Sunday, April 6, 2008
Musings on Independence
This has been a rough week for me, as I've been ill, and my students have been canceling a lot. Spring Break, "Spring Fever." sudden breakouts of "forgetfulness," auditions and rehearsals for other projects popping up at the last minute, who knows? Everyone has a legitimate excuse. It's not easy being a private voice teacher. I'm frequently last on people's priority list. But I choose this life because I love the independence that it brings me. I worked for an institution before and it just wasn't my style. I hated the bureaucracy, game playing, and loss of freedom that was involved. But with a private studio comes more personal responsibility for keeping track of the business side, not just the artistic, of being a voice teacher. Hence, my website and this blog. I am trying to find new ways to network, to reach out and find new ways to build my contacts, so that when a week like this one happens I can handle it with more serenity than I have in the past. I'm grateful to any other independent contractors out there who read this who would care to respond.
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This blog will go a long way in networking- make sure you are addressing issues that most singers in New York are grappling with, and your blog entries will show up in Google searches! (Cool, huh?) I also recommend finding message boards that singers populate, and take a little time to answer the questions that are on there. I have found a few students through that sort of thing already- and these posts also end up in the search engine. It has been an invaluable tool for me. (As well as leaving comments on blogs!)
I completely relate to your student cancellation woes- I had the same thing last week. I started with 12 students in the week, and 5 cancelled! But you are such a wonderful teacher that I know these students are loyal, and will bring you fulfillment (and hopefully referrals) for years to come.
For those of you who don't know Joan yet:
Joan is fantastic! She is an incredibly accomplished teacher, singer and and incredible human being- she knows the mechanics of the voice and the needs of the industry, and can take a singer from hobby to career quicker than you can imagine. You would really do your career, and your soul, a service by having her on your team!
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