JUNE 14 I PROMOTION I BY MYRNA SISLEN
The Music Lessons Groupon

"It's summertime. People are going on vacations, and there are a lot fewer students in our music lessons program. So, I did a Groupon with a time frame.

"It's for either two guitar or two piano lessons. It covers the registration fee and the book — in this case, I used a Hal Leonard book.

"The Groupon went out on May 29 and will expire on Sept. 1. People pay $59. And if somebody calls and says they would rather take a voice lesson instead of piano or guitar, I say, 'Of course.'

"I limited it to 200 people since we have to accommodate all those new lessons, and we got 155 to participate, which is good. I did not put 'new customers only' on the Groupon, so about five people who are already taking lessons here used it, too. But I got about 150 new customers. And a lot of people have told me they've seen the Groupon.

"I receive 25 percent of the asking price on the Groupon, so no matter how you slice it, you don't make money on the actual promotion.

"But this way, my teachers are still making money. I'm helping support them during the summertime. And the first person who came in to have her two lessons didn't need the method book, so she put that amount toward a $99 guitar case. Also, one of the other Groupon people has already signed up for a full schedule of lessons, and it's only been a week since the promotion.

"We would be too busy to do this promotion during the school year. But during the summertime, people's schedules are more relaxed, and we can space the new students out throughout the whole summer.

"I'm sure I'll at least break even on this, if not do better. It's a win, win, win."