Thread: Starting from scratch-any tips?

I've recently decided that teaching is really ME, but I'm pretty green at what to do to start and be successful. I taught many classes overseas, but was too "shy" to ask my students to pose for class shots and there are few pictures of my performing-hence the starting from scratch statement. I'm now in a very small town, but there is a market here. I'm gonna bite the bullet and invite critique to my site. I have very few videos of my dancing either-plus I'm kind of critical of what I look like on film but I must start somewhere. I have a small group now but would love to build it. Any constructive advice welcome. What should I be doing first?

It's hard to say what you should be doing FIRST without knowing where you are now...

How much dance experience do you have? Do you have teacher training? How much teaching experience? Are you just looking for advertising ideas? Organizational ideas on how to run a business with teaching dance?

Basically, what are you planning on doing and how much preparation do you already have? That is generally the first step in writing out a business plan anyway- what are your goals, what are your resources, what is the market and what is your competition (not just from belly dance, but other types of dance, other types of recreation, other types of fitness)

Originally Posted by Lara L

It's hard to say what you should be doing FIRST without knowing where you are now...

How much dance experience do you have? Do you have teacher training? How much teaching experience? Are you just looking for advertising ideas? Organizational ideas on how to run a business with teaching dance?

Basically, what are you planning on doing and how much preparation do you already have? That is generally the first step in writing out a business plan anyway- what are your goals, what are your resources, what is the market and what is your competition (not just from belly dance, but other types of dance, other types of recreation, other types of fitness)

Thanks for the speedy response. My first problem is that I'm all over the place! I've been dancing since I was 6 and dancing belly dance (Turkish, then Egyptian and folkloric) since 1997. I don't have a teaching certificate, but have had some physiology training. I started teaching after dancing for 5 years in Denise Enan's Troupe. I had 3 classes a week then, some with as many as 70 students.

My competition is an instructor that has been in the area for more than 10 years, some gym classes with zumba and the local "curves" gym. Also I am teaching at a studio that is predominantly Latin Dance. They have become more supportive recently, as they realize how committed I am to showing how the dance styles support each other (I also take Tango classes).

I guess I'm just overwhelmed with what needs to get done and when to begin. I inherited my classes when I was in North America, so I've never had to figure out what to do to create interest. Once people started with the classes, it seemed to go well. Just don't quite know how to get things rollin in the beginning.

I have a website I built, business cards and the ability to make my own flyers. There is really no bellydNce "scene" out here, but I think there could be one if handled correctly.

Because I love the "community" aspect of this dance, my goal is to create a safe space for women to explore themselves through bellydance while reaping the side effects of muscle toning, sisterhood and cultural enrichment. I would of course like the business to support itself financially. I have a few keen students, I would just like to figure out how to keep them and build this. I also hold a bit of a drum circle after the dance class that is gaining some traction.

Thanks for the feedback!

Advertising and media presence are important in building your reputation as a teacher, as is your community dance presence. But to be really successful as a teacher, you need to put 90% of your effort into the actual teaching part (preparing your course focus and individual lesson plans, figuring out how to help individual students, making sure you start on time, and finally: correcting, encouraging, and connecting with your students during class). Advertising gets people in the door. The experience of class (and word of mouth) is what keeps students in your classes.

If every performance and every video falls short of reasonable expectations of a professional bellydancer, you might want to think twice about teaching. Not because you won't be marketable, but because you might not be able to do justice to the art form.

If you don't have good pictures or video that accurately represents your dance skills right now, it should be fairly easy to get some. See if you can find a photographer who will shoot you for cheap or free, and have a friend video you until you get some footage that you're happy with.

Originally Posted by da Sage

Advertising and media presence are important in building your reputation as a teacher, as is your community dance presence. But to be really successful as a teacher, you need to put 90% of your effort into the actual teaching part (preparing your course focus and individual lesson plans, figuring out how to help individual students, making sure you start on time, and finally: correcting, encouraging, and connecting with your students during class). Advertising gets people in the door. The experience of class (and word of mouth) is what keeps students in your classes.

If every performance and every video falls short of reasonable expectations of a professional bellydancer, you might want to think twice about teaching. Not because you won't be marketable, but because you might not be able to do justice to the art form.

If you don't have good pictures or video that accurately represents your dance skills right now, it should be fairly easy to get some. See if you can find a photographer who will shoot you for cheap or free, and have a friend video you until you get some footage that you're happy with.

I have a habit of being REALLY hard on myself when looking at footage. I've gotten tons of feedback on how attentive and effective I am as an instructor, I just have no clue about marketing. Most people compliment me on the videos I do have, but I always feel weird being put out there for all to see. I'm working on that though. Do you suggest that I put video clips on my site?

Thanks

Can we see your site? :-)

It might help if you posted a link to your site, so we can see how you are actually marketing yourself right now.

Also, it sounds like you already have a class, so you aren't starting "from scratch". You have a base already and I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve- a new class? grow your existing class? If you aren't clear in your goals, then it's difficult to formulate any plans for self-promotion, because you've got nothing specific to aim towards.

Finally, if you are teaching, then the product is *you*, and you have to get over any sense of embarrassment about promoting yourself. You *will* need good photos. You *will* need to write (or get someone else to write) advertising copy that promotes you. You can't be all shy about yourself, particularly as you do have a business competitor, and you need to show that *your* classes are the best ones to attend.

Ok ladies, go easy on me:

MysticDancer - Egyptian Dance Tuition for Fitness and Fun

I know there's much work to be done on my site, but let me have it.
I'm still learning how to modify word press so any structural suggestions may need some time to fix.

Cheers

First thing first... Your classes page doesn't say when or where your classes are. You should be clear right at the top of the Classes page, where the classes are, what day of the week, and what time they run. If you're currently on a Summer break, then have a note after that to say "We're on Summer break right now, but join us when classes start back on [date]".

Then you can go into the details of what to wear, and what each week covers. This is useful information, and people like to know these things, but they really are secondary to the When & Where info!

Without good descriptive copy I have no idea what sort of dancer you are, same with the lack of video.

Your photo links take us away from your page to Flcker and are not prominantly part of your site.

Last, do you have Audra Evan's permission to use her photograph? She is here on Bhuz.

(photo is here and on shifting banner thing:

Top reasons to love belly dance | MysticDancer

Originally Posted by mysticdancer

I have a habit of being REALLY hard on myself when looking at footage. I've gotten tons of feedback on how attentive and effective I am as an instructor, I just have no clue about marketing. Most people compliment me on the videos I do have, but I always feel weird being put out there for all to see. I'm working on that though. Do you suggest that I put video clips on my site?

Thanks

A lot of teachers do not have video on their sites, so you can skip the video if you don't want to use it. You do appear to photograph well; I would recommend putting pictures directly on the site on a photo page (no Flicker).

Your site looks good; one change that I would make is replacing the picture of the costume on a mannequin that comes up on the first page. I'd replace it with a body shot of two women dancing in two different costumes (maybe shot from the back or side?). That will showcase both the dance and the costume. Same thing with the drum picture - we have a lot of drums, but no drummer or dancer. If you can find a picture with the hands of a drummer, and perhaps a dancer swirling by, that would liven up your page - keep the human element in.

I second Bea that more information is needed about your location, class times, etc. I can't tell what country you are in, or whether your classes would work for my schedule.

Also, the site copy makes you look like you are not at all interested in gigs. That's cool if that's what you want, but if you are remotely interested in doing gigs, bellygrams, or even performing at local haflas you should add a page or paragraph for that.

I'm sorry if I was a bit blunt about the poor video/performance thing and focusing on the teaching/student experience. I will say that the thing to do is to be sure to get out to the local dance community as much as possible, and put your best face on for it. Be friendly, kind, modest-yet-confident, and bring your best dance to haflas and workshop shows near and far. That way nearby dancers will know that MysticDancer is teaching in SmallTown, so that they can refer students to you (and why wouldn't they if you're pleasant and dance beautifully)?

Get a couple of good photos of yourself and make them the first thing a person sees on your site. I had to look at a couple of your thumbnails to figure out who you are. As was mentioned above, the product is you. So let people see you

Maybe simplify a bit. Start with a big photo of yourself with "Mystic Dancer" and your town. Then navigation links to more info for classes, gigs you've done, activities going on etc.

Originally Posted by ozma

Without good descriptive copy I have no idea what sort of dancer you are, same with the lack of video.

Your photo links take us away from your page to Flcker and are not prominantly part of your site.

Last, do you have Audra Evan's permission to use her photograph? She is here on Bhuz.

(photo is here and on shifting banner thing:

Top reasons to love belly dance | MysticDancer

My bad, I bought the costume and didn't make the connection to ask for permission. I currently have no pics I'm proud of in that costume yet but also couldn't find any thing else in my pictures or, for that matter-iStockphoto to work with the text. I believe I'll just take it down.

I like the idea of going to haflas-maybe one in Sydney. From what I can tell, the other teacher in town doesn't do them, only her own parties and the sole Greek restaurant here. From the looks of it she is the only performer at that restaurant and any gigs would have to be ones I create a demand for. I have begun thinking I could start busking at Markets in town whilst handing out flyers.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll do what I can to make those changes. I may even put up a few videos on YouTube this afternoon for you to pick to pieces :) lol!

Thanks ladies!

You could also solicit tesitomonials from your students who have given you such good feedback about your teaching, and incorporate those into your class page or bio page.

And if you can get something from Denise Enan, you should definitely use that, too!

Ok, I've got 2 clips - one from a LONG time ago at Libanorama in Canada



and one from not so long ago at Woodford Folk Festival



Do you reckon these are reasonable enough to add (I know, don't give me too much crap about the "lip sync". I didn't realise I was doing it!)

Thanks

Your website theme is 'Egyptian Dance for Fitness and Fun.' So the videos, pix, and content should support the Fitness and Fun aspect. Those two videos are of you doing solos on stage in full bedlah, more suitable for someone trying to get performance gigs. Ditto for the pix on the rolling widget at the top.

By the way, just because you CAN put a widget on a website doesn't mean you should. That rolling thing drives me crazy. For one thing, it is not under my control, and it changes pictures very fast.

Also, I think it presumptuous when dancers have email sign-up on the prime real estate of their home page before having offered their visitors any real content. I know that a lot of people advise that you do it, but it irritates me.

Also, very few folks are going to care about YOUR dance memories, only the possibility of making some of their own.

And why do you have a list of recommended music CDs with links to Amazon on your front page? Are you promoting yourself or are you promoting Amazon?

PS Please get your city and state location on the front page and the class page, prominently, or you will show up on the 1327th page in Google search for belly dance for the rest of your life.

Sorry for lack of smoothers, I really should be sewing costumes instead of typing ;)

Originally Posted by maurazebra

Your website theme is 'Egyptian Dance for Fitness and Fun.' So the videos, pix, and content should support the Fitness and Fun aspect. Those two videos are of you doing solos on stage in full bedlah, more suitable for someone trying to get performance gigs. Ditto for the pix on the rolling widget at the top.

By the way, just because you CAN put a widget on a website doesn't mean you should. That rolling thing drives me crazy. For one thing, it is not under my control, and it changes pictures very fast.

Also, I think it presumptuous when dancers have email sign-up on the prime real estate of their home page before having offered their visitors any real content. I know that a lot of people advise that you do it, but it irritates me.

Also, very few folks are going to care about YOUR dance memories, only the possibility of making some of their own.

And why do you have a list of recommended music CDs with links to Amazon on your front page? Are you promoting yourself or are you promoting Amazon?

PS Please get your city and state location on the front page and the class page, prominently, or you will show up on the 1327th page in Google search for belly dance for the rest of your life.

Sorry for lack of smoothers, I really should be sewing costumes instead of typing ;)

No worries, I aske to be fair game by putting myself out there on this site.

I won't go into why I have limited pictures of anything I've done, but let's just say I've been coming to terms with my "blackness". (There was even an article about it in a Canadian Bellydance Publication a few years back).

At any rate, I do thank you for the advice, although I'm not sure what I'll be able to do about the video/photos, as I just started having enough people showing up to call what I do a class, and no one seems ok with being videotaped or photographed where I'm at yet. I'll keep it in mind as I work on the self confidence thing with them.

Ironically, a student asked me for what songs I thought would good for her to buy and that made me think to put the Amazon listing on my front page. Again, I'm still coming to grips with the shy thing but I'm working on it.

I'm still in the process of cleaning up people's idea of what Belly Dance is (and isn't) where I live.

Keep the comments coming, I knew it was time for a clean up, so it's appreciated.

Thanks

Originally Posted by maurazebra

Your website theme is 'Egyptian Dance for Fitness and Fun.' So the videos, pix, and content should support the Fitness and Fun aspect. Those two videos are of you doing solos on stage in full bedlah, more suitable for someone trying to get performance gigs. Ditto for the pix on the rolling widget at the top.

By the way, just because you CAN put a widget on a website doesn't mean you should. That rolling thing drives me crazy. For one thing, it is not under my control, and it changes pictures very fast.

Also, I think it presumptuous when dancers have email sign-up on the prime real estate of their home page before having offered their visitors any real content. I know that a lot of people advise that you do it, but it irritates me.

Also, very few folks are going to care about YOUR dance memories, only the possibility of making some of their own.

And why do you have a list of recommended music CDs with links to Amazon on your front page? Are you promoting yourself or are you promoting Amazon?

PS Please get your city and state location on the front page and the class page, prominently, or you will show up on the 1327th page in Google search for belly dance for the rest of your life.

Sorry for lack of smoothers, I really should be sewing costumes instead of typing ;)

I also didn't like the scrolling images - specifically, they were too fast to read the quotes. But funnily enough, I like the 'dance memories' title and photo thumbnails, and I thought offering CD recommendations was a good eg of offering free information - something that helps prospective students think you are a giving kind of a person.

Having said that, perhaps these things are more 'secondary' and could be placed further back in the site. What I'd want to see upfront is a summary of who are you, where are your classes, what else are you offering (eg: gigs). Then the other pages can provide more detailed info on those things.

Yes, put as much info as you can about your classes on that page. Make it stupid-proof! If people have to ask, they may not get around to it. Your inclusion of 3 weeks of syllabus made me wonder 'is there only 3 weeks? Hasn't she got a full plan?' I would be less specific, such as 'in this course, you'll learn xyz.' This also gives you leeway as a teacher, because you may have to adjust your weekly syllabus depending upon the needs of your students.

Overall, I think you've done a good job of your website. As a general comment, it's excellent that you're savvy with the links to social networking, etc, but I'd like to see a bit more info and less repetition of these links.

As far as where to start to get classes running...most potential beginners don't know enough to be discerning about their teacher when they sign up for a bellydance class. You're marketing to novices, not fellow dancers (for beginner classes, anyway). So, as long as you are reasonablty competent, and your website and marketing materials reflect that, you don't have to be the queen of all bellydance to be successful in getting a class started.

What you need to do is be good at marketing. This includes:

1. Invest in professional, competent looking marketing materials (quality photoshoot; good business cards & maybe class brochure). Be sure you retain the rights to use your images on your website and materials whenever you want.
2. Create a buzz - get the word out there that classes are starting (ads, press release, make sure your site is easy to find when people google 'belly dance' plus your area).
3. Make it easy for people to find all the class info they need on your website and possibly class brochure.
4. Encourage them to sign up or come through the door (early bird special rate, 'hurry, places limited'; free trial class on xxx date, bring a friend for free). Make it easy for people to sign up and pay you. Do not hold places in class without full payment.

After all that, of course you need to teach a decent class! If you have just a few students, run it at least a few weeks and do what you can to encourage people to bring their friends. Let people join part way through the course. These things take time to get the ball rolling.

Every time you find yourself saying 'I don't have that yet' then you are answering your question of 'Where do I start?'

If you don't have pictures of your old classes to post, then you need to improvise. Do you have two or three friends who will pose as students in a class? If so, how do you pose the pix? If no friends, how about you in your teaching uniform in the space that you teach, looking as though you are leading and encouraging a class? Believe me, you will constantly find yourself 'starting from scratch' every time you take on a new project, so you may as well learn how to bootstrap yourself up now.

As far as the shyness or insecurity thing.. don't bring that into the studio. Don't ask your students to validate you as a teacher, that's not what they are there for. And when you are preparing your publicity items: pretend you are doing them for someone else. Or get a friend to do them for you. Yes, be honest, but remember that your publicity is a performance and lean into it. Reach out, engage, delight.

First, I want to sincerely thank all of you for your advice you've given me. Much of it will be implemented and it has given me a bit of a paradigm shift in how I should be marketing things and what to work on.

I will say, I've sometimes detected a bit of harshness and feel there may be a misunderstanding on whether I am starting from scratch as a teacher. I understand the frustration of many instructors watching girls that have had maybe 6 weeks worth of bellydance classes suddenly throwing out a shingle and teaching thier own class just to make a buck or prop up a damaged ego.

I assure you--this is not me. I actually had to be encouraged after 5 years learning with a very well known instructor--that I was ready to teach. Any ego issues I had were with the fact that every attempt at dancing in a restaurant in Canada was met with "no, no black dancer at my restaurant" without ever having seen me dance. This is the "shy" that I am working on. This has also occured in Sydney. This is something I NEVER share with my students. It doesn't have anything to do with the sisterhood I want to create so I don't mention it.

Nevertheless, I added this question to the "business" thread, as I have never been a business owner-only a teacher. I felt the need to clarify as I was sometimes not sure of the context of a response in this thread and the tone sounded like "Jeez, one more unqualified instructor--when will it end?".

Again, I do thank all of you for your great advice you've given.

Carry on :)

[QUOTE=mysticdancer;901041]

I won't go into why I have limited pictures of anything I've done, but let's just say I've been coming to terms with my "blackness". (There was even an article about it in a Canadian Bellydance Publication a few years back).
***************
Can you post the article or a link on your site? If being a black dancer is unusual, make it work for you.

If restaurant owners can't see anything other than your "blackness" the hell with them. Find cultural venues, renn faires, private parties etc. which will accept you. Tribal style dancers have created new venues in alternative night clubs and shows. Find the places where black is beautiful or not relevant.

You're beautiful in a commercially acceptable way and you seem to photograph well, get those photos taken! If $$ is an issue, can you find someone who would trade photos for classes?

Forgive the plain speaking, I've used up all the tactful today already.

I've had success before with contacting local photographic societies/camera clubs, to see if they run Studio Sessions. I point out to them that photographing a dancer in motion, with sparkly costumes, is an interesting photographic challenge, and that I would be willing swap my time for cds of the resulting photos, for my promotional use, with suitable credit and weblinks to the photographers in question.