{"id":1647,"date":"2014-04-02T19:10:45","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T19:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/?p=1647"},"modified":"2025-04-08T15:36:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T15:36:42","slug":"ignorance-is-bliss-when-you-own-a-dance-studio-in-the-internet-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/2014\/04\/02\/ignorance-is-bliss-when-you-own-a-dance-studio-in-the-internet-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Ignorance is bliss when you own a dance studio in the Internet age"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Henderson.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s April and you know what that means.\u00a0 It\u2019s the time of year that jealousy and envy peak at your dance studio due to dance competition results. As studio owners, we find ourselves in some strange situations with our customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some things I\u2019ve learned in the past 15 years of owning dance studios:<\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Try not to be \u201cbesties\u201d with your customers<\/b>.\u00a0 There are exceptions, of course, but I\u2019ve learned something over the years.\u00a0 The customers that want<\/span> need<\/i> to be my friend are the people who might try to socially engineer their child into a more advanced<\/span> popular<\/i> group of dancers.\u00a0 In most cases this will end badly.\u00a0 Parents might not understand that a dance education is an incredibly long pursuit.\u00a0 If a parent\u2019s child is not on the same level as her peers today it\u2019s difficult for them to understand that by the time the dancer is 17 or 18 she\u2019ll be one of the few remaining seniors at the studio, and likely one of the best dancers.\u00a0 No amount of social manipulation along the way is going to speed up the training process resulting in their dancer performing in the \u201cfront row\u201d, or with the \u201cadvanced group\u201d that always wins \u201cPlatinum\u201d and \u201cOverall High Score\u201d.\u00a0 That\u2019s not what dance education is about.<\/span><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Friend your employees at your own risk<\/b>.\u00a0 This one is a bit more difficult to manage.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually nearly impossible because life as a dance studio owner is literally your entire life<\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0 There isn\u2019t much room for anything else and once you\u2019ve signed that lease, you\u2019re in it for the long haul.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s up to you to please the customers, the employees, your landlord, the utilities and good ol\u2019 Uncle Sam.\u00a0 You end up hanging out with your staff and customers because those are the only people you know<\/i>. When the time comes for you to discipline, manage, counsel, control or advise your employee, who is also your \u201cfriend\u201d, chaos ensues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tension lasts a long time if you are unable to communicate your feelings and desires.\u00a0 Most of us aren\u2019t that great at communicating\u2026especially if we\u2019re conflicted. \u00a0Hurt feelings result in festering tension.\u00a0 Stress increases and the work environment becomes unbearable to the point where something has to give.\u00a0 If the \u201crelease\u201d is your employee running off with 300 of your students to open a studio down the street, don\u2019t be surprised.<\/span><\/p>\n

Advice: confront hurt feelings and tension immediately.\u00a0 Just express your feelings and let them express theirs.\u00a0 That\u2019s all there is to it.\u00a0 The truth shall set you free, but tension will set half of your students free to run off with their new best friend \u2013 your favorite ex-instructor.<\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eliminate students and families that don\u2019t fit into your program immediately.<\/b>\u00a0 You know who you<\/i> are, right?\u00a0 You know what type of program you\u2019re<\/i> running, right?\u00a0 You know how to teach dance, right?\u00a0 If you\u2019ve explained your program to a student or a parent and they don\u2019t like it, do them and yourself a favor and let them go.\u00a0 Give them a refund (whatever they want) and point them in the direction of the studio down the street.\u00a0 Remember this: It\u2019s okay to lose a student if it makes your life less stressful<\/b>.\u00a0 You know why?\u00a0 Students are like dolphins.\u00a0 They can sense and feel your stress and tension.\u00a0 If you\u2019re tense, they will feel it. \u00a0If you\u2019re carefree and happy you\u2019ll attract dozens of other carefree and happy dancers to your studio.\u00a0 What\u2019s that saying?\u00a0 Misery loves company?\u00a0 If you\u2019re miserable you\u2019ll attract other miserable people to your studio. So do everything in your power to rid negativity from your life.<\/span><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unfriend. Block.\u00a0 Go dark<\/b>.\u00a0 Despite your best intentions, betrayal will happen to you.\u00a0 Or should I say, what feels like betrayal will happen to you?\u00a0 It\u2019s inevitable like death and taxes.\u00a0 When it becomes obvious that a parent, dancer or employee really is \u201cout to get you\u201d, either because of a misunderstanding or an honest feeling of contempt on their part, it can feel terrible. \u00a0Furthermore, if they insist on recruiting other parents, dancers or employees to join them in their quest to hurt you, completely ignoring and dismissing them is surely the most divine retribution if<\/i><\/b> you have the strength to pull it off.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it works in the Internet\/Social Media age: Unfriend.\u00a0 Block.\u00a0 Go dark.\u00a0 Do not post ANYTHING on social media for at least a week, until the fury has subsided.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because anything you post can and will be used against you.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaters are gonna hate\u201d, and your posts are the only fuel they have.\u00a0 It\u2019s all<\/i><\/b> they need to perpetuate drama. When you post something positive to your Facebook page to make yourself feel better, like\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

“Be bold enough to use your voice, brave enough to listen to your heart, and strong enough to live the life you\u2019ve always imagined.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Your haters are going to immediately post something derogatory aimed at hurting your feelings and damaging your business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Negative comments on social media are entertainment<\/i><\/b> for the people who read them and comment further and they exacerbate your<\/i> pain\u2026but only if you read them.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to immediately unfriend, block and ignore these people and their accomplices from all social media.\u00a0 And, I mean immediately.\u00a0 Did I say immediately?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Immediately.\u00a0 Do it within 2 minutes of the \u201cnews\u201d, actually.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know what you\u2019re thinking.\u00a0 You\u2019re thinking that you must monitor what is being said about you and your business on social media.\u00a0 No you don\u2019t.\u00a0 The only reason those people are posting is because YOU\u2019RE reading their posts!\u00a0 It\u2019s like the tree falling in the forest.\u00a0 Does it make a sound if nobody is there to hear it?\u00a0 Who knows?\u00a0 Does a post or comment hurt your feelings if you don\u2019t know about it?\u00a0 The definitive answer is, no<\/b>, it does not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Resist the urge to keep them in your network because you want to spy on them.\u00a0 Spying on them<\/i> allows them to spy on you<\/i>.\u00a0 And, guess what. YOU are the glue that holds that network together in the first place.\u00a0 Once you\u2019re out of it, the influence of the entire network is completely eliminated and if they know you can\u2019t see their posts they stop posting.\u00a0 It takes, on average, 3 days for them to get bored and move on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of falling into the trap of social media obsession, here is what you do instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Go teach a class.<\/span><\/p>\n

Realize in that moment that the students that are in the class are there because they love you.\u00a0 Picture them in your mind now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Count them.\u00a0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8<\/i><\/b>, 9, 10, 11, 12\u2026..<\/span><\/p>\n

Count them all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Go to your studio management software system and run the ego boosting \u201cNumber of Students Currently Enrolled in at Least One Class<\/i>\u201d report.<\/span><\/p>\n

See how many dancers are still enrolled?<\/span><\/p>\n

Look at the number.\u00a0 What is it?\u00a0 43? 102?\u00a0 227?\u00a0 415?\u00a0 817?<\/span><\/p>\n

Those are the dancers and families that still matter.\u00a0 The people that quit or are fired don\u2019t matter anymore, you need to move on.<\/span><\/p>\n

What the haters say on social media about you doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Trust me.\u00a0 As a marketing expert I will tell you that without spending a small fortune it\u2019s impossible to get more than a handful of people to read your posts anyway.\u00a0 Your business won\u2019t be ruined forever by one or two viscous threads.<\/span><\/p>\n

What matters is each student that is still enrolled.<\/span><\/p>\n

Get back in there!<\/span><\/p>\n

Teach them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enjoy them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Love them.<\/span><\/p>\n

They love you and that is why they are still there.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Paul Henderson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

About Paul Henderson<\/strong>
\nPaul Henderson is an expert on administrative technologies for the dance industry and has been around the business for almost 30 years. His sisters were elite state champion gymnasts and dancers and his mother owned a dance studio and eventually a dancewear store. He managed the dancewear store for a few years before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. He and his wife, Tiffany, currently own and operate Twinkle Star Dance\"\u2122\"<\/span><\/a><\/span> – an online choreography and curriculum system for recreational dancers ages 2-11; seven successful dance studios in Northern California (www.tiffanydance.com<\/span><\/a><\/span>) and one in Southern California. Tiffany\u2019s Dance Academy\u2019s annual enrollment of over 4,500 students caused Paul to invent ways to automate most of the day-to-day business transactions that take up so much of a studio owner\/instructor’s time. Paul’s goal has always been to smooth out the business side of the dance studios so that his wife can spend more time in the studio doing what she loves\u2026teaching. Automating online registration and monthly automatic tuition payments was achieved eight years ago but perhaps the most revolutionary invention is his web-based application – CostumeManager.com<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

About CostumeManager.com<\/span><\/a>
\n<\/strong>For the past six years, Paul Henderson has worked tirelessly with most of the major costume and dancewear manufacturers to consolidate their catalogs into one searchable website. Developing relationships with these companies has been crucial to the success of CostumeManager.com and his efforts have paid off for studios all across the United States and Canada. <\/strong>By creating one searchable website, it is possible for a studio owner to browse all catalogs simultaneously, assign items that they like to a dance class, establish their profit margin, create an online store or print a color worksheet for dancers explaining how they can order their required and or\/optional items online or via toll free telephone. Dancers purchase their items securely online and CostumeManager.com orders, receives, sorts and ships the individually packaged items to the studio owner. The studio owner or instructor cashes their “commission” check, hands the bags of goods to the dancer and goes back to teaching. <\/strong>CostumeManager.com eliminates 90% of the work and all the worry associated with distributing costumes and dancewear to dancers while preserving all of the profit margin\u2026if not more.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

To connect with Paul Henderson and CostumeManager visit www.CostumeManager.com<\/span><\/a>, www.TwinkleStarDance.com<\/span><\/a>, or www.TiffanyDance.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Ignorance is bliss when you own a dance studio in the Internet age<\/a> appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Henderson. It\u2019s April and you know what that means.\u00a0 It\u2019s the time of year that jealousy and envy peak at your dance studio due to dance competition results. As studio owners, we find ourselves in some strange situations… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1647"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1647"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1649,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1647\/revisions\/1649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}