A short email today.

I invite you to compare two hotels:

This is the atrium of the Conrad Hilton hotel in Lower Manhattan:

And this is what one of the “shabbier” rooms looks like:

Now, here’s the lobby / atrium of the Holiday Inn Express near Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville:

And, here’s a view into the “average” room there:

I’ve stayed in both of these hotels.

Our family makes an annual trip to New York and we love to stay at the Conrad.

And, I stayed in the Nashville Downtown Holiday Inn Express several years ago when my father had a heart and kidney transplant at Vanderbilt.

Oddly, both of them have a similar review score on Google.

Two hotels.

One is functional, utilitarian, ordinary. A commodity.

The other is an architectural wonder, a work of art, a luxury experience. Unforgettable.

If you give someone an unlimited budget and a choice… no one is going to choose the Holiday Inn Express over the Conrad.

No matter how you market the Express, you won’t inspire loyalty if the Fairfield Inn down the road is running a special or is even slightly less expensive.

I don’t care how good the marketing is… the Holiday Inn Express isn’t going to outperform, outclass, outshine, out-impress, out-”anything” the Conrad New York.

The point?

Product is everything.

Right now, we all have the choice to market ourselves as plain ‘ol “music lessons.”

To offer (more or less) the same experience as everyone else.

To look at the standards in our industry and compare ourselves against those standards.

OR…

To find ways to help children learn music quickly.

To find ways to get results more quickly.

To offer an experience that parents can’t “quit.”

What will you build?

A commodity? Or a ‘must have” product?

You have the choice.

My Thoughts On Your Studio’s Product

Last month, I went on the Teacher Zone podcast.

I talked about six areas of business… and I spent a good deal of time talking about your studio’s product.

There are a lot of valuable thoughts here. Take a moment to listen below.

You could also listen on Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Spreaker, Player FM, Castbox, Podbean, Podtail, and Radioline.

Enjoy!

Very best,
Daniel

PS> I will be sending you a number of emails throughout the month of December in advance of the January class of Studio Marketing Masterclass. Registration will begin midway through December.

More details about the class and what it can do for you are forthcoming!

But - if you want to make a HUGE change in 2020 and don’t want to wait for registration… you could schedule to have a free call with me about increasing your income and enrollment.