5 Emails You Should Only Write Once

Starting Your Library of Canned Emails

1. Prospective student response email

This is the response I send to prospective students who have reached out to me by email. The bulk of the content is the same for every email, but I do take a few minutes personalize it a bit to address the situation of the individual student and answer any questions they asked. In this email, I also invite the student to visit my studio to meet me and suggest a few dates and times for this meeting.

2. Follow up to phone conversation + Studio visit confirmation

When a prospective student calls me, I follow up with a thank you email. If we have set up a studio visit, I use this email to confirm the date and time and to send them my studio address.

3. Missed tuition payment

No one likes to hound students about missed tuition payments, but it’s a necessary part of being in business for yourself. Taking the time to craft a friendly reminder email once and for all took away so much of the dread for me! (Note: a consistently late student will require a different approach, but most parents are so embarrassed and apologetic when they miss a payment that this email solves 99% of problems.)

4. Studio closed reminder

This email is the email you would send right before you take a holiday or go on vacation to remind students of the dates your studio will be closed. It’s always great to communicate this verbally and in writing so there is no confusion. (I also ask students to email me the dates they will be out of town so I have it as a reference in case technology fails me and my Google Calendar data disappears.)

5. Concert announcement

Make sure there’s no confusion about the date, time, location, and expected attire for a concert by emailing everyone the pertinent details well in advance (and then again the week before!). This email also makes it easy for parents to pass the info along when they invite friends and family.

There you have it. Five emails you can write once for your canned email library. When it’s time to send one, just personalize it with a line or two specifically for the intended recipient and you’re done. Now you’ll have more time for that Netflix binge session.

Check out my post on How to Setup Canned Responses in Gmail to really streamline your process.

What other emails do you find yourself writing over and over?