The Tutor Podcast

The comfort zone can be alluring and comfortable, however staying within your comfort zone comes with many limitations. Join Neil today as how you can flourish, so long as you escape the comfort trap. Discover how you can be an example of possibility to your students, how to escape your comfort zone and why you should not waste your energy on menial things. KEY TAKEAWAYS The comfort zone is popular and alluring. However, it is distracting and impoverishing. Staying in your comfort zone will do nothing for you, it doesn’t serve you and it removes all possibility of doing something new, interesting and surprising. Don’t buy it, don’t waste your precious energy on the trivia of homes, cars and TV. These are the things that will pull you away from new challenges. We’ve been fed this idea that sitting back and chilling out is The Dream and that we should aspire to be pampered and live an “easy life”. You need a reason to get out of bed in the morning, to square up to life and say “bring it on, I’ve got this!”. Can you Imagine a life of ease and comfort, a life without challenge or risk and , as a result , devoid of growth and fulfilment? You’re there to teach and help your students and clients, and the very best way to do that is to be an example of possibility. And that example is individual and unique to each one of us, to every member of our Tribes. Within your fields, you are the leaders of our tribes. If you find yourself in the comfort trap, do something about it. Get out of your comfort zone and go do something that makes you feel a little bit anxious. Sign up for a challenge, step away from the TV and do something, pick up your guitar, do anything that moves you in the right direction. BEST MOMENTS “it isn’t about the money: it’s about The Challenge and staying out of my comfort zone.” “Gimme a challenge, tell me I can’t do something and I’ll prove you wrong.” “If a lot of people do something, that doesn’t make it right.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Discover today how you can design your own failure, which can help you spot your route to success. Join Neil as he shares a fool proof way to stop yourself from feeling overworked and underpaid. By identifying areas in your life you are failing in such as time management, passive income streams and lack of students you can flip your life around and get back on the road to success. KEY TAKEAWAYS It is great to plan things ahead whether that be daily, monthly, yearly or five yearly. Planning gives you a mindset of possibility and helps provide milestones to identify progression. If you are struggling to fit things into your days and are stuck trading your time for money, there are systems that can help you. Write down the system that produces lack of wealth, overwork and frustration in the center of a piece of paper. Things such as: not having long term goals; not having a strategic plan and making sure you get lost in the little things. Identify your time management issues. Things such as not planning, letting your business run you and having no routine can affect the way you feel and frustrations and overwhelm can occur. Identify how you make your money, do you have passive income streams? Write down how you are not making money from investment or creating products such as podcasts or books. Even things such as hoarding and not selling your old items on Ebay can help you identify potential areas for improvement. Once everything is written down, you are able to see what is going on, or not and you are able to identify areas of your life which need addressing. Think on paper and design a system that guarantees failure, so you know how you can succeed. BEST MOMENTS “I love planning.” “I love to disrupt the status quo.” “A mind map of things not to do.” “Drag your bullshit out into the open and slaughter it.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Discover the sleeker, faster, less demanding and free operating system ready to rival Windows. Join Neil as he discusses the advantages Linux, the open source operating system that outperforms Windows in more ways than one from its cost efficiency to its reliability is Linux beginning to take over? KEY TAKEAWAYS Linux is the open source OS that outperforms Windows, runs on low-spec machines, and never ruins your day with another infuriating auto-update.The most obvious advantage is that Linux is free whereas Windows is not. Windows license cost is different for both desktop and server versions. In the case of Linux OS either it can be desktop or server and still costs nothing. Windows OS is one of the simplest desktop OS available today. Its graphical user-friendliness is exceptional – but Linux distros like Ubuntu, Elementary OS, Linux Mint, etc. are catching up, aiming to make the transition from Windows to Linux smooth and easy. Linux systems consume fewer system resources (RAM, disk space, etc.) when compared to Windows. Many Hardware vendors have realized the popularity of Linux and have started making Linux compliant hardware/drivers. But the big thing is this: when running older hardware, Windows is slower than the leaner, slicker Linux. This is why you might want to Keep your old PC and run it on Linux Linux is everywhere. From the smallest device to the largest supercomputer, Linux is everywhere. It can be a car, router, phone, medical devices, plane, TV, satellite, watch, or school tablet, Linux will be there. It’s used so much because it works better than anything else – chances are it’ll work for you and your soon-to-be-obsolete machines too. BEST MOMENTS “The most obvious advantage is that Linux is free whereas Windows is not” “We’ve covered Windows updates before on the show – and the chaos they can inflict!” “Geek alert, Linux allows a user to control every aspect of the operating system.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

A few short weeks ago Microsoft announced the release of its new Windows version and at first, everything seemed wonderful! Join Neil today as he discusses the pros and cons of the new Windows 11 platform and whether it's a benefit to you or not. Neil discusses how Windows 11 claims it will enhance your productivity, the new features of the platform such as being able to resume what you were doing after an interruption and why your computer may not like the new update. KEY TAKEAWAYS When Microsoft announced the advent of its new version of Windows on June 24, 2021, it seemed fairly innocuous. The interface will be beautiful, the Microsoft managers doing the presentation said stridently. Corners would be gently rounded, some menus would be translucent and there would be changes, such as moving the Windows start button to the center bottom of the screen. They also said that it would be more secure. According to the announcement, Windows 11 will enhance user productivity with features such as being able to resume what you were doing following an interruption, even if that interruption means leaving and shutting down your computer. It will allow sessions to pick up on a different computer, or if you have a computer that has a removable tablet screen, Windows will adjust and let you carry on. Your existing computers may not work with it. Financial cost and environmental impact of all those discarded computers. It must be capable of supporting UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) which has replaced the BIOS on newer computers, and must be capable of supporting Secure Boot. Some computer manufacturers may be able to make their computers compatible through updates. And even if not, Windows 10 will still be supported until 2025, which is plenty of time to decide whether you’re going to upgrade your computer or maybe switch to a Macintosh, go over to Linux or watch for new developments. BEST MOMENTS “It's still a clean, fairly simple interface.” “Unfortunately, the bright side of Windows 11 comes at a cost.” “Chuffed to have your computer made obsolete by an upgrade that delivers more and more of what you don’t really want?” View The Announcement Here: Windows 11 Announcement View The Video Presentation Here: Windows 11 Video Presentation VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Discover today a simple yet effective tutoring tool that is really important in ensuring your students are comfortable, relaxed and successful in their field, whatever it is you teach, this technique will help you. Neil discusses how ‘playing pretend’ can encourage your students to relax, how eliminating their fears of failure can help with their confidence and why imagination can become reality. KEY TAKEAWAYS A simple yet effective way of helping to teach your students is by playing ‘play pretend’. It gets the need to be right out of the way, along with their ego and allows students to go inside themselves to find the answer. If a student does not know what they are doing, simply ask them to pretend that they are able to. It does not matter how good or bad they are since they are only pretending. They always pretend to be better than they consciously play, the fear of failure or embarrassment is gone and they can access their resources much better. This strategy works with students of all ages who have been convinced they have “no talent”, no sense of rhythm, no musical ability. These are all the other limiting beliefs they were handed down from well-meaning people who didn’t realise the damage inflicted by a flippant remark or judgemental comment. As a tutor of anything, be it math, music, science, languages etc, this is one teaching tool that is really important to the success of your students. If a student can’t get to what they need via conscious pathway, they can usually imagine a better way. BEST MOMENTS “the fear of failure or embarrassment is gone and they can access their resources much better.” “perhaps pretend that their fingers were made of mist or smoke” “This works great for them.” “This is one teaching tool you really don’t want to leave home without.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Knowing and understanding your ideal student is vital to your business’ success, find out today how you can identify your ideal client and how you can strategically market your business to be the leading service provider for that demographic. Neil discusses the benefits of knowing your client, why testing is important and what qualities to look for to discover them. KEY TAKEAWAYS There are many reasons why choosing your ideal customer is important. By choosing who your ideal student is you will get more pleasure and purpose from your work. You can offer a better service as well as optimal pricing. It’s vitally important that you know what your ideal client looks like, what they do, and what they want, so think about their age, gender, profession and income. It is also important to consider their desired outcome and where they hang out in their free time. Once you know your market, you can market yourself to your ideal client/student, and in turn market for that demographic and become the premium service provider. Knowing your dream customer is vital to your business’ success. It will benefit you greatly to give this some time and thought, because your ideal customers make life easy and a lot more fun. BEST MOMENTS “Who are your tribe?” “confirm that your dream client really is your dream client after all.” “Because I’m not just working with anyone with a pulse and the necessary money” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Have you ever looked back on your tutoring or teaching journey and thought about what it has taught you rather than what you have taught others? Join Neil in today’s episode as he does exactly that. Neil talks through how he stumbled into the world of tutoring, how teaching often has a habit of producing unexpected consequences and how it can allow you to become more self-aware. KEY TAKEAWAYS Teaching has a habit of producing unexpected consequences, usually out of leftfield, emerging from our blindpsots where they’ve been hiding for ages, waiting for the moment to be right to show themselves. Neil started teaching in 1999 after constant requests from customers in the music shop he partly owned. It was uncomfortable but it got easier as Neil became better at teaching. He found it to be a lot more fun than his finance job as he was able to help people grow and become who they wanted to be. When we teach, we reach deep into our own psyche, better to understand our students, and in doing so we become more self-aware, realising that we are all more alike than we are different. Neil thinks of teaching as reaching back to the members of his tribe who are on the same trail he has walked. He believes that teaching work is to reveal what is most needed by your students, and that experience in turn reveals us to yourselves. BEST MOMENTS “I shared my love affair with the guitar” “I became more of who I wanted to be” “I’m more truly myself when I’m teaching, I believe” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Have you waited to be perfect, and watched someone with less ability and worse skills step in and take the prize that was yours? Join Neil today to discover why you should never aim to be perfect, only gloriously imperfect. Neil discusses why perfection is a toxic myth, why waiting for perfection may mean you miss out on achieving your dreams and why imperfection acts as a springboard to better. KEY TAKEAWAYS A toxic myth – affecting you as tutors and teachers, in your lives as entrepreneurs and in the ordinary world is to aim for perfection. Perfection is the highest possible state of a thing, there is no growth to be done as it’s already at its ultimate state. Too many people wait for the perfect moment and It’ll never happen. As people wait they get older and sooner or later will die – perhaps wishing they hadn’t waited so long to get started or never got started at all. Perfection is a great lie, told to keep us in line by making us fear that it is bad to not strive for perfection. The importance placed on being perfect is toxic. Propagated by people who mean to protect us from the knocks and bumps of trying. They mean well, but if we wait to be perfect we cannot grow, evolve, try, or succeed. Imperfect is a way of life and acts as a springboard to better. Nobody is perfect. Nobody ever. Perfect must die and instead you should aim to be gloriously imperfect. BEST MOMENTS “There’ll never be a perfect time or right time” “Jump and grow your wings on the way down” “I advocate Glorious Imperfection!” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Have you ever suffered from imposter syndrome, and thought that someday, someone is going to think that you do not know what you are doing? Join Neil today as he discusses how feelings of self-doubt are normal and how to overcome them. Discover why experiencing imposter syndrome is usually because you cannot quite believe the life you are living is yours, how reprogramming yourself can help overcome self sabotage and why you should never lower your expectations or standards. KEY TAKEAWAYS No matter how long you have been tutoring or mentoring for, from time to time you will have experienced moments of self-doubt and thought that perhaps people think you do not know what you are doing. There is nobody who is making their own way in the world that has not experienced this before. The cause of this feeling of discomfort is that the situation that you have found yourself in, is way better than you were prepared for. It is as though your programming really doesn’t expect you to be having the life you have. There are two options to overcome your self-sabotage. You can return back to the ‘normal’ life that society has laid out for you and return to an office job. Or, you can reprogramme yourself based on the reality that you can see, measure and feel in order to bring that programming up to date to a higher level, that you are now living in. Experiencing imposter syndrome is really good feedback. It is telling you that you are doing great work and you are doing it better than you expected to do it. Pause and consciously reassess your situation and then raise your standards to match that reality. Never lower your standards or your expectations. BEST MOMENTS “22 years of unlocking the secrets of guitar for people, and I am still getting it.” “Ask yourself, what is the reality?” “You are achieving a higher level of mastery than you thought you should.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Do you keep a daily journal? A journal can help to keep you focused throughout the day, give you a structured routine in your life and help you to achieve your business and personal goals. Listen in to another episode of The Tutor Podcast to discover Neils daily routine, his own daily lessons and why keeping a journal can give you a sense of purpose.KEY TAKEAWAYS Keeping a journal gives you a sense of purpose throughout the day and by writing things down you’re activating your brain and it’s reprocessing the key information you write down. Neils daily journal lessons: 1. Have fun and help people 2. Be a good man and a great dad 3. Manage and grow your empire 4. To like and master myself Your daily journal should take just five minutes to complete in the morning and then those daily lessons will stick with you in the back of your mind throughout the day, reminding you of your goals and framing your day. At the end of the day, you should use your journal to digest your day and write down the highlights. What you’ve learnt, what has made you happy and what choices you have made. Over time you can review your journal to see how you’ve grown and what decisions you’ve made, good or bad. BEST MOMENTS “I’ve kept a daily journal for the past 8 years”“If it’s not written down then it doesn’t exist”“By keeping a journal you will learn to like yourself more and overcome imposter syndrome”“Tutors are in an influential and prevalidated position” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Have you been led to believe that money is hard to come by? Well join Neil today as he debunks that myth and shares with you his top tips for getting into the money mindset, and understanding money better. Discover today how money is just an illusion that makes things easier, why spending less than you earn is the simplest way to acquire wealth and why money should be treated with respect. KEY TAKEAWAYS Money doesn’t really exist. Money is an illusion, it is a social convention that makes certain things easier. Money is a store of value that allows us to transact business and exchange values with a lot less friction. If you think that money is illusive, scarce or hard to come by, stick with it because there is plenty of it out there. It is a resource where, if you have it you can use it and if you haven't got it, you might just go in pursuit of it. Money is neither good nor bad, it is neutral and will allow you to amplify who you really are. You have probably been told that money is the root of all evil, and that it doesn't grow on trees, this is nonsense. If you are finding money hard to come by, it could just be that you are not asking for enough or that you are not providing enough value. It is very simple to acquire wealth if you follow the system of spending less than you earn. When you are working for yourself it is very easy to get sucked into leaving all the money in the business, but it is important that you pay yourself first. Before you pay anyone else, take your salary out of the business every month. Respect money, don’t splash the cash too much if you have it. Give your money a safe home and as you develop the habit of holding onto money and looking after it, more money will come to you. When you know that money is just a simple game, it loses a lot of its fear. Don’t take money advice from poor people. Take your money advice from people with way more money than you do and ask them how they did it. They will often tell you as they like to reach back and help other people along. They may even see something of themselves in you. BEST MOMENTS “If you want to be successful with money, be real about it.” “Always pay yourself first.” “If you know the rules of the game you have a chance of success within the game.” “Get your money advice from successful, wealthy people and not from paupers.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Does the saying ‘old habits die hard’ resonate with you? Are you stuck in a rut and wondering how you can turn your bad habits into good ones? Join Neil as he discusses the importance of creating good habits, healthy habits that you absolutely should be incorporating into your day and how to implement them. KEY TAKEAWAYS The rules of the game have changed yet again, and they will change again over time. You need to realise that creating habits will get things done pretty much automatically. Habits are fantastic shortcuts for your brain and they minimise the amount of effort necessary to perform an operation. They are easy to live with once you have built them, but they are very hard to break. The reason it is so difficult to build habits, is because you already have habits that perhaps you are not aware of. Your old habits will persist until they are overwritten with new, updated habits. Habits are just like software for your brain, they are running in the background, out of sight. Have yourself a target time to go to bed at night. That may be 10pm or 3am, it doesn’t matter so long as it works for you. The important thing is consistency, your daily pattern is the framework for everything else you do. Do what works well for you. Movement and exercise is vital. Schedule proper movement sessions throughout your day and ensure this becomes a regular habit. If this isn't in your habit list then you are not recognising who you are. Your body is meant to move and we get sick if we don’t move. Do something, it doesn’t need to be the gym, you can bike, run or walk. Create good business habits. Create good learning schemes, lesson plans and evaluate if they are working for you. You will already have existing habits when you interact with your students and figure out if these are still working for you. Monitor your habits often because it is only a habit, it is not who you are. Anything you can do to create resistance and remove barriers between you and bad habits is a good thing. Keep on triggering so that the new habits you are trying to create become automatic for you. It doesn't matter how simple or complex your habits are, they will have a massive effect on you. BEST MOMENTS “If you’re in the game..you better know the bloody rules.” “We should be doing this with our necktop computers, our brains.” “Ignore everyone else's opinion and follow your own data.” “Keep an eye on that stuff because that really matters.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

If you’ve been thinking about starting a business in an area you love but have never quite managed it, then don’t miss today’s episode as Neil tells you why now is the perfect time to start and shares his recipe for success. Discover the three different types of companies you can start in the UK, how to turn ‘pro’, and how to find your perfect clients. KEY TAKEAWAYS Right now is the best time to start out in business. It is a great opportunity to reach new customers such as home workers and home schoolers. Lockdown is finally easing meaning you are able to take control, claim your freedom and build security. When starting up your new business you will need to decide what type of business you want to start. You will also need to decide how much you want to earn, where you want to work and how you will structure your working life. There are three forms of business you might consider. These are: Sole trader, Partnership or LTD company. If you choose to become a sole trader you will need to register as self employed on the HMRC website. Whilst it is not a legal requirement, it is recommended to get public liability insurance to protect yourself. To take your businesses into the ‘professional’ level you will need to think and act like a pro. Get visible, purchase signs, flyers, logos and cards. Invest in creating a website so that all your potential clients can find out more about you and your services. Let your ideal client know that you exist. Finding your perfect clients or students does not have to be expensive, in fact it can be free. Think about who your ideal client is and figure out where to find them and create a plan to capture their attention. Think about where they would look for you and always ensure your website is updated. A year from now you could be in two different places, right where you are now, wishing you’d been brave or a year into your teaching adventure, maybe still a little fearful, but in motion and enjoying yourself. If you’re waiting for permission – you have it. Now, to follow your dream, the time is now. BEST MOMENTS “It will grow you – i promise!” “what did I do before that?” until you are back to the present day and have something you can take action on , now.” “Even poorly begun is better than a failure to launch.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

"A vision without motion is only a dream” and today, Neil is here to help you take action to ensure that you can make your dreams come true and avoid letting life pass you by. Neil discusses why it is important to think deeply about what you want out of life in the next 10-15 years, why the key to action and movement is to start at the end goal and work backwards and why the comfort zone is where your dreams will diminish. KEY TAKEAWAYS Most people overestimate what they can do in a year, and underestimate what they can achieve in 10 years. Many people don’t give that kind of timeframe much thought. People imagine themselves to always have more time, as though they are immortal. Think deeply about what you want to be doing in 10 to 15 years time? Think about how you want things to be with your health, relationships, career and what your legacy will be. Imagine yourself in the future and everything is as you wish it to be, write it down and include lots of details such as the colour of the car you drive. Write it all down and read your vision regularly, reinforcing the vision. But plans are nothing without actions. The key to action and movement in pursuit of that long-range vision: begin at the end-point and ask yourself “what did i do before that?” Work it all backwards from the future until you arrive back here, today, with an action you can take that will move you. Think bigger than you’re comfortable with right now. Remember that things always change and inflation makes your million-pound goal less meaningful in the future, because the million is worth less. Re-visit the vision and continuously update it in response to changes in the wider world. Best Moments “A vision without motion is only a dream.” “Think bigger than you’re comfortable with right now” “The comfort zone is where dreams go to die.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Everything in life is a mind-game and that includes the simple act of guitar teaching. Join Neil as he discusses the illusion that guitar playing is incredibly difficult and how you can manage your students’ expectations by making things simple. Learn how believing things will be difficult will get in the way of your students, how to demonstrate simplicity to your student and why it is important to create simple teaching techniques to demonstrate to your students. KEY TAKEAWAYS Everything is a mind-game, absolutely everything. Where the mind goes, the body follows. You can playfully engage how your students think. If you manage that you will become a better tutor. The mental side of guitar is the intellectual aspect. The belief that something is mentally difficult will get in the way of your student, whatever you’re teaching. The pretentiousness of how music is conventionally taught is nonsense. Demonstrate the simplicity of things to your students and this then starts to erode the expectation of something clever being done. Always take your students’ measure and calibration point and calibrate it. Start where they are, tell them “Clapton does this and it is really cool, but it is actually just this..” and demonstrate what is being done to allow them to calibrate based on what they see. Remind them that they will get what they look for. If they expect difficulty they are going to find it difficult to do things and then they will quit because they have met their expectations. If they expect something to be comparatively straightforward and effortless then that is what they are going to ultimately find. Think about what your students expect to be, be there, recognise it and then gradually take control and then steer it in a direction that is going to be more productive than any idea of ongoing difficulty. If you manage the expectations then the student can actually get on with the process of learning using the simple and effective techniques you have developed. BEST MOMENTS “Manage that and you will become a better tutor as a consequence.” “It is moronic and it really won’t help your guitar students.” “It is mostly claptrap.” “Ask them how they can make it even easier, just for the fun of it. “ VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

With lockdown easing many people are looking to get back into face to face tutoring and you need to make sure you’re prepared to welcome both old and new faces. Join Neil as he discusses how you can be prepared for enquiry calls and emails, he discusses the importance of making a good first impression, why having a rough draft is better than having no draft at all and the important questions you need to ask all your potential customers. KEY TAKEAWAYS Now, with lockdown 2.0 being eased there are lots of people aiming to get out of the house and get into your teaching room. In addition there will be students who’ll want in-room lessons but who opted-out of online lessons, clambering to book a slot. Right now is a great opportunity to capture and serve new and returning customers. In time all Covid restrictions will be axed and you can go about your lawful business as normal. Make sure all your email templates and phone scripts are up to date because the first call makes a lasting impression on students. Spend a little time and write down a rough draft of what to say when the phone rings or your email pings. From your rough draft, refine your thoughts and language, craft the questions you’re going to ask the prospective customer. Important questions to ask are what the customer wants, what got them here, what they dream about playing or doing and any prior experience. Finish your draft by asking them the Miracle Question “if you woke up tomorrow and you were the very best guitar player you could dream of being what would that feel like, how would it sound, and what would you be doing?”. It’s important to print your script out and have it to hand in the office or teaching room where you can see it. If the prospect seems like someone you’d like to have as a student/customer, and they have told you when is good for them, offer them a choice of two times within their windows. With a good script or even a fair one the enquiry call runs on rails, most of the time and it happens with less effort than just taking a call and saying any old thing that occurs to you. BEST MOMENTS “the 6 P’s Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance” “bearing in mind they may have spent the last year watching YouTube clips and getting completely confused, focusing on random steps, learning bits and pieces without any structure.” “The script does the work for you – presenting you as an organised, confident, experienced expert who won’t let them down.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

All musicians have got to start out somewhere right? Many of them started out teaching themselves and skipped learning the basics. Join Neil as he discusses how you can never assume a player knows the basics, no matter how long they’ve been playing, the importance of understanding the foundations of music and how to change a students life long bad habits. KEY TAKEAWAYS There’s an old saying that goes “when you assume you make an ass of you and me”. There are many good guitar players out there and it is often surprising just how good they are considering how they learned. Many of them learned to copy the songs the way they sounded in the records rather than the notes and they often emulated their rock star heroes. Many guitar players understand little, make life hard for themselves, and have no idea what to do when the moment arrives to kick back and let go with a made-up-on-the-spot solo. Guitarists are missing out on so much by not having the basics set up right. Without foundational understanding of the instrument they wrestle with the neck of the guitar rather than letting their fingers dance on it. Foundations matter. No matter what you teach, you had better make sure that the basics are there, because if they’re not, you are clutching at straws and hoping that something sticks and the lights, somehow, go on. As tutors you should assume nothing is well-understood. Regardless of a student’s experience or apparent ability you should always be checking that the basics are there and that the foundations are in place to be built on. BEST MOMENTS “So the best of luck to us all as we try to begin all over again.” “ they cannot play with a capital P.” “My own assumptions were a big problem in the early days of my teaching life..” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Being an entrepreneur is different to what most people do for work and it allows you to break from the norm and do what you love every single day, sometimes it may not even feel like work. Join Neil as he discusses the trials and tribulations faced by many entrepreneurs when it comes to the work/life balance and what it really means. Neil discusses the responsibilities of a business owner, the strains it can take on relationships and how to accept the change and transcend social expectations. KEY TAKEAWAYS Being an entrepreneur is fundamentally different to what most people do and how most people are. Entrepreneurs are a breed apart and there will be problems when their worldview and your entrepreneurial worldview collide. Being an entrepreneur means that because it’s your business and you are responsible for your own success or failure, it’s inevitable that at some time you will have to put your commitment to your students and your business ahead of social activity. You can’t be everywhere and do everything, so there will be choices to be made and some of the people around you are not going to like your choices. Many people around you won’t understand that you enjoy your job, because it’s so far away from how life is for them. For them, work is an unpleasant inconvenience that interferes with their social life, whilst for you, it’s a fascinating mission, an intrinsically fun thing to do. In some circumstances, this can cost you a relationship but you have to do it because your business and your living shouldn’t take second place to just about anything else. Be discerning and selective about what you say “yes” to; make “no” your default answer to non-priority social happenings and anything which pulls you away from your vision, your business and your values. Accept the change and transcend social expectations. Remember that ‘Eagles fly alone’. It is important to have your own life and honour your own values. BEST MOMENTS “what’s the point of doing less of what you love in order to do something you like less?” “ Work hard in your business and love every minute of it” “This is the toughest part of being in business for yourself, but it gets easier over time.” “When this happens, your identity has shifted – you’re not the same person you used to be.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

With the Lockdown restrictions promised to soon be easing, it is very important for you and your tutoring business are fully prepared to get back up and running in line with the law. Join Neil today as he details how you can practice face to face whilst maintaining ‘Covid safe’, how to adapt your pre-existing teaching style and how much you and your students are going to love getting back to doing what you both enjoy. KEY TAKEAWAYS Many students are eager to get back into the classroom to learn and your tutoring business is required to teach in a covid safe environment. You are still going to need to wear facemasks and figure out how to interpret cues from different facial expressions. You are also going to have to listen more closely to language and your students’ body posture. You will also have to adhere to social distancing measures and stay 2 meters away from your students where possible operating a no-touch policy. As a tutor, it is common to have to adjust your player’s finger positions (if teaching guitar) and ensure everything is in the right place for them. This is something you are no longer allowed to do. Ensure there are copious amounts of hand sanitiser available for you and your students. Wherever possible you can still continue to teach on Zoom until the time comes where there is no friction in ‘face to face’ teaching. However, most students will agree that whilst Zoom lessons are good, they are nowhere near as good as the real thing. Zoom lessons are not as much fun. For now, the story goes that we will be getting some of our freedom back in April. When we get it you should be ready. BEST MOMENTS “We should be planning our escape.” “I think it should be called ‘anti-social distancing.” “My job is to cover my arse as best as I can.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Are you looking to start, scale and grow your tutoring business and looking which is the best way to do it? Join Neil today as he discusses the three business structures your tutoring business could fall under, and the benefits and risks they pose to you. Neil talks through sole trader businesses, limited liability partnerships and limited company business structures, the importance of paying your taxes, and the tax benefits a limited company can offer. KEY TAKEAWAYS There are three big decisions you can make when deciding on a structure for your company. The easiest one for many people is operating your business as a sole trader, in essence, you register as self-employed with HMRC and you get on with it. Three is no real separation between yourself and the business aspect of what you do. You must notify HMRC on the first day you begin trading, especially if you are in a day job. Pay your taxes and you can sleep at night. You won’t worry about getting found out for tax evasion. You are not likely to be subject to an HMRC audit which is extremely hard. Your tax liability as a sole trader is blended with your day job and you will only pay tax on the total combined incomes. Secondly, you could have a limited liability partnership. This is an agreement to operate a business between one or more persons. The limited liability partnership is set up to make a profit. It is highly favoured by people in professions such as accountancy and it is favoured for a reason. It runs different tax regulations than limited companies for instance there is no corporation tax and is owned by the partners themselves. A limited company is one of the most popular business structures in the UK. It is a separate legal entity from you. The people who own these companies are stand alones, this gives the owner some separation from the company itself and protects your assets. It is pretty simple to set one of these up via the company's house. If there are multiple owners of a limited company you will need to figure out who owns what. Whilst 50:50 looks great on paper, 49:51 sounds better as long as you have the bulk of the shares as then you will get to call the shots. There are big tax advantages to having your own company. If you die with a net worth with over £325,000 your children of beneficiaries are going to be paying 40% tax on that. If you put it all in a company structure then there is no inheritance tax until the shares are sold. The heirs only pay capital gains tax if they pay the shares. BEST MOMENTS “As the owner of the business, you have unlimited responsibility.” “You could lose a lot of money that way, which means you could get a tax rebate.” “You get a company number, and off you go Kido.” “That is a great way of heading off tax.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Have you ever thought about your attitude towards money? And whether that reflects in your current financial status? Join Neil today as he discusses how your attitude towards money decides whether you will have money in abundance, or spend your life skint. Discover how money simply amplifies your personality, how it can serve as feedback for the value you give to people and how to make money whilst you’re sleeping. KEY TAKEAWAYS Your whole attitude towards money is a big factor in whether you can create and accumulate wealth or whether you are always going to be skint. It is really important to get your head straight about money as it matters for both your business success and your personal happiness. Money is essentially neutral. It doesn't do anything in and of itself other than amplify who you are. Money allows you to be more of who you are and what you are. Money is essentially a system of storing and transmitting value. If you can get away from the idea that money is somehow difficult to get hold of you will find it will make its way to you, because you expect it to come to you. Money is a by-product of excellence. It is feedback that you are doing a great job and are providing massive value for your students. The more value that you can provide to your customers in any of the areas that you are active, the more money, feedback and positive response for that value you can receive. Always spend less than you earn, it could not be easier than that. If you follow this rule every month then you will get progressively richer. Before you pay for anything for anything else you save or invest a predetermined percentage of your paycheck or income. You have to protect your rainy day fund. Make your money work for you. If you invest in property you can essentially make money, whilst you are asleep. As long as you look after your tenants and your properties, that money will continue to come into your bank account each month. The more money that comes in, the more units you can buy. BEST MOMENTS “If your beliefs about money aren't helpful, then by definition they are probably hurting you.” “If you’re a pratt, and you’re skint then the chances are you are going to be an even bigger pratt with money.” “Every time somebody pays me I go ‘cool, I did something worthwhile for them and they’re happy to exchange that into value for what I have done for them’.” “If your rainy day fund is easily accessible, you know it is going to rain pretty soon.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

In today's podcast Neil shares with you his second golden rule to ensure you run a happy and successful tutoring business. DDWT stands for “Don’t Deal With Tossers’ a powerful statement that can rid you of any negative people in your life. Today, Neil discusses the benefits of this approach to life such as the ability to pre-frame all of your client interactions, not having people steal your valuable time and how this approach could actually earn you more clients, and more money. KEY TAKEAWAYS DDWT stands for ‘Don’t Deal With Tossers’. This statement is so powerful as it allows you to pre-frame all your client interactions and remove makeweights. Living this way also eliminated your need to spend time with those people who do not make you happy. Share this thought with your students. It is a great ice breaker should you need one. It also sets up and frames the beginning of your student-teacher relationship. It shows them that you are going to work to your best ability, and indirectly asks the question back to them, ‘how about you?’. DDWT is the sanest approach to business you could ever take. Without DDWT you risk working with people who mess you around, and steal your valuable time. These people may even ruin your plans, and drain your energy and enthusiasm. With DWWT you’ll work with people you like, respect and admire and it will be effortless. Whilst this is your business, it is important to not let money overshadow DDWT. For your hourly fee, you could have your whole working life ruined, by just one person, it is just not worth it. Their attitude could potentially ruin the rest of your day, having an impact on your hardworking students. For the sake of an extra hours fee, you can save yourself the hassle if dealing with this person. BEST MOMENTS “It’s a great ice-breaker” “It tends to select out the tossers. if they quit, they’re a tosser” “I started doing it and I got busier because I wasn’t being messed around by tossers.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Are you stuck in a rut, not enjoying what you do? Join Neil today as he encourages the mantra ‘If it ain’t fun, don’t do it!’. Today, Neil discusses one of life's golden rules “Don’t do stuff that makes you miserable”, how no amount of money can solve your misery and how your joy in what you do will infect your students and get better results. KEY TAKEAWAYS One of life's golden rules is “Don’t do stuff that makes you miserable”. There’s no amount of money, prestige or self-sacrifice that can compensate you for being miserable. You could be making a million pounds a year, but be depressed. Are you having a better life than the person who makes an average salary who loves what they do? Money is an illusion. If you spend your day doing epic, fun stuff, your life will be joyous, fulfilled and meaningful and no amount of money can take that away from you. The joy you have in your career will become infectious to others. Your students will feel joy just being in your presence as it is clear to them that you love what you do. Tell your students this Golden Rule: if it ain’t fun, we’re not doing it. Their faces will light up, they will understand that everything will be okay. Feel free to be silly – it makes learning more of a game, lowers the student’s imagined consequences of screwing-up Try out new stuff as it occurs to you. Tell them “I’ve just had a crazy idea”. Some of the best teaching materials were born this way. Try to ignore the traditional way of thinking about music and try it a new way. BEST MOMENTS “Money doesn’t buy happiness” but it can give you misery in luxury.” “Your fun-factor will also infect your students” “Failure is ok – we were just mucking about!” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

If Lockdown has taught us anything it is that you need to diversify your life. Join Neil today as he discusses the importance of polymathy and why learning new skills and jobs can make us become more interesting. Neil discusses famous polymaths and their impact on the world, how learning new skills can be fun and how to split your time to meet all of your drivers. KEY TAKEAWAYS Polymathy means “knowing a lot about many things”. We seem to be encouraged to become totally focused on “our thing”, and that specialisation is good. However, this should not come at the expense of broader learning and expertise. Focus like a laser and become outstanding at what you do primarily, then add more skills, more learning, and more fun. The upshot of recognising and embracing dichotomy is that from the moment you wake up, to the moment you go to sleep, you’re absorbed, fascinated, and having fun doing what you love. An unexpected outcome of lockdown is the realisation that you need to diversify your life. The brain wants to solve a puzzle, the hands need to feel the satisfaction of working and the brain needs to develop new skills. Being widely read and interested in a whole bunch of things makes us more interesting, we have references beyond our speciality and lessons from all over the place, parallels to draw, similes and comparisons, insights and treasure. Without diverse interests and activities, we can all grow stale: having multiple interests, jobs, work and activities gives us different perspectives, often insights from one field apply elsewhere. You may already be an expert teacher. However, for someone who is already an expert in-field, your next breakthrough will probably come from outside of your field. Ideas which are common “over there” are unthinkable “over here”. BEST MOMENTS “If each thing you do adds an income stream, too - happy days!” “but that could also mean a narrowing of my vision – where’s the fun in that?” “I’ll be grinning every step of the way because it’s fun to be so interested in so many things.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

If there was ever a time in life where you could spend time discovering, growing and learning new skills and talents, it is now. Join Neil today as he explains the importance of continually growing and learning, no matter how qualified you already are. Learn why investing in yourself is the best investment there is, how the past year has proven that nothing ever stays the same and why learning new skills can open you and your business up to more and more opportunities. KEY TAKEAWAYS Commit yourself to continual learning and growth. Lockdown is an opportunity to learn new skills and adapt to the new normal. If you haven't already, you can set aside time to learn new online techniques to enhance your tutoring business through this new lockdown. The last year should have been a wake-up call to all of us: nothing stays the same, we must change too. Set the time aside, every single day When you keep on learning you collect new ideas and stir them into the pot of what you already know. You can learn to synthesise new ways of teaching and doing what you do and this can help to open up new opportunities for you and your business. You grow, you try stuff, you become better. Invest in yourself, it is the best investment there is. It’s not a cost, it’s an investment. Buy the books, take the courses, listen to the lectures, watch the videos. You can do it while you’re doing other stuff like cooking, driving or exercising. Remember that many training and education costs are deductible expenses and can be offset against your business profits – provided you are not starting out in a totally new field, but are adding to something you already do in your business. BEST MOMENTS “In-field and out of my field – every day is a school day” “Maybe it’s in your field of expertise, maybe it’s outside” “In my imagination I’m Indiana Jones”, “that was a massive learning curve” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

The only constant in life is change and all that you can do to embrace it is by saying “yes, and...” Listen in to another insightful episode of The Tutor Podcast as Neil discusses the principle of how “yes, and...” can adapt to any given situation, why you must accept change and continue to grow and develop and when “yes, and...” can be utilised as a gift and a presupposed positive. KEY TAKEAWAYS Improvisation says “yes, and...” accepts what’s given, utilises it as a gift, doesn’t fight to control the situation, presupposes a positive and compels continuation. The “yes, and...” principle works in life and work, too. Whatever happens that you cannot change, say “yes, and...”. Perhaps now more than at any other time, we’re in a situation that we can’t directly affect, so accept it, and get on with making the most out of it. Whatever you think of the situation (real or fake, perilous or propaganda) you can’t change it, so work with the changes as they arise and develop. “yes, and...” is an opportunity to spur you on, to add a new skill, start an unrelated business or side-hustle, focus on doing even more online lessons and do work that can’t be done whilst you’re teaching. Modify your plans and consider a variety of scenarios – from resumption of the old norms through to radical changes. The more you play down the chessboard in your imagination, the better prepared you’ll be when changes happen. BEST MOMENTS “It’s not easy to say “yes, and...” but when you do, you release the anger and frustration, and that makes space for something better” “The only constant is change, and the situation will morph, evolve and develop” “Oh Lord, give me the courage to change that which I can change and the serenity to accept what I cannot change – and grant me the wisdom to tell one from the other” “Dance with what you’re given – let’s see where that takes us all” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Learn today how to create your own Mastermind Alliance. Discover the simple process of assembling a group of experts around you that can help solve some of your toughest problems. Neil discusses how to choose your alliances, the insights you can learn and how a difference of perspective can help solve your dilemmas. KEY TAKEAWAYS The Mastermind Alliance is a simple process of assembling a group of experts around you. The best part is, they don’t need to be there. As long as you can read and learn as much as you can about the people whose learning and history inspire you, you can recruit them into the group. As you read and learn about these people along the way, you will gain an insight into how they thought, lived, moved through the world and what made their learning worth us exploring. This is your invisible peer group. They are there for you 24/7 whenever you shall need them. Whenever you have a problem, invite the members of your mastermind alliance to come and join you. Then ask for each of their advice and perspectives on your problems. As you continue to learn and assemble your own ‘Mastermind Alliance’, you will experience some pretty interesting results. You may gain insights and perspectives that you may not personally have but will come from members of your group. The learning itself is fun. Getting them to solve your problems is the really cool part because they will surprise you with their insight, wisdom and perspective. Many of the insights will perhaps be different from what you expected as you may only expect the answers that you yourself could generate. BEST MOMENTS “They can be real, alive, real or fictitious.” “There are great audiobooks.” “Let them talk. Trust them.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Lockdown 3.0 has brought with it many challenges. The restrictions on our freedom can and have caused many people mental health problems. Join Neil today as he gives his top tips on staying sane during Lockdown 3.0. Neil discusses the value of recognising things you are grateful for, the fearful affect the mainstream media has on us and why daily reflections can help boost your morale. KEY TAKEAWAYS Due to the Lockdown enforcements, many people are struggling with their mental health. People are feeling like they no longer have control of their lives. The very best way to look after your mental health in Lockdown 3.0 is to look after yourself and save your sanity. Be grateful. If you wake up every day, you’re ahead of the curve. Waking up every day means you can still be useful and be of service to your tribe. You get to be a positive force if you decide to take that option. Write down things that you can be grateful for. Get away from the news. If all the news is telling you is the same, scripted disastrous news, then get away from it. The mainstream media preys upon you by making you fearful and keeping you glued in front of the television. It will not serve you. The battle for your health is not going to be won in the gym. It is going to be won and lost in the supermarket. Don’t buy junk food and make yourself a list of things that are good for your body. Ensure you only buy the groceries on the list. When you review and reflect on the day and the choices you made, do you think that that reflection will affect your future choices and allow you to make better choices as you move forward? Reflect on what you learned during the day. Write your learning down in a journal and close the day off with that. Be grateful because you had a chance to have a positive impact on the day, and tomorrow when you wake up you get to do that all over again. BEST MOMENTS “It is up to us because it is blatantly obvious there doesn’t seem to be any consideration given to the mental health outpour of this pandemic from the government.” “If you wake up and decide to play the victim. Tough. Nobody cares, you are just taking up space if that’s the role you want to adopt.” “I believe it is the main reason I am so positive.” “If I dress for work I will have my work head-on.” “Guys, look after your mental health.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Today marks Neil’s 150th episode of The Tutor Podcast. Join Neil as he reflects on what he can be grateful for and what he can improve on in his tutoring business. He discusses why it is important to aim to create a change amongst your students, why it is your duty as a tutor to help your students reach their desired success and how to infect them with your enthusiasm. KEY TAKEAWAYS Create change. If they’re the same at the end of a lesson then you have failed. This is what teaching is really about, it’s not about content or lesson plans, it’s about making a connection and effecting change in your students. You must aim to lift up your students so they can see themselves further down the road, to see a vision of themselves as better and more capable and instill the skills, ideas and principles they need and to guide them to the point where their reality catches up with that vision. You must help other people. Think of it as reaching back from your position, ahead of them, and pulling them forward, faster and more securely than they could do for themselves. Ask your students the question “what else do you want to do?”. The subtext of what you do as the teacher should always be: “you’re able to learn quickly and to understand so much, so what else would you like to be good at, have, do or be in your life?” Infect them with your enthusiasm and passion for the subject. Try not to flat line them with boring lessons. That would turn them off to learning, and you should not let that happen. BEST MOMENTS “They leave behind a trace of themselves, as we leave something of ourselves in them” “I’m even more enthusiastic and grateful than I was in episode 1” “Let’s make it fun. Be silly, irreverent, playful” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

These days the majority of our lives are stored on our personal devices containing everything from our financial records to our clients’ details. Can you imagine losing all of that because of a software glitch or virus? Join Neil today as he discusses what to do to avoid a complete loss of personal data should your computer fail you. Learn the importance of having a rescue USB, a separate partition on your C drive and why backing up your financial data is essential. KEY TAKEAWAYS No matter what software you are using to run your machine on, it is always recommended to have a rescue USB or CD drive ready for the inevitable crashing of the system. When you reinstall your operating system (such as Windows), it will usually wipe all of your apps, all of your settings and all of your personal data if it is held on the same drive as the files that are used to run the computer itself. On most computers, this is called the C drive. If your data is on the system drive and the drive is wiped, you have lost that data forever. That could be many years of work or even your students’ contact details and personalised lesson plans. Don’t think that it won’t happen to you, because it will. Start thinking ‘when it happens to me’ and protect your data now. It is truly the lifeblood of your business. Be paranoid. It will happen. The best suggestion to avoid loss of data is to put it all onto a separate data drive or separate partition on your C drive from your system files. Keep moving your app set up files from the download folder which it normally defaults to in your browser to a new folder on your second data drive. That way when you need to reinstall the app you won’t have to go to the website and download it all over again. It is always recommended to invest in good security software across all of your devices. Viruses evolve for computers and they also mutate. Make sure the updates take place automatically. If you’re using a Windows machine, turn off automatic Windows updates. Backing up your financial data is essential. If you are investigated for tax reasons by HMRC you need to provide them with 6 years worth of records from the end of the last financial year. Set your calendar now to do regular back-up days. BEST MOMENTS “If your plan for the day is teaching online, good luck with that.” “It is your data that matters.” “Be paranoid.” “I can only imagine how distressing it is going to be to switch on your PC and discover it’s a basket case.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Being locked down for the majority of the year has taken its toll on many people. In today’s episode, Neil discusses how lockdown helped him to create his Big Ticklist. The tick list enables him to perform a series of tasks throughout the day which can help improve his health, relationships and skills. Find out today how you too can create your tick list to reach both your short and long term goals. KEY TAKEAWAY When lockdown started, it began to get to a lot of people. Many people struggled with the lack of control and uncertainty that lockdown brought. Think about what your ideal day looks like under the current circumstances and base it around achieving your long term goals. The multiple tick box list that you will create will be compelling. You will make a ton of progress towards your personal goals in just a week. Creating this list will allow you to feel in control again, in fact, it will work so well that you will find yourself eager to complete your tasks each day. Identify patterns that work for you and patterns that don’t. What is it that you find yourself doing that collapses the day for you? Does that leave you with a load of zeros in the tickbox rather than ticking them all? The tick list will allow you to identify with whom and where the bad things happen. You will create a medium-sized tick list. You will move through this list in sequence throughout the day, every day. If you continue to follow this tick list, you will be to feel like a winner. This list will help you to improve your health, skills and relationships. Achieving your goals will become as simple as doing the next thing on your list. BEST MOMENTS “I had to slice my elephant up, and have a sandwich every day.” “I created a big tick list matrix.” “It almost worked too well for me.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Nobody could have predicted what would happen to the world in 2020 and nobody can predict what is yet to come. Join Neil today as he discusses why it is vital to have goals which can guide you on the path to your future self, why you should plan across multiple scenarios in the next year and why having any plan is better than having no plan at all. KEY TAKEAWAYS As always at this time of year, it is a good time to sit down and take a look at making goals and planning for the next year. It is vital to have goals as they are the steering points towards which we’re heading. The processes of these goals are going to get you there and the goals will determine the process. Ask yourself what do you want to be doing in ten or fifteen years? Where do you want to be? How do you want to live your life? With whom do you want to be? And What legacy do you want to build? Look back from there to today and try and figure out from that distant point, what happens before then? In 2021 things will be a little bit different. We should be planning across multiple scenarios, we cannot guess how things are going to go down in 2021. We may face another lockdown, different tiers of control or increased/decreased unknown restrictions. It is prudent to think of the economic fallout of the last year and how that will affect your ability to achieve your goals. Make yourself a plan A, but also have a plan B, C, D etc. These plans do not have to be perfect but any plan is better than no plan. Hopefully, things will change for the better for everybody’s sake. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Don’t stop doing what you love and plan to keep going forward and doing that. BEST MOMENTS “Let’s get on and set some master goals for ourselves.” “You have to ask yourself what happens the year before you made a million pounds” “I’ll still be teaching until they throw dirt on my head.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Join your host Neil as he reflects on the year and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Neil discusses how we no longer live in a free society, why it is vital to ensure that you have more than one revenue stream and how this year should serve as a reminder that nobody is coming to your rescue. KEY TAKEAWAYS These are not unprecedented times. Totalitarian states have created chaos like this time and time again as a way to increase control and suppress the population. It seems to be the media driving the agenda, however, you have got to remember this point all media channels are moderated and licensed by the state. People are being told that they have no right to assembly. They are being told who they can see and when, where you can go and what you must wear. There is no way that you can say that we now live in a free society. We are being railroaded into mass injections. The vaccine appears to work however it has not been tested to anywhere near the extent that normal vaccines are tested. The vaccine may have long term effects which cannot be judged. This year should serve as a reminder that nobody is coming to your rescue. Change is inevitable. If you only have one single strategy then you are massively at risk. As the world changes around you that strategy may become inoperable or obsolete. We must have more than one revenue stream. The external world is always going to be there to challenge us but how we respond to that is our choice. We have to be able to robustly manage our state and your response to what is going on. Normal as you knew it last year has gone, perhaps forever. BEST MOMENTS “At the moment the world seems to have completely taken leave of its senses.” “The economy is being crashed for political reasons.” “I’m wondering to myself, is this just the beginning?” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Do you wake up with a smile on your face and count the hours until your Vortex opens? Do you, like host Neil, also have a love affair with your job? In today’s episode, Neil describes his love for tutoring, why spending your days doing what you love fills you with drive and energy and why getting paid is just a by-product of what your job really means to you. KEY TAKEAWAYS Christmas is approaching and many tutors are back giving in-person covid safe tutoring to their students. In-person tutoring often offers the experience of helping people to a much higher degree than you can over video. Many students are eager to play catch-up, get out of the house and do more of what they love making the most of their time off work and will continue to attend their tutoring lessons over Christmas. Tutors often love teaching and love helping people. As a tutor, you are valued and extremely useful to your students. You are able to encourage them to become better versions of themselves. Spending your days doing what you love may sound exhausting to others but the truth is that it most likely gives you energy and drive. Having a job which is also your passion is incredibly rewarding. How lucky are you to get paid for doing what you love to do most in the world by sharing your passion and fascination with your students. Getting paid is just a by-product of doing your job. When you love your work, you “do it to do it”, and the truth is that you’d probably do it for free, just to keep doing what you love. BEST MOMENTS “How lucky you and I are to get paid for doing what we love to do most in the world” “I’d say it’s about being drawn toward teaching, rather than driven by anything. It’s a pull, rather than a push.” “Do you lose track of time – hours flash by in minutes and you lose the need to eat or drink?” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Whilst England may officially be out of Lockdown 2.0, it doesn’t mean that all can return to normal as England is still operating on a 3 Tier system depending on the R rate in your local area. To avoid breaking the rules in your local area, and to allow you to return to face-to-face tutoring in a safe manner Neil discusses the different tier systems and what this means for you and your tutoring business. Key Takeaways England will return to a system of three tiers from 2 December, with differences in what is permitted or prohibited across these tiers, and some elements which are common to all three. Wales and Scotland are subject to regional rules. According to the Incorporated Society Of Musicians face-to-face private tuition can proceed in all tiers. For tutors there are some common elements in all tiers, however, there are some small variations for those people who are working in different tiers. In all tiers in England, everyone must wear face coverings in an indoor public setting, meet others safely and essentially, wash hands and maintain a 2-meter distance. Should you find yourself living in a Tier 1 area, private music tuition can take place in the teacher’s and pupil’s home subject to appropriate risk assessments. You can find an excellent, free return to work checklist at safetyculture.com and it is recommended you complete it, print it and keep it safe, just in case you’re asked to justify yourself. Tutors who live and work in a Tier 2 area are able to continue private music tuition in either the tutors or the students home subject to appropriate risk assessments. It has not been made clear if there will be any further restrictions for education taking place out of school settings. For those in Tier 3, Businesses and venues can remain open, in a COVID secure manner, other than those which remain closed by law, such as nightclubs. Tutoring businesses are not on the closure list and therefore it has been interpreted that private teaching can take place in the teacher’s and pupil’s home subject to appropriate risk assessments. It’s unclear whether there will be any subsequent restrictions in the guidance for out of schools settings or other relevant information. Schools are open in tier 3 and music teaching can continue, so peripatetic teachers can move between schools. Best Moments “Lockdown 2.0 is over, so we’re having the death-grip on our freedoms and livelihoods relaxed a fraction” “I’m determined not to be downhearted by the restrictions and indignities being imposed on us all I can at least control my thoughts and my responses the last human freedom” “ I’m looking forward to getting back in the room with the members of my tribe who either cannot or will not receive their guitar lessons online.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Do you want to gain clarity on your past, present and future, understand exactly how you’re going to achieve your goals and have the ability to walk through your very own business timeline? In today’s episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil shares with you an NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) mind exercise that will help you visualise your future, make better and more informed decisions and gift you with the position of perspective from both outside of time and inside of time. Contact Neil ([email protected]) KEY TAKEAWAYS Start by visualising your life from an outsider’s perspective. Aim to be like an onlooker of your own life and ask yourself how is it for you? This position is the view from OUTSIDE OF TIME. From this position, you can look on and imagine future events and changes in your life. The Outside of Time position is dispassionate and gives you a good overview of your business in the future and view the people you’ll need, operational changes and financial levels that will be necessary to achieve what you want from your business. NLP Exercise Find a space where you can imagine your future timeline. Go and stand off to one side of your imagined timeline – this is you OUTSIDE OF TIME. Stand about halfway along it and visualise 7 or 8 years to your left, The Past, visualise 7 or 8 years in the future to your right and visualise the present in front of you. Now imagine what happens in those 15 years and notice what you might want to have in place over the course of those years. Write all of your goals down on index cards, post-its or pages from a note pad, and place them on your timeline at around about where you think they should be.” You’re now standing alongside the imaginary line of time, OUTSIDE OF TIME, looking at what you want to achieve, now it’s time to move – to shift your perspective and to go INSIDE OF TIME – and check a few things out. When you are INSIDE OF TIME you move position and stand in your present. Start to move along the timeline, slowly, until you reach your first index card - pick up the card, read it and put it back in place, making a note of its position or placing a marker next to it. If it’s wrong, move the card, then return to the today position and check how it feels. If there’s something missing, write a new card and insert it, do another round of check & move. If you don’t actually want that thing, eliminate it. Completing this process will give you clarity on your timeline and enable you to check your estimations and assessments of what you’re looking to achieve. BEST MOMENTS“When you’re done, you’ll have a powerful and compelling vision of the next decade or more for your business and for yourself, outside of business.”“This position is the view from OUTSIDE OF TIME. From this position, you can look on and imagine future events and changes in your life.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Are you using the art of leverage in your mentoring, coaching or tutoring business to get more done in less time? In this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil shares with you benefits of leverage in your business to do more of what you most love to do and earn more money. Listen in to discover how to systemise your business, optimise your time, build up a network of contacts and use other peoples knowledge to get what you want. Contact Neil ([email protected]) KEY TAKEAWAYS Leverage is very important to growing and scaling your business but as entrepreneurs, there is a belief that ‘nobody can do it better than I can’. As teachers there are limited hours to teach so we must leverage our time, people, money, systems, knowledge and contacts. All of these can work for you with very little input, once set up and optimised. It’s never too early to start using leverage. Time: You can leverage your time more efficiently by setting a daily routine for yourself and listing out what tasks you want to get done by the end of the day and then set actions to complete those tasks. Aim to stay accountable for your time and get the best use out of it. People: Ask yourself who can I get to do this? Build a team of experts around you that will charge less than you do for teaching. Build up a network of contacts that you can leverage to get all of your tasks done so that you can remain focused on what you’re best at, teaching. Systems: Defined as a streamlined way of completing a task so that you can continue to grow your business in a reputable manner. Systems will make you fast and help you check the boxes off your daily routine and improve your teaching. Set up good and consistent systems for your business with a manual so that you can then farm out managing the systems for even more leverage. Knowledge: Who knows what you want to know? Use other peoples knowledge as well as your own to get what you want. Seek out a mentor, teach or coach to help minimise your competence to excellence by leaning on others inspired thinking. BEST MOMENTS “Decide to do what only you can and farm out everything else and only focus on the vital few things that you love to do.” “50% of something is better than 100% of nothing” “Figure out what it is that only you can do, what you’re unique at doing” “Farm out everything that you don’t what to do” “The first time you set up your systems will be the worst time you set up your systems” “What devices can you use to make you better at what you do” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

How will the new lockdown restrictions affect your tutoring business? In today’s episode, Neil shares his advice on how you can adapt and scale your business, continue to serve your tribe online and how you can set and achieve new goals both for your personal development and your business during the lockdown. Listen in and learn and why it’s important to stay positive, why you need to remain a leader to your students and how you and your business can thrive under new restrictions. Contact Neil ([email protected]) KEY TAKEAWAYS Use the new lockdown to set yourself a goal. Consider your accounts, out of date admin and if you’re learning anything moving forward? Set yourself an income goal, a health goal and everything to keep your business going and your mind active. This is a good time to think strategically about your business, how you will adapt and change and how to can diversify your business in order to reach 6-streams of income to reduce any risk. How can you continue to serve your tribe during the lockdown? Serve your tribe, contact your students and ensure you’re continuing to teach online, on social media and over the phone. This is also a good opportunity to ask for referrals, market and expand your tribe. Remember you can’t change what happens, but you can change how you respond. More than ever, it’s down to you and me to take action on our own behalf – nobody is coming to the rescue, so it’s down to us. We are responsible, meaning “able to respond”. This is your chance to LEAD and to SHINE, to be a reliable & positive influence in the lives of your students, clients and mentees. BEST MOMENTS “You can do NOTHING about the draconian legislation itself – but you DO get to choose how you respond to it.” “Work on all those projects that you haven’t had time for” “You should aim to have six streams of income in your business” “Get yourself more organised and figure out how you can do things better” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

How are you perceived by your students and in your marketplace? Listen in as Neil shares his tips on how to figure out how you are positioned and how you can align your view with your students. Discover why consistency is key to success, how to position yourself as an authority in your field and how to identify your lane and stay in it. Contact Neil ([email protected]) KEY TAKEAWAYS Be true to yourself. Integrity is honesty and it will give your students a sense of certainty. What is it you do that makes you special, different and authority in your chosen field? Ask yourself, why you want to be a tutor? Ask your students and get feedback from them. Ensure their perception of you is aligned with the tutor you are. Look at what creates the perception of your teaching. Consider your environment, the lighting, your accolades and the tidiness of your teaching room. Everything says something about you and impact on the impression student will have on you. Nothing says more about you than how you deal with time. Be on time and be professional. Being unprepared and failing to plan for your students will seriously undermine your status so take notes and keep records. Availability can affect how you are perceived, if your calendar is empty you will appear to be unpopular, if you are booked solid you will appear to be sought after. Consider your fees. Aim for the premium end of the market and you will attract a certain type of clientele. Additionally always offer a super-premium tier or package for your clients. Everything counts, when you meet your students you must be who they expect you to be. Don’t leave anything to chance. BEST MOMENTS “Consistently show up and be the same person each and every week” “Your appearance and your language is key to your student perception of you.” “Identify your lane and stay in it” “Who are you to your tribe?” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Is the amount of free video content online a problem or an opportunity for your coaching, tutoring or teaching business? Today, Neil shares his thoughts on the opportunity YouTube presents and how you can use it to created structured and sequenced lessons online but also validate your own one to one tutoring with feedback, accountability and tailored content. Listen in to find out more! Contact Neil ([email protected]) KEY TAKEAWAYS Students learning on YouTube suffer from the same issue of ‘monkey see, money do’ and as a result, there is no underlying knowledge that allows them to create beyond what they’ve learnt online. As a novice seeking to learn a new skill, you don’t know what’s good or what’s bad, what’s productive and what’s relevant and what will actually be useful to them. YouTube has become a massive opportunity for tutors providing structured and sequenced lessons with logical progression based on a system or approach. As well as providing inspiration and insights into what students are looking to learn. By tutoring an individual you can tailor lessons to their ability and evolve their together as their knowledge and understanding develop, whereas a YouTube video is created for the masses. Always give feedback to the students and create accountability for them that will create a solid foundation for them to build upon. It’s likely that everything the student needs is on Youtube, along with a lot of useless content and unless the student is an expert, they’re unlikely to know the difference. BEST MOMENTS “With the amount of video content out there is it a problem or an opportunity?” “A lot of students have self-taught from Youtube and pick up the basics but those students demonstrate the same problems of overwhelm” “With the amount of content online, students don’t know what content to consume and how valid it is” “Students learning online are trying to build on foundations built on sand” “People today are doing more work on Youtube and getting nowhere fast” “Humour and playfulness have to be built into your tutoring sessions” “Cover the basics and go from the centre outwards.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - NeilCowmeadow.com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

‘What’s good about this?’ By asking this question you can turn anything into something good and when you’re facing a situation at first glance, looking for the good is all that really matters. Tune in to hear Neil’s all-time favourite question and how you too, can benefit from a change in mindset, perception and fortunes when simply looking for the good and turning a negative into a positive. Contact Neil ([email protected]) with how you get on asking ‘What’s good about this’ in your business. KEY TAKEAWAYS By just asking ‘what’s good about this’ reframes whatever problem or issue you’re facing and takes it from being a negative situation to a situation that contains something good and valuable and allows you to dilute the gravity of the situation. The power of asking that question can bring about new opportunities and can allow you to turn a negative situation and mindset into a positive and profitable outcome when you apply this question to your business and personal life. Your perception will change when you begin looking for the good in the situations you encounter. If you begin to do this in all aspects of life. BEST MOMENTS “My favourite question of all time forces you to look at whatever the situation is and find the good in it.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Habits define who we are and who we believe ourselves to be but can also lead to our depression and our happiness and overtime habits will determine who we become. In today’s episode, Neil discusses the power of habits and routines and why they really matter to the success of your business, your tutoring and your wider life. Listen in to hear how to battle your inner moron and build better habits. KEY TAKEAWAYS Habits give you an evolutionary advantage, they speed up shortcuts, save energy and speed up actions. Habits really matter. It’s an automatic behaviour pattern, set off by a trigger with an exit routine that becomes unconscious. Socialisation forms our habits and governments, advertisers and marketers know we are susceptible to ‘under the radar influence’ and since negative and positive habits are formed in the same way it’s easy to be pulled in the wrong direction. The minute you admit you have a habit is the minute you’ve given up control to whatever person or organisation created that habit. Aim to create a tick list that forms habits that are in your best interest and in turn that will help you trigger, action, exit and you will form habits that help you instead of hurt you. Your own anticipation of ‘ticking the box’ will release dopamine rewarding you for your work. If your habits help and serve you, identify and optimise them to trigger them again and again. If your habits hurt you, identify the trigger and replace it with a new trigger for better behaviour. BEST MOMENTS “Not many people stop and think about their habits” “Tame your inner moron” VALUABLE RESOURCES Book - The Art Of War Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Communication is vitally important as a teacher because it is through communication skills that a teacher can utilise a students belief system and life experience to better tailor teachings to the student. In today’s episode, discover the art of utilisation and how you can use it as a successful teaching method to better educate and evolve your tutoring, teaching and coaching business. KEY TAKEAWAYS As a teacher you cannot focus on anything more vital than communications skills, it’s the conduit that all communication is delivered to your students. A more flexible and effective communicator will convince more people and get their message across more quickly. All beliefs and all paradigms will fight tooth and nail for their survival. People are very resistant to change and as teachers, you must harness the power of their beliefs to help teach and overcome their defensive belief systems. Aim to turn them into a delivery system for your new ideas and proven and trusted teachings. Always listen to your students as they will casually reversal overtime who they really are. Always ‘listen, listen and listen’ to discover whatever is in the student’s mind. The role of a successful teacher is to remove ego and empty and inject all of your knowledge and information into your student through the right channel for them. BEST MOMENTS “The greatest victories are the ones that require no battle” “Tailor the way you communicate to the receiving person (the student)” “No matter what age your students are, ask them about their life” “Gather intelligence about your students before going into battle” “People are often dug into mental trenches” “Speak in terms of the existing paradigm“ VALUABLE RESOURCES Book - The Art Of War Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Have you ever been taken aback by an unexpected question from one of your students during a tutoring lesson? Join Neil today as he discusses how to answer your student’s troubling questions and why you are a great source to answer them. Discover why it is important to immediately deal with your students’ query, how answering their anxieties can increase your value to them and why your own personal experiences can help shape the answer they need. KEY TAKEAWAYS An unexpected question asked during your tutoring session from your student is often something that has been troubling them for years. If they have been playing from their teens and are now in their sixties and they have finally figured out that it is worth getting lessons, then the tutor is able to be the source that answers that question for them. When a student asks you an unexpected question, answer it straight away. Otherwise, with that nagging question in their minds you will struggle to engage with them on the planned material, and so will you. The question has precedence and has put down some roots in the mind. It is hogging their attention and you should deal with it. If it is not dealt with the real material will bounce off their defences. Depending on how you’re wired up, how you respond to that question can be a problem, or it can be a chance to be of greater service and value to your students. If you’re hard-wired into the syllabus, the chances are it is a problem that needs getting rid of. If you have the knowledge and experience to formulate a solution for your students, then this is your golden moment. When you answer that question and resolve the years of anxiety then you have just ratcheted up your value to them. Answering their unexpected questions earns you loyalty and confirms you as their authority figure. The very fact that you care enough to shift your focus demonstrates that your student’s outcome matters more to you than dogmatically following the lesson plan. As tutors, by being useful you are able to help students by moving their lives in the direction of their dreams. You are able to help them become the people they would like to be. It is a fabulous way to make a living, and if you share all the insights and knowledge that you have to build up throughout the years, you are even more useful than if you confine yourself to a single narrow field of excellence. As you figure out the answers and effectively communicate the answers to your students, you make new connections. You are able to discover new routes and conduits for your subject matter or an unrelated subject. As everybody knows the teacher always receives the best listeners. The most valuable lessons of all are taught to us when we teach what's uncommon and what’s hard to teach. BEST MOMENTS “These little unexpected squirrels and the rabbit holes that take us off track are really where the gold is.” “You’ve demonstrated by your actions that you’re present for them and that you are able to respond to their needs You’ve made the lesson more about them and you have drawn on your own expertise and knowledge” “It is the greatest thing about what we do day in day out. We get to be more useful.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Discover today the benefits of perfecting the art of vanishing. Join Neil as he discusses the importance of going off the grid for the day to take yourself away from working in the business so you can focus on working on the business. Neil talks through how to eliminate your everyday distractions, how to prepare for your isolation day and why it is beneficial to take time away from your everyday life to focus on your future. KEY TAKEAWAYS The art of vanishing is giving yourself a day of isolation to just step back. It is really easy to get yourself sucked into the vortex of everyday ‘doing’. When you’re in business with yourself you are constantly busy, and that can be a danger. Many business owners can fall into the habit of doing little jobs for the business on top of your already large list of jobs coupled with your private life. Having an isolation day is a really beneficial thing to do. It should be your ambition to aim to vanish a couple of days each month. Getting away from your ‘normal’ life is a tactic. Take yourself completely off the grid and eliminate all distractions. Each interruption to your working day will take about 20 minutes out of your life. Even with the new COVID restrictions it is still well advised to take a day to yourself. This may mean not leaving the house. Tell your family members or housemates whom you live with, that you are not available throughout the day. Get your partner or your spouse on board but be prepared for some resistance and push back. Remember, you are not having a day off, you are having a clear day to think strategically and plan a better future for you both to share. Start thinking about what supplies you will need for your isolation day. You don’t want to have to break up the precious and sacred time you have set aside for yourself, in order to go and purchase supplies. Park your car offsite. If people think that your cars are not on the driveway, then you must also be out. Turn off the doorbell and house phone as well as drawing all the curtains to prevent you from being impulsively visited. Think about how you will structure the next ten years of your life. The best way to do this is by getting away from what you do on a day to day basis. Put some space between you and what would normally be done. Clear a whole day to escape from your desk and spend that time really thinking about how things are going. Review where you are and what you want to do more and less of. BEST MOMENTS “It is my way of guaranteeing I am going to work on the business, not just in it.” “Nothing life or death ever came via email.” “This is the time where you decide how it is going to go down for you.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Have you ever had a student confess to you that they are just not creative? That they have never been able to create something unique themselves? Today Neil provides you with an exercise to exhort that creativity from each of your students. Encourage your students’ imagination by asking them to imagine what is in the fictitious box, and encourage their creativity to evolve. KEY TAKEAWAYS It is no wonder that governments are such big fans of education. When you impose conformity and suppress new ideas, you have to inevitably kill imagination and murder the idea of play. When the right way to do something is dogmatically enforced and non-compliance is punished, it is no wonder that children shut themselves down to avoid negative consequences. This is what schools do to kids. Time after time students may tell you that they are not the creative type. Encourage your students to make mistakes so that they can get rid of the sounds that they don’t want and the ideas they don’t use. Start them very broad and narrow down their creativity. What’s in the box is a technique that came from Standford University. Ask your student to close their eyes and pretend you are handing them a small box with a lid on it. There is always something in the box. Ask the student to open the box and tell you what is inside? What they find in the box is the preferred subject of a song, story or poem which they have just created out of thin air. They have created the seed of an idea based on the position that there is something in the box at all times. Often they are reluctant to say what is in the box but you can always encourage them. Ask them ‘what colour is it?’ , ‘tell me more about it?’ or ‘where did it come from?’. Soften the questions by telling them that what they are telling you is really interesting to you. The more physical attributes that the student can conjure up such as weight, colour, smell and texture then the more vivid the thing in the box becomes. Your job is to help your students play with the contents of the box and throw ideas backwards and forwards until the student is capable of looking after the process all by themselves. BEST MOMENTS “They weren’t creative, they were compliant.” “That’s not bad for someone who isn’t creative, is it?” “I’ve lost count of the number of students who have discovered something in the box.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

In today's episode, Neil discusses how to create a treasure basket of teaching treasure to help your students learn in the best way possible. Discover how accumulating your thoughts on paper can lead to creating some of your best teaching material, how new ideas often come from non-typical students and why they love it when you try out new techniques tailored specifically for them. KEY TAKEAWAYS By allowing waste paper to accumulate, things that would have ordinarily been thrown away are able to be utilised for good material. Some of it may be everyday material but sometimes it comes out with a twist. Perhaps you will find a new pattern or a twist on the usual material. Pieces of material that you have jotted down in the past on pieces of waste paper can actually catch a nuance of something you have been using subliminally below the threshold of your own recognition. Let's say you have a new idea or implementation you would like to use on students, sometimes it may work and sometimes it doesn’t. New ideas usually come from non-typical students and you may need to come up with new ideas to help support them. Tell them that they are your ‘lab rat’ and you are going to test a new technique out on them. The first attempt will not often work, therefore you need to tweak it and do a revised version of the new technique. The early versions will end up in the treasure basket and that is where the teaching treasure is kept. You may find that your students love it when you try out new techniques designed to their needs as it makes the lesson solely about them. You are not just using a bog-standard approach to teaching, it is using their thoughts and processes to tailor the content to them. It is collaborating creativity because you are coming up with ideas, throwing them out there and they are giving you feedback on your new technique. If you are not catching this, you may be missing out on a source of solid teaching gold. If you are planning to write on what you do as a teacher then this is a no brainer. Capture your output, especially on paper and especially those brilliant ideas in their raw form. The paper part is vital as it will sit in the basket looking at you and invite you to mine some of that gold. It is tangible and visible and it won't vanish. BEST MOMENTS “It turned what I thought was trash into treasure.” “There might just be a shift in perspective from ourselves.” “Those early versions go into the treasure basket.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Have you ever wondered what separates a ‘pro’ from an ‘amateur’? Join Neil today as he outlines his 12 ways to identify if you or your tutor is a professional or not. Neil discusses the importance of punctuality, how pros are constantly evolving and bettering themselves along with why to be considered a pro, you have to be in it for the long haul. KEY TAKEAWAYS Pro’s are always on time. Punctuality is the politeness of kings and a professional shows up on time every time. When you hire a pro they will always show up and they will always be punctual. They know the value of both their own time and your time. Pro’s have got everything in order. They have everything they need at their fingertips. The work is important enough for the pro that they get organised and they stay organised. They know where stuff is and they can get hold of it quickly. By contrast, amateurs are disorganised and may potentially forget to bring things with them. Pros hold the frame. The frame of the interaction is the perspective from which the encounter is viewed. The pro will always control the frame of the interaction and they structure the whole of the session so they get the result they want. With amateurs, the direction could just go anywhere. There is no real sense of frame control and they often become easily distracted. Pro’s are always evolving. They work harder on themselves than they work in their job. They are always trying to do better, make things clearer and to teach a little better. They are often hell-bent on becoming better versions of themselves, it is endless and it is tireless. It becomes a lifelong journey of discovery for the pro. Amateurs settle, they tend to make changes only when they’re absolutely forced to. Pro’s are in it for the long haul, often for a lifetime. Pro’s will plan, think and act as though they are going to be in the business for the rest of their lives. Amateurs tend to be very short term based, they don’t have much of a plan and it is often just a stopgap for them. If you want to be a pro, figure out how to get into tutoring for the long haul and ensure you are enjoying it every single day. BEST MOMENTS “Pro’s have a space or a place where they do their magic.” “Whoever controls the frame most strongly, will control the outcome of the interaction.” “Pro’s would teach even if we weren't getting paid for it. To do it is its own reward and it is fun for us. Holidays and days off can seem like lost opportunities for us.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Ever wondered how to deal with customers who try to reject your pricing strategy? Are you sick of people trying to haggle down your rates? Well, join us today as Neil discusses how to handle price objections. In this episode, Neil looks at how your premium pricing should be used as a selling point, offering alternative options to those who haggle and why if you are a good tutor, you should be getting paid highly for your expertise. KEY TAKEAWAYS You should make your premium pricing a non-issue, better still make this a selling point. Always acknowledge your price difference, if you do not have a price difference with your competitors then ask yourself why? Are you setting your rates high enough to reflect the massive value you deliver to your students and clients? When you come across a client that is questioning your rates you need to ask if the cost is really their main consideration. If it is, this type of client may not be the best fit for you as a tutor, because if their first interaction with you is by them trying to haggle it’s you, then they are probably not going to be pleasant to deal with going forward. If the customer begins to object to your pricing strategy, offer them, alternative tutors, at the bottom end of the market. Explain that you are perhaps not a good fit for them, but you can recommend somebody at a lower price point. Ask them a soft version of whether they are looking for the cheapest option or the option that offers them the best results. Always agree with your customers. Agree that yes, they could find a cheaper tutor, but would they like a cheap tutor or would they like a good tutor? Let them join the dots to the implication that they can’t have both a good tutor and a cheap tutor, these two options simply do not go hand in hand. Offering a discount on a block booking discount for a large number of lessons could be an option for your client. If you are a good tutor you should be getting well paid for your expertise. Remember that being amongst the most expensive is usually thought to be the best. If you offer your services at a very cheap rate, you will be interpreted as being not very good. Being expensive will automatically position you as being better than others whose rates are lower than yours. BEST MOMENTS “I don’t think there has ever been a better situation in which to run a tutoring business. I don’t think there has ever been a situation quite as advantageous to us.” “You are almost giving them an invitation to argue that they should be allowed to work with you.” “Don’t be average. Aspire to be exceptional.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Discover today how altering your relationship with money, can allow you to attract more wealth and will enable you to amplify the person you already are. Listen in today as Neil discusses the strange ideas surrounding money that we have become accustomed to, how to stop attaching your emotions to money and how money is just feedback on how much value you are providing to the world. KEY TAKEAWAYS There are many strange ideas about money. One of them being that ‘money is the root of all evil.’ This statement is usually used by religious organisations or charities, closely followed by the suggestion that you should give them your money. This statement is a very clever manipulation of people which essentially encourages you to part with your money-making you poorer and give it to others to make them even richer. The saying ‘money can’t buy happiness’ is true in the sense that money cannot directly buy you happiness as happiness is actually an internal state and it is not dependent on something outside of ourselves. However, it can also be argued that money has bought a lot more comfort and therefore happiness than living in poverty ever has. If you realise that money is essentially neutral and stop attaching emotions to money, you will begin to realise that money will amplify who you are. If you are a good person, you can do more good if you have more money. Above all else, money gives you a choice. It gives you the power to choose the place, time and people you are in contact with. Money is just feedback on how much value you are providing to your customers and to the marketplace. The amount of money you make is an indicator of how well you are playing the game. Since money is just a game, you better learn the rules and get educated. Reading books about money will allow you to change your relationship with money and you will start to become more wealthy. Learn to love money, if you don’t love it then it will not stick around. Give your money a safe home, investing it into bank accounts and safe investments that you never touch. Set money targets for yourself, reviewing regularly and ratcheting them upwards. Use your money to help others as well as helping yourself. Charitable giving and being generous towards others will allow you to be comfortable with money leaving you. Our purpose of being alive is to be of value and service to everyone else on the planet whilst maximising our own abilities. BEST MOMENTS “We need to realise that it is all a game, and as in any game, we score more goals according to how badly or how well we play the game.” “Money is a lever, that allows you to become more of who you are.” “There are trillions and trillions of pounds in the British money system, some of that money belongs to you. VALUABLE RESOURCES Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724 Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529 Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/ Contact Neil via this website - com! ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]