Case Study: Katie Dean Piano Studio

Like many business owners, when COVID19 hit, piano teacher Katie Dean's business model had to change, and fast. This case study looks at how she used Zoom to hit all the right notes so she could continue helping her students learn - and unexpectedly grew her market.

Doctor Digital Says

Katie Dean

Katie Dean

Katie Dean had been teaching piano to her students using the Australian developed Simply Music program for ten years when COVID19 hit, meaning she had to find a way to support her existing students without them coming into her studio to learn. Like many Tasmanian small businesses, her work had evolved from a passion, in Katie's case playing and teaching piano, to a thriving enterprise she ran from her Hobart based home studio. The need to teach remotely hadn't been a consideration for Katie until COVID19 limited social contact and the ability for her students to attend their lessons.

The remote learning challenge for a piano teacher was to be able to not only show the keyboard and fingering, but see the students as they practiced, and be able to connect with them and help them learn in a fun and engaging way. Zoom emerged as a perfect platform for Katie to be able to set up multiple camera views of herself, the student, and the keyboard, and capture audio and vision to recreate the home studio experience.

Using a couple of cameras to focus tightly on her keyboard and ensuring she had a clear view of her students, Katie found that students not only adapted to the Zoom piano lesson experience, but they also thrived, with many choosing to continue learning this way after the restrictions on social distancing were removed. There were lots of benefits for students including reduced travel time and being able to play on their own pianos in their own homes while still having access to their Katie as their trusted teacher and the Simply Music program.

Katie had never even heard of Zoom let alone used it when she first began her online teaching journey. She had used other digital tools including a website, Facebook and Instagram to promote her work and share the experiences of her students, but these were primarily for marketing and storytelling, not for conducting business. With the support of the Simply Music program proponents, Katie found Zoom easy to set up and use, and she quickly grew to love the convenience and reach it offered. Unexpectedly for Katie, one of the upsides of moving her teaching to an online platform has been the capacity to teach students from anywhere, and she now gives lessons as far away as Darwin and can teach anywhere in the world - giving her access to a much bigger market.

Could Zoom help your business to get online as it did for Katie Dean? Find out all about this online video conferencing platform in our Zoom factsheet. If you would like to get support in your businesses journey to be digital ready, why not book a free session with one of our friendly coaches.

Watch this case study to learn how Katie Dean moved her business from face-to-face to online with Zoom.

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