Musicians Who Perform and Teach
Hi! Seeking all the musicians in the house. Thumbtack has been my primary source of leads in terms of music students. I am very well-versed in configuring Thumbtack to get me new clients for that branch of my service. However, I am not sure how to set it up for getting performance gigs and recording session work. Could someone please give me a hand on that? It only shows DJ services. Thanks!
Comments
-
@Cheekt @empoweredrecordings @Eva_Salazar @DJAJWyoming @lukemetzler @bencohenguitar @djnipsey @AllAroundMusic Tagging you all in to see if you have any insight to share with @Mage!
1 -
Hey @Mage ! On my end it is "Music Entertainment" which is a subset of "DJ Services". Even though that category can be misleading, if you dial in your preferences accurately, you should be able to get leads for solo performance.
1 -
Thank you so much @lukemetzler because I didn’t think it made any sense at all! I am not a DJ. I will do my best to try it out again. I always thought it was confusing how Thumbtack calls it “DJ services.” I believe “live performance services” needs to be a category! @dustio can you please take down this feedback thanks!
1 -
Thank you @lukemetzler and yes, will send that feedback @Mage!
1 -
-
Hi @AllAroundMusic I will be honest with you: I am only doing in-person lessons because I am struggling to find online students! I have had to drive to students homes because I need to eat! I am enclosing two photos showing the difference of cost of leads in both Thumbtack and this other website Lessons.com . I am not sure if you use it, but you might be able to help me: how do you get online only students? I don’t mind in-person, but I am tired of driving to their homes as it’s burning me out! Thank you so much for taking a look into it, and anyone else here who can help, I appreciate you. The cost of leads on lessons.com is a fraction of what they are on Thumbtack, and I found that the only ones that hire me on Thumbtack are the high cost leads, so that is why I have my budget on both platforms as unlimited.
0 -
The approach I took was to focus exclusively on online lessons, not just as a format but because it is our true area of expertise. Online instruction is our dojo. We do not just offer it; we specialize in it. All of our teachers are equipped with the necessary hardware and software, and they are specifically trained in online pedagogy. Each instructor undergoes a performance assessment to ensure they can teach effectively in a virtual environment. I do not mess around 😄 .
However, we often receive leads from students on Thumbtack who are looking for in person lessons. When that happens, we try to dispute the charge with Thumbtack, but we are typically unable to recover the cost.
In order for a dispute to be considered, the parent or student must clearly state in their message that they are seeking in person lessons. Of course, that rarely happens. Most simply stop responding once they realize the lessons are online, even though it is clear that this is the reason they lost interest.
I have been using Thumbtack since 2015 and this issue has remained unresolved. At that time, a lead cost between three and eight dollars. Now, as you know, the prices being shown on your screenshot are quite the eye popper and significantly more expensive. I truly hope the team will take this concern seriously. It has made me hesitant to invest further into the platform. If this were addressed, I would gladly continue growing my business through Thumbtack. Unfortunately, that is not the case at this time.
If you are interested Mage, we are currently onboarding another vocal instructor to the platform. Please let me know and I can send you a direct message with more details.
Your music colleague 🎵,
Christopher
2 -
This is awesome, @AllAroundMusic! 🤩 It reminds me of the college that I teach at as we need to get certified in order to be allowed tot teach online. I have a few online teaching certificates myself, and I am an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician, plus I used to work for Microsoft, so you can see why it would only make sense for me to prefer teaching online. One of my good students asked to have their lessons online instead of in-person after realizing how much more convenient and time-saving online is for THEM, not just for me. I will share that I ended up taking a job at a “music school” that thinks that “no one” wants to take their lessons online. I am tired of driving to that school for an hour and a half one way for just a half hour lesson. I don’t think it’s an issue with “the industry” because I did some substitute teaching at another one of those music academies, and this OTHER school is able to fill my schedule more quickly! Do you struggle to fill your teachers’ schedules, or do you have a constant steady supply of students? Is Thumbtack affordable for you? My partner, a professional musician with more years of experience than me, thinks that the cost of leads on Thumbtack makes more sense for businesses that net much more income than solo teachers like myself.
I am sorry that Thumbtack is not allowing you to refund the lesions when you are CLEARLY looking for online-only students! I found that it was much easier for me to get refunds through Lessons.com than through Thumbtack. So yeah, Lessons.com is easier to get refunds AND costs a FRACTION per lead, so that is why I am not using Thumbtack at this time. I owe TT almost $100. Would rather invest that money on 5 leads on Lessons.com rather than 1.5 leads on TT.
Thumbtack needs to have a quiz of some sort to weed out the in-person-only students from our targeting.
Oh wow, you have more years of experience than I do on TT! I started in like 2018. I remember when leads were like $10. Now they’re like $70. Ouch. I go to Lessons.com and they are oil average $21.25!
Yes Christopher, I would LOVE to try out as your vocal instructor. I will DM you now.
1
Resources
Welcome! Check out our Community Code of Conduct. (review here)