Turn subscribers into students.

The first step in leveraging a mailing list to gain more subscribers and therefore more music students is learning how to use your email list to bring good quality content to your subscribers.

Good content means more referrals. More referrals mean more sign-ups. More signs ups mean more online music students!

Great content is how you grow your email list. That’s rule number 1!

Before we even get into it, you need to know that your mailing list is a vital tool in your promotional arsenal as a music teacher. If you don’t have one. Get one. It’s simple to sign up to a mailing list provider such as Mailchimp. So, if you haven’t already got one. Go and sort that before you come back here.

Sorted? Good.

An email list is more than just a way to tell your music students that you have some free slots, but is a way to bring genuinely helpful content to your subscribers. So today we’re going to show you how to use your email list in a way that’ll bring more people to your MusicTeacher.com profile, or your website or your dedicated landing page.

In case you didn’t get the hint, the best way to use your email list is to provide top quality, useful content to your subscribers. People get a LOT of emails, so you need to make sure yours is one they want to open up. Here are our top 8 tips on how to use your email list and grow it too, without boring people!

In the first half, we’ll show you where to put your email list and then we’ll show you how to use it.

In short, everywhere. Social. YouTube. Referrals. Everywhere.

If you have a website your mailing list should be front and centre, ready for people to see it. Whether you place this near your social icons, you have it as a pop-up or you place it directly below the header, it’s up to you. But either way, you should make sure it’s very noticeable.

We’ll talk about what you can offer for subscribers in the next half, but you should include a strong call to action like “get free content” or the offer of “subscriber-only content”. Give people a good reason to sign up to your mailing list in the first place and deliver on that promise of good quality content!

We’ve talked about how to market yourself as a music teacher on YouTube in a previous blog, but once you’ve got your channel set up you need to make sure all the relevant links are present. This includes your email list.

When thinking about how to use your email list effectively, you need to make sure your email list appears in the description of your videos. Again, use a strong call to action like “don’t miss another video – sign up here” or “ I want more videos like this to help me play the drums better!” etc.

Use your social media bios to link directly to your email list. This is one of the best ways to promote your email list and grow it at the same time as potential music students will almost always check for social proof first.

Drop your email list link across your entire social media offering and include a good call to action too!

The likes of WIX.com and other website builders allow you to create single page landing pages, or single page websites for free. This is a great way to get your name out there online and an easy way to offer people the chance to sign up to your mailing list.

Go to WIX, or another similar site (we don’t get anything for referrals here) and create your very own landing page with an email sign up box. We’d also recommend linking your MusicTeacher.com music profile too, so you can also take direct bookings too!

Did we mention you need a strong call to action?

When you’re thinking about how to grow your email list and how to use your email list, guest posts should be on your schedule.

This means writing articles or creating content for other music teacher websites, social media platforms or YouTube channels. This is one of the best ways to grow and use your email sign up list as you create great content, the host gets to keep that content and viewers are learning directly from you!

Reach out to websites you like or fellow music teachers and offer to create content for their website or channel. Instead of signing off with a link to your website, send the visitor to your email sign up list.

Ok so now you’ve got your email list set up, here’s how you can use it to provide great quality content to your subscribers, keep music students entertained and grow your email list.

A great way to generate new leads and to keep existing students engaged with your content and emails is to provide subscriber-only or exclusive content for your subscribers.

These emails could be full of unique tips and tricks on getting the best out of your instrument, free workshops for subscribers once a month, written lessons or video content.

You can then use this content a couple of weeks later across your social media and YouTube channels. Your subscribers get a first look at the unique content which gives them an incentive to sign up.

If you’re publishing content across your channels you need as many people to see it as possible. An email list is a great way to direct people to those channels.

Send out an email once a week with a selection of your blog posts (you have a blog right?) your best social media posts and any news you’d like to share.

Always finish off with a tip or useful piece of advice that your email list subscribers will find value in.

If you are only using your email list to promote lessons or to promote free slots, people will unsubscribe. Give them a reason to open your email every week. This is how you grow your email list – by providing great quality content that people will want to consume.

A great way to use your email list AND grow your mailing list, while you’re at it, is to use a refer a friend scheme. Ask your subscribers to refer a friend through their email and offer a reward or incentive. This should be something that you can provide at scale. This basically means something you can send out en-masse like a free workbook or an exclusive video with beginner tips.

I wouldn’t advise offering free taster lessons with an email referral just in case you get thousands of students wanting free lessons. You’ll find yourself giving away weeks of free lessons!

A referral could be a percentage discount on the first lesson or a discount on a months worth of lessons. It should just be a great incentive, either way!

If you can afford it, use your email list to give something away once a month or once every quarter. Giveaways are a great way to get people to sign up to your mailing list.

If you’re a drum teacher you could give away a set of sticks, or strings if you’re a guitar teacher – get creative!

Promote the giveaway on social media and get people to sign up. The more sign-ups you get the more chances you have of getting yourself some music students!

Your existing students will always want to know when they’re doing a great job. One of the requirements of being a good music teacher is being able to track progress and motivate students. It’s also a great way to retain music students as they know you’re invested in them. Using your email list to congratulate your “student of the month” or selection of success stories is a really nice way of showing your students you care.

Students of all ages will appreciate a shout out.

There may have been some very challenging musical pieces you’ve had to learn this week or some tips and tricks that you’ve learned from another student that you’ve implanted into your own lessons.

Use your email list to show your students that you are listening to them AND learning from them, passing that knowledge on along the way.

You’re always learning as a music teacher. Show people that you are and send out an email with some cool tips, great new songs or even the most requested songs of the month.

Answering FAQ’s are a great way to provide useful content and use your email list. If you’ve had the same questions crop up every week about a song, or particular exam or grade, talk about it in your email list.

You may have been asked how to play a certain chord or song, or perhaps how to pass an exam. Send out answers to your email list and help your subscribers over this hurdle.

Of course, you should use your email list for great quality content, but don’t forget to always include a way for students to book you for their next lesson.

We recommend linking to your MusicTeacher.com profile as it’s an easy way for people to find out more about you and book a lesson!

And that wraps up our top tips on how to use and grow your email list!

Are you getting as many music students as you could be?

By using MusicTeacher.com you are joining a respected community of music tutors. This is an easy to navigate database that students can use to find a music tutor by their location, almost anywhere in the world!

Students simply search by location and instrument and they are presented with an array of different music tutors close to their location.

MusicTeacher.com has generated over 54,000 student inquiries for music teachers since 2012.

This is one of the easiest ways to get more private music students online and in person. Sign up now and start reaching more students today.

About the author

Lee Glynn (linkedin.com/in/leerglynn/) is a digital content strategist, blog writer and has been playing the guitar for 3 decades. Along with creating content strategies for a wide range of industries, and writing for well-respected music blogs and retailers for nearly 20 years, he helps websites grow their traffic with his company Quarry Lake Content (quarrylakecontent.com), specialising in blog and content writing, YouTube SEO and Copywriting.He was also in the UK-based band Sound Of Guns and has played Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds and just about every stage and festival in the UK multiple times.