Here are answers to some of the questions I get asked the most about the site, the podcast and the products and services available through Start Teaching Guitar. Click the questions below to expand them and view the answers!
General questions about Start Teaching Guitar
What can STG do for me as a guitar teacher?
Start Teaching Guitar is more than just a website…it’s a one-stop resource to help you START, GROW and MAXIMIZE your guitar teaching business. Depending on what stage of development you’re currently at with your studio, I have specific resources available to help you and many of them are completely FREE.
Is the site just for beginning teachers?
No! It doesn’t matter if you’re just getting started teaching guitar lessons, or you’ve been doing it for a while, or even if you own a music school with other teachers working for you…there are resources available on Start Teaching Guitar that can help you be more successful with your teaching business.
What kind of free information do you offer on the site?
Good information is worth paying for, but a lot of the information on Start Teaching Guitar is available at no cost. Most of the free resources can be found on my Toolbox page. Some of them include:
- A 14-day free trial of my members-only resource “STG All-Access“
- The free edition of the STG podcast (select episodes, condensed and ad-supported)
- My free eBook “Teaching Guitar the SMART Way“
- A free video tutorial “How To Build Your Own Guitar Teaching Website In 30 Minutes Or Less“
- A list of recommended tools and resources to help you grow your teaching business
- A list of recommended books to help you be a more effective business owner
- A list of recommended books to help you be a more effective player and teacher
- Some free web calculators to help you figure out how much money you can make, your retention rates, etc.
- Free STG-sponsored online guitar teacher communities on Facebook, Google+ and Reddit
Do you have a discussion forum?
Yes! It’s available for STG All-Access members and owners of my training courses only. This helps keep the forums focused and free from spam and also makes sure that the people who participate in the discussions are serious about growing their teaching businesses…which adds value for everyone and helps make the forums a place worth visiting. If you’re not an STG All-Access member, check out these free STG-sponsored online guitar teacher communities on Facebook, Google+ and Reddit.
Where is the best place to start?
Just getting started with guitar lessons? Click here for resources to help you
Already making money teaching guitar lessons? Click here to learn how to make even more
Own a music school or store with other teachers working for you? Click here to get help growing to the next level
Do you still teach guitar lessons?
Yes! I still teach guitar lessons, primarily over Skype. If you’re looking for some help with your guitar skills, check out my teaching website for more information.
Questions about the Start Teaching Guitar podcast
Where are the first 25 podcast episodes?
The first 25 episodes of the Start Teaching Guitar Podcast have been archived and are available for STG All-Access members only. They contain tons of great information, including:
- How To Attract New Guitar Students
- Designing Lesson Policies That Work
- What Your Students Want You To Know (But Are Afraid To Tell You)
- Guitar Teacher’s Job Description
- Much more
Why can I only listen to certain podcast episodes for free?
The real benefits of Start Teaching Guitar come with an STG All-Access membership. Every podcast episode I record is produced with STG All-Access members in mind, and most of the episodes are premium members-only content. I do provide a “free edition” of selected episodes to give you a taste of what you can get every single week as an STG All-Access member, and those episodes are supported by advertising. Those are the episodes available to listen to for free on the site. To get access to every episode (and the help you need to take ACTION on what you learn), click here to claim your 14-DAY FREE TRIAL of STG All-Access.
How do I subscribe to the podcast using RSS?
First, you need an RSS feed reader. Some good ones to check out include Feedly, Bloglines and Netvibes.
Next, you need to add the STG feed to your reader. I have two public RSS feeds you can use to get automatic updates anytime I publish new content:
- Click here to subscribe to EVERYTHING via RSS (podcast episodes, blog posts, announcements, etc.)
- Click here to subscribe to the PODCAST ONLY via RSS
Is the podcast available in iTunes, Stitcher and other podcast directories?
Questions about STG products and services
Do you offer physical training products or online only?
All of the training products available from Start Teaching Guitar are online resources. I don’t currently offer print or physical versions of the training products (books, DVDs, etc.).
What is STG All-Access?
STG All-Access is the only way to experience everything Start Teaching Guitar has to offer you as a guitar teacher. There are three different levels of membership, each containing different features and benefits to help you succeed with your teaching business:
Silver Level
- Premium, ad-free podcast episodes every single week
- Access to a mindmap file for each episode, containing my private notes and outline used when I recorded it
- Podcast archive access, including the first 25 episodes of the STG Podcast that are no longer publicly available
- STG Community Forum access where you can meet and interact with guitar teachers from all over the world
- A monthly live Q&A Call, where you can call in and get answers to your teaching and business questions from me. I also record these and make them available for download in the member’s portal.
- Access to the Guitar Teacher News Feed, which is a curated list of all the important music, teaching and business-related articles, videos and resources I find on the web. I follow DOZENS of blogs and websites on a daily basis, and when I find something cool and interesting for guitar teachers, I add it to this feed. You’ll get convenient access to everything you need to know about on a single page or in your favorite RSS reader!
- A listing for your teaching studio on the STG Guitar Teacher Directory page
- PDF documents containing the results of each annual STG Guitar Teacher Survey
- Some cool bonuses no one else has access to, including a zip archive of 20 lesson plan handouts in PDF format you can use with your students, a list of 16 online teaching directories you can use to promote your business and a list of recommended software that can help you as a guitar teacher.
Gold Level
Gold-level members get access to everything I just mentioned, plus the following cool things:
- A monthly live Training Webinar covering topics that can benefit your teaching business. This is like a live podcast episode with VIDEO that you can actually interact with. Every month features a new training session covering something that can help your teaching business. For example, in the April 2013 webinar I demonstrated how to use local-focused social media sites like Yelp and Foursquare to attract new students and add social proof to your guitar lessons…members were able to watch me set up these profiles in real-time, see how I optimized them and ask me questions about it. It’s a whole new way to learn and improve your skills! These webinars are recorded and made available for download in the member portal.
- A free web hosting account and one free domain name to help you get your teaching studio website off the ground quickly and easily, along with a complimentary installation of WordPress
- I negotiated some BIG product discounts for Gold-level members on many of the cool products I talk about on the website and podcast. You can save 40% on Riff Master Pro, 20% on Guitar Pro 6, 10% on Music Teacher’s Helper every month and more. These discounts alone can significantly offset the cost of your membership!
Platinum Level
Finally, in addition to everything I just mentioned, the highest level membership…the Platinum level…gets something no one else has had access to in the history of Start Teaching Guitar: a live monthly Mastermind group meeting with me!
This level is only for people who are SERIOUS about taking action to grow their teaching businesses! You’ll meet with me once a month in a small online group of no more than 10 people to personally plan and implement strategy for YOUR teaching business. This can take MONTHS and YEARS off your learning curve and help you implement the RIGHT tactics at the RIGHT time to get the results you want to see in your business. No one has ever had this level of access before unless they’ve paid up to $200 per hour for a private coaching session with me…but now you can get the same benefits every single month at a fraction of the price.
The benefits in these membership levels will really help you be more successful with your teaching business, and you can choose the level that fits your specific needs and budget the best! Click here to learn more and to start your 14-DAY FREE TRIAL of STG All-Access.
What is Group Guitar Launch Formula?
Group Guitar Launch Formula is a training course that specializes in helping you make more MONEY, have more free TIME and get more SECURITY as a guitar teacher by teaching your guitar students in GROUPS. It also covers the fundamentals of MARKETING and helps you think about your teaching business in a whole new way. Here are a few testimonials from some current GGLF owners:
“I would recommend Group Guitar Launch Formula for anyone who wants to corner the market on being the finest studio in town. I guarantee you no one is taking guitar lessons this seriously in your city as you would if you completed this course. Tired of running in circles? Be the best. Here’s how.” – Tim Woosley (Lincoln, Nebraska – USA)
“Group Guitar Launch Formula is an incredible program! It’s opened my eyes to a whole new method of marketing that can be used for far more than just attracting students to group classes. It’s well worth the investment.” – Jeff Williams (Boston, Massachusetts – USA)
I have a series of free training videos that explain how teaching your students in groups can change your life forever. Click here to sign up and check them out.
What is your “email autoresponder series” all about?
If you don’t know what an autoresponder is, you should check out my Email List Training Course to learn how to use one effectively.
If you already understand a little bit about email marketing, then you know that the most time-consuming part of getting it set up is writing the autoresponder messages. I originally put together this “Done For You” series of emails for my own teaching business, and it’s designed to reach out to your prospects with 14 different emails that help “warm them up” for taking guitar lessons with you. I’ve made improvements over the years and now the series is available for purchase. It’ll save you DAYS of writing…just plug in a little bit of your own information, paste them into your autoresponder service and you’re ready to start attracting new students.
What is the email list training course?
Using an email list that provides “autoresponder” functionality is one of the best ways to reach out to potential students 24×7…while you sleep. If you have a website, but no email list, then you are missing out on new students. Your list lets you nurture people who are interested in lessons and give them all the information they need to make a decision about studying with you, and the Email List Training Course for guitar teachers explains exactly how to set one up, integrate it with your teaching website and use it to attract new students.