HHTV 2: Three Magical Words
- Mar 3, 2015
- 4 min read
Emails and Snail Mails
With the surprisingly strange taste of adhesive on my tongue, I have finished sending my flyers to the contacts on my list both through email and “snail” mail. Just like creating the flyer itself was difficult, writing emails proved to be as well. I eventually turned the email into a somewhat template:
Create greeting
insert information
Introduce myself
insert contact information
Ceremonial thanks
Simple enough and incredibly time-consuming to customize each email per person.
I actually think it became too wordy, but that was the best I could do because several of the people I emailed had no idea who I was. Most importantly, I ended the email by saying “I hope we can work together as music educators” because it lets these esteemed music educators with firm standings in the community know that I am here to help, learn from them, and increase music in students, I definitely don’t want to seem that I’m taking their students away.
Confidence And Nervousness
As I sent the emails, I grew nervous because I thought about how this was the very first impression my future colleagues will get of me. Looking at the list of private violin teachers in Tucson, there were between 15-20, not to mention all of the other college or high school students who teach, which is a lot to choose from. How else was I supposed to get my foot in the door? I am young, and less experienced than them but I have a lot to offer, I work hard, I do have experience, and I’m 100% confident in my teaching ability so as long as I convey myself to the best of my ability then I have nothing to worry about.
Also...
I created this nifty email signature so strangers know what I look like and I can keep it for the rest of my life (well, it will change when I graduate).
So immediately after emailing all of the teachers, I printed out (in color of course) flyers and sent them to the teachers’ schools in crease-less large manila envelopes. I actually learned from a google search that I should address the envelope with “Attn: person’s name” and then the school’s name and then the street address. Then I forgot to put Ms. or Mr. on a few of the envelopes, which I would have bought another had I not already pre-paid for them. Then it struck me...I definitely should have included a letter in the envelopes just in case the teacher didn’t read the email yet or didn’t get the email. If I could do this again that would definitely be what I would change, I should have sent a letter with the flyers.
3 Words: Location, Location, Location
Then the next part of my project was to create a one-page detailing a location I’m looking for. Essentially, the group class I’m creating is exactly like the former UA String Project’s classes, except that I’m the only teacher and director. So my process was
Decide what I need for a location
Decide what other information to include
Design a professional-looking advertisement with all this information.
I actually tried to google search one-page creative advertisements and was impressed yet didn’t use anything I saw due to sheer complexity and thus picked a cleaner, simpler design. Here is my result:
(Click Here for a PDF of this flyer)
Still Have that Ruler From Middle School Math?
Coming up with the size of a room I need was funny in that I had no idea what to put. So I decided that my room looked like a good size (if it didn’t have furniture) and I took a ruler and measured the size of my room. Besides, this was a rough estimate, and I’d obviously go in to the location and check it out beforehand.
Networking While NOT Being a Social Butterfly
I’m fairly happy with the results of this week’s effort. Now that my name and information is out there, my studio is officially open! I now have a more concrete plan for the group class which will enable me to discuss it openly and begin recruiting by word of mouth. This also gives me a stable foundation to being deciding things about the class such as what materials I’ll need, what to put in a handbook for the parents, how much music can be learned in 8 weeks, and other policies. Although I don’t particularly like going around and talking about myself, introducing myself to others, and shamelessly promoting myself, I know that for having my own studio and business, there is no way around it if I want to actually get students. So while it leaves an uncomfortable adhesive taste in my mouth (yes, I got to lick all the envelopes), it’s better to learn how to network and interact with other professionals now, while I’m in college.
Stay Tuned For... RULES?!
Alright, so now the information is out, the beans are spilled, the word is in the air, information highway has been opened up to my studio, so what now? Well, if I actually start getting students calling and asking about “discounted lessons” I better have something to tell them. So next week my goal is to create and post on my website lesson policies, procedures, rules, fees, materials, etc. for the discounted lessons. Fortunately, I’ve had a lot of time to think about what to write so I anticipate it going smoothly.
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”
–Malcolm X
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