Name of your website?Duet Vocal Academy
Your name?
Stephanie
Your Location (city, etc)
Gaithersburg
Please give us a short summary of your website?
We teach private voice lessons, group voice class, audition masterclasses, and scenes classes. Our website talks about who we are, what we do, and our schedule of classes. We teach all ages, styles and levels of singers.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
We have been slowly growing in the area and wanted to launch a website to help get the word out to the local communities and schools. A website is a great place to get the basic information and see what we do.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
We launched the first working version of our website a couple of weeks ago.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
This company was created by two singers - hence a duet - Duet Vocal Academy is a singing school started by two people.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
We offer group classes and performance masterclasses in addition to private voice lessons. You can learn in a relaxed group setting and learn from your peers as well as take private instruction. We have a team teaching method in our group classes that is very unique as well.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
We want to reach out to as many singers in the area as well can - build on our class offerings and provide opportunities for people of all ages to learn and feel comfortable singing in front of others. This is a source of income for us, but we also want it to grow into a school and center for the singing arts.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
We bring in our income based on the amount of time we spend with students and this has to be balanced against the expenses of piano players and renting locations to perform. It's a challenge but a worthy one when it comes to arts education. We've been successful at keeping our business profitable and our time reasonably spent.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
We would have our own building and location in which to teach. It would include private voice studios as well as a recital hall for concerts and theatrical productions.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
We have a great web person helping us - and since our site is just a way to communicate with us and learn about who we are, I can't imagine it would get out of control.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Facilities suddenly believing they can charge us a lot of money for space, or making demands we can't meet.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting the word out about what we do and being able to adequately explain our classes in a way that excites people. Our mission to teach singing. Often, singers are intimidated by singing in front of others. We have to find ways to help them recognize their own internal strength and talent.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
E-mails to our friends and colleagues, sending out postcards in the mail.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
So far, it's meeting our expectations.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
A couple of months - We will keep it up as long as we stay in business.
What is your favorite type of music?
Musical Theatre and Opera
What is your website address?
Duet Vocal Academy
