Building A Career in Singing, Pt. 3: Create Your Business

Dear Students,

It’s been a crazy couple of months over here at the Dr. Jane Clukey Voice Studio! Off the top of my head, I travelled internationally, worked on studio recording an original song through Gardenhouse Records (stay tuned for its release later this summer!), had the first few performances with my new band Three Little Birds, and performed with my Fleetwood Mac Tribute, Crystal Vision.

I am happy to get back into the swing of newsletters with a continuation of the topic of Building a Career in Singing. You can read the first two posts in the series here: https://www.drjaneclukeyvoicestudio.com/post/building-a-career-in-singing and https://www.drjaneclukeyvoicestudio.com/post/building-a-career-in-singing-pt-2-developing-musical-skills As I stated in my previous post, the skills needed as a career musician fall primarily into 2 categories – musical skills and business skills. Last time, I outlined the musical skills needed; this month, I will focus on the business side of things.

When I first set out to be a career musician, I had no idea how much of what I did day-to-day would have very little to do with music! I was fortunate enough to have the means to pursue higher education in music, and so I was able to form a robust foundation in music that freed up space later in my trajectory to focus on building my entrepreneurial skills. Here are some of the lessons I learned along the way!

Step 1: Don’t expect to make money off music right away. My philosophy has always been to work a kaleidoscope of jobs, and as the music jobs pick up, to cut back on non-musical work. The very first thing I did out of college was to look for a job that wasn’t in the music industry – something relatively easy, low-stress, and (hopefully) flexible and/or something that teaches you valuable skills that will support you financially as you build your business. I had been volunteering as an EMT at my local fire department, and I was able to get a job as their treasurer/bookkeeper. This ended up being a very useful position. While I was learning calm under pressure as an EMT (a VERY useful skill to have as a musician), as treasurer I was learning basic accounting, budgeting, and money management skills. At the same time, I was building my experience and clientele as a voice teacher and as a singer, but it took me several years to be able to say that most of my money was from music-related jobs. Some side hustles that teach entrepreneurship skills might include: social media management, graphic design, marketing, arts management, or accounting. The more skills you develop, the less you have to outsource.

Step 2: Decide what your business is. I decided I wanted to build a voice teaching studio that could support and, in turn, be legitimized by my performing career. I love being on stage, but it tends not to produce the most reliable streams of income. Fortunately, I also love teaching. I tried out several types of teaching, including private one-on-one, teaching in public school, and teaching at the college-level. Ultimately, I decided (for the foreseeable future) to invest my energy into building a one-on-one teaching studio. I wanted something that would be flexible around a performing career/ life and I really enjoyed the personalized instruction I could give to each student one-on-one. Its also worth considering two businesses – one, an idealized dream version of what you’d like your business to ultimately become; the other, a realistic model reflecting what is possible now based on your current assets and needs.

Step 3: Identify assets/needs. While my finances were relatively stable (a huge asset!), I didn’t have a lot of extra money to be able to invest in my business. But I did have time. So, I started all of my systems cheaply, identifying inexpensive teaching locations (I started out driving to peoples’ homes!), using the free version of Wix to build my website, and scheduling everything through email/ phone. I spent many hours brainstorming systems and policies into an excel spreadsheet. I listened to free business podcasts and read free articles about marketing. That isn’t to say it was the best way. You may have an extra room in your house to teach out of - a very tangible asset. Or perhaps you have the financial means to invest a lot of money into a beautiful downtown studio space, a website, sleek branding, and lots of marketing. The point is, as you are starting out, to reflect on what options are available to you. To put it succinctly, to start a business, you need at least time OR money. It’s important to revisit this step frequently throughout the lifespan of your business to re-assess the ways in which your assets/needs might change.

Step 4: Build a reputation. This step goes hand-in-hand with visibility, marketing, and booking clients, as well as client retention and experience. Your goal, regardless of whether your business is performing or teaching is to be a “go-to” among your clientele. Ideally, you are marketing through a combination of web presence, community engagement, paper advertising, and word-of-mouth. The better your reputation, the more bookings happen by referral and the less you have to invest into other forms of marketing. These days, I market through my personal website, the Chocolate Church Arts Center website, Facebook, and Instagram. I engage in the community by performing regularly, attending student events, and attending other artists’ performances. While I put up posters advertising my teaching when I first moved to the area, now I pretty much only put up fliers for specific events, such as studio recitals. I also use business cards as an easy way to give out my contact information and make sure to carry some with me always. Additionally, these days I have built enough of a reputation in the area to get frequent referrals! The other side of marketing is client experience/ retention. I make sure that the product I am providing is of high quality and value so that I have a reputation as a go-to teacher and singer. This means investing time outside of teaching or performances to write this newsletter, answer emails, prepare music, etc. It means staying up to date on voice pedagogy and repertoire, learning new techniques or vocal exercises. It means making sure to be performing regularly so that I am teaching from a place of experience. It means having policies that are respectful of my time and of my students’ time, while building in ways to give grace for the ups and downs of life. It means taking the time to connect with my students and build a relationship with my students (You all would not believe how much I think about you outside of lessons!).

Step 5: What about social media? One topic I saw discussed frequently among voice teacher entrepreneurs was the relevance of social media. Many voice teachers and singers have a strong social media presence with thousands of followers, bolstered by regular content output. Is this necessary? Well, it depends. One thing I realized early on is that those voice teachers and singers actually run two businesses: one is music-related, and the other is content creation. And I also realized early on that content creation was not part of my ideal business (see step 2). If you’re somebody who loves the idea of filming content every day, and building a reputation through content and online engagement, more power to you! I love being able to follow other singers and voice teachers and find it a very useful resource to stay up to date on the pulse of the singer world. If not, social media is still a useful, and perhaps necessary piece of the puzzle. I like to think of my social media accounts as a digital CV. If someone is booking me for a gig or curious about taking lessons with me, they can go onto my socials and see a modestly active presence, which gives them reassurance that a) I am definitely active as a voice teacher and performer and b) I have been active at least as long as my social media accounts exist. Certainly, I could stand to be more active (add that to never-ending to-do list of “wouldn’t it be nice”-es!) but as a business owner you have to triage where best to put your energy. I’m not sure I’ve ever booked a client through social media, but I like to think having that presence is an easy way to get on peoples’ radars a little more.

Step 6: Tools of the (entrepreneurship) trade: can AI do it all? Recently, some of my colleagues have started using AI for a lot of administrative task. I think I am officially in the “old fogey” camp in my reluctance to jump on that bandwagon! From what I hear it is a very useful tool if you know how to prompt it. Regardless of the means, it is important to stay organized to make sure you’re not neglecting clients or missing opportunities. Here are some of the administrative things you might need to create (either manually or with AI!).

·        A website: Wix is the most user friendly, but Squarespace or Bluehost are strong contenders. If you can hire someone to make a very nice website, make sure it’s easy for you to update as things change.

·        Email/ calendar: I use Google Drive for word processing (for teaching notes, lesson plans, recital programs, etc), email, and online calendar. I also integrate my calendar with my online scheduling platform.

·        Graphic design: I have a free Canva account I use to design posters, fliers, social media graphics and more.

·        Contracts/ Policies: to ensure things like prompt payment, cancellation policies, and other expectations.

·        Payment methods: Currently, I accept just about everything (Venmo, Paypal, Cash, Check, Apple Pay) except credit card. The flexibility works because I have a giant spreadsheet to track payments/ reminders.

·        Accounting tools: In addition to my spreadsheet, I use Gnucash, an open source accounting desktop application to track income/ expenses for tax purposes.

·        Scheduling: Once my clientele became larger than I could easily schedule manually, I tried a few platforms and found Acuity to be the most user-friendly. It does integrate with square to accept credit card, though I have not yet utilized that capability.

Here are some things you will need that AI can’t do (yet, to my knowledge!)

·        An accountant! Getting an accountant introduced me to tax requirements and benefits that had never occurred to me. I meet with my accountant every year for tax season and I learn something new every time!

·        Tax knowledge- in no particular order, here are some of the things I write off under my business: at-home office utilities, internet, cell-phone, mileage, performance attire (clothing, makeup, hair), sheet music, musical instruments and equipment, continuing education courses, office supplies. There are many more possibilities! Think outside the box.

·        Filing cabinet for receipts (and/or online file folder for scans or e-receipts)

Step 7: Scale from diy. As stated in step 3, you should plan to reassess where your business is at regularly. Recognizing when your current clientele is larger than your current model is an important part of being prepared for growth so that you don’t get overwhelmed. When you started your business, you should have researched the market value of what you are offering in your area and planned your rates accordingly. At a certain point, inflation will necessitate you adjust your rates; hopefully at that point demand will have increased to accommodate that change. The cliché that change is an important part of growth holds true here. Letting go of old models, relationships, or ways of doing business will clear the way for new opportunities. What is meant for you will become clear. Above all, don’t give up! It takes time to build the business of your dreams, and it is well worth the wait.

What is your dream music business? What questions do you have about starting a music business? Shoot me an email – I’d love to hear from you!

Warmly,

Dr. Jane