the way.

#11 – Bookstores

Go where the learners are. If you were looking for a car, you would go to a car dealership; if you were looking for groceries, you would go to the grocery store. Well, here you are looking for learners; people who want to better themselves. What better place to look for a learner than at a bookstore. Used Bookstore. . . New Bookstore, it doesn’t matter. Just like above, ask the Owner or Manager if you could leave with them a flyer and/or business cards. If you have one, possibly leave a CD of yourself playing for background music.

For a used bookstore, you could volunteer your time to help setup a “music book section” in their store; help them organize it or place prices on the books. Essentially, lending your expertise to aid their store. It really lends to your credibility.

10# – Friends and Family

If you are fortunate to have friends and family around, let them know that you are teaching and looking for students. Possibly give them a few business cards. What better way to spread the word than with someone who loves you.

It would be a good idea to prompt them on what you offer or the costs for lessons. Nothing like a “sale-pitch”. Far from it. More like the basic information that a potential parent or student may want to know. Also, it would be better for you friends or family to get the phone number of someone who is interested. So, prepare your friends/family to say, “Do you mind if I give the teacher your number and s/he can call you with more details?” That way you don’t have to wait by your phone for a non-existent phone call but you can be a little more proactive with finding your next student.

9# – Talk with Public School Teachers

Yes, you can find private students at a public school . . . but usually not in a direct way. Meet with the orchestra, band or choir teacher and offer your skills as a qualified musician. You can be tremendously helpful by filling-in missing parts, provide solos or even help run sectionals. Whatever you and the public school teacher are comfortable with. This volunteer work can lead to a relationship with that teacher and in time you will become one of the top private instructors that the band director would refer to. Your name will probably be rolling off his or her tongue before the parent can finish asking the question, “Who would you suggest as a good private instructor?”

You may also offer to play at an upcoming event if they need seating music or accompaniment for a piece. Now, with that being said, public schools have strict policies about who can be on campus and for what purpose. So, you will need to double-check with the specific school district and the specific school to find out the proper procedure and guidelines for the campus.

8# – Local Play House

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire and where there is music, there are musicians. And what better place to find a bunch of musicians than at a play house, opera house, dance studio and the like. You can build your authority and visibility by offering your time at an upcoming event. You could provide filler music between scene changes, music during the intermission, or seating music. The options are endless and the opportunities are everywhere…if you ask. It is also likely that there could be a little pay involved when you help out. Usually it isn’t much but it can be nice to fill the wallet and spread the joy of music at the same time.

7# – Community Center (Recreation Programs)

Offer a short-term class during the summer or winter through your city’s community center. There are usually several recreation programs happening in your city and who’s to say that you can’t offer one of your own? It will take a little planning and commitment to make it happen but you can get paid real dollars AND get some publicity at the same time. Which is a double bonus! Woot!

6# – Craigslist

If you are looking for a free option with a potential of a quicker turn around, you can always post on Craigslist.org. It’s a free site for posting classified advertisements. And it has a section just for us! Look up the “Musicians” category under community and there you go. It doesn’t cover every town but you can post in a neighboring city that is close to you if your specific city isn’t listed.

If you are going to post on Craigslist.com you should have a decent picture displaying what you do. And you should post it under a few different sections of the site. Here are a few suggestions on where you should post:

Community – Musicians
For Sale – Music Instr
Services – Lessons

You may want to look around the other options and sprinkle your posting in a few more places on the site. But I would certainly post in those 3 main areas if you are trying to find potential clients. Check it out at www.Craigslist.org

5# – Local Music Store

Most towns still have a local music store in business and if not, more than likely a Guitar Center. Go have a conversation with the owner or one of the employees. You both have a passion for music or you wouldn’t be in this line of work. So I’m sure they will be easy to talk with and who know you might actually make a new friend. 🙂

You can volunteer some time to organize the music for them or play some music in-store for a day. With time you might put on a concert at their store which could draw interest for both you and the store. The basic idea is to lend a helpful hand and benefit your fellow musician and you in-turn will find some benefit down the road.

4# – Personal Website

Most people cringe at the idea of building anything technical. And if you are scared to turn on your computer this option may not be for you. But if you can muster up the courage to build a personal website there are tons of resources and wonderful, helpful people who can walk you through the steps. It really isn’t all that scary.

This is a little more long-term investment than instance gratification. It takes time to build, maintain and promote a website. But once it has been established it can be a great source for people to find and get to know you before they even call you. It’s one of the best business cards you can afford.

If you are interested in building your own website you should start with hosting. I would suggest Bluehost.com (affiliate link). They are who I use for hosting this site and I have been very impressed with their helpful attitude and willingness to get me started.

3# – YouTube

Videos can be very informative, friendly and personal. You can share a lot about yourself and your personality in a short 1-2 minute video on YouTube.com. It’s a great place to post for FREE an introduction video of yourself. Which is a great idea that you can then share and use with any of the previous tips on this page.

You will want to practice a few times before making a final edition of your video Have a friend watch it before you post online. And make sure you communicate everything you would like a potential client to know about who you are, what you offer and how your instruction can help them. Don’t be shy of the camera, you won’t break it. You might surprise yourself and find out that you are actually good being in the spotlight. 🙂

2# – Talk with Local Private Teachers

Here we are at the top 2 tips! If you are uncertain about the technical side of tips #3 and #4, then tip #2 will probably suit you just fine. If you have done any of the previous tips up to this point, you should have encountered a few names of other teachers in your area. The more teachers there are in an area the better it is for you. It means where you live financially supports the arts.

So, go and talk with a few of the teachers. Have coffee or tea with them. Talk about their philosophy of teaching or their techniques. Ask about their background and who they are as a person. Find out what element of music they are passionate about. Form a connection with the teachers around you for they are facing the same struggles you will as some point. Offer to help out at their next recital or performance. Most of the time private studio teachers are flying solo when it comes to preparing and setting up for a concert. The extra help may be greatly appreciated.

Not all the teachers you encounter will be good teachers but their will be 1 or 2 that you can build a relationship with. And if things are really good you may consider working together in some sort of business agreement. I wouldn’t suggest a legal partnership but some form of mutual agreement to pass on students who would be a good fit for the other teacher or vice-versa. It really builds confidence when you can find a mutual musician with similar convictions that you have.

1# – Thumbtack.com

We are finally at the Number 1 tip! Thumbtack.com is a great resource for a private studio teacher. You will need to sign-up for a free account and fill out all the necessary information about yourself and the services you offer. But once you do, the company at Thumbtack.com starts looking for clients that would fit your business and when they find someone, they will send you a “quote” offer. You will have to pay for “credits” to send a quote but most of the time they offer specials. For example, if you reply to a quote within 24 hours you will be refunded all the credits you spent for that particular quote. So, it’s almost free advertising and publicity.

You should know it takes a few quotes before you get hired. On their website they say, “For a majority of pros on Thumbtack, it takes more than 5 tries to get their first hire.” So, don’t expect an overnight success. All good things take time and so does finding a good student but with the help of Thumbtack.com it might go just a little bit faster. 🙂

Some final thoughts and Extra tidbits

There have been several tips in this post that include offering your time and energy, befriending others and lending a helpful hand. This should not be confused with being deceptive or manipulating other people. That is farthest from what I am suggesting you to do. I would never even hint that you should be deceptive or try to base a business on manipulating others. That will only cause your reputation and your business to fail. Do not, and I repeat do not build your business on false pretenses. It will never survive.

Quite the opposite, the tips and suggestions that are in this post are to encourage you to seek out like-minded individuals. People who are already doing the same thing you are or want to do. Once you find those like-minded people build an authentic and real relationship with them. That is all. If two people are working toward similar goals it can only be good if they work together, right? Both parties involved will benefit.

If you find another teacher that believes the same principles about music and teaching and you two team up, the community benefits, the students benefit, the quality of music in your area will benefit and the lives of the two teachers will benefit.

It’s that simple.

Extra Tidbits

YP.com

What is old is now new. That’s right. I remember when everything was listed in the good ol’ Yellow Pages and if you weren’t, you would never be found. That isn’t as true today as it was 20 years ago but there are still people who look up a business up in the Yellow Pages online. There is a Free Listing page on the YP.com website that walks you through the benefits and how to include yourself on there digital search engine. It will increase your exposure to potential clients in your area.

VistaPrint.com

Throughout this posting I mentioned leaving a business card and VistaPrint.com is one resource that is rather affordable for the quality of product you receive. You should check it out and I’m sure you’ll love them!

Bluehost.com

I have already mentioned Bluehost.com in this posting but I wanted to put them here again to really emphasize how awesome they really are in providing a place to host your website. You won’t find a more helpful bunch of people who want to get you up off the ground in no time. Click the icon below (affiliate link) to take you to their page. Talk with a live person and ask all your questions. They will gladly help out any way they can.

Tell me what you think…

That’s right. I want to know what has worked for you. What things have you tried that has helped find a new student or two? Has there been anything you tried that didn’t work? Leave it in the comments below. I would love to hear from you.

Have a great and awesome day!

– John