Today, I Confess: Friendship as a Marketing Strategy is THE WORST.
(A rant)
I've been stuck in a thought spiral this week and I'm going to try my best to put it into words:
If you know anything about marketing, especially online marketing, you know building trust with your audience is a foundational step to a successful business.
Being "relatable" is a tactic used by many salespeople, and (spoiler alert:) it works.
Anyone studying my work would assume I'm playing the same game. I mean, I call myself your Anytime Piano Teacher Friend, I talk about the realities of Teacher Life, and I try hard to show up exactly as I am.
...but I'm not playing a game here, and the fear of being confused with the people who are is becoming a serious nag.
I've talked a lot about my five core values in my work: Authenticity, Connection, Humility, Curiosity, and Play. (More on these in episode 189)
Without a doubt, these qualities have been a significant part of building a studio that's in high demand. They're likely the reason you're reading this confession right now.
The problem is, 21st century marketing is a smart business and these very-human factors of relatability, kindness, and friendship are often manipulated behind-the-scenes to drive engagement and sales.
I don't mean to sound like sales is ALL so sinister. Particularly here in Piano Teacher World, the majority of voices trying to build followings are doing so out of a genuine desire to help the profession. Most of us are pretty wonderful humans. 😄
...but I will say this: I pick up on energy very quickly. When I'm at events with other teachers, I am acutely aware who is there to genuinely connect with colleagues, and who is there to "be seen". The same goes for online creators.
I fear the distinction is not always so easily spotted by others.
I suppose my beef is this: I don't want us to become a society skeptical of kindness and relatability because we've been deceived by it too many times. I don't want to dilute the power of connection just because it also serves as a bullet point on marketing agendas.
Simply put: I don't want marketing strategists to ruin the good thing we have going here.
We should all be dialed-in to the impact of influencer marketing. Some of us write it off as a joke or an inevitable part of our world, but it affects us in many ways (seen and unseen).
There's a reason many podcasters read ads on their shows. Even when you know it's an ad and *think* you're dismissing it appropriately, hearing words from a voice you value makes a difference. More on that here.
Marketing teams know this, and creators often find themselves thinking it's the only way to make a profit off the content they are producing. That's why we end up hearing about how much they love their sheets or the new fad exercise app.
This is a philosophical battle I often go rounds with. Last summer I had the opportunity to promote an affiliate program that I (personally) really enjoy. It could have resulted in a significant payout, but the program isn't the right fit for the majority of my audience. I felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility NOT to trade the trust I've built in this community for some deposits to my bank account.
It's true: I need to create paid offerings to continue creating the amount of free content I produce. At the same time, because my audience is made up of people I consider friends (that's you!), the fear of alienating this community is real.
I suppose I just wanted to share a warning that (1) not all "friendly" online interactions are amongst true friends, and (2) I don't want the marketing game to slowly erode our trust in sincere relationships built online.
End rant.
Phew; thanks for hanging in while I try to sort out the messy contents of my brain! Now, HIT THAT REPLY BUTTON and tell me something fun you're up to this weekend!
Me? I'm presenting THREE sessions to teachers in Cincinnati, OH for their Fall Kick-Off celebration on Saturday. The event is free and open to the public. If you're near Cincy and free on Saturday, we'd love to see you. Let me know if you need details.
🥂 May we all be on the lookout for authentic connections and trustworthy voices in the online space. 🥂
📢Featured Offering📢
...If you are in the market for more authentic teacher connections, there's one place I *can* recommend with my whole heart: The SuperFriends Community on Patreon.
By contributing $3 or $6 each month, you support this work of mine.
...but you also gain the opportunity to connect with other teachers who are in this work for all the right reasons. I am constantly impressed at the lack of attention-seeking behavior from this crew.
(if you are involved in teacher groups on Facebook, you know all about attention-seekers 😉)
Every month, we meet for a special hour called Teachers Teaching Teachers. We spend roughly 30 minutes problem-solving one another's Teacher Dilemmas and 30 more minutes on repertoire study: nuts and bolts of how to teach engaging repertoire.
Whether you come live or catch the replay, I believe Teachers Teaching Teachers is one of the most beneficial offerings I've stumbled upon since entering the world of content creation.
We met this past Friday (08.29) and ended up chatting about:
- Finding your "sweet spot" when it comes to studio numbers
- Transfer student assessments
- Ideal Romantic repertoire for competitions
...and so much more. Our featured repertoire was Circus Sonatinas by Chee-Hwa Tan, which was our vehicle to dissect how to get students EXCITED about Sonatinas and other classical forms.