ITEA Journal Volume 47 Number 2 (Winter 2020)

Making the Job:
by Dr. Doug Black

Building and Maintaining a Private Studio

Part I: Growing a studio

Today's music economy is often referred to as the gig economy. Gone are the days where most people apply for and land a 9-5 job. Music is an already crowded profession with very few traditional full-time jobs relative to the number of qualified candidates. Artists who aspire to work in their field can pave their own path to adapt and thrive in the gig economy. Starting a studio can appear to be an impossible task but a thriving studio can become a self-created, artistically satisfying, full-time job.

Dr. Doug Black

The first thing one must do when endeavoring to run their studio is to identify a target market. To be successful, goals must be set. If that goal is to be the best piano teacher to four-year-old kids, do that. If it is only to teach high school tuba and euphonium students, do that. One person cannot do everything, and it is better to do some things well than to do all things poorly. Students, teachers, and parents will notice if a teacher's students are succeeding, and this can become a significant driver of business.

When trying to get into freelance teaching, there are things you can do to establish credibility. Obviously, it helps if you are teaching at a local university or playing professionally in the area but depending on the location and your credentials that may not be possible. Whether you can leverage that type of experience or not, it has never been easier to make a great website and great recordings. Your web presence can be an enormous asset when building your studio. It is where people find you. Make sure there is an easy way for potential students to contact you from your website.

When you are building your studio, several gatekeepers can help you get your foot in the door and keep students moving to your studio. Band directors are the first point of contact. They are the biggest gatekeeper and have an enormous amount of influence over students and their parents. The best way to get in the good graces of the local band directors is to make yourself a resource. I offer free master classes every year to every local school. When I was establishing myself in the area, I made a spreadsheet of the contact information of every high school and middle school band director. Contact information for the band directors is on most school district websites. On the spreadsheet, I tracked how often I contacted them and how many students I had from each school to help me focus my future efforts.

Students are the next level of gatekeeper. I would typically meet students at the master classes that I offered at the schools. Your goal in the initial interactions with the students is to make sure they like you enough that they will cooperate in giving you the contact information for their parents. In most school systems, the teachers cannot provide you with contact information for students or their parents. There is typically no rule against the students giving you that information. I usually get this information at summer band camps.

The final gatekeepers in the early days of establishing a studio are the parents of the students. The parents of the students are typically the ones that will be paying you. In the initial contact, I would recommend a template email. This email should be short and to the point but also as personable. This email should have an at most two-click or single call means to sign up for lessons. The more steps required before the parent or student can register, the less likely they are to sign up. I use a Google form on my website.

Other local professionals can be an immensely valuable asset, particularly if you are trying to break into a new market. They have contacts, and they know the needs of the area; they have established products and credibility, they have experience running their business. It would be advisable to ask your colleagues who are established for advice about the area and running your business.

At this point, you have a market, and you are ready to contact students and parents about your product. The primary factors that a new teacher will need to figure out quickly are price and location. The best advice I received when I started freelance teaching is, things are only worth what people are willing to pay. The first factor is what is the average rate in the area. If the average rate is $50 an hour and you decide to charge $10 you will have issues. One issue is that you will have to work more than a person can reasonably work to make enough money to live. The other problem is that you will create ill will with your other colleagues in the area that are also trying to make a living. If the average rate is $50 an hour and you charge $200, you likely will not have many students. Factors that establish credibility mentioned earlier in the article may increase the perceived worth of your lessons and justify a higher price than others in the area, but that depends on your market.

The second primary factor that a new teacher will need to figure out quickly is the location of the lessons. If you are teaching at university, some universities will let you use your office for outside work, and some will not. Depending on your situation, you may not have an office or have a shared adjunct office. The university teaching space has perks. It lends you credibility in the eyes of most students and parents. There are also downsides to teaching at the university and parking can be difficult.

Many larger high schools have facilities for lessons to be given in the school. There are advantages to teaching at the school. You have visibility and far more numerous chances to interact with prospective students and band directors in the classroom than in any other teaching location. It is convenient for parents and students when you are at their school. Teaching in the school is not without drawbacks; you are at the mercy of the band director and school administration. Teachers and administrations change frequently, and you could find yourself with a different teaching situation from year to year. You have limited control over the situation around the room in which you are teaching. Some schools have places for private teachers to teach lessons; you may find yourself teaching in a teaching office or the uniform closet. The band director could decide that teaching office is now the music library and suddenly your teaching space is smaller. You may have to work without some of the comforts of having a private office. There may or may not be a reliable internet connection or other conveniences like a desk, or a piano, and one will have to adjust their teaching accordingly. I had a situation where I was teaching in a room that was sharing a wall with percussion ensemble. The volume of the percussion ensemble proved to be problematic. But I find that when teaching at schools, the advantages outweigh the drawbacks.

If you do not have access to the university or band facility at the school, many teachers teach from their homes and churches. These can be perfectly functional solutions. If you have a relationship with a church, they will often let you make limited use of their facilities for low or no cost. If you are making use of a home office for teaching, you can write off a portion of your rent or mortgage payment from your taxes.

It is highly recommended that you have both primary factors in order before you send initial emails to parents and students. Nothing makes a prospective teacher look less credible than not knowing where the lessons they teach will be or how much they will cost.

Part II: Maintaining a Studio

This first and most important step to long term success in running a freelance studio is a change in mindset from that of an artist to that of a small business owner. You should not forget about the artistry, but you should prioritize being the owner of a small business. Maintaining the business begins with our communication to our students, their parents, band directors, other professionals, and prospects.

Communication is an essential skill for a busy freelance teacher. Most freelance teachers are juggling multiple schools, playing engagements, and personal life. Students and parents need to know where to go and when to be there. I recommend you send out a weekly email with the schedule and any information about upcoming events or student accomplishments. This email serves multiple purposes. Firstly, and most obviously, it communicates the schedule to the studio. Secondly, by sending information about events, such as playing engagements, and info on recent student accomplishments, it lends the teacher more credibility. Parents and students like to know their teacher and colleagues are finding success. It is important to keep emails brief. If you have instructions for a group that does not apply to the entire group, send that group a separate supplementary email. The more you put into a single email, the less likely it is to be read. When replying to emails, make sure to respond in a timely and professional matter. These are your customers; keeping them satisfied is part of the job.

Part III: Finances

Money is a touchy subject for many artist-teachers, who typically prefer to be more artist than small business owner. It is vital to establish a fee schedule when students start. Some teachers charge by the lesson, which is the most flexible but least stable. I charge by the month. I find the monthly fee works well. Students have prepaid so they feel obligated to prepare for the lesson and it has made my finances more stable. I know of other teachers that charge by semester. This approach requires you to either have a cut off early in the semester for enrollment or do the math to prorate when students enroll throughout the semester.

Whatever you decide on for a fee schedule, keep a written record of all money transactions. This record is for you and the students. You never know when the parents of your students will need access to those records. You will need the record for taxes.

While on the topic of taxes, I highly recommend you hire an accountant. People value teachers for their experience. There are not many people whose expertise is in music and taxes. A good accountant will do your taxes well, so you are less likely to be audited by the IRS and get fined for doing your taxes incorrectly. A good accountant will also maximize your refund potential. I almost did not get approved for my mortgage because I did not do my taxes properly for the first two years I was teaching. I could have completely avoided this if I had hired an accountant earlier.

It is essential to diversify your income as much as possible. If you are only working at one school and a new band director comes in, you could find yourself out of a job. Diversity is the closest thing you can have to job security as a freelance musician.

As a freelance teacher of high school and college students, I find that many of them do not take lessons in the summer. I average 40 students in the academic year and less than 10 in the summer. Make sure to save money during the academic year so you can enjoy a few lighter months.

A second non-music, non-teaching related aspect you should consider is liability. You have to protect yourself and your business. One claim from a student and you could be out of the job or worse! Simple ways to protect yourself include teaching in a highly visible space, video recording all your lessons, or having a second adult in the room. If your business gets big enough, have a conversation with your accountant about incorporating your business into a limited liability company (LLC) and consider hiring a small business lawyer. In many jurisdictions, LLCs can provide their operator with, as the name suggests, limited liability in the case of a lawsuit.

Part IV: Final Thoughts

As you build your studio, you get busy. For the first time, the World Health Organization recognized burnout as a medical condition in 2019, and it is a problem. If you have too much on your plate, there is no way you can meet all of your obligations. You have to balance teaching obligations, playing commitments, have a social life, see your family, and sleep. If you are not able to manage all of the things on your plate, you will not be teaching at your best. You will be completely miserable, and ultimately this is a disservice to your students. It is difficult but necessary that you cap your studio. If you are fortunate enough to reach your cap, keep a waitlist.

As a freelance teacher, you spend a great deal of your waking time managing the business to make sure you still have a job. It is so easy to lose sight of why you started on the endeavor. It is so critical to fuel your artistry through performing and listening to music. As teachers, it is our job to fuel the passion of our students. It is our job to introduce them to new music. Your students will ultimately be more successful if they are well-rounded musicians, and it'll help to keep you sane.

Dr. Douglas Black, Jr. is the Tuba and Euphonium Instructor at Winthrop University and the University of South Carolina. Doug is an active orchestral tubist; he is the principal tuba and cimbasso of Opera Carolina, principal tuba of the Rock Hill Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Durham Symphony Orchestra, Augusta Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, Aiken Symphony Orchestra, and Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. Doug has also performed with the Triangle Brass Band, North Carolina Brass Band, and was the tubist with Tim Zimmerman and the King's Brass. Doug is a Buffet Crampon performing artist/clinician.

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