I get them sometimes, but I think differently about them than most of my self-employed colleagues. I think of them as a little respite, almost a vacation that’s beneficial to my sanity. I am talking about dry spells.
A dry spell occurs when your phone or your email box doesn’t ring with new prospects, when no new student is knocking at your door for lessons. A dry spell can be terrifying if you don’t have a healthy way to deal with it. It can destroy your business and your motivation. It’s very bad.
I have gone sometimes without any requests for a month or two. Of course, that’s my fault because, as I said before, I am a one man army, and if I don’t keep advertising, I simply can’t blame anybody else for not promoting my name out there. So, the demands dry up and I’m left with a buzzing angst in the pit of my stomach. That’s not a way to teach. A lesson, although always implying learning something challenging, needs to feel light and happy. People respond better to humor rather than anxiety.
Fortunately, these days, the dry spells are few and far between for me. Or, let’s say that they do happen, but they do not affect me the same as they used to. Here’s the trick: ever since I’ve changed my teaching, which was right during COVID time, nobody quits. Or they don’t quit as much. I used to keep an average student for maybe six months to two years. Now, my batting average has gone up considerably in that department. It’s more two years to 4 years. And I get a lot of people coming back for lessons after they’ve stopped for awhile. That helps too. It is to the point that I’ve got very few spots opened. That’s my way of dealing with dry spells.
I also suspect that the dry spell has something to do with COVID recovery. During the height of the pandemic, I’ve got a lot of phone calls, I filled up my calendar and I gave away some of the students I couldn’t take to other drum or piano teachers. The requests kept on coming for about another year and a half after that. Now, I get the feeling that people are happy to explore the outdoor again, go to concerts (business is booming there right now!) or socializing. But, I am peaceful. I know they will come back. Music isn’t going anywhere. Besides, as I said, I’ve got plenty of students to take care of as it is.
