This past month, we’ve been talking about celebrating teaching milestones – or teaching “anniversaries”.
If you missed any of the previous posts you can find them here:
Teaching Anniversaries: Celebrating on Social Media and Beyond
In this fourth and final post in the series, I’ll share how I’m keeping my studio fresh by re-branding and why this is something you should consider for your own studio
Out With the Old – In With the New
Like many teachers, when I first opened my studio, money was tight. However, I knew branding was important, and I wanted to have a logo right away.
Luckily, we had an artistic friend who was gracious enough to do one as a favor. I remember sitting at her kitchen table, looking over her laptop as we tweaked the shape and style.
I wanted something simple, subtle, and sophisticated. I kind of hated to use that last term because it wasn’t that I wanted to portray my studio as “snooty” or anything, just as professional. More specifically, I didn’t want it to be too kiddie-looking with lots of music notes and colors.
I have absolutely adored this logo. It was perfect.
Change is something I thrive on personally, so with the move to my new studio two years ago and the turnover of a new decade of running my full-time studio this year, it felt like the perfect time to freshen up my branding for a new start.
This time, I worked with a designer a self-employed small-business owner whom I connected with when I spearheaded a new logo for our state MTA. Carson Sprunger with Sprunger Design.
For social media purposes, I also requested that whatever logo we came up with was easy to translate into a small favicon-size version.
I absolutely love both of them and am thrilled with the results.
Interestingly enough, my goals were the same as the first time around: simple, subtle, and not kiddie-music looking. Here are a few things that I particularly love about this new logo:
- It was a font change from the previous logo.
- The design went from flowy and elegant to a little edgier.
- The new splash of color.
- The fresh take on using the piano lid rather than the profile from above.
Is Re-Branding Really That Important?
Now, you may be thinking this is a nice idea but is it really necessary?
I would say it depends.
What does your logo say about your business? Does it portray it properly? Are you having a hard time attracting adult students? Does your logo look like it’s geared toward preschool children or any type of student?
It’s important that our branding match how we want people to see us and our studios.
Most clients in your studio may not think much about a change in your logo (similar to what Janelle was talking about in the second post on how it’s hard for them to celebrate teaching anniversaries with you).
What they will notice though is your attention to detail in how you present yourself and your business. Consider investing in branding that represents what you want your customers to know about you before they ever meet you.
How to Use Your Branding
Logos and branding aren’t just about having a logo for your policies document, social media header, or website. Our branding should be part of everything we put out there, especially on social media.
As soon as I got my new logo, I created a series of social media images in Canva highlighting student and parent testimonials. These will be posted using a scheduling tool for the whole year (I’m currently using Tailwind).
Would you believe me when I say I’m not looking for any new students? I’m full with a waiting list but I still continue to market. Why?
Building a thriving business is not something you do once a year when you need students, it’s something that should be continuous so your brand is at the forefront of your community’s minds.
I’m pretty excited about how these social media testimonials turned out this year. Here are a few examples:
At the end of the school term, if I send out parent/student questionnaires, (I don’t do it every year), I may also request testimonials from current students and families, so I have fresh ones every year.
I have to brag a little that my students and parents rocked the testimonials this year!
(If you want to see all of them, they’re in a slide format on my studio’s testimonials page.)
If anything, it can definitely give you a little mental boost once a year. 🙂
