Posted by Mary Ann on August 07, 2003 at 09:30:27:
In Reply to: Teaching for a living posted by Career-jaded on August 06, 2003 at 19:02:01:
I'll post before I read anybody else's reply.
I have done this, combined with free lancing (i.e., playing in bars.)
It can be done; I taught no more than 20 hours a week, and that was pushing it for my patience level. Not that it was a problem with the students; it was just plain down-and-out boring. For me. Maybe not for you. I needed a more intellectual job, and I went back to school and got one. I about went nuts saying basically the same thing to people every half hour. And a very large part of the job is really counselling, encouraging people to stay with it. The talented and motivated student is very rare...you get mostly begninners or near-beginners. Most will be kids.
THere were people in the same city as I was who taught 80 half-hour lessons per week. I found that unbelievable, since I was overwhelmed with 40 of the same. They taught out of music stores; I started that way too but found I was happier with a home business. Your mileage may vary. I also taught several instruments; most of my students were learning to play guitar. 2nd in line was piano, with the fringes violin and mandolin. If you can teach all the brasses, you can probably get enough students.
But yes it can be done, if you find yourself compatible with that setup. On the financial end, you may haul in $30 per hour for the hours that you are teaching, but remember that is self-employment income with double SS taxes etc., and no medical insurance except what you purchase. Your take home is less than it would be for the same amount from an employer. And you have to design in a certain cancellation rate.
As for cancellations, I had a pay-by-the-month-ahead-of-time system with an appt book that I kept all the transaction info in. It was a very easy way to keep records; I had a 24 hour cancellation policy, and if someone cancelled often enough to be a pattern, I dropped them in favor of the next person on the waiting list. There are always a certain percentage of parents who see you as a baby sitter, or a place to conveniently drop the kid off for an hour if they feel like it. I had one that would drop the kid off and not come to pick her up until late in the evening, with no thought that I might have other plans than babysitting. (That one was dropped after the 2nd instance of this behavior.)
I was advised for advertising to put an ad in the little paper that everybody gets as junk mail once a week, to use my name, and put in my credentials. That worked quite well.
I did this for several years until I went back to school. I may do it again after I retire from my rich engineering job, minus the playing in bars, which I will not do again unless I am starving (which I was the first time.)
Mary Ann