Quote: Originally posted by Sazi  |
These are not times of easy spending, and I'm trying to think globally. I know I
would spend $9 for a half hour lesson several times, but at $25 per session, I wouldn't do it more than once or twice. You can offer blocks at some
discount to get a little cash ahead, for instance 5 hours for 40 Euros or $60, and that can be used by the client as 15 minute consults, or 1/2
lessons or whatever. Better to have many lessons at $15 than one at $30. 
| Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud |
| Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud |
| Hassan, this is much like systems I've designed for clients, so allow me to tell you that this is simple if you feel comfortable with computers. If
not, it will require hiring someone to help you, preferably in Egypt. It also requires an open banking and telecommunications policy in your region,
or a little baksheesh Let me write out the core information as to how I would do it, as best I can without preparation. I though of telling you by private U2U, but there are people here who may have all sorts of good ideas, or who may help spot difficulties, and I think that it will be to your advantage for this to truly be a collective effort. I will not explain details that should be obvious, nor start out each point with things like "shop for the best deal", or "do a lot of reading", those things are obvious. 1) You must have a reasonably fast computer with a good webcam and microphone(s). Most notebook computers these days are sufficient. 2) A headset with microphone. 3) A fast internet connection like DSL. 4) An external microphone and a tiny mixer so you can connect a mic or pickup from an oud AND the headset mic so you can talk, and the person at the other end very clearly hears both. At first you can get by with just the headset's mic, but someone who's paying has a right to expect to hear everything very clearly. 4b) A (Free) Skype account. When you have the hardware you should install and try out Skype (you download it from their web site). Skype lets you carry on a one-to-one "video-phone call" for free with anybody in the world that has a PC with a webcam and a fast internet connection. People run whole businesses over Skype, like this language tutor, this clip is very informative: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/business/case-studies/toniks/ The firewall issues are handled fairly well for Skype by most commercial security software, because it's a very popular telecommunications product, voice or voice+video. I've seen all sorts of novices, young and old, manage to get Skype working behind the typical router/firewall. Then you need 5) An email address that will be stable. 6) A (free) Paypal account. Paypal transfers money between people who have PayPal accounts, and Paypal accounts are linked to bank accounts. Paypal is mostly used to pay for auction items, like on e-Bay. You must read and understand the Paypal conditions of use, which specify that above a certain number of monthly transfers, or above a certain dollar amount per month, you must get a (more expensive) Paypal business account. You will have to investigate this so you know exactly what to expect. You must also clearly understand what Paypal promises to do if someone tries to cheat. But overall, Paypal is very safe for many reasons, one of them being that they withdraw money from the payer's account directly, and that they have experience with even large transfers. 7) You must also make sure that no banking regulations in your country prevent what you are about to do. 8) You then set up your Paypal account using your e-mail address, provide your bank account information, and confirm the exact amounts that show up in your statement when they test-transfer 2 very small sums (like $0.03 and $0.07) through to your bank so that you can prove that the bank account transfer works, and that way your bank account becomes linked to Paypal. It's very easy and a lot of people already have Paypal accounts. At this point you can send and receive money very safely from people who also have a paypal account. No credit card numbers are used, and Paypal provides many services for the small fees they earn, including dispute mediation. This is a great service, and if they take 5%, that's worth it, and you factor that expense into the business. Once you have everything set up, people can pay you for lessons very easily, without entering credit card information to some unknown site on the other side of the world. All they need to do is go to the Paypal site, log in and select to send e.g. $10 to your e-mail address. If they have some balance left in their Paypal account, it debits from there, and anything more that's needed is taken from their bank account. You will receive an e-mail confirming this in minutes, so you KNOW they have done it, then the money will appear in your bank account with some delay, but you can feel quite reasonably sure you will get it. So you can have people pay at the start of a lesson, and get to work right away. You must have a tiny contract, a short and fair "agreement form" that people must click "agree" to before you will work with them, so they don't make trouble with Paypal, claiming the lesson was not perfect, and demand their money back. All it takes is one or two idiots to give you a bad reputation and make your life miserable. You need to have a clear policy. Clients and you must agree for instance that if they truly don't like a session, a refund of half the charge less currency exchange and other fees, will be OK with both sides, and that if you cannot provide a session on time, you will refund whatever they paid ahead in full. Use your head, make it fair and make it very short and simple, it's supposed to be a handshake. Each country and each bank may impose delays, fees and limitations on how fast money makes it into your bank account, and you will have to test this out with friends in other countries, how long it takes, and how much money you will pay in percentages along the way. In some countries it can take a couple of days. But you WILL get it. The fundamental issue of how to receive payment without the risks or complications of credit cards is solved. Paypal does currency conversions of course. 9) Now you check your Skype connection and all the little things like the microphone for the oud. You must have a good screen so you can see your student very well, and your camera and microphone set up so they can see you very well. Good sound and lighting make all the difference between amateurish and pleasantly professional. 10) The best way would be to offer a few lessons for free at first so you have some opportunity to test everything (and make friends). 11) You work out a price sheet for different services, maybe 15 minute sessions for specific questions, and a half-hour and full hour units cheaper for people who want regular lessons. Of course some regions and people may have very low ability to pay, so you can offer discounts privately when people contact you, but you also have your own needs, so you have to work out practical prices. Yet I think you want even young people to use your service without hesitating too much, so I would propose one to one instruction at $6 or 4 Euros for a 15 minute session, $9 or 6 Euros for 1/2 hour and $15 or 10 Euros for an hour. That may seem too low to some, and too high to others, and if that's the case, it's probably about right These are not times of easy spending, and I'm trying to think globally. I know I
would spend $9 for a half hour lesson several times, but at $25 per session, I wouldn't do it more than once or twice. You can offer blocks at some
discount to get a little cash ahead, for instance 5 hours for 40 Euros or $60, and that can be used by the client as 15 minute consults, or 1/2
lessons or whatever. Better to have many lessons at $15 than one at $30. In any case, no big worries, you decide what you think will work, members here may have some pricing suggestions, AND you can always adjust prices as you go. 12) Once you figure everything out, and have it working, you can enroll other teachers so you don't have to be on Skype at all hours, you can find a local tutor in the Middle East, another in the UK, another in Japan, and one in the US, and you have the whole planet covered. You can arrange with famous players, or specialists in specific styles, or even Oud-Makers and Luthiers, to be available for special sessions at certain times, and they would gladly work with you because they wouldn't have to do anything except have a laptop with a network connection, and you'd handle all the scheduling, collecting money and promotion. If you have someone to help you with your web site right away, or later when you do, you can set up the payment via Paypal directly from within your own web site, like e-bay does. At first you may operate scheduling on an e-mail basis. John sends you an e-mail and you make arrangements for a lesson, or schedule a skype call, but as soon as you can afford to have some web site development done, you should have a schedule/calendar system, on one of your web pages, where people can come in and select appointment times in the general times that you have indicated are available, and the software can handle the rest. If you get a bit of a clientele world-wide, you can walk to your computer with your wake-up coffee and your workday/night will be already filled in on the schedule/calendar, with payments already in Paypal. For some reason I see interactive individual lessons as a better place to start, but the last issue is group classes. Some service must provide group two-way videoconferencing, in fact a friend is working on such a system, it's essential for business meetings. I have not looked into whether Skype offers it. Yes, Netmeeting in Windows is usable, but old and creaky (I know, I worked on it for Microsoft). There will be better solutions. Even the simplest form, namely pre-recorded material, would allow you to teach classes in theory much as in a classroom, where students can watch and hear, but not interact, and this should be available for playback at any hour, free for your regular clients? Of course, promotion is very important when you are starting out, and you may decide that you want to offer some prerecorded material at first at no charge to everyone, so people can become acquainted with your teaching style and your friendly smile, to want to take individual classes There are other services that you might offer, such as transcription of recordings and conversion of scores to MIDI or sound recordings, whatever you or others here might think of. Like all small businesses, it takes a lot of work at first, and you have to love what you're doing, or you will never put in the effort. Hassan, I hope you take the next steps. As Sazi says, this would be a great benefit, especially to the many people who are starting out with no teacher nearby, and if the services and the prices work out for everyone concerned, you could have a good little business here! |
| Quote: Originally posted by hy19002000 |
| Quote: Originally posted by ameer |
| Quote: Originally posted by Sazi |
| Quote: Originally posted by hy19002000 |
| Quote: |
... and some people
might prefer shorter lessons for several reasons.| Quote: |
| Quote: Originally posted by ameer |
| Quote: Originally posted by hy19002000 |
| Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud |
| Quote: Originally posted by Aymara | |
there is no problem may i make this as a special offer for this forum`s members
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| Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud |
| So we're agreed that the word "Arabian" is a happy way to describe this music? Hassan, just don't get discouraged if it takes time for people to sign up. In America, anyway, people circle a car they are thinking of buying for a long time, and examine it. It's called "kicking the tires", because people will often do that, maybe to make sure they don't fall off right away |