The actual voice lesson is the fun part. You’re sitting at the piano, your student is standing nearby (or on your video conference screen), and you’ve got a plan: warmups, vocalizes, posture and alignment, and then the lit. Oh, and let’s not forget about the few minutes of catching up and group therapy. You’re excited about what discoveries you and your student are going to make today.
The lessons concludes and then there can be this odd moment of handling payment! I get it. Asking for money can be awkward. A lot of that awkwardness comes from HOW voice teachers do their billing.
Some gather checks. Have you ever heard any of these: I forgot my checkbook. Sorry, mom forgot to give me a check. We moved, and we need to order more checks. The BIGGEST problem with checks is you have to deposit them! Yeah, you can scan both sides of the check and do a mobile deposit … but is that easy?
Some pay cash. Ok, if you’re worried about awkward … this is the most awkward. Whenever cash is exchanged hand to hand, I always feel like I should be standing behind a Walmart at 3am wearing all black.
Some mail in checks. If you’re asking people to mail you checks, you need to watch this video from Ryan Hamilton about what it’s like to send something by mail (in his case, he’s trying to cancel a gym membership).
And some use a digital payment method. There are many to choose from: Venmo, Apple Pay, PayPal, and others. This is a GREAT option.
For a private voice studio … I think Venmo is the best option. Here are the many reasons why you should consider switching ALL payment methods to Venmo …
Venmo is widely used
Venmo is a tool that a lot of people already use on a frequent basis. This is great for you because you won’t have to train people on how to use it, and they won’t feel like they have to “add another app” to their phone.
Venmo is easy
You connect with your student—or their benefactor (mom)—through the app. You type in a dollar amount. You type in a note like, “November voice lessons.” You tap REQUEST. They get a notification on their phone. It takes them 3 seconds and 3 taps and you’ve got your money! Venmo also lets you know that you got paid.
Reconciliation is easy
Reconciliation is a banking term I heard once. 🙂 I think this is the process of measuring what you invoiced against what you actually collected. By going to venmo.com on your computer, you can download statements, and see if anyone ghosted your payment requests.
Setting up a Venmo account is very easy. Go to your app store and download VENMO. It takes about 3 minutes.
Whether it’s Venmo, Apple Pay, PayPal, or a more robust option like Square, Stripe, or a personal e-commerce website … digital payments is where it’s at. Let Venmo (or it’s ilk) take care of the billing so you can focus on the fun stuff.