website Archives - Music Studio Startup

Studio Photos Checklist: Make Your Website Come Alive

February 19, 2018

As a freelance web developer, I’ve set up a lot of websites for clients and the images and content always seem to be an afterthought. Eager to get started, the clients often want me to create the whole website and leave empty boxes for them to fill in later with their own studio photos. I…

Three Questions You MUST Answer Before Designing (or Redesigning) Your Studio Website

February 12, 2018

branding, focus, marketing, new students, website

There are two kinds of “bad” studio websites: the ones that are bad because of poor decisions (color scheme, typography, font size, etc.) and the ones that are bad because of indecision. The first is becoming less common since we have website builders and templates that take a lot of the guesswork out of the…

Five Cool WordPress Features You Probably Don’t Know About

February 5, 2018

blogging, website, WordPress

A more accurate title for this post would “Five Cool WordPress Features You Probably Don’t Know About (and One You Might Have Forgotten About).” Even if you’ve been using a WordPress website for years, you might not know about these often-missed and super-cool features of the platform! Some are new (just released in November) and…

Mini Marketing Plan

December 4, 2017

advertising, increasing income, marketing, online marketing, website

Next to the beginning of the school year, January has always been the second biggest enrollment season for my studios. (Thank you, New Year’s resolutions!) And I don’t think my experience is unique. Check out this graph that represents Google search trends for “piano lessons” over the last four years: Do you see those peeks?…

Gift Guide for Entrepreneurial Music Teachers

November 27, 2017

goals, holiday, organization, productivity, studio management, systems, website, WordPress

With the new year just around the corner, I’m thinking a lot about the goals I have for my studio and business. Some of these goals require investing in equipment or software. Call me boring, but I’ve always been a big fan of practical gifts. When I put together my wishlist for the family gift…

What You Need to Set Up a Studio Website

August 21, 2017

website, WordPress

The first time I set up a website for my music school I was overwhelmed with terminology and completely confused about what I needed to buy to get my website up and running. I distinctly remember needing the moral support of my college roommate before I could click the “purchase” button. Eight years later, with…

Why I Use WordPress for my Websites

August 7, 2017

advertising, branding, marketing, online marketing, website, WordPress

There are a lot of options when it comes to building a website. You may have heard of Wix and Weebly and SquareSpace, just to name a few, but I chose WordPress. There are a lot of reasons why, but today I thought I’d highlight the top three: 1. Ownership This is probably the most…

1 Year of Music Studio Blog Ideas

April 10, 2017

blogging, branding, marketing, website

If you’ve ever found yourself lacking creativity to come up with studio blog ideas, allow me hook you up… Here’s a blog post topic for every month of the year! (Want even more blog ideas? Like 52 weeks worth of blog ideas?? An entire year of blog ideas??? Check out the download at the bottom of…

3 “Must Have” Pieces of Music Studio Website Content (and Others That Can Wait)

November 21, 2016

marketing, website

Preparing website content can be a daunting task. You visit other musicians’ sites for inspiration and you immediately feel overwhelmed and demoralized because their site is full of useful information, witty blog posts, artistic photos, and professional sound recordings. It’s a this point that I might be inclined to put off this task until “tomorrow.” The day that never comes.…

Market Music Lessons for the New School Year

August 8, 2016

advertising, marketing, website

If the new school year is coming up and you have spots to fill in your teaching schedule, try a few of these ideas to market music lessons at your studio: 1. Introduce yourself to school music teachers, choir directors, band directors, and church music directors People in these roles are always getting asked where to…

Do I Really Need a Studio Website?

June 6, 2016

marketing, website

Let’s be real. You already know what my answer to this website question will be. But if you’ve seen other studio websites that are basically just an online business card, you may wonder how much value they really provide. I’m sure those teachers see some traffic from their websites, so they are not completely ineffective, but…