HHTV 1: From Musician to PR
- Feb 17, 2015
- 4 min read
Target Audience
What an unexpected challenge this was! The most difficult part of creating this flyer was deciding who my target audience is. My studio is open to such a wide range of people: be it four-year-olds to any adults, or perhaps those who've never touched an instrument to someone who has been playing for years. I decided that because the University of Arizona String Project is no longer a program and younger children are more likely to start a new hobby or invest in a skill, my target audience is middle school students and younger. Initially, I learned how to properly design a flyer. I had some help from the wikiHow page...
Some highlights of flyer-making skills I learned are
Use one image only, otherwise it will look cluttered
Keep a color scheme, just like when designing a website
Titles should be a san serif font
Increase the contrast of the picture to make it more noticeable from farther away
"Keep the message simple. Don't make people "read" your flyer—–it should communicate your message at an almost intuitive level."
(CLICK HERE for PDF of the flyer)
+/- of the FLyer
While overall I think the flyer is attention-grabbing and gets the point across, I don't know how effective it will be for the music teachers I will be sending it to. The flyer doesn't have any information about myself or my background so it looks like I'll be targeting young students who have never played violin and thus wouldn't need to research the skill-level of the teacher, and students or parents with financial difficulties. So...
This has lead me to learn that in order to instate my ethos to the music teachers I send my flyer to I will need to include information about myself and the experience or personal eligibility to teach violin.
Objective: Find 10 contacts
Step 1: Narrow down the complete list of AZ orchestra teachers.
Step 2: Start with the people I know, those I contact regularly, those whose classes I've observed, those who I have some connection with.
Step 3: Next go through old emails from my music education professors and find out which teachers had connections to the University: people who have a mutual contact.
Step 4: Finally, I selected any remaining nearby elementary music teachers.
Step 5: Color code things!
After selecting the contacts I found their school addresses because next week I'll be printing and sending my flyers to them physically as well as introducing myself through email.
I learned how to prioritize my networking: from people I know personally, to people with a mutual contact, to people who are closest in field subject and location. Knowing how to send information and gather contacts and prioritize them are skills I'll be using throughout my life.
The Two Things Your Degree Comes With
Most teachers I talk to tell me that most jobs they have gotten have been because of somebody they know. In the wise words of Grant Studor, a young music educator at Canyon Del Oro High School, "there are two things you get when graduating with your degree: the content such as knowledge and skills, and your reputation". Not only will I possibly get students from contacting these local teachers, but I'll add to my personal contact list of music educators. This means more future possibilities of observing their classes, asking questions, or even collaborating music programs should I get a job in Tucson.
Being a Good Person
While representing myself as a young professional throughout my undergraduate career at the University of Arizona, this is a whole new level of networking and establishing myself as an up-and-coming educator. While I build my studio and look for a job, it's as if my entire time meeting local teachers and musicians has been a test: a chance to leave a positive and lasting impression of myself. While being a talented, hard-working, or skillful musician or teacher are both essential, being kind and an overall good person is even more important. Not just for getting jobs, getting students, making money, but for overall life happiness.
Now that I have a flyer and many contacts to send it to I can begin attracting students to my studio. The first step to having a positive studio environment is having students. Next week I will begin emailing and sending physical copies of my flyer to the contacts. I will also create a one-page to leave with various locations for small group classes and will distribute them to a couple locations. CLICK HERE for Week 2's Post!
“The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose.” ― Arnold Bennett
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