Music is not just a hobby or a profession it is a way of life for some people. There can be no one in this entire world who doesn’t love music; may it be any genre. Music is the only art form that can be practiced wherever, whenever and by whomever. With the advent of the internet everything has been made reachable with just a click of a button. So, the need to go places to learn or get things done is slowly becoming a yesteryear story.
And now with the breakout of the pandemic, situations have rapidly changed their course. It left us no choice than to shift the whole lifestyle online. And the art industry is no exception. Just like how they have started online schools, online art schools are also becoming a vogue. Investing in any kind of e-learning platform is a sapling that will definitely bear profits.
The important point to keep in mind here is that any online class is not here to replace the traditional ones. They are merely a means to impart knowledge for those who are not in a position to learn it directly from the masters. In this article we will be discussing the steps you need to take to build an efficient online music teaching business.
Before you begin to draft your business plans and course outline etc, it is always good to have a certified teaching license at hand to add more weightage. People look for professional and famous artists and this certification will go a long way in building that trust factor.
By answering 6 seemingly simple questions you will be able to understand what goes on behind the scenes of building a reliable and good online music teaching platform.
- What is your target market?
There is no age limit to learn music. Usually it is said that from the age when you can understand simple basics you can enroll. Usually the ideal age group to begin your lessons is between 6 to 9. Also, it is never too late to join a music class. So, before you plan on your class outlines and materials, study your audience and decide on whether –
- To limit your classes to a certain age group
- To limit your classes to students who are musically trained before
- To teach students irrespective of their age or musical background etc
Every step from here is based on the choice you make here.
So, take your time and post taking into consideration all the pros and cons of the choices you have made an informed decision.
- What is your business plan?
Your business plan must be the very definition of what you want to achieve by starting an online music course. Whether you want to offer a certification course, or a regular course you need to decide and then draft a plan accordingly.
Your plan should address-
- Your Business summary
- Operation and management strategies
- Marketing and promotion plans
- Financial and legal framework
- Proposed value of your services
- What do you want to teach?
Music is a vast ocean. There are apparently over 1200 genres of music in this whole world. Keeping the audience you are targeting and the knowledge what they might be looking for in this field of music and depending on your resources you have to first decide if you want to teach pure music or any instrument or both?
Without getting this decision confirmed you will not be able to make any further decisions. It will only get more chaotic if you are not firm with what kind of music lessons you want to impart through your online music school.
Next part is to draft your course outline.
Once you have decided what you want to teach, based on that you need to start collating your course material. Be mindful of these points while preparing your course materials-
- What is the goal you want your students to achieve
- How are going to assess the student’s progress
- How engaging will your curriculum be to your students
You can also implement LMS (Learning Management System). This is a smart way to manage all your e-tutoring framework and operations. LMS will help you in managing systems, materials, content libraries, audio and video files, schedules, and much more.
Once your course materials are implemented, you will have to make plans to analyze the progress of your classes and that of your students. And you have various tools on the internet that will help you with the same. Eg: Google Analytics
- How to develop an online music class application?
There is no requirement that you need to be proficient with technology to start an e-business. There are a lot of platforms that offer you reliable and ready-made elearning software like Pinlearn loaded with features. All you need to do is some research regarding-
- The features they provide
- Customer care service
- Availability of customization
- User experience
- Mobile accessibility etc
The basic features you must look out for in your website are-
- Video streaming and calling facility
- In-built virtual writing board software
- Document sharing facility
- Notification Alerts
- Progress Analyzer and Tracker
- Class scheduler
- Payment gateways
- Dashboards exclusively for admin, tutors and students
- Review and Rating options
- How do you want to price your classes?
Pricing matters in any business you start. This is where your revenue model also comes into picture. There are multiple ways in which you can generate a good amount of revenue off your business. Here is a list of a few revenue models that will help guide you in the right direction.
- Subscription based fees
- Fees based on individual classes
- Based of course chosen: certification of regular
and others.
- How are you going to promote your business?
This is where many beginners make mistakes. They think that providing good and quality service is a big marketing tactic in itself. Though a small part of it is true, in this competitive business minded world, this promotion has a chance of about 2 to 3% to succeed. Agreed that word of mouth plays a great role in promoting, but in this media driven society you will have to go their way to succeed. Without a good ranking in the SERPs you will not be able to get the right attention or the audience visibility which is the founding stone of directing traffic to your website. Here are a few ideas you can use in order to successfully market yourself to a wider audience.
- Blogging and Vlogging
- Email and newsletter marketing
- Influencer marketing
- Social media marketing
- Use SEO tools
- Google ads
- Multimedia advertising
- Pay per click advertising
and many more.
Being in the education industry is a tricky business. This sector is always susceptible to changes, round the clock. Starting your own music teaching business can be a slow and tedious process, but with the above-mentioned points, you will be able to develop a good platform that will provide you with returns on the investment you have initially put in.