Many of you might recall when I posted, “The Plan” a few months ago. Since then, the only part of Phase 2 not yet enacted was the part about me making more money. I have my English class to teach, a piano student, and my online writing job for my old piano boss. All 3 of these add up to about 5 hrs./week of outside-the-home work and about 3 more hours/week of inside-the-home work. Only 8 hours total, which is not much. This only adds up to about $750/month, which is also not quite what we need for aggressively paying off student loans, adding lots of savings, etc.
What I really need is more piano students. Teaching piano is not only something I love to do, but it brings in a lot of money per hour (usually, about $80/month for every student I can find for 2 hrs./month of work), which means that I don’t have to work much to make the amount of $ we need. I only want to be working 10-15 hrs./week outside the home, and only while I have a babysitter from within the family (another one of my “rules”). Both my mother and mother-in-law have graciously covered the 4 hrs./week I teach my class. Teaching piano in the afternoons would greatly complement Jesse’s work hours, since he’s home by 3:15pm.
So, I’ve been aggressively marketing, sending advertisements to every newsletter I can think of within my social circle (s) and posting ads online.
And then I got a great idea– my old music company (the one that I now write for) used to partner with preschools and Montessori schools, offering to give them a percentage of the monthly profit in exchange for using their location and piano. The benefit for parents? Not having to drive to a separate studio or location while getting a reduced tution. The benefit for me? Not having to drive to tons of different homes, lowering the earning power/hour since you have to account for driving time. Back when I lived in Dallas, I had to add at least 40 min./day onto my work hours, so it really adds up!
So, I sent out an inquiry email to 4 different Montessori schools in the area. I heard back from one last week. She said that they already had two piano teachers on staff, but would let me know if anything changed.
As of this morning, I still hadn’t heard back from the other 3, so I decided to send out a follow-up email.
Less than an hour later, I heard back from the Montessori school in Atascadero, saying that they had just gotten back from Christmas vacation yesterday and couldn’t wait to have me come in and talk about the possibilities! Not only do they already have a nice piano in their art room, but they also have Tues-Thurs. afternoons available!
Even if I only get one or two students, and even if they’re spread out in times, the school is literally 5 minutes away. So no biggie!
I was able to meet with the director this afternoon, bringing with me some updated flyers. She made copies and hung them around the school with me! I was already fingerprinted in August, so that’s already been taken care of! Now, I just need to wait….
On top of this, today I also got two email inquiries about private piano lessons!
So…we’ll see what comes of all this. Definitely a step in the right direction, even if it hasn’t translated into $ yet. Oh well, such is the self-employed life!….For now, I’m just grateful, because this definitely is a huge encouragement, right when I needed it 🙂
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erica says
That’s awesome!