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Ever used them?

An even better question to ask rintincop is how many teachers out there ask where the referrals come from! Simple record keeping such as this can, over time, determine the value of Yellow Pages and related advertisment.

I've never tried the yellow pages. The price of $14 per month seems pretty cheap, to me. You ought to try it and see if it works.

I've always received my students by word of mouth. Although it is a slower process. After moving to another state, it took about a year to fill my studio and I now have a waiting list. This is strictly word of mouth and my affiliation and active involvement with the local MTNA chapter.

cranky

After reading this post, it made me wonder & I began taking a survey of my student population. Not all results in yet, but so far Yellow-Page students account for 3% of the total. Seventy percent of my students are referrals. Hmmm.

When I was a mom looking for a piano teacher for my daughter, it frankly never even occured to me to look in the Yellow Pages--word of mouth was the only way to go, IMO.

I wouldn't pick a auto mechanic out of the Yellow Pages, either, for somewhat the same reason: anybody can pay the 14 bucks for the ad, but it doesn't prove that the person who bought the ad will be any good.

FWIW, when I was looking for a teacher, it didn't even occur to me to look in the yellow pages. I picked up the phone and started asking parents of my kids' friends. I think advertising in the school directory of the local elementary or middle school might be worth the money.

Mathilde,

Respecfully, that's not fair and it's also not good advice. As a full time piano teacher for almost twenty years, I get oodles of students from referrals. That's great, and I'm flattered and happy to be gainfully employed.

But, I've always had a three line ad in the yellow pages since the day I decided to go full time. The part of your post I take exception to is the comment that one can't necessarily trust the person who placed the ad. So? What's that statement worth? Life is full of advertisements and the people that place them. Nothing is guaranteed - not even a good referral.

While I personally get many students from word of mouth, my teaching career would be half-complete were it not for the same plethora of students and families I've met who have responded to my yellow page ads. Simply, not everybody knows a neighbor (or has a neighbor, for that matter) or friend that has a piano teacher. Plus, one parent or student's needs may be different from another.

There are a hundred good and valid reasons to advertise and respond to an ad in the yellow pages pertaining to piano lessons. It's up to the individual to then decide if the person is a good fit. Just because my neighbor loves a certain piano teacher doesn't mean it's a good fit for another student. The ad is so the teacher can present his/her wares to the unknowing public. Another way to think of it is that many many kids and parents who easily found me in the yellow pages may have never had the great experience they eventually had when they finally found me...had they never opened up a phone book.

I just think you are doing potential students/parents a dis-service by dissuading them from reading and/or responding to yellow page ads. It's up to the caller to 'qualify' the teacher, no matter how the teacher is procured, and even then...it's a matter of personal preference much of the time.

Other teachers and word of mouth. Those are by far the most effective ways I've gotten students.