This past Friday, we celebrated Wii-Day - i'm so proud of my boys who worked hard on extra jobs to earn enough to finally unbox our brand new Nintendo Wii video game!

The next day, we took a victory visit to the local Game Stop video game store to compile a price list on future games to save up for.  And to think that i was afraid that the boys would stop having a reason to work on their commission jobs - thanks to the video game industry, the incentives go on and on! 

Oh, by the way - in addition to being a great lesson on saving and spending for the kids, the Wii is turning out to be quite a physical workout for them (particularly the boxing game!)  For those of you who have been hiding under the proverbial rock and are unfamiliar with the unique wireless motion sensor controllers for the Wii, here's a sample video showing how the Wii boxing game works:

 

tags: wii, budget, commission, kids, boxing


[ 12 May, 2008 ] • [ Hugh ] •[ Leave comment - 0 ] •[ Link to this article ]

I was on the phone with a piano teacher who had just relocated to the Philadelphia area from out of state and having some difficulty starting from scratch, as it were, building up her teaching studio. Back in her previous home, she was well known and had students approaching her for lessons. What to do when you don’t have the luxury of name recognition in a new locale? Here are 10 simple tips to jump-start your studio in a new location.

1. Plan for 5. I’ve heard and observed anecdotally that it takes a musician about 5 years to become fully integrated into the musical network of a new location. If you can anticipate this, you’ll be less frustrated during the first few slow months and can plan accordingly.

2. Join groups. It goes without saying that you should get in touch with the local chapter of MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) - join up if you’re not currently a member. Attend chapter meetings and even competitions to get to know other teachers and students - and to get them to know you! Also try tapping into your school's alumni association to share resources and tips with.

3. Offer substitute services. This might be a bit dicey, but worth a try if you can be careful to maintain good lines of communication and trust. With summer just around the corner and teachers possibly going on vacation, I tend to see a lot of students atrophying from lack of lessons. Why not approach vacationing teachers and offer substitute teaching to help keep their students in shape? I would propose a 50/50 fee share, put down in writing for a defined period of time. Obviously, you want to be careful not to give the impression that you are out to siphon students away from other teachers! I would make sure that you are upfront about that with teachers and students alike. If, even after clarifying your temporary-only intentions, a student 'defects' to you, you should offer 3 months of the continued fee split to the original teacher, and offer that teacher first dibs on substitute teaching your students whenever you’re away.

4. Visit schools. Offer free music education assembly presentations to your local elementary and middle schools. Even if you don't get the opportunity to give a presentation, you could always come up with your own take-home activity sheets/booklets (with your studio contact info) as an educational donation to the school's music program (if they have one). If your local schools don't have any music ed, offer your services on an ad hoc basis. Be prepared to present credentials and references.

5. Establish a web presence. Musicteachershelper.com is one example of an excellent online resource for not only setting up and managing your studio (scheduling, billing, repertoire tracking, and many other studio services) but also for setting up an easy website template to make it easier for potential students and parents to find you. Blogger.com and Wordpress.com are also great resources for setting up your own blogs - completely free!

6. Sign up for online music teacher referral services. GetLessonsNow.com and PrivateLessons.com are two terrific resources helping students find music teachers in their area. The services are free for students - teachers have to pay a subscription fee to be placed on the site's database roster. Takelessons.com (formerly clickforlessons.com) is another online referral service that actually requires criminal background checks for teachers that sign up.

7. Measure your market. How many music stores are in your area? Music schools? University programs? Adult education programs? Senior activity centers? Where are the local instrument repair shops/resources? Are there any music/listening clubs at your local library? Could you start one there?

8. Make a newsletter. We have a local realtor that distributes a wonderful monthly newsletter to homes all around my neighborhood. Filled with fun-to-read tidbits, humorous anecdotes and inspirational quotes, that little newsletter is a powerful tool to keep that realtor's name firmly in our front-and-center stage of attention. Come to think of it, I'm actually hard-pressed to think of any other local realtor's names! That's how powerful an attractive newsletter can be if you can take the time and creative energy to put one together on a regular basis. It doesn't have to be a 50-page tome - even a single page will do, as long as it's peppered with articles that are actually fun to read. Show how much fun taking music lessons can be! Share the long-term educational and cultural benefits! Sprinkle in some funny anecdotes from your own teaching experiences!

9. Become newsworthy. Write reviews about local music events and performers. Fill your website with newsworthy content. Submit articles to local newspapers. Even if the local papers don't pick up your articles, look up the names and contact information of the paper's art/music/culture section editor(s) and make a point of sending them content on a regular basis so that they eventually get to know you. Of course, you can always use your materials in your own self-distributed newsletter! For extra networking bang, interview and write up articles about the local teachers and their students in your area - you'll be sure to spread a lot of goodwill and perhaps pick up some extra student referrals!

10. Invest in advertising. No one will know about your teaching services if they can't find you. Explore ad placements in local publications and storefront windows. In addition to local newspaper ads, try using Google, the world's most powerful online ad service - they have a terrific ad budget system where you only pay what you want. Google's ad service will work within any budget, no matter how small (granted, the more you invest, the better your ad placements will be!)

Hope this helps - be sure to share any additional tips you may have, as well as success stories!

tags: music, teacher, studio, setup


[ 07 May, 2008 ] • [ Hugh ] •[ Leave comment - 0 ] •[ Link to this article ]

The basic premise with setting up advertisements on your website is that the more traffic you are able to generate, the higher the chances that a percentage of those visitors will click on the ads to purchase endorsed products (or not so endorsed - see my blog on www.HughSung.com about an offensive ad that found its way to my site via Bidvertiser).  Commissions can be earned based on either number of click-throughs, or from the actual purchase of featured items.

Build website, slap on ads, collect revenue - sounds like an easy road to riches, right?  Well, theory always has a way of sobering up in the face of reality.  Unless your site is drawing in millions of readers a day, its unlikely that you'll be able to earn more than the costs of maintaining your site or paying for your domain name.  Here are some ad revenue statistics from my main blog, www.HughSung.com, which as of this writing has generated 214,581 hits since its inception in February, 2006:

Advertiser	Total revenue to date (in US $)
Google AdSense	$79.96
Virtual Sheet Music	$20.63
Amazon Associates	$5.27
Bidvertiser (no longer using this service, due to offensive content)	$2.68

 

Total advertising revenue from www.HughSung.com to date: $108.54

Keep in mind, i'm only spending minimal time working on my websites (www.HughSung.com, www.VisualRecital.com, www.TheProsperousMusician.com, and now a new satellite site at www.hughsung.com/pianolessons/pianolessons.php - i'll probably purchase a URL for that one too) - no more than a post or two a day.  Initial advertisements for www.HughSung.com consisted of searching out and linking to/commenting on other similar classical music blogs and forums.  i'll probably use the same approach to get the word out about www.TheProsperousMusician.com as well.  Letting folks know about your site is one thing - taking the time and creative energy to come up with content that's fresh and worthwhile, that's another thing entirely, and really the basis for whether or not a site will have legs enough to draw a sustainable readership.  More on that in future posts.

i suppose that in theory there's unlimited 'growth potential' for website advertising revenue, but i'm not quitting my day job just yet!

tags: google, adsense, amazon, associates, virtual, sheet, music, website, advertising


[ 05 May, 2008 ] • [ Hugh ] •[ 2 Comments ] •[ Link to this article ]

My apologies, but humble buckets will be dumped temporarily as i enjoy the momentary thrill of being featured on the cover and in a double article in this month's Piano magazine!

What makes this publication particularly interesting is not for my personal content contribution per se, but rather in the way such a nice stroke of marketing publicity came about with virtually no financial expenditure on my part. 

As classical musicians, we spend the vast majority of our time perfecting our art and honing our skills.  A noble end in itself, to be sure, but imagine the impact we could have on the cultural landscape if we just invested a fraction of that time and effort into learning how to effectively market ourselves.  This magazine feature is a case in point: apparently, the editor (Jeremy Siepmann) was interested in featuring a pianist with some insights into technology.  He found my blog (www.hughsung.com) thanks to an internet search, read up on some of my articles on digital pianos, and graciously extended an email invitation to contribute and be interviewed.  The components i'd like to point out are as follows:

• A defined marketing niche - in my case, my passion for how technology can enhance art and lifestyle for the classical musician
• A consistent internet presence - the goal of my website was to develop ongoing content to give readers a reason to return, hence the decision to develop a dynamic blog as opposed to a static publicity website.  Multiple presence points were established at sites like www.MySpace.com/hughsung , Facebook, and www.youtube.com/hughsung to help direct more traffic to my main website, but content is still king.  Drawing people to your site is one thing, but it's another challenge entirely to give them a reason to return.
• A library of multimedia - i know a lot of folks spend a great deal of time and expense to put together beautiful paper press kits with flyers, CD's, brochures and whatnot, but more and more i suspect that these tools are becoming more ineffective simply due to the overwhelming volume of artists doing exactly the same thing.  Having an online repository where not only your bio and publicity photos are available, but also MP3/audio tracks of your work as well as video clips and storefront links to your products can be easily accessible gives you a tremendous edge over paper-bound artists.  Material can be transmitted/downloaded quickly and easily on demand, and integrated into a presenter's/publisher's medium seamlessly.

Oh, by the way - total costs for my current online marketing campaign? 

• monthly website hosting costs: $7.95
• annual domain name registration for www.hughsung.com: ~$12/year

At those prices, there really is no reason for any serious classical musician to be without a dynamic website!

We'll go into greater depths on the subject of building your own web presence and online marketing in future articles.  Feel free to send me questions in the meantime - you can always email me at hughsung@gmail.com

[ 03 May, 2008 ] • [ Hugh ] •[ Leave comment - 0 ] •[ Link to this article ]

A reader posted the following question a few days ago, regarding Dave Ramsey's "Pinnacle Point" where one achieves financial freedom from investments that deliver higher returns than expenses:

 

"I'm enjoying reading your financial stories and finding some valuable resources on your site--very inspiring to a musician in similar circumstances-thanks!  I have a question about something you mention above from Dave Ramsey: "That point gets achieved when the interest from your mutual funds exceeds your expenses."  I've never experienced nor do I understand the concept of "interest" on mutual funds; only swelling or shrinking with the rise and fall of the market and stock contained in the fund (as you go on to point out.)  Not having read Dave Ramsey's book from which you get this quote, could he possibly have meant "dividends" from stock as opposed to "interest" as something exceeding expenses in order to reference something tangible to offset expenses?"

 

Being in virtually every sense a money newbie (with a strong determination to learn, mind you), i re-phrased the question to my financial adviser as follows:

 

"Can you help me better understand how compounding works in the case of mutual funds/stocks which go up and down in value, as opposed to compounding a 'stable' savings account with a fixed interest rate?"

 

My financial adviser took a look at this and came back with the following response:

 

"Your reader's questions has to do with verbage rather then concept of compounding rates of return.  First let's cleanup the vernacular.  Interest is what is paid by a debtor (bank to customer, customer to bank).  It can be paid as the interest on the savings account.  It can be paid as the interest on a car loan.  It can be interest on a bond to a company.  Capital appreciation or capital depreciation is the value of something going up or down.  Your home was purchased for X, if you sold it for Y then the asset appreciated.  Stocks and mutual funds work the same.  Some stocks routinely pay dividends.  This is usually referred to as dividend interest.  Mutual funds can be made of of a variety of stocks, bonds, interest bearing devices and capital appreciating securities depending on what they are trying to achieve.  But I think your reader is missing the point of compounding interest.

"Here's how compounding works:  Supposed you made a 10% rate of return on $1,000 for 5 years.  You wouldn't say, "Well 10% for 5 years is 50%.  Therefore I have $1,000 times 150% = $1,500.  You would have to take $1,000  (110%) (110%) (110%) (110%) (110%) = $1,610.50.  This of course is more exaggerated the higher the rate of return and the longer the time period.  The formula for figuring out simple return is:

principle * [(period held) X (rate of return) ] + the principle. 

"In computing compounded return we take the [(1+ rate of return) to the power of period held] times the principle.  Compounding has exponential growth the other has straight line.

"Regardless whether it is interest or capital gains doesn't matter.  You (and Dave) are really talking about compounding rates of return (not compounding interest).

"On a further point...  You mention stable savings account versus ups and downs of mutual funds.  It is extremely vital for long term returns to try to smooth portfolio returns by managing risk.  Truly the difference in long term compounding.  One of the things I think is fundamentally wrong with some quotes that Dave and lots of people make is assuming a 10% average rate of return is the same as a 10% annualized compounded rate of return.  VERY VERY VERY VERY Different. 

"For example if you have a 50% loss, then earn 20% a year for 4 years, then my average annual return comes out to 6%.  But look at this comparison of returns:

Starting at $100,000:

example of 6% average returns	straight 6% interest
Year end return	Year end return
$50,000 (50% loss)	$106,000 (6% interest)
$60,000  (20% gain)	$112,360 (6% interest)
$72,000   (20% gain)	$119,102 (6% interest)
$86,400 (20% gain)	$126,248 (6% interest)
$103,680 (20% gain)	$133,823 (6% interest)

"For fun repeat this process if you'd like.  But if you take it out 50 years... It gets ugly.  Smoothing volatility is extremely important.  I don't think Kyosaki or Dave Ramsey take that deep enough.  In Kyosaki's examples it will kill you.  In Dave's example, it just makes some of his calculations unrealistic.

From 1926-2000 (albeit a nice ending point)

Stocks annualized an 11.04% return.  If you put $1 in 1926, you got $2,582 in 2000, but had swings from -68% to 163% in any given year.

Short-Term investments (like T bills or cash) annualized at 3.8% which turned your $1 to $17, with swings from 0% to 15%.  Which is better?"

 

Did your head hurt from reading all of that?  Yes, mine did too - i guess the main point to come away with is the fact that there is no "magic cash cow".  As much as i love Dave Ramsey's methods for getting out of debt, it seems that his mutual-fund-only investment recommendations are too optimistic to expect a consistent 12% compounded rate of return.  (sigh...i remember when i was able to sock away tons of CD's at interest rates of 10-12% - that helped pay for my wedding and honeymoon!)

In musicians' terms, while it would be nice to be a superstar soloist and command $50,000 fees per concert, for those of us in the 'real world' we tend to earn a living through a variety of methods in the following order of descending stability:

• teaching students (very stable)
• playing concerts (not as stable)
• selling CD's (pretty unstable)

The more i read up on finance, the more it looks like investing works pretty much the same way - some things work more steadily than others, and it's better to try to have a variety of investment vehicles than to stick everything into one basket.  Don't get me wrong, i still have every intention on maintaining a steady habit of monthly deposits into my kids' 529 plans and my own mutual funds, but i'll be looking at them with a slightly more jaded eye and (hopefully) more realistic expectations for their future performance.  Now to work on that collaborative pianist cloning patent...

[ 02 May, 2008 ] • [ Hugh ] •[ Leave comment - 0 ] •[ Link to this article ]

As if Providence wanted to back up yesterday's article on "10 Basic Working Tips for Musicians", here's an email i just received, sharing some wonderful news about a last-minute Carnegie Hall recital debut by an exceptional violinist (and Curtis grad) Lily Francis:

 

 

"Hello All!

We have some exciting news to share with you.

Just yesterday, Lily received a call from Carnegie Hall asking if she would fill in for a canceled Carnegie Hall Debut recital, by giving her own Carnegie Hall Debut Recital this Friday! She said, the only thing you can say in this situation...."Yes!"

Here are the particulars:

Lily will be making her Carnegie Hall debut performing a solo recital Friday evening, May 2 at 7:30 PM in Weil Recital Hall. Tickets may be purchased at: http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/events/evt_13244.html?selecteddate=05022008

The program, also featuring Andrei Baumann, piano, will include :

TELEMANN

Fantasia No. 7 in E-flat Major

    PROKOFIEV

Violin Sonata No. 1

BRAHMS

Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78

KREISLER

Preghiera

KREISLER

Liebesleid

KREISLER

Schön Rosmarin

I know its last minute, but join us if you can!"

Nice to see the power of "YES" in action!  Congratulations, Lily and good luck on your recital!

[ 01 May, 2008 ] • [ Hugh ] •[ Leave comment - 0 ] •[ Link to this article ]