4dancers contributor Karen Hersh is back with a few words on marketing yourself as a dance teacher…her take on this? Word of mouth is key…
When it comes to marketing as a dance teacher, the best way is still word of mouth. As a self-employed tribal fusion dance instructor, one of my marketing techniques is to simply perform at various haflas (belly dance ‘party’/shows). There are always potential students coming to these events. The haflas themselves generally act like a giant dance buffet for the potential student to see what is out there and determine which instructor they may want to take from.
For me personally, marketing one can be the most difficult thing to do. And I admit – I’m still learning various ways of getting the word out. In today’s high-tech world marketing has taken on a whole new meaning. Since I mainly teach out of a local dance studio, I am able to participate in mass marketing of the studio itself. We put on an open house, which is a day of free classes that all the instructors at the studio partake in, and we have mailings of postcards promoting both the studio and it’s open house. This is a great way to get people in the neighborhood to notice what the studio offers. So many times people are unaware of all the wonderful businesses that are available in their own backyard.
You also have Craig’s List, Angie’s List, Yelp, etc., all listing every type of dance class/studio out there. These are great places to put an ‘ad’ for teaching. And of course, you can’t be anything today without a great website. People are finding everything they need today via the various search engines on the web. These days, when you search for a ‘belly dance instructor’ in your area, hundreds of instructors may pop up.
Even with all this technology and the high tech world you use for marketing be sure to keep in mind that word of mouth is still a powerful tool. Your students and those who have hired you are still the best marketing tools you can have. So be true, and be professional in every way…
