You don't need more Students to grow your Business

Adding more Students is not the only way to grow your Business. “Why? Isn’t that how you make more money?” you may ask… Many times, that is true. But not always. Having more Students doesn’t automatically mean a nice cushy bottom line. But it certainly means that you need to work more or hire help, or have bigger classes with less personal attention.

In addition, it costs you 7 times more to acquire a new Customer rather than keep an existing one.

Why not focus on your existing Students to increase your bottom line and grow your Business?

There are 3 ways you can achieve that:
 
#1: Keep them longer - increase their lifetime value.

I work in commercial real estate and we lease office buildings to big companies like Facebook and Amazon. We work for years with them, providing market information and industry forecast before we close a leasing deal. So, nurturing the relationship and keeping us on the top of their mind is is very important. Or they will drop us and choose someone else. A very costly outcome.

It is not different with your Students. You need to make them feel they are on top of your mind so you will be on top of their mind too.

How can you do that?

1. Call them every 3 months, ask them how they are doing, how you can help them even more or if they have suggestions for your classes.

2. Send random snail mail (not e-mail) when you read something that might interest them. For instance, if you read an article about how to improve distance learning, print that article and send them with a handwritten note: “I thought of you when I read this”.  Or frame a picturefrom their first class with you and send it to them.

It might sound like a lot of work but think about how much money and effort it would take to replace them if they left.
 
#2. Cross-sell - offer them additional activities.
They already love you and trust you with the classes they take. Offering them more options will help them and they will be thankful for it.

You might say, “I am not going to push more activities on my Students. I am not a salesperson. “
Think about Amazon. When you are logged in as a customer and  looking to buy something, they suggest similar options, or a bundle that other people bought for the same item. Is that annoying? No. They do the thinking for you and helping you out as a friend.  And if you decide to go with the additional items, they make an extra sale.

It is not different with your Students. They can always use a suggestion where you can help them make their life easier. You are suggesting additional activities and they have the choice to buy or not. But of you don’t suggest anything, you will miss a sale.

Here are 3 ideas for you:

1. Suggest a party package tailored to them (birthday, team building, holiday party, etc.). People are always looking for more experience. Give a discount if they book before a certain time.
   
   
2. Offer a VIP package, where you limit the number of Students to max. 3 and teach something personalized to them.
   
   
3. Invite an International Artist to a virtual party and bring their world into yours. I just saw a post on Facebook from a Jamaican Art Teacher offering a partnership to bring “Jamaican flavor” to a paint class.  Add a happy hour “Rum Punch” and you have a winner.
   

 
How you can deliver this? Add these suggestions when someone is booking an activity with you either through website,  e-mail, phone or social media.  Or send targeted e-mails to your list suggesting the extra activities.
 
#3 Raise your Prices – and work less.
Of course, this is a delicate subject but sometimes it is the right way to grow your business. Don’t just double your prices and hope for the best. Before you do anything, understand what is the value that brings Customers to you (it might be different from what you have in mind, so you might need to ask them first), what message you need to reinforce that value to make sure they are  ready to pay the increased price.

Here are 3 situations when you should increase your prices:

1. You feel that your Customers don’t value what you are offering. For example, Parents drop off their kids who don’t want to be there, and you feel like you are just a babysitting service. I hear this quite often from Art Teachers. Those are the Parents who sign up because your prices are the lowest. You want Customers who pay for your value, not just pick you because you are the cheapest option for them.
   
   
2. You are overworked. You have another job and teach as a side business, but don’t see a way to drop your main income because you are not making enough money from teaching. Or teaching is your main business, but you are stretched out and cannot add more activities to make a decent living. That means you are not charging enough.
   
   
3. People are lining up to book your activities. This is the best-case scenario, and it happens quite often. Instead of taking in everyone and stretching yourself thin, be selective, ask for a higher price, and make the same money with fewer Students. 

 
You might lose some Students but those are there for the lowest price and would jump ship the minute someone cheaper came along.   
 
So before you rush out to get more Students to bring in more money, take a look at the ones you already have. How can you make sure that: 1. they stay longer, so you can increase their lifetime value, 2. they sign-up for every activity that can benefit them, 3. they pay prices that provides you with a sustainable business?
Take the steps above and increase your bottom line without adding a singe new Student.

Do you want more clarity in your Marketing?
I am launching a new Membership in January, specific to Independent Art Teachers, to easily get more Students and multiply their Revenue.

learn more now

We will cover how to:

• Attract, Sign-up and Keep the right Students
• Write a marketing plan
• Build an e-mail list
• Structure your website
• Set up FB ads
• Offer membership
  

• and much more good stuff

I am looking for a limited number of Founding Members, which means you will get to play a part in shaping the curriculum with your suggestions to better serve the Independent Art Teachers' Community.

Sign up for the waitlist here to be the first to know when we open our doors.