The Cavalcade “Monster Concert” was featured on the Valley Dish, Channel 12, Arizona March 1, 2010.

We may be fantastic music teachers, but few of us have the same skills when it comes to web design.  Don’t let that stop you, though!  There are many ways a music teacher can make an easy website, and all you need to be able to do is type.

A great way to get started with building your own website is a free service offered by Music Teacher’s Helper.  Music Teacher’s helper is a wonderful website that takes care of expenses, billing, scheduling, inventory, and so much more.  You can try it for free for up to 3 students.  With the free account comes your own teacher website.  You simply click on one of the templates, type in your information, add a picture if you’d like, and your are done. 

Another website design tool specifically designed for music teachers is located at www.musicteaching.com.  They refer to these studio websites as Webvertisements.  All you have to do is pick a template that you like, type in the information that you wish to be shown on your site, and the rest is done for you.  You can include picture, sound bits, studio blogs, student area, and many other features.  They offer a 30 day free trial.  After that, the cost is $44.95 for 6 months, or $79.95 for 12 months.  This is a fraction of the cost you would pay for a traditional website.  Our own Cynthia Wright uses this service.  You can check out her site by clicking here.

Freewebs is the last website design builder on the list for today.  As it’s name suggests, the basic Freeweb service is free.  They pay for it by placing advertising banners on your site.  You can have the adds taken off by paying for the site for as little as $49.95 per year.  I do reccomend doing this, as it presents a better studio image.  This site works much like the others.  You simply pick a template, type in your information, add pictures if you wish, and you’re done.  Of course, there are many more things you can do, but those will do for starters.  Go here to read the FAQ page.  Marcia Vahl of Maple Grove Minnesote used Freewebs to build her studio website.  Check it out here.  Marcia did an amazing job on her site.

Of course, there are many more places that will help you to build a website.  These are simply 3 examples of what is out there.  Websites are well worth the time to set up.  They help generate students, aid tremendously in your communitation with students, and establishing a presence on the Internet and in the community.  Look into some of the above options, and you will see that building a studio website is as almost as easy as sending an e-mail!

Did you know that we have a teacher referral page on the DVMTA Website?  Teachers have their their general location marked on a map, which may be clicked on to open a page with the teacher name, contact information, picture, and education/studio information.  You can check out the Referral Page to see how it all works.

The normal cost for this service is $25 per year.  However, we all know the economy isn’t the best right now, and many teachers are in need of new students.  Because of this, the DVMTA Board has passed the “Teacher Referral Stimulis Package” and the cost for this service has been reduced to a mere $10 for the year.  The teachers who already have their names on the site remain so for this year at no further cost.

To take advantage of this service, just click here for information on how to sign up. Lets see if we our map covered with little red balloons for teacher referrals!

We were treated with a wonderful PowerPoint Presentation by our president, Lisa Hunt.  What a great way to familiarize everyone with our mission, teacher meetings, and student events.  If you missed the meeting, or want to watch the presentation again, click on the picture below.

We are looking forward to another great year with DVMTA!