I am always curious to hear how other pianopreneurs make money using their creativity and skills. I hope this quick overview of my streams of income is inspiring and helpful to other pianopreneurs out there.
In this article I’ll be describing my various streams of income and comparing them percentage-wise. If you’re curious to hear actual numbers, check out my YouTube video where I share my average monthly income from each source.
What Are My 6 Streams of Income?
Currently I own a business and create resources. To break that down further, my six streams of income are:
- Teaching piano lessons
- Running a piano lesson studio
- Earning cashback rewards on my purchases for the business
- Selling piano teacher resources on TeachersPayTeachers
- Selling sheet music on SheetMusicPlus, SheetMusicDirect and MusicNotes
- Selling piano method books through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing
My #1 Income Stream
By far, my top income stream is the piano lessons that I teach. I currently have 30 piano students. Many are private students, and the rest are either partner or group lesson students.
I spend 7.5 hours per week teaching lessons currently. This is not counting preparation or administrative tasks.
Why Diversify Your Streams of Income as a Piano Teacher
Trading Time For Money
While being a piano teacher has a very high per-hour rate, it is still trading time for money.
As a single mom, I really value those after-school hours I get to spend with my daughter. And unfortunately, those are the prime time teaching hours!
When my daughter reached elementary school, I decided to diversify my income so I could work more while she was in school, and build some passive income streams.
Security For the Future
On top of the time factor, we all know that the economy and, well, life can change in a short period time (I’m lookin’ at you, COVID-19).
Depending solely on in-person lessons could be risky. Although I’ve personally never experienced a shortage of students, even through COVID times, it could certainly happen.
Diversifying your streams of income provides a little bit of security in an unpredictable world.
Long Term Growth Plans
In my post If I Had to Start My Piano Teaching Business From Scratch, I talked about how I wished I had diversified my streams of income sooner.
The reason I wish I would’ve started sooner is that passive streams of income grow over time, sometimes exponentially.
The best time to start a new stream of income was yesterday. The next best time is today.
My #2 Income Stream: Hiring Teachers for My Studio
I was a one-teacher show for many years.
Two years ago, armed with a long waiting list of potential piano students, I decided to hire two teachers to work with me as part of my studio.
This started a whole venture. I was now a boss with employees. I had to find people to hire. I had to train them. I had to secure them a schedule of piano students. I had to provide what they needed to teach their students. I had to onboard the new families. And…I had to pay them!
That whole venture will likely be its own blog post, but for now, let’s just say that, although it was a big endeavor, it was worth it.
I wouldn’t exactly call this passive income, but I work less hours to make money from my studio because I’m not the one teaching the lessons.
After my own piano students, my studio (my hired teachers and their piano students) bring in a nice little portion of my monthly income.
My #3 Income Stream: Cashback Rewards
Are Rewards Programs Considered a Stream of Income?
I was shocked when I tallied up all of my income streams. I would not have thought that my various rewards programs would come in third place for my monthly streams of income!
I wasn’t even sure if I should count this! But if it reduces my costs for the business, I consider it a legitimate income stream.
And, more importantly, if sharing these rewards programs helps new piano teachers save some cash, then I’ll gladly add these to the list!
Chase Amazon Visa Rewards Card
I actually use the Chase Amazon Visa Rewards Card as my business credit card. It gets me 5% off all of my Amazon purchases, and my rewards points can be used on future Amazon purchases (which, to me, is as good as cash).
Because I use it solely for the business, I don’t really take advantage of the other rewards options. But it does offer:
- 5% back at Amazon, Whole Foods*, Chase Travel*
- 2% back at restaurants, gas stations, local transit and commuting
- 1% back everywhere else
*with Prime membership
It is really nice to let those rewards points build up and then stock up on things for the studio on Amazon. At the checkout page I use my points and sometimes get my order for free!
Rakuten
Rakuten is a cashback rewards program that pay cash to customers who use their browser extension when making online purchases.
If you’re shopping online, chances are you are already purchasing from one of their hundreds of affiliate brands.
By clicking on the extension, you’ll see the lowest price, any coupon codes you can apply, and, best of all, the percentage you’ll earn back.
Some sites, such as Target, kickback 1% of your purchase. But others can get you up to 20% back in cash on your purchase!
One site I use often is SheetMusicPlus.com, which gives me 8% cash back through their site. Plus, Rakuten gives me 4% cash back on top of that! [And because I’m paying with my rewards credit card, I’m getting 1% cash back on top of all that.]
Check out Rakuten to start saving on your online purchases.
My #4 Income Stream: TeachersPayTeachers
Just five months ago, I opened my store on TeachersPayTeachers (TPT). TPT is an online store where teachers sell resources to other teachers. It is mainly designed for classroom teachers, but there are private music instructors who shop there as well.
I have been creating my own resources for my piano students for over a decade. I figured, “Why not share them with others and make a little money on the side?”
I have to say, TeachersPayTeachers has been such a fun journey so far!
Currently I have 31 products in my store and I plan to create more over the course of the next year to build up my shop. Some products are free, many are $3.00 or under, and I have a couple of bigger bundles for sale.
If you want to check out my TPT store, it’s called, well, you guessed it–The Tattooed Piano Teacher.
My #5 Income Stream: Sheet Music Arrangements
My First Ever Passive Income Stream
This was actually the first passive income stream I ever started. I have been creating original and arranged solo piano sheet music titles for decades.
Year ago, I decided to list some of them on a site that no longer exists. Over the years, a few of my arrangements have generated over $100 over the years. A few others have made well under $100. And most others just bring in a dollar every now and then.
Where I Sell Sheet Music
Currently, I sell my original piano sheet music and arrangements on ArrangeMe, a division of Hal Leonard Music Publishing.
I also have a few arrangements for sale on MusicNotes.
Is It Worth It?
I have mixed feelings about selling sheet music as a passive income stream. Crafting a great piano arrangement, engraving it, adding details, making it look professional, listing it–it takes a lot of time!
For most titles, I get $0.50 every time it sells. Not much. If I spend hours creating a title and it only sells twice in five years, that’s not really worth my time.
But, if I spend a couple hours creating a title, and it sells 25 times a year for the next 5 years, that’s not bad as far as passive income goes.
The nice thing about it is once it’s listed, it is truly passive. I don’t have to do anything to maintain my current listings.
My #6 Income Stream: Curriculum (KDP)
My last sliver of the income pie is the piano method books I have created for sale on Amazon through their on-demand book printing service known as Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
Currently I have three books for sale:
- Piano Skill Set Goal Setting Assignment Book
- Key By Key Book 1: A Step-By-Step Approach to Unlocking Your Abilities and Creativity At the Piano
- Key By Key Book 2: A Step-By-Step Approach to Unlocking Your Abilities and Creativity At the Piano
To summarize, it’s a practice record book for piano students that I mostly sell to my own students, and a book 1 and 2 of an adult piano curriculum I designed.
The Key By Key books don’t really sell unless I recommend them to a student. I haven’t done anything in the way of marketing any of my books as of yet.
However, I am currently in the process of creating a full line of supplementary Theory and Technique Books called Piano Skill Set! I’m really excited about the prospect of sharing these books with you all. If you want to receive updates on that series, you can sign up for my Piano Skill Set email list.
Other Streams of Income
I have some other streams of income in the works that are currently not bringing me any income. I’m hoping that my efforts on these platforms will pay off in the long run!
Blogging
This has been a big project for me in 2023…this here blog, The Tattooed Piano Teacher!
I hope that my hours spent researching, writing, editing, posting, and building community are helping other piano teachers. If you have found value on this site, please leave a comment below!
Currently this blog does not bring in any income, which is totally fine. I did not start it to get rich! (And, let’s be honest, it’s never going to make me rich.)
But I do hope that in the future there will be some streams of income through this website that can help fund my continued efforts. Here are some possibilities for the future:
Ads
Yes, eventually I will add some subtle ads to the site to bring in a little side cash.
Affiliate Links
As of right now, I have yet to earn a penny through affiliate marketing. But I do mention and link to products and services if I really truly think that they will help the reader (and if I use them myself). Eventually, these may become affiliate links.
YouTube
While I do not currently meet YouTube’s requirements to monetize my channel, I hope that my efforts there will build a community big enough to qualify someday.
Once monetized, my channel may show before-video and after-video ads that will bring in a little extra revenue.
Coaching
In the past, I have offered mentoring, coaching, and consulting services to other piano teachers and business owners.
While I don’t currently have any clients, I would love to do this again as I found it very fulfilling to help another individual start or grow their business!
If you are interested in working with me one-on-one, please reach out to me directly through email: [email protected].
Which Income Stream Would You Try?
Comment below to let me know which of these streams of income you might try!
How Can You Help?
If you have read this far into my personal business journey, thank you! I appreciate my readers and viewers.
As I’m sure you’re aware, I currently pour hours into this blog and my YouTube channel with very little monetary gains. I’m okay with this because I love every moment of this journey! But to continue providing content, I do need to monetize here and there.
If you enjoy my content and want to see more, here are a few things YOU could do to help me grow and monetize!
- Use my links to purchase anything I mention in any blog post
- Visit this website regularly to help boost traffic
- Sign up for my email list
- Buy my resources on TeachersPayTeachers
- Subscribe to my YouTube channel
- Like and comment on my YouTube videos
- Email me if you’re interested in a coaching call: [email protected]
- Comment (anywhere) to ask questions or let me know what was helpful
Thank you, Piano Friend, from the bottom of my heart!