Simpedia

Robin Keehn, Washington

Carry M. and I share a studio. Together we decided that we would spend around $1,500 each to increase our enrollment. We began planning in June and began our advertising in early July. We took out ads in both of our local newspapers. The ads had a very similar look and in one paper they were five columns wide and six inches tall. The other paper had a special section that is directed at women. Rather than placing the ad in the general paper, we placed the half-page ad in the women’s section. The ad that we ran in July was ” Australian Piano Method has Students Playing…” and we got a fair number of calls. The ad that we ran in August was “Music Lessons for People who Never Dreamed They Could Play.” That ad drew a huge response from ADULTS. It was very clearly the “adult” ad for us.

The other significant event that increased our phone calls was an article in the women’s section of the paper where we had advertised. Each week a local woman or women are featured in the section – always someone on the cover, and always someone in the subsection called “Women at Work.” We were in the “Woman at Work” article. There were two color photos of Carry and I together, one at the piano, and an accurate story on the programs we offer (Kindermusik and SM). So many people called after that article. It validated all of those ads we ran in both papers and put faces to our names. To be featured in that article, I contacted the paper and asked how we could be in it! I filled out a questionnaire that specifically asked why our business is unique. That was easy!

We held four or five FIS’s in August and early September. During that time we enrolled more than 40 new students.

Our commitment is to be willing to spend the money on the ads to make money each month. It was a financial commitment, but as always, it has paid off.