Thinking Creatively and Monetizing Your Methods
Calling all piano teachers! This week, I had the joy of inviting on Ashlee Young, a wonderful piano teacher and studio owner, to talk about how she monetizes her teaching methods. It can be so hard as a teacher to recognize your value, but once you're confident in your methods, you can share them!
Listen in for tips, tricks, and her story of how she went from teaching students to sharing her methods with other teachers!
Subscribe to Ashlee’s Youtube Channel: https://youtube.com/ashleeyoungmusicstudio
Join Ashlee’s Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/casualtoconfidentpianoplayer
Follow Ashlee on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/ashleeyoungmusicstudio/
Casual to Confident Piano: https://www.ashleejyoung.com/pianomember
Enjoy This Week’s Transcript!
Ashlee
If you are an educator, if you're a teacher and you're not monetizing your content, you're missing a huge opportunity. Because as teachers, it doesn't matter how big your studio is or what level of students you're teaching, you are constantly creating content. Every lesson you're creating content, you're coming up with ways to explain things to different students. You're helping them understand. And that's a unique skill set. And I think that a lot of teachers don't realize how valuable that is and that that's not something that everybody can do.
Carly
Today's episode is with Ashlee Young of Ashlee Young Music Studio. Ashlee is a pianist and educator who leads people to find the excitement, passion and life force in music. She believes that music has the power to bring people together to recognize our shared humanity, if we let it. Ashlee has a program for self-taught adult piano players called Casual to Confident Piano Player, which we're going to dive into during this episode today. Ashlee has been inside the TMO community and courses, so I've watched her shift from teaching solely in person to creating a thriving YouTube channel and course membership for adult piano learners. We have so much to learn from her. She's so positive. She has an amazing approach to thinking outside the box as far as how you create income as a music teacher. So without further ado, enjoy this interview with Ashlee Young.
Carly
Ashlee, thanks for joining me today. Welcome to the podcast.
Ashlee
Thanks so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Carly
So we've known each other for a few years now. That's crazy. And we're a few years into this pandemic, which completely shifted my career and your career, and everyone listening. And so I wanted to get you on because you seem like the perfect example of somebody who took an opportunity to create new businesses, new things, new ideas in the virtual space. And I'd love for you to just share more about it. So let's just dive right in.
Ashlee
Okay, sounds good. Yeah. Thanks so much for having me. It's so exciting to be here. And I do feel like when the pandemic started, it created this shift for me, and I started to see a lot of opportunities there. So pre-pandemic, I was teaching in person. I had only ever taught in person. I think I had maybe done, like, one or two FaceTime lessons at the request of students when they had gotten sick, but it definitely wasn't something that I was doing regularly or something that I was even really thinking about. And then everybody has their story of, like, that Friday when the stay at home orders were called. I had a recital plan for that Sunday, for my whole entire studio. And my private studio at that time was pretty big. I think I had about 25 or 30 students that were playing in that recital. And I was panicked a little bit because I was like, what are we going to do? I have this in person recital planned. And I was just like, okay. I had been on Zoom a couple of times for meetings for people that had asked me, and I was like, I will just get online. I'm going to look up YouTube videos. I'm going to figure out Zoom, and we're just going to do this recital virtually. And so that was kind of the start of the shift, and we did it. I sent my students an email like, this is how we use Zoom. This is the angle you're going to need for the camera. We're going to go with it. It's not going to be perfect, but we're going to go with it, and we're going to do it anyway. And I was so proud of them. They showed up. They really conquered that mountain. And we had a great virtual recital. And so that was kind of like my initial initiation into online teaching was actually a recital as the start of it.
Carly
And then did you pretty immediately, like, within the next week, shift your students to virtual lessons?
Ashlee
Yes. So as soon as the recital was over and it was becoming more apparent that this was going to be more permanent, then I sent an email saying, you know what? We all got so good at Zoom for that recital. We're going to just keep doing that until we have more information. And at that time, like everybody remembers, we weren't sure if it was going to be just a couple of weeks or what. I think everybody was wishfully thinking. It was going to be a couple of weeks. And so that was my original intention. But then, of course, it ended up being a lot longer. And now I have decided never not to really resume in person except for with students that are working for competitions and auditions and things like that. So I'm still virtual and I've kind of made the choice to stay virtual for the future.
Carly
I have so many questions because you created so many wonderful things and you really did take such a positive approach to such a big career change. And you mentioned a couple of times to me how finding Teach Music Online and finding our courses and membership really helped you shift your business. Can you tell us about the moment you found us and what it was like going through the TMO course and how it helped you?
Ashlee
Yes, absolutely. So I had been teaching online for a few months. I think I found the TMO program at the end of 2020, so I've been doing it a little while. And at that time, it was clear now that this was going to be the future. And so I had been doing online teaching and liking it, and my students were liking it. I was so lucky, I didn't have students dropping off or anything like that. I actually had requests from more students because family members had started to hear that I was doing online lessons. And so I was starting to teach people in other areas and I was seeing like a glimmer of opportunity here. I had always thought it would be cool to have a studio with many teachers, but the business side of insurance and securing a location and getting all the pianos, all of that seemed really overwhelming to me in the past. And so I started to kind of, as I was getting more students, see that I would need to make some changes in order to do online lessons long term and to potentially be able to grow in that way.
It was right around that time where I started to think that a change might be good. I think I came across a class on Facebook that you were teaching, and it was ways to improve your online teaching. And because I had already been thinking about it, I wanted to watch this class and I was so surprised when I watched it because you just blew my mind. I mean, like, the five tips that you gave were all things that I had already been thinking of and things that I could immediately implement. And I don't remember what they were, to be honest, but I just remember leaving that class feeling so inspired and immediately it was like, I need TMO in my life. Like, I'm going to join this, I'm going to learn so much. This is exactly what I was looking for. And once I joined, what was wild is I went through everything pretty quickly. Like I went through all the trainings and all the videos and started implementing everything. And I think a couple of major shifts happened for me. One, inside Teach Music Online, you talk so much about streamlining things and things that now seem simple, but at the time I wasn't doing. Things like organizing my music and Google Drive folders and things that just make the online teaching experience so much easier.
Ashlee
And then, the unexpected byproduct of that was that that's all the stuff you also need to do to grow a business. You just need to streamline things. And so another big change that happened for me was you recommended Fonz in the TMO membership and I switched over to Fonz and started automating payments and things like that. And for me, the biggest shift was when I started thinking outside the box. I started kind of removing those limiting beliefs of like, this is how I've always done it. And I started to see like, oh, here are some other ways to do it, and here are some ways that really makes sense to do it. Ways that help streamline everything and ways that just ultimately also make the students happier because you're doing a much better job of teaching online and utilizing all of the technology and all of that kind of stuff as well.
Carly
I love that you mentioned thinking outside the box because it's like, we all were raised with a pretty specific method for teaching and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't when you grow up and you have your own business and you have to think creatively. And I love what I tried to do inside TMO is provide so many different ideas and so many different resources and methods so teachers can go, oh, that's the one that resonates with me, that fits my personality or that's exactly how I want to teach, versus like, there's one way to do it or there's one path that works for all students because that's just not true. And we are also different as creative musicians and each have different styles and interests and it's been so fun to watch teachers take that and approach it differently and then create differently because of it.
Ashlee
Absolutely. And I think you do such a good job of that inside of TMO because it's true. Like there were some things that I was like, oh, that's a cool idea. I don't know if it's the fit for me, but then a lot of the things were the fit for me and so that can change everything. I have a huge background in classical piano and that's what I went to school and grad school for and so I didn't get a lot of business classes in school, which I think is true for a lot of classical musicians. I think now more programs are requiring it, but they weren't when I was in school. And so leaving school and then realizing like, oh my gosh, I know the music part, I've got that. But what about all the other stuff? Like actually making a living and running a studio and anything else that you want to do? So having access to a resource like TMO outside of school to really get really clear and be able to have success in the business world in relation to music I think is so important. So I'm so happy I found you.
Carly
Well, I'm so happy too.
You have a program for adult pianists who are self-taught and you call it Casual to Confident Piano Player. I think this is so neat. Tell us about kind of where this idea came from and what it is.
Ashlee
Sure, yeah. So Casual to Confident Piano Player is my online program for adult students and I love it, I'm obsessed with it. One of the really cool things that happened after being in the TMO membership is I got a lot less intimidated by the tech side of teaching and just learning how to use different softwares. And I started doing some recording just for my students, like of performances and things like that. I actually started a YouTube channel and in doing the YouTube channel, I started serving a lot of adult students that were either learning on their own or had been returning to piano after having lessons as a kid and then having a large break or something like that. And in my own experience in teaching adults, I've just found that there's the stuff that you can speak to a large audience about pretty broadly and a lot of people can take nuggets of wisdom, things like rhythm issues or how to be musical. There's ways that you can speak about that. And this is what I was doing on my YouTube channel and speaking to a large audience.
But then there's the other side of teaching, where you see people in their private lessons and you work on things like technique and you can see them at their piano and you can really help them with their individual goals. And I love both of those things. And so I wanted to create something that I had not seen, which is Casual to Competent Piano Player. So it's an online program and once adults join the program, they get access on my website to like a training vault. And the training vault has videos and PDFs where we go through ten pillars or ten checkpoints of just really common issues and we start with like, setting goals, how to know what level you're at, how to set long term goals, how to set short term goals, how to set goals in every individual practice session. And then I take them through how to create a practice routine that works for them in their adult life because everybody's so busy and we have other things going on. And then we go through all the common issues like rhythm and musicality and things like that. And then in partnership with that, there's also a schedule of online group classes.
And I kind of treat it like a gym or like a yoga studio where I have a calendar and I just have the classes on there. And they can join as many classes as they'd like. They can also watch the replays of the classes. And that's where we get to do more of the private lesson stuff where we all come together on Zoom and they play. It's kind of master class style a little bit, but people will bring things that they're just starting to learn or working on more broadly or just questions. And it's fun because people get the personal feedback, that one on one feedback. But what's really cool is they also get to observe other people getting feedback. And I think when we can do that, the ego is removed so you can absorb that information in just a little bit of a different way. And then we also, of course, get to connect with each other because it's a group format. And I think that that's one thing that can be challenging in online teaching is we can be face to face, but sometimes that element of connection can just be like one step removed.
And so in a group format, it seems to really foster that connection. And so that's been really, really cool to see and to be a part of. So I'm having a ton of fun in this program and it's, again, kind of thinking outside the box is how this idea came to be. Because if I trace it all back, it starts with like, when I started teaching online and when I started trying to improve my online teaching. That then led to starting the YouTube channel and then meeting all of these people and seeing this need for something and then the creation of this program.
Carly
Wow, what a cool journey. My business mind has so many questions. Congrats, first of all, on creating something.
Ashlee
Thank you.
Carly
I love that you said you're obsessed with it. I feel like every teacher needs to find something they're obsessed with and I try to enforce that in the podcast. Like reinforce that if you're not enjoying it or it's feeling like a burden or it's feeling just like you're drowning in your studio, something's wrong, like something's missing. And it sounds like when you created the YouTube channel, that really kind of helped you fall into this, like, oh, this is something I love.
Ashlee
Definitely, yeah. And I wouldn't have known that that's where it would lead. And I think that's the other thing, too, is it can be tough to keep our minds open to letting the opportunities present themselves. Because I started my YouTube channel just to help my students. I was like, I say the same thing over and over again so many times. I'm going to create videos where I say it once and then I can send them the video and I don't have to repeat myself all the time in lessons and we can kind of maximize that lesson time. But I had no idea that it would connect me with all of these adult students and that it would kind of wake me up to see this huge need of something like this.
Carly
So it's essentially a course of videos that they progress through and then they can get on. It's kind of like a hybrid format where you have a course but also access to your groupp classes. Is there a cap on that for how many adults you can let in that you've hit? Or do you have an idea for what that might be? Or is this something scalable? What's kind of your long term with it?
Ashlee
Yeah, my long term goal is definitely to scale it. I think, right now, I've only hit the cap a few times because there's enough people in the program. But not everybody comes to every class. So if people want to play in a class, I can usually handle about four people per class they play, and we give quick feedback. But as far as scalability goes, I think as more people join the program, if there's consistently more than four people that want to play for each class, what I'll probably end up doing is hiring other people to teach classes on specific topics in addition to the master class style classes and then just expanding the amount of classes that I'm offering inside the membership.
Carly
How long did it take you to kind of develop and create the course progression? Were you releasing them gradually or just tell me kind of how you thought of those? Because your ideas for your videos in the course are also unique. You're not just like, this is the method with a video of you looking down at the piano. You're talking about mindset, you're talking about setting goals which are essential for students in growth. And you often get that in a one on one setting, but a lot of course creators might not think to include that. So tell me just about how that came about and how long it took you to build that.
Ashlee
Yeah, so I've had my YouTube channel for about a year, and I think the ideas have been kind of solidifying over the course of that year of just like, what is the progression? And I think if most teachers sit down and think about, okay, I get a transfer student. And this is who this transfer student is. And whether we know it or not, we all have the kind of steps that we take them through to get them to their goals. And so for me, it was creating videos on random subjects and kind of seeing the feedback on those random subjects and then also thinking back to what it is that I really have done when my students have had the most success, what are the things that I've actually been doing with them? And so I would say that in baby steps, the idea has been in the works for a long time. But then finally when I decided, okay, I'm going to sit down and I'm going to record these videos, it was kind of fast. I came up with the ten steps of just like, how do I get people from point A to point B where they're feeling casual, they have all these gaps in their knowledge and then they ultimately find that confidence.
And that part just kind of came to me in a few days and then I kind of scripted out the videos and I let it sit for a couple of weeks because that's kind of my creative processes, to sit on it and make sure I didn't miss anything and tweak it. And then I recorded the videos within a couple of weeks and put them up. So once it was there, it was really there. But I would say it was building for a while. I've been gathering information my whole teaching career and then it's been building since I started doing the YouTube channel and teaching in this video format.
Carly
Very cool. That's very cool. I think creating courses and videos where students can go at their own pace is so beneficial for the student because they are getting the best of you. Because people think, will anyone pay for that? They're not getting me one on one and I'm like it's better. Yeah, because you're recording like, your best moment.
Ashlee
Exactly.
Carly
Your best teaching, your best method. It's something you've thought through and formulated, not just thought of on the spot with a student. And that's why courses are so powerful, because you're getting the best from this expert. Like, they have thought this through. Maybe they taught it 200 times before, but then they actually recorded it and then they can watch it five times if they need to. Like, it's not just like a one and done, gone moment.
Ashlee
Absolutely. And you're so right in that the knowledge for the videos that I recorded for the course, it's the culmination of hundreds of students. It's all of the experience from hundreds of adult students into one course, which is so valuable, for sure. I also agree with you about the courses. I listened to, I think it was actually on the Music Studio Startup, is that what it's called? The other podcast. And she had a guest on that was saying that if you are an educator, if you're a teacher, and you're not monetizing your content, you're missing a huge opportunity because as teachers, it doesn't matter how big your studio is or what level of students you're teaching, you are constantly creating content. Every lesson you're creating content, you're coming up with ways to explain things to different students. You're helping them understand. And that's a unique skill set. And I think that a lot of teachers don't realize how valuable that is and that's not something that everybody can do.
Carly
And that it's so easy to create. Like, you have a phone.
Ashlee
Yes, exactly.
Carly
I mean, you have a phone and almost I think every teacher I've met has a computer of some sort. And the new course I'm creating, which is Course Creator for Musicians, is my method of creating courses step-by-step. And it's because of this, it's because I want teachers to realize you can monetize your methods in a dozen different ways if you want, and then always have that element of one-on-one teaching like you have as well, because that's something we still love and want. But why not capture the best of you or the best of your methods or the best of your creativity so we can give it out passively in the back end? It's just so fun.
Ashlee
Yeah, and it's cool too, because I think for me, it's exciting in a business sense. It's like your intellectual property also. It's something that it's recorded and it's there. And whether you are there or not, it exists and it becomes this external thing, which I think in a business way is really exciting and inspiring as well.
Carly
What would you say to teachers who are listening to this and they're like, yeah, that sounds really cool, but I'm not very business savvy. I don't know how to start a subscription. Sometimes it's easy to tell yourself, I don't know XYZ, so I can't do that. Or just like the fears that step in, like, I'm not good enough. A lot of teachers have these fears around 'no one's going to pay me for that'. 'I'm not Carly' or 'I'm not Ashlee'. Like 'I'm not "young"'. What would you say to them about stepping outside the box like you've done?
Ashlee
I have so many things to say. Yeah, it's tough. And first of all, I would say, like, I hear you and I feel you, because it's challenging, really challenging, to step outside the box and it's scary. It absolutely brings up all of those things that you just mentioned. One of the things that I think was the most helpful for me when I decided to start the YouTube channel is I was watching videos on how to start a YouTube channel, reading blog posts on how to start a YouTube channel. And one of the things that was in literally every single video that I watched or every single post was just do it. It doesn't matter the quality. It doesn't matter, like, what you think of it. Just get in the habit of sitting there and recording yourself and putting it online. Because regardless of who you are or how much equipment you have, you're going to look back at those first videos and they're going to be learning experiences, and you're going to get better. And that's the nature of everything. That's what we expect from our students. We expect that they will come and that they'll be okay with making mistakes and that they'll get better and better and better.
And I think that learning is ultimately a really vulnerable thing. And if we can allow ourselves to be vulnerable in that way and do it anyway and show up and just push ourselves, we can admit that we don't know everything and be okay with that. We can be okay with the fact that, yes, what we do now, in two years, we'll look back and be like, oh, my gosh, that was not very good. But it's that process of going through it and coming to it regularly, just like, practicing where we find that improvement and that success. I have, like, a little mantra that I've used for years that I love that I got from Brene Brown. And she says something to the effect of, like, 'it's okay to be afraid and brave at the same time'. And anytime I feel scared, I try to remind myself that, yes, it can be scary. And I still get scared to post videos sometimes or to hit record on the camera. I have to kind of, like, give myself pep talks, just like I would for a performance. But you can feel scared, and you can also just decide to do it anyway. And I think that that's super powerful.
Carly
I think when you have a goal that's scary, that's the best kind of goal. Setting a goal that feels easy or that feels like, oh, I could do that, is actually not a good goal, in my opinion.
Ashlee
Totally.
Carly
It just needs to feel big and difficult. And I try to encourage teachers to do that. Like thinking big, thinking outside the box. And also, while they're scary, you also learn skills and it gets easier. I always tell the story of when I was first creating my first landing page, which was just like a page where people could fill in their information and get something for free from us. It was actually for our photography business, and it took me, I think, 8 days to get it right. And I was problem solving, and I was watching videos, and I couldn't get the triggers to trigger the email sequence that I needed and the right funnel. And I was so frustrated with it, and I just kept telling myself, like, I'm going to learn this, I'm going to learn this. And I can't tell you how many dozens of lead magnets and lead pages I've created now. And I can make them in about 15 minutes. Like, that's about my time.
Ashlee
That's amazing.
Carly
And I mean, it's the same for YouTube videos. Like, the first day you recorded YouTube, you're thinking through the process, you're thinking through the framing. You're thinking through, okay, now where do I upload this and what do I say? And it might take an entire day, but eventually it'll take 10 minutes.
Ashlee
Yes. It used to take me like, 2 hours to edit a 4 minute video and now it takes me like 25 minutes to edit, like, a 15 minutes video. Because you learn and you get better at it. And I think people sometimes get stopped in that part, like where you are, where you're trying to create that, and you're like, why am I stuck on this? Why am I stuck on this? And you pushed through and you eventually did it. And it's like, if you can do that over and over again, it gets less scary, it gets less difficult. And you look back and you're like, wow, I can't believe that was hard for me at one point.
Carly
Right? And all of our teachers should look back on these last three years, two and a half years, and I mean, the amazing things they've been able to conquer and learn with their students is incredible. I've been amazed with the integration of technology, the confidence, teaching in front of a camera, like, people feeling insecure about just, like, their visual presentation, and so many things that felt impossible in March of 2020, now, they're expanding and wanting to be online exclusively. They didn't just get there overnight. It takes sometimes months and years.
Ashlee
Absolutely. Yeah. And I think as teachers, one of the cool things is that everything that we do in music, I like to kind of like, take the lessons out of that and apply them to life. And I think we asked our students to show up and to commit to their practice routines and just to put in the time and they'll get better. And the same is true for us, whether it's for music or for anything, really. And so we can apply that to our studios. We can apply that to our business knowledge or technology or whatever it is that we want to get better at, whatever it is that we want to grow in. We can take that same philosophy from practicing that we all know so well to be true and apply it to anything. You put in the time. You keep coming back to it, even if it feels hard, even if it's discouraging, and you kind of just keep showing up and then progress will happen.
Carly
Well, I know teachers are going to want to connect with you and see what you've created. So tell us about where to find you on YouTube and where to find you on Facebook so they can reach out if they have any questions for you.
Ashlee
Yeah, definitely. So my YouTube channel is Ashlee Young Music Studio. And you can find me there. Currently, I'm releasing like a video on Mondays and then I do a live stream that's really fun on Wednesdays where it's very interactive. Yesterday we did sight reading and I asked for participation in the chat. Like, we went through these pieces and we went through the process of site reading, and I have a lot of players that come to those live streams and also a lot of teachers that come and use what they learn for themselves or for their students. And then I have a Facebook group that's called Casual to Confident Piano Player. You can connect with me there as well. That's a great way to connect more one on one. Like, if you have a question or you want to post in the group or private message me. And then I'm also on Instagram and I have slightly different content on Instagram and YouTube. So Instagram is also @ashleeyoungmusicstudio. And I'm always there. You can DM me or show up in a comment. I love connecting with people and I love helping people and getting to know what people are struggling with and helping them work through that well.
Carly
Again, congrats on creating something so fun and so exciting. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas. There's so much more we could talk about, but I'm just so glad I got to steal a little bit of your time.
Ashlee
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Please leave a review on iTunes
Please don't forget to review this podcast on iTunes, your reviews mean so much to me! Your reviews also help other teachers find the podcast and know that it's one that can benefit their business as well. Click the link below to review the podcast:
Don't forget to watch my free masterclass!
I'm currently running a marketing masterclass - have you taken this free class yet? Click here to sign up for an upcoming time!