Are you using goals, strategies, and tactics look like in your music studio? Maybe “I need more students” is the first thing that comes to mind when you see the word “goal.” And it makes sense. Your goal might be to up studio enrollment. Maybe it’s to start a new group class or launch a new online course. Whatever the GOAL… it’s crucial to get clear on two specific things:

1. Your overall strategy to achieve that goal.
2. The tactics you’ll use to support that strategy.

Goals… strategies… tactics…

They might seem like they’re all the same things, right? They’re not. Too often when we think about making “goals” for our businesses, we simply make a list of things that we’d like to see, tack that list up onto a bulletin board, and then hope that seeing it on the daily will inspire us to take action.

(Or we stuff that piece of paper into a planner or drawer.)

Writing down a list of goals isn’t enough.

Identifying your goals is important, but if we stop after making that list, and if we don’t really get strategic about how we’re going to make those goals into a reality… well, then nothing changes. And that goal doesn’t get realized. That’s why it’s crucial to take our goals into the next phases: where we get serious about developing strategies and we identify the tactics that will help support that strategy.

Sounds a bit complicated, right? It doesn’t have to be. And Seth Godin got me thinking about this.

In this broadcast I’ll break down what I mean by goals, strategies, and tactics, and detail specific ways that we can learn to develop strategic marketing to feed our studios and online music businesses.

Show Notes from the Broadcast:

Before you make business goals, it’s important to understand what these three words mean, and how they interplay with one another. Here’s a break down of the content in the video:

1. Goal Setting:

The first step is to figure out your goal. This is the change you seek to make in the world: the ultimate destination. It’s where you want to be. Goals can be focused and tangible, such as “I want to book 10 more voice students in my music studio by the end of Q1,” or they can be larger concepts that will take more time and systems to measure, such as “I want to become known as an expert in the musical theatre audition realm” or “I want to make a difference in the lives of all the students that I work with.”

2. Getting Strategic

Once you’ve defined your goal, now it’s time to work on your strategy: the long-term plan to reach that goal. Think of it like a tent or umbrella. The strategy breaks down the goal into different areas, for example: if you want to get 10 students, then your strategy might involve defining the areas in your business that will need attention. That might mean shoring up your student inquiry process, scheduling time during your week when you are focused on reaching out to people and places where you might find new students, and making sure that your systems are in place for marketing and advertising.

3. Developing Tactics:

Now that you’ve got a strategy, you can break it down into doable tasks. Your tactics are the ACTUAL steps that you take to get to that goal. They support your strategy. If you’re looking for new students, that might include posting in FB groups on a regular basis, getting new reviews on your social media sites and your Google My Business listing, distributing advertising materials, and reaching out to current clients to remind them about referral programs. Here’s the beauty about tactics: if one fails it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t mean that the strategy or goal isn’t reachable, it just means that the tactics need to shift.

How does this change the way you’re going to plan in your music studio?

Now that you’ve had a crash course in goals, strategies, and tactics — how will this change the way you make plans in your studio? I’d love to know your biggest #takeaways and hear about your current studio goals. Hit me up with questions and comments!

And hey, if you want to know more about goal setting when it comes to making a BIGGER impact in your studio, check out this post.

Thanks for reading and listening! Stay savvy, stay you.