Talent to Treasure: Starting Your Own Music Business

    My family loves music!  While our musical talents vary, we all enjoy a wide variety of high quality music either by playing, singing, or listening.

    I played the piano and clarinet for many years; one of my daughters plays violin while the other plays piano.

    This summer, I read an excellent book written by Marcia Washburn, called Talent to Treasure:  Building a Profitable Music Teaching Business.  I don't often read non-fiction books due to lack of time, but Marcia's book was perfect for my family's stage of life right now!

    Marcia Washburn has written a top-notch book that teaches teens and adults how to build a profitable music teaching business.  Keep on reading to learn about the new giveaway I'm having here at Joy In Our Journey.com for a copy of this book!  (If you are reading this via RSS or an email feed, you'll want to click on the title to come back to my website so you may enter the giveaway!)

    Marcia Washburn, BA, MME, is a seasoned piano teacher, writing with authority about a subject she knows intimately and loves passionately— connecting people with music.  She has operated a successful piano studio in NE Colorado for over forty years. 

    In demand as a speaker at conferences and events across the nation, Marcia also writes columns for two magazines and has published several books and ebooks.  You may learn more about Marcia's projects at www.MarciaWashburn.com.

Marcia K. Washburn

    My daughters were asked to begin teaching music lessons in our home this summer.  Kelsi, age 14, began teaching beginning violin to a darling little girl who began group violin lessons in March.  Kelsi's goal has been to help her prepare for the 2nd level of youth orchestra in our community, the Beginning level (vs. Pre-Beginning, which she began this last spring). 

    Brittany, age 12, was asked to teach beginning piano lessons to the little violinist's sister, because her piano teacher doesn't teach piano during the summer.

    Marcia's book, Talent to Treasure, arrived at our home just in time!  The 141-page guide was easy to read and is very practical, unlike so many "how to" books these days.  I read it quickly and gave my girls a few pointers as they began teaching lessons.  While they aren't technically developing a music studio in our home and starting a business right away, they will both continue to teach beginning violin and beginning piano during this school year.  They have enjoyed teaching music lessons very much - and they have learned a lot.

    If you, one of your children, or someone you know is musical, and they may consider teaching music lessons in the future, I highly recommend that you consider reading Talent to Treasure.  It's very much worth the purchase price.  It will help the new music teacher start off her business right, without having to learn so many things by trial and error. 

    Here are some of the topics addressed in Talent to Treasure:

•  How to prepare your heart and your home for your business
•  How to recruit and retain students
•  How much to charge for lessons (& how to be sure you get paid!)
•  How to select a “balanced diet” of music for your students
•  How and what to teach in the first lesson
•  How to teach using learning styles—how to be a people teacher first!
•  Great practicing tips—& strategies for dealing with students who don’t!
•  How to deal with memorization, performance jitters, & more
•  Reaching & teaching special needs students—from  challenged to gifted

What we thought was helpful:

    Following some of the steps Marcia covers in her book, my girls learned to dress nicely to prepare for their lesson times with their students.  They made sure the lesson rooms were clean and neatly organized.  The piano was dusted each week before the lesson, and any extra music books or clutter were stored elsewhere for the duration of the lesson.  My girls learned tips about encouraging students to practice and how to write down the lesson assignments so they are more useful to the student.

    During the school year, I plan on having my girls read the various chapters in this book and discuss them with me, so they can see long-term reasons for developing a music studio or music business in specific ways.  I think this book will benefit our family for years to come!

    Talent to Treasure targets those who want to share their love of music with
others. It addresses the whys and hows of building a home business that blesses others without negatively impacting the family.  It is proving to be a valuable resource for rookie and veteran teachers alike.

    If you have questions about Talent to Treasure, you may contact Marcia at marcia@marciawashburn.com

Now, for the giveaway:

Marcia will be sending one of Joy In Our Journey's readers one new copy of Talent to Treasure for your own family's use and learning!  She is also providing Joy In Our Journey readers with a discounted price on her book, Talent to Treasure.  To enter the giveaway, use the easy Rafflecopter form, below.

    If you'd like to go ahead and order a copy of this book for yourself, Marcia is offering a special price right now through August 31st, 2012.  Talent to Treasure normally sells for $19.99 plus $4 for shipping/handling, but she is offering this very useful book for $15.99 (+$4 S/H) price, ending August 31st. If the winner has already ordered a book from Marcia this month, she will refund your purchase price and S/H, so the winner will have nothing to lose!  

    Seriously, if you or your children play musical instruments and are building toward the advanced level of the instrument, I do highly recommend purchasing Talent to Treasure.  I don't say that for every book I review here on Joy In Our Journey, but this is a very practical, useful book that will benefit anyone who will ever teach music lessons to another student, whether it is a full-fledged music teaching business, or a person only has a couple of students.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Julieanne
Joy In Our Journey.com

    I received one paperback copy of Talent to Treasure:  Building a Profitable Music Teaching Business in exchange for my honest review of this book.  No other compensation was provided.

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