Guide to Creating Your Profile
Your profile is the bridge between a prospective student having an idea to take a first music lesson and actually making it happen. Using text, images, and video, your challenge is to connect, inspire, inform and build trust.
A good profile will enhance the student's confidence that you are the right person to help them along their musical path. Imagine the questions a new student might have, then answer these in your text.
Profile Text
To edit your profile text, log into your MusicTeachers.co.uk account. Click on “Edit profile” from the top menu, then “Profile text” from the left menu. Click the “Edit” button in the top right of the “Profile text” box, then click inside the large rounded rectangle to type your text. When done, click “Save” in the top right corner.
Tip: We recommend using the third person e.g. “(Name) is an experienced cello teacher based in Chester.”
Tip: Use <b></b> HTML tags to make the text between them bold when seen on your profile.
Tip: Only the first 25 or so words of your profile text are shown in the search results page (alongside your Profile Picture) so consider ensuring that those words are impactful and persuasive to prospective students to encourage them to click through to view your full profile.
Below, you will find a template with the four points you should include as a minimum in your profile text.
What can students expect from lessons with you?
Write 5-20 lines of text covering topics such as:
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What do you focus on in your teaching? (Will it be fun, structured, exam-focused, student-centred, a means to strengthen the student's self-confidence, etc.)
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What genres of music do you specialise in?
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Are there any techniques or methods you specialise in? (Dalcroze/Suzuki etc)
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“To get the most out of (name’s) teaching, it’s recommended that...” (The frequency of lessons, lesson length, practice, instrument purchase, etc.)
What does the first lesson with a new student look like?
Write 5-10 lines covering topics such as:
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Discussing students’ musical interests and aspirations
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How you plan your lessons
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Where does your teaching typically take place?
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Is there anything the student needs to know regarding their instrument or what they should bring with them to their first lesson?
Your experience as a teacher
Write 3-10 lines covering topics such as:
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What age groups do you have experience in teaching?
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What levels do you teach?
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Do you offer in-person/online learning?
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What relevant teaching experience do you have?
Your professional background
Write 3-10 lines covering topics such as:
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What relevant experience you have as a musician and/or in music education
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Do you have experience as a professional musician?
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Do you have other professions besides your work as a teacher which are relevant or related, that you would like to include?
To finish, you may consider a call-to-action statement. Something along the lines of “If you’d like to learn more about taking lessons with (name), send a message via the message box on this profile.”
Profile Image(s)
All teacher profiles must have at least one image which we call your “Profile Picture”. Your profile picture is crucial to your success at MusicTeachers.co.uk because only your profile picture and the first 25 words (approximately) of your profile text are shown in search results. The most successful images feature:
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A friendly, smiling face of the teacher
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Eye contact
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Instrument in shot / musical setting
You can also add additional images which are shown when a prospective student clicks through to your full profile page. You can use these images to show the breadth of your experience and musical activities. Consider:
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Images of a performance
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Your teaching space/studio
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Images featuring different instruments or ensembles
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A lesson in action
Please remember that you are responsible for getting permission to use any photos you choose to upload, including from any other people who might appear in those photos, particularly students and children.
Video
We strongly recommend that you include a video on your profile. For further guidance about this please see our webpage here:
https://musicteachers.co.uk/music/presentation-video
Get Inspired! Click on the links below to see some examples of excellent profiles: