The Tutor Podcast

‘Why is doubt universal and what can we do about it? In this episode, Neil tackles the demons of doubt, universally experienced by us all. He explains why self-doubt is his kryptonite and what he does to proactively banish the doubts. If you want to build your life of choice, happiness and wealth then doubt and fear must be overcome, listen in and find out how. KEY TAKEAWAYS Ask anyone who works for themselves, any entrepreneur and they’ll tell you about the demons of self-doubt. For some, the feelings are so intense it results in them never starting their own business even though it may be what they truly desire. Even if you are successful the doubt still lurks, it is always going to be there in varying aspects of your business. Why does everyone have self-doubt? It’s an integral aspect of the human psyche and although it may not be possible to eliminate it, we can take steps to manage it. An important rule to remember is that whatever has precedence has dominance, whatever you were, you will continue to believe yourself to be. Until you can alter your sense of identity and sense of self to that of a confident tutor and successful entrepreneur you will continue to experience self-doubt. In order to banish doubt, you need to be emotionally secure and have evidence that you are good at what you do. What can we do about doubt? It’s vital to take a proactive approach in the fight against self-doubt Work on your identity, your identity is the deepest level of self, defining who you are. Begin using an affirmation and repeat it every day, saying it with conviction. Your unconscious mind will respond to this. Make the affirmation part of your daily journal writing. In doing this you reprocess and reabsorb the message. An elevator pitch is also an affirmation when you are asked what you do your response can communicate to others and affirm to you what you are and what you do. Create a money mantra based on how much you want to earn each year and write it down repeating every day the amount and why you are worth it. A memory book needs to be kept up to date and records all the good things about your work, testimonials, reviews and thankyous. These all form evidence that will chase away the doubts. The aim is to create a wall of evidence which doubt cannot overcome. You should be building it every day. Doubt and its counterpart fear are trying to keep you in the same place. You must build your life of choice, happiness, wealth and opportunity in the business you have chosen and exert your positive influence on students, clients and anyone who knows you. BEST MOMENTS ‘Whatever you believe yourself to be now will try to stay the same’ ‘Let’s get into the ring with the doubts and give them a good thrashing’ Take action and bring it into reality’ ‘When you begin a tutoring business there will be many challenges to overcome’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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]

In today’s day and age, we can find it difficult to separate ourselves from our mobile phones, some may even suffer from anxiety and withdrawal symptoms, scientists are now referring to this a Nomophobia. In this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil shares his helpful tips on how he distances himself away his mobile phone, allowing us to focus on ourselves, our relationships and our business’. ‘This is the most challenging thing and the most rewarding thing you will do’ KEY TAKEAWAYS Text messages and emails can be damaging to business and relationships as it is easy for people to miscommunicate and misinterpret what the other person is saying. Even if you don’t respond to a message because you are too busy, some people may think you are ignoring them and take it personally. Your phone emits radiation. It operates on the same frequency as your microwave, Neil explains how frequently using your mobile phone is slow cooking your brain. Try to avoid using your phone before falling asleep, your brain will always reprocess and overthink about the last thing you saw before you fall asleep, if you experience some late night drama on social media, this can seriously affect your night’s sleep. Don’t text and drive, don’t be that moron. Every time you’re paying attention to your phone, you’re not paying attention to anything else. Phone can be damaging for your productivity, recent studies show that it can take up to 23 minutes for you to regain focus after a distraction, think about how many notification you get everyday… hide your phone away Don’t be afraid to be a pain in the arse to get hold of, turn off your notifications or just turn it off and crack on with your business. BEST MOMENTS ‘Remember your phone is supposed to be a tool, don’t let it use you.’ ‘However crap you think you are, the chances are nobody else has noticed, they’re too busy thinking about their own stuff to worry about you’ ‘If they’re paying for your time, let’s give them 100% of our attention’ ‘Your mobile phone will devastate your productivity’‘reclaim your time, maybe even reclaim your life’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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]

‘Do it now, do it before you need it, because sooner or later you will need it’ Here to help you as always, if you’re already in the business, and to egg you on if you think you’d like to be in this business, in this episode Neil talks about how to specialise and diversify to survive successfully in these changing times. He shares his expertise and experience of developing multiple streams of income to de-risk his life and provides comprehensive advice on how you can do it too. KEY TAKEAWAYS We live in changing times; Technology and artificial intelligence will make many jobs obsolete. Society is changing and people are becoming more insular and passive in their interactions, they are ‘Spectators on the touchlines of life’. Our businesses are affected by the demographic, an aging population and the economic climate, factors over which we have no control. What are you going to do when your skills are not relevant anymore? Have a plan A (what you are doing currently), a plan B and a plan C. You must keep learning and upskilling - it’s all about long term survival. De-risk your life Don’t be ordinary – become exceptional at what you do and then people won’t be able to do without you. Minimise your downtime, work as hard as you can throughout the workday. Charge top dollar for your services because you are worth it. Develop other products around what you do. Always search for potential add-ons that you can build upon. Multiple skills lower your exposure to risk. Make a decision to divide your time and resources. Begin by allocating 20% of resources to the next project. When your first and second streams of income are systemised, you can move to add another income stream. How to diversify Look at what you do currently and how you can generate passive income from these activities such as products and licensing. There are always opportunities out there for new businesses, joint ventures, parallel businesses. Changes Stuff happens and your life can change in a heartbeat. If you only have one skill, one income stream or the limitations of your own time you are at risk. The only certainty we have is that things will change. It’s vital to become the master within your own optimised business and diversify looking for other things you can do when you can't do the job you are currently doing. BEST MOMENTS ‘Above all else – give yourself the freedom to choose’ ‘I’m passionate about growing your business beyond doing a few guitar lessons’ ‘Your best protection is to be extremely good at what you do’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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]

In this episode of The Tutor Podcast Neil covers how to start having an opportunity mind-set and how you can use it to benefit your life, whether that’s starting your own business or improving your life. KEY TAKEAWAYS Ask yourself what’s good about this? Where’s the opportunity in it? Then ask what’s next? It’s a good starting base for finding opportunities. Nobody can do the learning for us and we’ve got to find the opportunities ourselves. It’s about your mind-set. The mind-set of opportunity allows us to dream a little bigger, teach a little better and help a little more. Through practise we can get better and better. When your mind-set becomes thinking in this way, you will be able to see that there’s opportunity everywhere. Always be looking for opportunity because if you’re not then the likeliness of you finding nothing is high. BEST MOMENTS ‘We don’t learn entrepreneurship at school.’ ‘Often we’re building on no knowledge of the journey we’re on.’ ‘If we survive we must carry on learning.’ ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

Neil discusses the importance of mental rehearsal and how you can use it to help your students, or yourself, to improve the way you play or teach. Listen to this episode to find out how you can use mental rehearsal to improve the way you teach your students and how you can use it to enable them to improve their skills too. KEY TAKEAWAYS Mental rehearsal is a vital component of what I do, and try to get my students to do, day to day. Everyone should be using this and encouraging to do this because practising in the mind allows you to practise perfectly without any mistakes, unlike if you were to practise in real life. Mental rehearsal presents very low resistance to the idea of practising and can be done anywhere at any time. How do you teach your students to mentally rehearse? Get them to visualise themselves playing perfectly with excellent technique and control. Get them to see themselves looking happy and enjoying playing. Ask them how they can see themselves moving when they play. Tweak this vision until it’s perfect, the nature, quality and movement. Make the image really colourful, bright and bold. Use the piece of the music that they’re working on at the moment. Have the student zoom in and out of the image to see what they’re doing with each hand when mentally rehearsing. When the mental rehearsal is over, the lessons and learnings from the mental movie can be taken away for when they practise in real life. Don’t believe what the artists are doing in any instrumental music video is how to play the song, most of the time the music is pre recorded then lip sank. This could even be therapeutic and relaxing. The more you do it, the more vivid you will be able to remember make the mental movie real. You can apply mental rehearsal to teaching too, it doesn’t’ just have to be for students. BEST MOMENTS ‘When you practise mentally, it can be perfect every time.’ ‘Shape the movie to what they want.’ ‘Go from Third person to First person.’ ‘They should do it as often as they can whenever they like’ ‘Play back the music that they’re learning.’ ‘Best time for mental rehearsal is just before bed.’ We, and our students, can become better versions of ourselves in our minds.’ ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

"Well, what do I mean by 'care excessively'?" In this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil gets to the point of why we as tutors should not only care, but argues that we should care excessively. Join Neil as he touches on the psychology of the Presenting Problem and why it is important for your tutoring business! KEY TAKEAWAYS I think it’s a great by-product of being a tutor that we are held in very high regard and are trusted by our students. So, what should we, as tutors, do when a student asks questions or raises issues which are outside of what we were hired to teach?Should we simply ask the student to focus on the task at hand, or allow them to be curious and do our best to help them? In medicine, therapy and hypnosis there’s something called The Presenting Problem – it’s the reason the client or patient booked the session. But here’s the thing – the presenting problem is usually just the surface level of what they really want. On a deeper level, there’s something else entirely. Now, if I confine myself to only discussing and dogmatically insisting that ALL we ever speak about is the Problem – two bad things will happen: Bad Thing #1 – lessons will be really boring and client turnover will be high. That’s bad for business and for my mental health! It also breaks my first Secret Golden Rule – “Don’t do anything that isn’t fun” Bad Thing #2 – I might never get beyond the Presenting Problem of their guitar playing and understand the person sitting across the room from me. Listen in and make sure you get in touch with Neil and let him know your thoughts. ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

What is teaching all about? Teaching all about leaving a legacy in the hearts, minds and souls of all of your students. In this episode of The Tutor Podcast Neil gives you an insight on how he records his legacy and the importance of doing so. KEY TAKEAWAYS All coached and tutors should have one. What is an encyclopaedia of applied fantasticness? It’s my memory book where I keep a personal record of the people I’ve enjoyed teaching and coaching. It’s for the notes, cards and photos etc… that I’ve received from all of my students and clients. Being a tutor is such a privilege and so much better than any other job I’ve ever done. I look at my encyclopaedia of applied fantasticness when I’m feeling down to remind myself of the brilliant students I’ve worked with and taught and how I’ve impacted their lives in a positive way. That nagging feeling of unreality, being a fraud and impostor syndrome fades when I look at my encyclopaedia of applied fantasticness. If you haven’t already got one, start one. It’s memories of great times you’ve had with students and proof of you not being an impostor for when you get that feeling. BEST MOMENTS ‘It’s hard to believe that by sharing my life long love affair of guitar has had such a massive impact on peoples lives.’ ‘Keep calm and have an awesome day.’ ‘Have a fantastic day.’ ‘You’ll leave a legacy of fantasticness.’ ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

Neil discusses his top tips on how to keep positive especially when you come across problems or challenges that you may face within general life. It’s important not to take life problems and challenges personally because we’re all human and have 1 life to life so there’s no point wasting time and energy feeling negatively about life’s hiccups. Listen in to find out more… KEY TAKEAWAYS Things do go wrong. All problems and challenges are part of life; you’ve got to get over it. Problems are not personal. Consider whether you have control over these problems/issues. If you do have control over them then it means you have the option to change it, if so then roll your sleeves up! If you can’t change them then don’t waste time and energy on trying to change them. Ask yourself what the worst way you could respond to these problems is then think of better responses you could choose. Then ask which is the one that would lead to the best success? Find the opportunity within the problems. In every situation of change, there is an opportunity. If your plans don’t work out, then just make another plan. Make a plan which now reflects the events, circumstances and changes that are going on around you. Bring your plan up to date. It’s a chance to refine your thinking and adapt and respond to the changes that are inevitable within business. When people let you down, accept that some people just won't make the cut. Ask yourself are you expecting too much of people. When people let you down they’re showing you who really they are. They’ll give you clarity which is a good thing. When you do have to get rid of people from your life then just remember they were taking up space for other really great people. You will change but if your work is in line with your values then it will be a positive thing. How we feel minute to minute it’s up to us. It’s how you choose to feel about situations and how you come back from them. BEST MOMENTS ‘Things will go wrong.’ ‘Stuff happens but you need to deal with reality.’ ‘Divert your energy to change your view of the problem’ ‘If you’re not looking for opportunity then it will pass you by so ask yourself where’s the good in this or what’s the positives.’ ‘Always remember to find out what’s good in any situation.’ ‘remember to say revolute on your direction but stay flexible with the route on which you get there.’ ‘When things change around you then adapt to the change. Make use of the change.’ ‘The sooner you spot a duffer, the sooner you spot a tosser, the better.’ ‘Be prepared to loose people on the way.’ ‘Never be afraid to loose a tosser and if you do need to then do it as fast as you can.’ ‘Count your blessings.’ ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

The last thing you want while building your tower of success is to see it crumble down. It’s important that you create and solidify a master plan. It serves as the map while you are on your journey towards your goal. A master plan doesn’t have to be sternly followed; it is flexible depending on the current milestones you’re receiving and the better opportunities that come. Neil also shares today his own master plan for his tutor business. The most important thing is that you contribute value to others along the way. Discover where you should start and why should do it in this episode of The Tutor Podcast. KEY TAKEAWAYS Have a plan. That’s always the first step. Once you have a plan, everything will fall right into their proper place. It gets ingrained in your mind that you got something you need to do. Once you wake up, the immediate thought is about how to execute the planning bit by bit. It’s easier to look for opportunities when you know where you’re going. You set an eye on things that will help you achieve your goal smoothly. Contributing value to others is what you should priorities if you’re looking into starting a business, not wealth. The money will follow when you do great at serving others. According to Neil, honesty is the key value that business should uphold, and behind this, fun, understanding support, and flexibility follow. It’s important to write down what you stand for so you can go back to them if you’re losing focus and feeling lost. Neil’s 3 Biggest Annual Priorities: Deliver unique message to students and listeners. Increase visibility. Understand the marketplace. If there are tasks that need to be delegated to others so you can concentrate on more important tasks for the business, do it. It’s most likely that other people are far better at doing some jobs than you. Know where you need to focus. BEST MOMENTS “The reason that you must have a plan is it constrains your thinking – it forces you to keep on track.” “Amateurs dabble and stumble one from one week to next. They’re very reactive to external conditions. They tend to jump from things to other things.” “Focus on the most important things. Build a business in which you can create more value.” “My business’ mission is to change how the world plays the guitar and to create happier and more fulfilled human beings.” “With a little bit of repetition and the right inputs, you don’t need the mythical quality of talent.” ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

In this episode of The Tutor Podcast Neil discusses the best ways to deal with customers who are price whores or special request clients. These two types of clients are often ones that are best avoided. Neil also covers alternative routes that you could take if you don’t necessarily want to turn the opportunity of a new client down. Listen in to find out more! KEY TAKEAWAYS In my experience there are only 2 types of customers. Your dream type of customers (which we looked at in episode 10) who are you’re looking to aim your services at. The other type of customer is ‘the rest’ which is everyone who isn’t necessarily your perfect match. There are 2 types of people who I choose not to deal with. Price whores and special request people. Price whores are looking for the cheapest price and best deals only. Special request people tend to be prima-donnas who often think they’re more special in some way so expect special treatments. They often make demands rather than requests and are most likely going to be a real pain in the arse. Stand your ground with your price whores and special cases. If you yield and give a special discount to a price whore, then you are dishonouring your current students and what they’re paying you. Ask questions to price whores to ensure they’re only looking for a cheap price. E.g. You can have good or cheap. Not both. Which would you like? The people with special demands tend to be entitled and cancel last minute. They often don’t do the work after they go home. The often think that they will become great just because they’ve paid for a tutor. So get paid upfront. Have your prefect week written down and then put a price on it. Anything that takes you away from your perfect week then ensure the rewards are substantial so it’s worth taking time off of your perfect week in order to make it happen. BEST MOMENTS “Golden rule number 2 is DDWT – Don’t deal with tossers. (As discussed in episode 3)” “Until the person on the phone becomes a student, they are a stranger.” “Your current customers deserve your loyalty.” “You’ve got to do the drills to get the skills.” “Never negotiate on price. There shouldn’t be a need to settle for less.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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]

In this episode of The Tutor Podcast Neil covers what utilisation and compliance are and how they are linked. He also explains how these can be used to enhance your tutoring and get the best outs=comes for your students. KEY TAKEAWAYS Certainty is a sense that I know exactly what I’m doing. Convey that certainty to your students so they know that you’re really good at what you do. The Milgram study showed that people are more likely to comply to an authority figure. Utilisation ties into the idea of certainty because if we’re constantly being surprised by things, we undermined ourselves as being experts. “Resistance is created by a lack of clarity” which I believe translates to “the student will fear failure if the teacher is uncertain of a successful outcome for the student”. A person who completely certain of themselves is infinitely more convincing of a person who is doubtful of a successful outcome. Use language that conveys certainty. BEST MOMENTS “Authority is one of the biggest drivers of compliant behaviour” “Utilisation is the idea of everything being expected and there are no surprises” “There’s no need to be perfect out of the box.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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] https://twitter.com/tutorpodcast

‘We can get hurt by it and learn to fear rejection or we can learn from it and recognise it’s a natural consequence of being in the tutoring business’ Neil tackles rejection and explores the varied situations in which tutors can be rejected and the ways in which you can learn and adapt if you understand the rejection and respond in positive ways that are focused on developing your business and moving forward. If you want to understand why sometimes be rejected is the best way forward then tune in now! KEY TAKEAWAYS Everyone suffers from rejection and how you respond to it is a choice. It can knock your confidence but it’s important to look at the reasons and understand it is not personal. If your values are not aligned with the potential client then it can be better to not work together. You should consider this more long-term view when you respond to the rejection. It important to look for patterns, it is possible you are repeatedly doing something that is leading to rejection. Rejection is an invaluable opportunity to learn and adapt, what you are doing to effectively meet the needs of your clients. There are a range of situations as a tutor where rejection is possible; The no show students – it’s important to set yourself the rule of not dealing with these types of people. Students who quit - Students priorities are not the same as those of the tutor, asking and finding out why they are quitting establishes communication that can help to ensure the student knows they can return later. Not getting hired by a new prospect – this can be due to a mismatch in values and approaches between you and the client. Not getting hired by parents- this is often influenced by schedules and the logistics of getting the student to you at the required time. Not getting hired by institutions – these form only one possible income stream and there are costs involved in whatever you are doing if you are working for schools your time for other revenue streams is limited. Telephone tyre-kickers – these are price driven commodity consumers; you must value the service and expertise you offer. If you are able to eliminate these individuals at the telephone stage then you can save valuable time further on in the process. Email enquiries that don’t get back to you – sending a communication to clarify why they didn’t follow through with the booking can provide helpful feedback. If you’re in the game there is a price to pay and rejection is part of it, it is the way in which we respond, learn and adapt that is vital for any business moving forward. BEST MOMENTS ‘I will keep the door open for the future unless I have decided I don’t want to work with the individual due to the DDWT’ ‘Rejection is usually not personal, none of us is universally appealing ‘ ‘I like to do it my way as it produces better results than grade-based work’ ‘I teach them to love making music and be creative’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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]

Losing your big ego can make a difference in how you handle your business and how you can influence people. So, in this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil teaches you how to keep your ego at a healthy level. As a guitar teacher himself, he’s had experience handling rowdy students. Even though all you want is to make sure they put their best foot forward, you can’t compel them to do everything. So, what you should do is focus on how you can attract their interest and engage them to learn at their own will. Discover more tips from Neil when you tune in! KEY TAKEAWAYS Remember to understand that students have other aspects of their life that they’re also developing as they grow, not just learning lessons. They have relationships they need to nurture, classes/work have to attend to, and other passions that they pursue. Most of the time, enforcing compliance in your students will make them hate and resent you. And, that’s the last thing you want to do as a teacher. You have to encourage interest every time, so you won’t have to require them to do anything. Let go of your ego and focus entirely on your students. There’s a significant difference in how your business and your school will run if you don’t let your ego run things. BEST MOMENTS “I was not the most important in the teaching room or in the business; the student is the most important in the teaching room or in the business.” “A big realization for me was that I have no power over the student, all I can do is influence things.” “I will never use the words of ‘compulsion’ and ‘compulsory’ with my students.” ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

‘I have used anything and everything to help students overcome their resistance and I'm always keen to try new things’ Neil explains how you can use the Autonomiser to help lower resistance, generate more enthusiasm or overcoming a fear or hesitation This technique is very successful and will be a useful addition to any tutors teaching toolbox listen in to find out more KEY TAKEAWAYS To work successfully with a student, you need engage with their emotions. When a student is working outside their comfort zone for the first time it can be very challenging. This techniques is somewhat obscure but works really well. The source of this technique is the sports psychology program that was in place in the Eastern bloc countries to develop athletes in the 1970s and 1980s when these countries dominated world sport. When a student is working outside their comfort zone for the first time it can be very challenging Ask the student to rate how much they want to do the new activity Follow the rating ask them to explain why they didn’t rate it lower. In explaining and through verbalising alongside the careful use of soft questioning the student will achieve clarity and begin to lose their objections. This process should be repeated until the student rates highly wanting to undertake the activity and the barriers are removed. BEST MOMENTS ‘It’s all about their values’ ‘It took him from terrified and silent for 40 years to singing for the first time with a huge smile’ ‘This is quick and dirty technique for lowering resistance’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com Red Gold book by Grigori Raiport, not currently in print 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]

062 Other Peoples Messes DESCRIPTION A lot of students pay good money for tutors who don’t give good advice, give angry interactions, teach music the students don’t want to play and make it clear that the student is last priority. So what can you do about it when taking on new students that have been through this? KEY TAKEAWAYS Be grateful – Every time you require a new student; you require a new revenue stream so be grateful for new clients. You get accurate information on your competition – You’re essentially lifting up the covers and get to know what your competitors are doing, for example, the methods they’re using. So listen to your students. Be nice and gentle on the teacher that they used to have, even if they’ve been taught terrible technique – Focus on the student Take care of the position and technique by always explaining why these are used. Never shout at the student – you can’t be angry at a student for not knowing what they don’t know how to do. The better you teach the student, the better they’ll market you. BEST MOMENTS “Don’t claim that you’re better than the previous teacher, just explain that your approach is different.” “Don’t slag off the old teacher because Karma will get you back” “Never shout at the student” “There are crap tutors out there, so thank the lucky stars that you get the opportunity to do a much better job for the student.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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]

‘I use it every single day, in every single lesson with every single person I meet’ In this episode, Neil explains how NLP can be an invaluable tool in a tutor’s teaching toolbox. He shares how you can direct attention and lower conscious barriers to achieve accelerated learning and better lessons. Listen in to find out why learning to use hypnosis can improve your tutor sessions for both you, the tutor, and the learner. KEY TAKEAWAYS An awareness of trance makes teaching quicker and a whole lot more fun What is trance? Trance states and hypnosis are in essence the bypass of critical faculty by the direction of attention and recruitment of unconscious resources in order to better access the potential of the unconscious mind and the innate resources of the subject. How do you use hypnosis to make your teaching and lessons better? Start with yourself. Whatever state you are in will influence the state of your students. If you are excited and curious they will become excited and curious mirroring you. Hypnosis is effective and easy to learn Hypnosis is completely ethical as a teaching tool if your intentions are ethical Like any other tool, it is neutral in character, it can only amplify what you bring to it If you are not yet using it as part of your teaching tool kit then you should be. BEST MOMENTS ‘No magic just directed attention and the lowering of conscious barriers’ ‘Not sure at the moment if I am a hypnotist who teaches guitar or a guitar teacher who uses hypnosis’ ‘They don’t cluck like chickens they just get better’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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]

In episode 59 we covered that everything these days is going digital because they’re fast, flexible and cheap. In this episode, we will be discussing the importance of backing up your data and how you can do this. KEY TAKEAWAYS Everything is heading in a digital direction, more and more products are becoming digital. Digital products are fast, flexible and cheap but can have downfalls such as hackers, viruses and the vulnerability to break down. Data is the lifeblood of your business. People don’t realise the value of your data. If you lose it all, you lose all of your customer contact details, schedules, plans and more. You’ll have to rebuild everything again which will have massive indirect and direct costs. Updates can be set to automatically. Ensure they are as viruses can mutate. Be paranoid about suspicious emails and back everything up. I use the cloud to back up all of my data so they’re safely stored. I also use 2 backups drives (One onsite and one offsite) which are both 1 terabyte, password protected, and updated every few weeks. Great for backing up large files such as video. In addition, I keep offsite archives which is an offsite back up of all of my accountancy data. I update this annually after I finish all of my accounts for the year just-in-case HMRC need anything. Get into the habit of backing up your data. Set your calendar to remind you of a regular back update so you don’t lose all of those years of information. BEST MOMENTS “Don’t think if it happens to me, think when it happens to me” “A little bit of investment in good security across all of your devices and the small effort of keeping up to date is well worth it.” “Be suspicious of emails with attachments and links in them especially from unknown senders” “Remember you must keep your records for 60 years, from the end of the last company financial year that they relate to.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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]

Have you ever wondered what’s best pen and paper or digital? In this episode, Neil shares why writing stuff down using pen and paper is important for us all. He explains how our ideas and memories can be captured with flair and revisited with ease. If you want to ensure that your teaching flow is not disrupted and those creative moments are not lost listen in. KEY TAKEAWAYS I'm a massive fan of paper and pen but am also a huge advocate of all things digital. The key is to choose the right medium for the situation. Research suggests that writing things down compels us to reprocess our thoughts and understanding. The very act of forming words and handling a pen causes our brains to engage different motor groups, so more of your brain is firing off when you are processing your thoughts and getting them down on paper. We need to crystallise the ideas we have, and it is vital to be able to bring them together into some sort of order. Starting to write things down helps us to put ideas in order. Emotions can be difficult to convey but writing them down allows you to bring them to together and organise them and in doing so better understand them. Paper can be BIG, tiny screens will keep your thoughts small. You can work on a very large scale with any paper extending it physically as your ideas are extended and shaped around a particular challenge. Paper documents such as journals and photos document our journeys through life holding our ideas, thoughts and memories. A scrapbook of the positive things you have achieved is a great way to remind yourself of all you have achieved and the difference you have made to others. They remind us of the people we have known and the ways in which we have helped and guided them. I love writing and the right pen, ink and paper is very seductive. It only takes seconds to jot down a spark of an idea without disrupting the lesson and there is something tactile about leaving written records for others in the future. BEST MOMENTS ‘I’m able to put restless ideas in order and sort the relationships between ideas’ ‘You can drag those seething emotions out, put them on paper and examine them’ ‘When I write things down on paper it makes me seem mercurial’ ‘When you are writing the ideas are being woven into the way you already think’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.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]

“There are some people out there who just won’t get it. Frankly, I am not talking to them; They’re a bunch of miserable sods!” In this episode of The Tutor Podcast, your host Neil Cowmeadow is going to be sharing his two top tips for staying positive – both as an entrepreneur and as a human being. Recognise how lucky you are to get up each day! Neil lets you know a few strange but positive movements and methods to further amplify good vibrations and positivity each morning (which will start your day right!) KEY TAKEAWAYS Here’s what Neil does – When I wake up - Go “yesssssss!!!! I’m not dead...that means it’s going to be a very fantastic day today” Get straight out of bed and stand up in the Victory pose. If that’s too full-on, do the WonderWoman. Ted talks Amy Cuddy Power Poses Maybe put on some uplifting music and dance around. Congratulate yourself for not being dead yet Mankind has been around for 300,000 years – 109.5 million days...and you won today! If you can do this, You’ve beaten the odds again The lottery jackpot runs at 45 million to 1 against! So every day you do something that’s more than twice as unlikely as winning the lottery jackpot – you lucky bastard! Grin like a maniac – my term (endorsed by Aaron, the technical guy who edits TTP). Do it because the fastest way to change your mood is to change your physiology Think of a victory you’ve had Hear what you heard, see what you saw, feel how you felt assume the position and hold it, intensify it, more colour more volume, make the pictures bigger now hold that pose and try to feel bad.... notice you can’t do it? Now think of one of your failures... Hear what you heard, see what you saw, feel how you felt assume the position and hold it, intensify it, more colour more volume, make the pictures bigger now hold that pose and try to feel good.... notice that you can’t do it now resume that victorious stance and try to stay feeling bad notice you can’t do it? Still, think that life is hard, do you? Think you have no choice over how you feel? Do it – and I want to hear about it “I promise you this: if you adopt this mindset and grin like a maniac, you will feel differently about life and about yourself.“ VALUABLE RESOURCES Ted Talks; Amy Cuddy Power Poses ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

The best way to make the eyes and the ears of your students glued to you is to confidently tell the best story you could ever make. In this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil talks about the importance of storytelling in teaching. As educators, teachers, and coaches, we want that, as much as possible, we provide the most fun and productive learning experience for our students. Discover why creating stories produces the instant magic of attracting and engaging your target audience. Neil also talks about the generic structure of the world’s greatest novels, his own teaching experience, why Star Wars is a big hit and many more. KEY TAKEAWAYS Stories help us to make sense of the world. There are written and spoken histories, myths, and folklore that have been passed on for hundreds of years. They haven’t died and have continued to be retold because they are story-based. Stories are a storehouse of information and wisdom. We listen to told stories, learn the lesson from them, and contemplate about how related our experiences. Stories help your ideas be interesting and sound familiar to your audience. The easiest and most effective way to sell your idea is to slip it in a story. Stories got the flow and easily links your ideas together. When we start telling the story, the listener anticipates for what’s next. There’s a generic story structure which powers the majority of the world’s greatest stories, according to Joseph Campbell’s work in “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. Across cultures, the story is the same: The departure – the future hero is compelled to, or chooses to, leave their normal world The initiation – the future hero is tested and changed in some way; often discovering who they really are and what is most important to them. The return – once changed, the Hero returns to their Normal world, bringing back to it their discoveries. BEST MOMENTS “Sneaking your message or content in a story package is a great way of putting it under the radar of students and friends. I think it’s very important that we are creating, finding, borrowing, and using stories because they’re great resources for our business.” “I love to use stories to encapsulate the big ideas of my guitar teaching system and the way I develop it. It’s a sticky way to bring a lot of ideas to life, to make the small, technical details more memorable and fun for my students.” “There are stories everywhere. In life, every message or idea can be made more memorable when it’s wrapped in the right story.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell Star Wars ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

What happens when we reach the end of our tutoring career? Today on The Tutor Podcast, Neil discusses the exit strategies you can take when it’s already time. Neil realised that the clock is ticking and soon, there will come a time that he’ll be very old to teach. So, what do we do when the music stops? What do we do when we don’t want to teach anymore? Learn today where you can get more opportunities and more options outside tutoring when you tune in. KEY TAKEAWAYS Exit Strategies: Have one Don’t think “it’ll be all right” because nobody is coming to the rescue Social security is already bankrupt in the US and Britain is following suit Define your own retirement Don’t rely on benefits What options do we have? Retain the business Stay on as owner Avoid practical work – unless it’s a top-level service You’ll need staff Create a succession plan Sell the business The business cannot be just you or me Tangible and bigger than one person Systems, IP, Premises Create systems: Franchise-able, McDonalds model Train / mentor Get paid royalties Earn commissions Create IP Books, Music, Teaching tools, Licenses and royalties Diversify Invest outside your business Properties, equities, new & existing businesses Create a passive income Don’t rely on anything based on projected capital growth and draw-downs / refinancing – you have no control over the market BEST MOMENTS “Nobody’s coming to the rescue. The old idea that the state pension will keep you in comfort after you made your contribution is broken and obsolete.” “We have to think about diversification. Invest in a business.” “Opportunities are everywhere, so keep listening and keep thinking about what you want to do. Always do your homework where you’re investing.” “Have an exit strategy. Start thinking and start planning – then get busy doing, because nobody is coming to the rescue.” ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

Welcome to The Tutor Podcast! Today, your host Neil Cowmeadow talks about what happens when we reach the end of our tutoring career; • Am I Too old?• Am I Bored?• Changes to my Economics?• Changes in my Circumstances? Traditionally, pensions were the way to go, but Neil explains why he thinks it’s a model that isn’t worth pursuing. In episode #040, Neil goes on a deep dive on pensions so go back and listen for more Pension Info! KEY TAKEAWAYS: What we do need to look at though are Exit Strategies: • “I’m a guitar teacher, get me out of here” – or, what to do when the music stops.• Have one• Don’t think “it’ll be all right” because nobody is coming to the rescue• Social security is already bankrupt in the US and Britain is following suit• Define your own retirement• Don’t rely on benefits What options do we have?• Retain the business* stay on as owner* avoid practical work – unless it’s a top-level service* you’ll need staff* create a succession plan• Sell the business * The business cannot be just you or me * Tangible and bigger than one person * Systems * IP * Premises• Create systems:* Franchise-able* McDonalds model* Train / mentor * Get paid royalties* Earn commissions• Create IP* Books* Music* Teaching tools* Licenses and royalties• Diversify* Invest outside your business& create a passive income* Don’t rely on anything based on projected capital growth and draw-downs / refinancing – you have no control over the market* Opportunities are everywhere, so listen... * Do your homework – due diligence is a pain, but losing your investment is much worse.• Remember – it’s up to you. Start thinking and start planning – then get busy doing VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.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]

This is the third show in a 3 part mini-series exploring language. In the last 2 shows, we’ve examined the VAKOG Model of language – visual, auditory, Kinaesthetic, olfactory and gustatory – along with pacing and leading language structures. These language tools can be a part of your language toolbox helping you to ensure that all your students achieve through effective tutoring and coaching. Todays’ episode explores questioning and how to generate productive responses, listen in now to find out more! KEY TAKEAWAYS Greeting clients The language you use when you greet your clients sets a powerful frame around you. Your job is to infuse your students with energy, interest and curiosity. You can be; Outrageous Flamboyant Fabulous Dazzling Scintillating You must never be just fine or just alright and this must be conveyed through the language you use. Greet your students in a way that promotes positive anticipation of what will come in the lesson. Asking effective and powerful questions Only ask questions that you know the answers to. If you are observing something in a student from their psychology, facial expression or body language then you can ask questions that allow them to acknowledge what you have already seen. Go for questions that have yes answers. compliance is part of the learning process. If you ask questions that promote ‘no’ answers then it is more likely that a situation with friction will occur. You can soften questions so that it does not feel like an interrogation. This is done by asking questions such as ‘I’m curious about...’ ‘That’s fascinating – how do you do that?’ ‘How might we change that to make it a little better?’ ‘Can we run a little thought experiment?’ Tag questions can be used to hang on the end of a statement. These are questions such as; Isn’t it? Wouldn’t you? Can you not? Can’t you? 3 magic questions ‘What’s good about this?’ This points your student in the right direction to find a positive outcome. They might need to hunt around to find the positive but in looking for the positive any negative is lessened. ‘And before that?’ This is about working with the student to work backwards from their ultimate goal. It sets a path in the students mind about how to work towards their big goal. It can help them to see there is a structured approach. It makes clear it is a step by step process that has to be moved through successfully to reach the goal. ‘And what else?’ Asking what else after a student has a moment of insight or solves a problem encourages them to seek out more ideas. If you are capable of having one great idea you can have others. The word is….but Students are always waiting for you to use the but word If you use the word ‘but’ following a positive statement everything before the word is lost. It is a careless syntax. The word but is an absolute liability, remove it from your vocabulary BEST MOMENTS ‘You can feel good for no good reason what so ever’ ‘This got me a reputation for being very an interesting if a slightly odd person’ ‘They saw me as someone off the wall and outside the system ‘ ‘A long pause can compel the student to complete the question’ 'If you are capable of having one great idea, the chances are there’s another one snuggled in behind it’ ‘When you are asking for a response ask about feelings. It is less invasive than other forms of questioning ‘ ‘You’re framing yourself and the lesson in an energetic and positive way’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.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]

In this episode Neil explores pacing, leading language and complex equivalence structures. He provides in-depth examples to demonstrate how you can make these techniques work successfully, ensuring that your students achieve the best possible outcomes. If you want to add these language techniques to your teaching language toolbox listen in now KEY TAKEAWAYS Pacing, leading language and complex equivalence structures These are really easy patterns to learn and to add to your teaching toolkit and can be used to influence your students in the direction that is most beneficial to them. Pacing and leading language Pacing and leading is a language pattern that utilises something that is true and provable – this is the pace part of the pattern – to suggest that the desired response will occur with a student or client. If you provide a comment such as ‘being here on time shows you’re ready’ then the student finds it easy to relax and the idea that being on time makes you ready is plausible. If you follow up with a few questions, you can then use another pace and lead pattern. Chaining paces and leads together, adding humour, and setting up the next thing you want the student to do bypasses their nerves and uncertainty. To use the pace and lead pattern, link provable facts to desirable & beneficial responses or actions with words. Pace what is already happening, then make what you want to happen the inescapable result of what is already happening. Just add phrases such as “leads you to...causes you to...means that...makes you feel...makes you notice Complex Equivalence Complex Equivalence is another form of pacing and leading, but with a more direct form. You state the pace, the thing you want them to understand or do and make a comment that positions something with a quality you want them to have. E.g. ‘that’s a fantastic black paint job on your guitar, and black is the colour most favoured by confident, charismatic and creative people’ As tutors, teachers and coaches our job is to lead our students and clients to the very best outcome for them; and it’s a lot easier when we use unconnected but true, statements to slip past their defences. BEST MOMENTS ‘These are really easy patterns to learn and to add to your teaching toolkit, and can be used to influence your students in the direction that is most beneficial to them’ ‘If we cannot effectively communicate our ideas to our students and clients we are unlikely to be effective tutors or coaches’ ‘It’s easy for students to comply with the instruction because it seems a natural progression’ ‘Because I am an expert guitarist and they will accept my authority, and this will lead them to do what I have suggested’ ‘Everything is a mind game, and the more skilled we are at the “mind-stuff”, the better teachers we can become” VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.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]

There’s a better way on how you could tutor, teach, or coach someone… You just have to choose the right teaching language. So, in this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil introduces you to the VAKOG Model of language to be effective in teaching. VAKOG stands for visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory which all make use of our senses. There could be a primary way that you use or it could be a combination of two or more of them. It depends on what you think could better influence your students. Discover also why you should be always receptive also of what are your students’ learning language so you’d know how to contribute more value to them. Make sure to catch the next parts of The Teaching Language Toolbox special of the podcast! KEY TAKEAWAYS VAKOG is a core belief in NLP that language reflects the thoughts and way of understanding of people, and knowing this is incredibly useful when you are teaching. VAKOG is an acronym for visual auditory kinaesthetic olfactory and gustatory – the senses of sight, sound, movement and balance, smell, and taste. These are the ways people perceive the world, and NLP refers to them as representational systems. Understanding how people represent the world to themselves is a doorway to better teaching and greater influence. We are going to use their point of view to reduce what they have to process, by eliminating the need for them to convert what we’ve said into terms they prefer. Visual – pictures, colours, images Auditory – sound, noises, music Kinaesthetic – movement, feelings, hot/cold Olfactory – smells Gustatory – taste For guitar players, their best learning ways are kinaesthetic and auditory. You have to consider if you’re teaching one-on-one or a group. Maybe, you’ll have to consider visuals at first when you’re teaching a group. BEST MOMENTS “Whichever system you notice is being used, lean more heavily on that system and your messages will get across more quickly, more easily, and will be better understood.” “Listen to the visual cues inside language because that’s the common thing you’ll come across.” “Listen to the actual words that people use and they’ll tell you exactly how you speak to them.” ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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 Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

In this episode, Neil provides not only the detail but also the psychology around how and why you need to care about your appearance. He explains what you can do to maximise your appeal and ensure that the all-important first impression is a good one. KEY TAKEAWAYS First impressions You are judged largely on your appearance in the first 4 seconds of an encounter with someone. You should aim to look the best you can whoever you are. Presenting yourself in the best possible way will maximise your earning ability and make you more authoritative and sales worthy. Presenting yourself properly will also increase your credibility with others. Your physical appearance matters This isn’t fair but as you can’t control this you need influence how you are perceived. It is proven that people are more attracted to those who are well turned out and are physically attractive. A positive appeal Focus on maximising your appeal to ensure the first impression is a positive one. Whatever you are doing make sure you are well turned out. The idea that gets into the persons' mind first will always have prima facie over anything else. It can be changed over time but it takes a long time. Adopt a dress code for yourself and then ensure you follow it consistently. This will mean choosing clothing that positions you as an authority and trusted source of information in your area of expertise. Special points for women The size of a woman's bust is an influence on the way she is perceived. Women with medium sized busts are considered likeable and have greater personal appeal than those with larger or smaller busts. Special points for men Long hair will put you at a disadvantage and you need to ensure your clothes fit properly. Anything unusual will cost you sales and it has been demonstrated that facial hair is not positive. BEST MOMENTS ‘Use your body language and make sure to keep your hands ways from your hair’ ‘Pause look in the mirror and ask yourself does that person look like a credible expert in the field? If they don’t go away and change something’ ‘The change in the dynamic and energy when I meet new people is noticeable’ ‘No joggers, no baggy tee shirts, no crazy hats’ ‘People’s attention can be on your hands so they need to look presentable’ ‘Don’t wear shorts guys!’ ‘Keep on top of things’ ‘However shallow it might be, you are more attractive if your height to weight ratio is correct’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.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]

How can you build your profile, customer base, reputation and business – without spending a fortune on advertising that might or might not work? Statistics say 50% of advertising works and 50% does not, In this episode Neil takes us through the right approach to building your profile, listen in to find out more KEY TAKEAWAYS Get noticed You must have a profile, this is non-negotiable as no customers means you have no business. If you have more customers and more demand you can put your prices up. Dealing with the fear For all sorts of reasons being seen in public can be stressful. It’s important to be aware that this is natural. You’ve got to get your face out there to be known about. Perfectionism Perfectionism is a great lie. Every day you will use something imperfect. Once something is perfect it can’t grow any further and this is an endpoint. Perfectionism can’t survive in the world as its always changing. Be yourself There is nobody like you in the world. You are not trying to be like everyone else, amplify you’re your own traits to your advantage. Get seen and get met You are in the business of communication education and people. You must be visible repeatedly. Try to maximise the number of people who know you in a positive way. Multiple Signage I use various social media platforms, have a podcast series and am part of a mastermind business group. If you can get on radio or television it positions you as an expert in your field. Digital Real estate All social media platforms can be linked to your website. Using keywords, you can increase search optimisation. Make sure your content has keywords alongside your podcast, blog and video testimonials Branding This is key to the way you are perceived consistently. It is an association with the tribe who identify with you. The most important element is consistency across all products and platforms. Marketing strategy You must have one and it must be consistent this applies even if you work alone. Then you are ready when you do begin to build a team. Your image This matters immensely you need to be different enough to stand out but not so different that you are perceived as weird. Perception is everything People are going to judge you. You should present the best possible version of yourself. You are the real deal, the genuine article. You can create an image around yourself that gives you the best possible chance of being perceived positively. BEST MOMENTS ‘Don’t let haters get in your way’ 'Don’t let security get in the way’ ‘Don’t wait for it to be perfect’ ‘I am now joyously imperfect’ 'I’m passionate in my belief that anyone can play’ ‘When people are looking for a guitar teacher I want them to think of me’ ‘It can all be done organically’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.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: [email protected]

In this episode, Neil tackles the issue of ‘getting the buggers to practice’. In an online poll, it is identified as the challenge that stands between students achieving what they want to achieve and is the biggest source of frustration for their teachers. Listen in to hear about some practical tips and strategies that will work for all your students. KEY TAKEAWAYS If someone is paying me money to come and spend time with me, to learn what I know, to get what they want, why are they not doing the thing that will bring them success? Students don’t like being given orders, they see the practice as grey and boring. I restructure the language and with younger students insist they don’t practise at all. This will result in a push back as they will want to do the opposite. I will ask students to ‘explore this, muck about with this’ Identifying the motivator for students will enable you to get them to comply with what you want. There are two kinds of motivation; Motivation towards something Motivation away from something Away from gets you moving in the short term but try to work out what the student really wants, and then try to put in any small action that moves you in the right direction towards their goal. I look at the long-term picture for students. I am trying to grow a love affair between them and the instrument. One of the most compelling things you can do to gain compliance is to encourage a student to do what they want to do. Give them content that is interesting and exciting to play. Notice what is working for them and reframe it in a positive way, being flexible in your approach. Try to make it interesting and inviting for the student. BEST MOMENTS ‘I want them to do what they want to do’ ‘We have to work on building trust’ ‘Do everything you can to lower the resistance’ ‘Slice it up – the thinner the slice the easier it is to get compliance’ ‘Ask them to do things in very short bursts’ ‘The more often a human being returns to an activity the more impact it has on progress’ ‘If you push too hard you will just get ‘turn and churn’ and that’s not good for business’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.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]

THINK LIKE A BUSINESS PERSON Neil takes us through the key points that all tutors need to follow to make sure your tutoring operates successfully as a business. The points are an invaluable checklist for any tutor, listen in to find out more. KEY TAKEAWAYS Developing your business mindset is key but in tutoring, the business side is usually a poor second to the technical skills and knowledge of what we all teach and do. Profit is not a dirty word - there is nothing wrong with making money from your passion and art. Spend time with others who are making money as these are people who you can aspire to. Get serious about your business – give the same amount of precedence to your business as you give to your area of expertise. It’s not serious – it’s a game, it’s not personal but know the rules of the game and a playful mindset will see you through and keep you positive. Everything is a test – if everything is working for you, you’re getting it right if not test a different business model or different advertising Keep learning – work harder on yourself than on your business it’s the hallmark of greatness. If you look through history, continuing to develop skills and knowledge is a feature of everyone who is successful. Develop routines – lots of teachers have a chaotic approach but a routine is a more professional approach to your business. Build systems - set the time aside to build some systems, a crib sheet for doing the banking, a system for cleaning up the teaching space. The more systems you have the less you have to carry around in your head. Know your numbers - you must know the revenue, costs and profits for your business. If you are not monitoring them how will you know how to improve? When you work, work hard - extract the most from your time because it can be very well-paid hard work or ok paid hard work. Play as hard as you work - I work long hours but I love what I do. Celebrate life – if you’re getting paid for doing what you love – you’re one of the luckiest people alive... BEST MOMENTS ‘I don’t want to guess about my business’ ‘The time not face to face with students is a drag on my time’ ‘Find time to read, to keep your knowledge up to date’ ‘Every guitarist has a bag of tricks’ ‘I will work for 7 or 8 hours a day across the same time slots, that’s my routine a daily routine is key’ ‘Keep testing it’s a neutral process’ ‘Get your business head on you can do it’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.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: [email protected]

In today’s episodes, Neil dives into the joys of scheduling and why scheduling is essential in both your tutoring business and in life. If you’re looking to impose order on the chaos, plan your activities and make your business fun. This episode is for you. KEY TAKEAWAYS Why is schedule important? If what you do is chaotic, you're going to be out of order, up to the range and stressed. For you to succeed in life you need to have a schedule in your life and as a result, everything will go as planned. Use a schedule to impose order on the chaos. We need enough order to keep things sort of predictable, so we have a sense of control and that’s why we need scheduling in our day to day activities. Scheduling helps you to work in a good environment; this should allow you to control your interaction. Scheduling helps you to be you because when you schedule correctly, you will be able to do the things you want to do in the right time and will have a lot of time to spend with yourself and even your friends and family. If it’s not fun you should not do it. Scheduling will help you plan your money and invest it in the right manner hence helping you to build your own business where you will be able to work from home, hence no booking appointments, damaging things, not wearing the car out while travelling from home to your workplace, not burning gas and not spending time in traffic and this should lower your overheads. You’re not spending money repairing a car so much, you’re not putting as much gas in the tank, you do not have to buy food while at work and that should make you more profitable. Scheduling helps you to do small jobs around the business. With scheduling, you are able to plan yourself and have things done very fast. Make what you do fun because if you make it fun, it will entertain a lot of people and you will make a lot of money from people by just entertaining them. Make it fun for your customers, it'll be fun for you and you'll stop working, you'll just hang out with your friends and do what you do and get paid for it. Aim to keep it fun, keep it entertaining, it then becomes for your customers more of a leisure activity. BEST MOMENTS “Everything you do is going to be a personal choice.” “If it’s not fun you should not do it.” “You can't put a price on your time” “Time is the most important and most limited resource we all have.” VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 http://www.neilcowmeadow.com/ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 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 this episode, Neil explains how an enquiry call can finish with confirmed tuition and payment if you follow a set operating procedure. This step by step approach can help anyone who is a tutor successfully navigate the enquiry call and gain new clients. Listen in now to make sure your next tuition enquiry is a new client for you. KEY TAKEAWAYS Having a standard operating procedure is useful to ensure everything required is dealt with during the initial enquiry call. Every enquiry call has an aim – the aim for an enquiry call is that the caller books and confirms first lesson at the current rate for the tuition by the end of the call. Answer the phone with a smile, people can hear a smile on the phone and respond in a much more positive way. Taking notes during the call is key to ensuring you have all the information necessary. You are aiming to capture specific communication information. Use the caller’s name at every opportunity and echo their words back to them throughout the conversation. Ask questions that have the answer yes, these are referred to as ‘yes set questions’ and are refining questions which move the enquirer closer to saying yes. Once payment has been made the call is completed. An immediate follow up via text and email with specific details, confirm both the payment and lesson schedule. Sending a reminder 24 hours and 2 hours prior to the lesson will position you as an expert and professional. BEST MOMENTS ‘People can hear a smile on the phone’ ‘Echo it straight back to them – fabulously powerful technique’ ‘Start to close small and often’ ‘Try to remove the agony of choice’ ‘Having a set procedure is so much better’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.Neilcowmeadow.com The Tutor Podcast series 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

COURAGE - WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT This episode helps us all to acknowledge fear and then push past it to achieve our goals. Neil puts fear into perspective and explains how we all have the courage to move onwards and upwards when we take action. KEY TAKEAWAYS Everyone can face fear, especially when tackling something new or more complex. Overcoming the fear and moving forward will confirm the benefits of doing something new and show that the fear was unfounded. Fear is often experienced when you; Break new ground Launch a new product Adopt a new approach Step up and take action Lay yourself open to the judgement of other people Do anything that moves you from your current state to a higher state... Fear and Courage Fear is what malevolently stands between you and I and what we want. Courage is not the absence of fear - Courage is the ability to act, even in the face of fear. A strong will or sufficient motivation can provoke you to take action despite your fear. Facing down your fear or – better still – harnessing it to your service is what courage is all about. Dealing with the dread and liberating yourself from fear requires courage. Taking the action that the fear is trying to divert you from is courage. So, what are you waiting for?! Your greatest fear shouldn’t be writing that book, starting that business or asking for that date. No! Your greatest fear should be that the clock is ticking and that your life is shortening at an alarming rate. When your time approaches, you should be able to look back on your life and marvel at how much you got done, in spite of all the adversity and fear. The only person whose consent you need is yourself: give yourself permission. Accountability Tell someone what you are going to do – preferably someone who will consistently hold you to account if you don’t take action. Consider posting your intentions into your social media groups or timelines, publicly commit to delivering the book/product or opening the business on a certain date: then make sure you live up to it and deliver. Hire a coach – preferably a really expensive coach – to hold you accountable. Your coach’s fees should hurt a little – or a lot - enough that you’re going to take action or else have to resign yourself to just throwing that money away. Whatever it takes – commit yourself, preferably publicly, financially and irrevocably to action. Whether it’s the Pull of your mission or the Push away from a significant loss, find out what gets you moving. Sooner or later, someone will take that action: shouldn’t that someone be you? Fear can live with everything apart from consistent action in the direction of your goals and dreams. Fear is checking if you’re serious and eliminating your competition, handle the fear and you handle life. BEST MOMENTS ‘Fear imprisons us and then waits for us to die’ ‘So, what are you waiting for?’ ‘The only thing stopping you is you’ ‘Maybe we should put our own fears into some kind of perspective’ ‘The secret is to acknowledge the fear, thank it for offering its opinion, then tell it to take a hike as you march towards your fate’ ‘Don’t wait until your work is perfect – it’ll never be perfect. Perfection is sterile and produces nothing until it begins to decay’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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: [email protected]

To ensure that your student gets the best learning experience, the educators – tutors, teachers, lecturers, etc. – should be able to communicate effectively and efficiently. So, in today’s episode of The Tutor Podcast, I talk to a good friend of mine, John Cassidy-Rice, about the Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and how it can improve the way we communicate and teach our students. NLP techniques can help enhance every student’s performance. Even John himself, who has dyslexia, shares that he benefitted from NLP. Aside from personal stories, John also shares the top 3 NLP-based key strategies that tutors can use. Don’t also forget to check out his NLP courses after you listen to this episode! KEY TAKEAWAYS What is NLP? It stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Neuro refers to all 5 senses, Linguistic refers to the languages and gestures, and Programming refers to putting them both together to produce positive results. John runs an NLP training company that offers a 2-day introductory course which can help you change your beliefs and learn how to communicate with yourself and others. John says NLP helped him with his dyslexia. Of course, there are still challenges with communicating, reading and writing but, he was able to do more. John has published 4 books as of lately. Top 3 NLP-based Key Strategies According to John Salience x Repetition = Learning Update your identity of who you see yourself as. Reframe: ‘how we think’, not ‘what we think.’ BEST MOMENTS “What is the difference that makes the difference?” – John “NLP form has been a toolbox… a go-to toolbox where I can unpick not only how I think, how I play and how the other people play, but how my students limit themselves in the way that they think about music, about playing and about their own abilities.” – Neil “Anything that can hold you back can actually be your strength at the same time.” – John “Change your thinking; change your response.” – John VALUABLE RESOURCES Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) com Unlock The Power Of Stories: Change Your Story Change Your Life by John Cassidy-Rice David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of 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! ABOUT THE GUEST John Cassidy-Rice is an NLP Master Trainer. He runs Training Excellence, a company that focuses on the human approach of training. He helps organisations and other companies improve leadership and communication among the people. John has also published 4 books. He recently released his latest book, Unlock The Power of Stories: Change Your Story, Change Your Life. CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected] John Cassidy- Rice Training Excellence - NLP Courses [email protected] NLP Podcast

DESCRIPTION In this podcast Neil highlights the ways in which undertaking a Christmas strategic planning retreat can be invaluable for the coming year. He shares with us the ways we can take an opportunity to ‘just breathe’ and how doing this provides clarity and insight that could change your life forever. KEY TAKE AWAYS Christmas is a funny time In the tutoring game everything is disrupted, your students might be away, and other things might shut down. You can embrace it in by responding in either a positive or negative way. A positive response recognises it’s an opportunity to step back, review and reflect. Make the most of the festive holiday Catch up with friends that you might have neglected, it can be easy to lose contact with people if you don’t make the effort. Take care of maintenance jobs such as decorating cleaning and re-organising. Complete those jobs that can be challenging to undertake with students about. Take the opportunity to get away from your desk and think Plan some time to think about the direction you want your business to go in. stepping away provides invaluable perspective Look to the future What do you want to achieve? How much do you want to earn? Create a road map and time line, planning your journey to achieve what you want. Often, the best ideas come when you are not at work – you can create a safe space for them to land when away from your desk. Go somewhere beautiful and special and get inspired BEST MOMENTS “I kind of treat every day above ground as a special day, so I have 364 more special days than the folks who save their special day status up for December 25th.” “That’s how I got the idea to get outdoors and get away from my desk.” “Go somewhere beautiful/elegant/special and get inspired” “For years I’ve spent Christmas morning either mountain biking, hiking, or climbing.” “Universe reminding me that time is passing” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

In the latest episode of The Tutor Podcast, your Monday Morning shot of uncommon sense for people in the business of helping others through tutoring, teaching and coaching, Neil discusses organisation. What is being organised? Why it makes such a big difference to you and your business and how you too, can implement Neils ideas to starting getting more organised right away! Organisation isn’t a bad thing, it frees you to get on with the teaching and making a difference. It shows up in how you teach and how you are perceived, so make the effort to become organised because it makes everything else run more smoothly, both day-to-day and week to week. This then adds up to easier months and years and the successful running of your Tutoring business. Remember, learn how to start, grow and love your Tutor Business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Organisation should be a given but there are a lot of tutors that sort of moved sideways into the business of teaching. Particularly music and arts-types of teachers, they are prone to chaos. Know what needs done, If you don’t know, you can’t do it. So capture a list, post It on a wall calendar to shape the plan and create a default. If you’re disorganised/chaotic, it undermines your credibility – you’re perceived as an amateur and It devalues you in the marketplace. This affects your ability to charge at a higher rate if you appear to be a chaotic amateur. Remember that the reverse is also trueIf you get organised your days were more productive and you’ll have less embarrassing pile-ups and conflicts. You’ll see and experience fewer voids and as a result, earn more money! Plus, teaching will become even more fun. Time organisation Daily – the up and down, nuts and bolts of your day. Small tasks Teaching sessions Cash management Clean-ups Safety checks Anything you do daily Weekly – the blocky shape of your week Planning next week Which days you work Holes in the schedule Checking the bank Cleaning up and putting petrol in the car Banking cash receipts All the things you do once a week Monthly – the lumpy tasks that need to be taken care of Book-keeping – if you don’t outsource it Bank reconciliation Cash flow management Management accounts Expenses payments – mileage, use of your home office etc Maintenance Yearly – the big humps to get over Final accounts Tax filing – personal tax self-assessment Corporation tax VAT if relevant Dividends Strategic planning Vision for your business BEST MOMENTS “The idea that systems suppress creativity – nonsense! A routine or system gives you a framework in which you can be more creative because you’re not struggling to manage chaos.” “Organisation isn’t a bad thing – it frees you to get on with the teaching and making a difference.” “A well-organised space and approach makes for a better student experience”“I could raise my prices because I was perceived as being more professional and thus as more valuable to my students.” “Be aware that how you are perceived – chaotic amateur or organised professional – will make a difference.”VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.Neilcowmeadow.com #013 The Tutor Podcast - Episode on Pricing 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]

Welcome back to the Tutor Podcast. In today’s episode, Neil dives into your USP. Your Unique Selling Proposition. This is that special thing about you that makes you so attractive to your customers and gives you the advantage over your competitors. So what’s your USP? Tune in today, to find out more. Remember, learn how to start, grow and love your Tutor Business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Your USP is that special weird odd little thing about you that makes you different and gives you an advantage over your competitors. It’s what helps you stand out. Everything about you is your USP. This can be your culture, your background, your heritage. Anything. A unique selling proposition is a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind. A USP could be thought of as “what you have that competitors don't. Your own teaching system and learning system are all part of your unique learning experience and it is that you can use to create better products and services for your customers and clients and gain an advantage over the competition. BEST MOMENTS “It’s to our advantage if there is something quirky or different about us.” “Your USP will help to make you the teacher and the tutor you are today.” “Your experiences in life will help to mould your USP.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

In this episode, Neil dives into Retirement and Pensions for Tutors, and how you too can look at the alternative ways of creating your own personal pension scheme. Securing your financial future and figuring out where your cashflow will come from after retirement can be daunting, but if you invest in property, create evergreen products and venture into long-term asset growth potential, you can beat the pension trap and live a comfortable retirement. Pension payouts are in decline but opportunities for cashflow are everywhere and today, Neil shares with you his own retirement plan and money pot he’ll be drawing from if he ever chooses to retire. Remember, learn how to start, grow and love your Tutor Business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Traditionally, you spent a lifetime contributing to a pension scheme either in the workplace or a state pension and at a certain age you retire from work and start receiving payments from the scheme. But here’s the thing: that model is, if not dead, definitely mortally wounded. It’s Bankrupt system with liabilities that exceed assets and cashflows. This is why retirement ages are being ratcheted up. If you have been saving for life after work, and have amassed a big fat pot you can add to that state pension – it’s about £5400 for every 100k in your pot – think long and hard if that’s going to add up to enough income. How many of us have saved 4-500k and can look forward to a comfortable retirement? What to do? Either get busy with building a pension pot in a SIPP – self-invested personal pension or – if you are a limited company, a SSAS. Speak to your accountant or professional adviser about the pros and cons of these schemes. Assess situation – get real – your indolence/neglect are coming to bite you in the arse Make a plan – no plan is not an option – consider all options Take action – pensions and retirement were so remote The longer you wait, the harder it will be Have an exit strategy What Neil Does “I buy properties – long term growth potential – rental income (reinvest this, it’s not for spending) – a legacy – and I’m helping people by providing homes that are safe and where my tenants have a secure home. I’ve been doing it for a couple of years and it’s been hard work, but I’m seeing decent returns and I’m looking forward to adding to my portfolio for the next 10-20 years.” BEST MOMENTS “There’s a world of difference between Getting Old and Growing Up – but only one is optional.” “The future is coming – for us all. How it goes is a matter of choice. “What would have given you a decent pension income a couple of decades ago produces only a pittance now.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

This episode is all about Setting Your Stage and how planning and presenting your location and premises can create a deep first impression for your students. You can have powerful positive, and powerful negative effects, depending on how you handle your stage and position your business. Remember, learn how to start, grow and love your Tutor Business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Location is vital. If you don’t have premises yet, look for access, prominence, landmarks, passing traffic, parking and a separation from your home life. If you have premises make sure the appearance is good, with signage, distinguishing features and is safe for student access with pathways, steps, ramps and handrails. First impressions last so create and manage your stage because you will be judged, whatever happens, and be sure to back up what you say with the way you do it, every time. Making the environment comfortable is key. So, ensure that your teaching room is light with adjustable seating and the comfort of your student is a top priority. Always be helpful and keep a stock of strings, picks, stationery, etc that students might need to buy. Key internal issues: Safety of students and yourself – injuries are bad for business. Safety of your gear – get it PAT tested and make sure it’s all well maintained. Colour scheme – neutral and bright. Keep it tidy and thoughtfully laid-out. Waiting area with easy access to the toilet. Have a ground floor teaching room with everything set-up and ready to roll. Keep it consistent – change is distracting for students, so keep the layout the same/similar. This is also an anchor for both the student and yourself and establishes credibility. Display framed Certificates/ degrees/diplomas that help suggest intellectual rigour. Display “Bling” with pictures with known figures/faces and also have product examples such as books and CD’s readily available. BEST MOMENTS “Environment matters as much to you as to your customers” “Get a cleaner – it’s tax deductible and is less than your teaching rate, isn’t it? That’s leverage!” “Create a feeling of ease and confidence” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

If you don’t have a daily journal routine, get one. Over time the effect is large and noticeable and you’ll feel more positive, get more done, and like yourself more. In today’s episode, Neil talks about your daily journal and shares with you, what they are, why they work and how to start your own. Remember, learn how to start, grow and love your Tutor Business. KEY TAKEAWAYS On both a personal and business level your journal will be worth its weight in gold. Without my own journal, it would have been a lot harder to write a couple of books, double my guitar tutoring business, begin building my property portfolio and start a coaching/mentoring business. So what is a journal? It’s a brief daily routine that’s consistent and personal and forms part of a habit system Why journals work - It begins and ends your day and helps to crystallise the lessons and insights learned throughout your days, weeks and months. Journals allow you to find patterns of what works and what doesn’t work. Journals foster a sense of gratitude and pre-frame the day, priming our sorting tendencies in a directed way to keeps you positive, maintains focus and holds you to account. Neils Journal: An A5 Black & Red hardcover notebook Daily entries, once in the morning, once at night Fast, simple and consistent. BEST MOMENTS “That’s the real value day to day of the journal: it primes your mind and sets you off in the right direction.” “Thank your lucky stars you’re alive every day and enjoy your life a good bit more than you expect to.” “I can vouch for the power of journaling – I’ve kept mine for the last 5 years, during which time it has kept me focused, positive and committed to my work and personal vision.” “Countless famous and successful people have kept a daily journal, either as a stand-alone book or as part of a diary and time management system.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

Hi, it’s Neil here with Episode 37 of The Tutor Podcast – And today we’re going to be talking about PASSIVE INCOME – in other words, how to get paid for doing nothing or whilst you’re asleep. For many of us in the tutoring and coaching business, our focus is on attracting students and clients. We want to be booked solid and perhaps even have a waiting list of potential customers for what we do. Don’t get me wrong here – because if you are booked-solid with great people, it’s a fantastic position to be in – I’m not disparaging that business model in the slightest – after all, that’s the model I used to escape from my day job in finance and double my income, then treble it. But here’s the thing: the booked-solid model is capped. I don’t care how you slice and dice it; there are only so many hours in a day that you can teach. Everything is limited - by either how much you can charge, and how many hours you can work. So one of the best things you can do as a business owner is to add more streams of income to your business. The very best way to do this is to create income streams that require no time input from you once they are set up. Once set up, each stream adds to your cashflow, and the best part about this idea is that everything is cumulative. Most people seem to think in terms of doing only one thing, but if you can change that and ask yourself “what else can I add?” you can – over time – create a confluence of income streams. Individually they may not be significant, but when you add them all up and keep adding additional streams, they can generate significant additional income with virtually zero time or money from you. Adding more and more income streams works – in the last two years I’ve added multiple passive income strategies that run around my teaching business. They don’t take much time – a few hours a month - and they generate profits equivalent to 9 days full-time tutoring per month. Now, if I can do it, anybody can. So here’s an overview of some additional income streams you can add to your teaching business Other people – but there’s a caveat here – people need more time than things Assistant instructor Associates who pay you for leads you don’t want, eg out of your area, poor match for what you do, Franchise your systems – if what you do is unique, proven, profitable and teachable – can you franchise it? McDonalds works this way – it sells turnkey business systems to franchisees, and receives royalties thereafter. Once you’ve created the system, you can sell it to other people who want to do what you do. Create products – a long tail. Create once and sell forever with evergreen content Books – words are free, and you can always make more Audio programmes – read your own books/sessions and sell the recordings Courses – package your way of teaching for people unable to get to you Music – song writing royalties. You don’t need to be the star yourself. Merchandise – design your own T-shirts, caps, and have someone else make and ship them Teaching tools – any special gadgets, graphics or gizmos you’ve invented? All of these have a halo effect – positioning you as an expert in the marketplace. Rent out your teaching space – if you own it My studio – trusted friends only on this one Spare rooms – you can earn up to £8000 per year tax free by renting a room in your own home. Teaching room - Home office – my friend likes to work here when I’m teaching Parking space – I rent out the allocated space at one of my properties where the tenant doesn’t drive. This is worth a rent rise of 11% on the flat and requires zero input from me, because it’s all done via a 3rd party website. Hire out your gear My PA system for example – my friend’s bands and the local Am-Dram group hire out my PA system. 10 minutes pick-up, 10 minutes drop-off My wireless system and one of my digital recorders – a trainer uses it to record her speeches and presentations Property investment good if you have the funds can be leveraged, multiplying returns Can be profitable, despite tax changes Aim for cashflow – capital growth is not within your control You’re acquiring an asset, possibly for life Possibly building a legacy for your kids Crowdfunding – as an investor or promoter of an offer Consider partnering-up with someone trustworthy or experienced IMPORTANT: do your homework! I’m amazed how many people I’ve met who want to get into property investing who’ve never even cracked a book on the subject and who don’t have a clue about what they are about to commit a lot of money to. Affiliate programmes Sell for other people Halo marketing – other people’s reputation around you Free, so it’s good if you have little or no money to start Amazon, Audible, Ebay and many others You get a unique link to add to our posts, emails and shares – any click thoughts which result in a sale generate an affiliate fee – often it’s not limited to your recommended products, it’s for anything bought within a given time period, a day or two, a week, month o

Welcome back to another edition of The Tutor Podcast. Today, Neil discusses wider learning and why it’s vital to go outside of the wider confines of your field and continuously learn, grow and develop your tutoring skills. We need to always update our skill set and stay open to new ideas because if you’re not learning you’re going backwards. Remember, learn how to start, grow and love your Tutor Business. KEY TAKEAWAYS We need to be aware of the things that are happening outside of our field. We can learn from, borrow or just steal useful ideas, so why would we stay within the confines of our own tutoring field? Wider learning gives a better background and context for what we do. Remember nothing that you teach and nothing that you do exists in isolation, it needs to be plugged into other areas. By wider learning, we can synthesise, blend and merge ideas into hybrids and new ideas and as a result, improve our teaching. If you have ideas that others don’t have, you will have a competitive advantage and also have a plethora of comparisons that you can draw on to approach teaching in your business. By wider learning, you will understand the variety of teaching techniques and approaches you can use to become a better tutor. It’s our duty as teachers to not only use the best practices but to continuously challenges them. To refine, improve and innovate on what we do. Always be learning Work harder on yourself than you do on anything else Stay playful BEST MOMENTS You can challenge conventional wisdom if you have a wider knowledge because conventional wisdom is nothing by accepted aggregated prejudices by people with the loudest voices. The best thing about wider learning is that it keeps you interested in what you’re doing. One of the main reasons to keep on learning is because the answers have changed. When you have a narrower view you have fewer options. VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

Welcome back to another edition of The Tutor Podcast. Today, Neil dives into entrenched student beliefs, how you can discover them and why you need to defeat them. Your student's belief system is one of the toughest obstacles to learning and you need to overcome this in your teaching room. Learn how to harness, redirect and subvert or eliminate your student’s beliefs, so that you can become a better tutor and they can become a better student. Tune in to hear Neil explain how to identify them, how to elicit them and how to deal with, your student’s belief system. KEY TAKEAWAYS What people do in their day jobs will cross over into their personal lives. So if we as teachers can understand how your students think and how they work you can harness the power of parrels between their job. You will discover that certain students with certain jobs will take to learning in different ways. Some better than others. Listen, identify and modify your student's beliefs and build up enough evidence through teaching and conversing that their old belief system falls down. Student beliefs are important because it defines their actions and defines their identity. A students belief system will govern their decisions. BEST MOMENTS “Make sure you always have a notebook open in your teaching room. Capture your great ideas.” “The word ‘But’ negates anything that’s come before it. Don’t use this when teaching. Use words like ‘Yet’ to give hope and praise to your students.” “Knowledge is all learning.” “People run the same beliefs in their personal life, that they do in their day job.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

Today, Neil discusses YOUR elevator pitch. Learn how to express what you do and attract Interest, people and sales to your business by nailing your very own powerful pitch. Discover what an elevator pitch really is, why you must have one and what it can do for your business. Having the right pitch allows you to completely change the perception of your audience about what you do, how you do it and how it can benefit them. Tune in today to answer one of the most common questions you’ll ever be asked: “What do you do?” KEY TAKEAWAY By having an elevator pitch you will never miss an opportunity again. You’ll be able to make your audience aware what you do and ensure you're known you how you want to be known. Forces you to clarify and define why you are the only logical choice for your target demographic and why you are the best at what you do. In the first 30 seconds of your pitch, you should tell your audience; what you do, the benefits of choosing you or your business, how you do it and deliver it, why you are different and why you are the only choice for them. Remember that the aim of the elevator pitch isn’t usually to make a sale, but to initiate your sales process that begins at the level of interest. It positions you in the audience’s mind and gives you a platform to convey your unique value to the audience Neil’s Elevator Pitch “Well, I get paid to hang out with my friends and play the guitar all day – at least, that’s what it feels like. You see, I help people to rapidly learn to play the guitar and make music, using a unique, simple system and an unconventional approach to bypass boring, old-fashioned music teaching with its endless scales and dull practice routines. But, best of all, I only ever work with people I like: selected students on a one-to-one basis, and I hand-craft every lesson to fit each individual student – and that saves them years of hard work and frustration, which is important because life’s too precious and too short to learn slowly, isn’t it?” BEST MOMENTS “A bad elevator pitch is probably better than no elevator pitch at all. Start now, and work on it over time.” “Your elevator pitch will change over time, as you change and your business evolves and grows, as the context of your business changes.” An elevator pitch is a planned and rehearsed speech and should be ready on cue, crafted, tested and revised. VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.Neilcowmeadow.com #010 “Your Ideal Student” 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 holidays and dives into the upsides and downsides of taking a break and the effects it can have on your tutoring business. Discover how to remain productive and effective throughout the holiday periods and how you too, can use this downtime to your advantage and leverage the free pockets of time to think about the future and strategically plan ahead. Tune in today to hear Neil talk holidays and what the positives and negatives can mean for your businesses. KEY TAKEAWAYS Toughest Tutoring Times: Voids Cashflow is down Crisis of belief in students returning Aimlessness During The Long, Holidays Consider These Questions Long-term – is there anything you’d rather be doing than tutoring? Is there anything that is as rewarding as teaching the subjects you love to people you like? Is there a more fun way to make a really good living? So what can you do during the time your friends (by which he meant students) are away to make it even better when they come back? Holidays are blessing and a curse, as individuals and tutors it’s up to us to choose which aspect dominates our thinking. The above powerful re-framing questions will help you to ride-out the disruption and downsides of holidays, and help you keep an eye on what’s good about it all. A forced break such as religious holidays or bank holiday is vital and it gives us the chance to review and take stock of where we are and how we’re doing in our tutoring business. It allows us to think about what we’d like to change and gives us time to ask ourselves: What’s working well? What’s not working? And lets us consider what we can; start doing, keep doing or stop doing. Forced holidays are a strategic planning opportunity for our business. During the holidays the opportunity cost of bunking-off to attend courses is lower because you’re sacrificing lower revenue at this time. Use holidays as an opportunity to learn/travel and try something different and develop products or services and get busy marketing yourself. Every six months, set aside at least one day to process everything in your business and to review and plan. This will give you the vital mindspace to create a plan and take the first action to achieve that plan. BEST MOMENTS “Personally, I’d rather be getting fired up than chilled out” “Taking myself away from the thing that I love to do, is a less effective use of my time” “During forced breaks the pressure to produce and earn is off, there’s nothing we can do about it, so take a step back and look into the future and ask yourself if what you see there is what you want” “If you don’t plan, you’re going to be buffeted around by circumstances because you don’t have a course to stick to” “Holidays break nice and regular routines which are carefully built up over the years” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

In today’s edition, your host Neil Cowmeadow discusses how to manage mood hoovers and time vampires in your life and in your business. Mood hoovers are the people who suck the life of positivity out of you, while the time vampires are like mood hoovers. They suck the time out of your life. Neil shares his own experience and tips on how to manage these types of people in your life and as a result, you will have more time for the important things that will help you and your business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Mood Hoovers. These are the type of people who suck the optimism out of you. They have so little enthusiasm, energy and life in them. You either eliminate them or manage your interactions with them. People who make negative comments about successful people. They’re not going to be entrepreneurial. They usually will be unsuccessful and they will often have low expectations and aspirations in life. They make for some generally quite unhappy people. They’re always up for a pity party, and they will always try rubbing it in when are things going badly for them by inviting you to compete in the game of "Oh, you think that's bad? Guess what happened to me." Mood hoovers go on a holiday to escape their reality. Never try to drag a mood hoover with you. They'll be very resistant to change because they are not based on hard evidence, this makes them immune to logic and not susceptible to reasonable argument. So just don't even try. You can point them to where they need to go but never drag them with you because they’ll just keep on complaining and moaning, etc. Time Vampires. Like mood hoovers, they suck the time out of you. They are the type of people who come to your house unannounced and unprepared and just blabber away with things and events that you don’t even have an interest in or have influence over. We have to keep these sorts of things at bay so we can focus on the things that produce results for us. You need to develop a few strategies and tactics to handle the mood hoovers and the time vampires. And these techniques tend to work for both of them. Hint one: Turn the bloody phone off. If turning the phone off is unthinkable, at least consider putting the phone in a different part of the house. You have to limit the hours on your phone, keep everything work-related during working hours. If you accidentally answer your phone, first thing is to tell the person calling you that you have a few minutes on the phone and stick to it. Or inform them that you will call them back if it is really difficult to manage. Hint two: Discourage people from visiting without warning. If they come and visit you, keep them at your doorstep because it is very hard to keep them away once they are inside your house. If they are there about business, ask them if they have managed to research the background and if they already have the planning on the subject matter, they usually don’t, it is a waste of time to talk about something that they have not researched about yet. Hint three: Hide your car, in the cul-de-sac. It will give the visitors an idea that you are not inside the house. If all fails, turn off the doorbell. Define boundaries within which you interact with other people. You have to train them. So they know what's acceptable to us. Because if we don't train them, then nothing will change, and that problem person will continue to hoover at your positivity, stealing chunks of your time, and leave you feeling deflated and defeated. BEST MOMENTS "You get the people you wanna settle for in life and in your business. You may have to eliminate a few folks if you can't manage your interactions with them." “We have to be particularly aware of spending time with anyone around us who makes negative comments about successful people because you can bet your bottom dollar that what they say about successful people now is what they'll say about you when you become successful.” “When people tell you, you can't and it's not gonna work, it just means that they don't know how to do it.” “The very most important thing of all is to quarantine yourself away from the mood hoovers and time vampires and making yourself hard to reach. This means screen the calls but only if you absolutely positively cannot turn the phone completely off.” VALUABLE RESOURCES www.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]

In today’s edition, your host Neil Cowmeadow discusses the trap of Shiny Penny Syndrome. No matter how happy and successful you are, we can all be sucked into the vortex of new ideas and schemes that look so tempting. Shiny Penny Syndrome is the constant jumping of attention and focus, from one new thing to the next, leading to distraction and loss of direction, and in today’s episode, Neil shares with you an eight-point checklist to stay on track, and on the road to success. KEY TAKEAWAYS It’s a human characteristic to be curious. We are, at our core, a species that just can’t stop investigating and exploring the world around us – that’s the key to all technology, inventions and progress. But here’s the thing about our curiosity: we can harness it to accelerate our progress along the right road, rather than allow it to distract us. This approach also gives me a fair bit of latitude in taking on new things, but at the same time, it keeps me grounded in my one big thing. As long as any new thing checks out as complementary with my Big Thing, I can do it. The “Do anything as long as it helps the Big Thing” approach allows you the freedom to do new things, whilst keeping you on track with the main thing you want to achieve. There is always an opportunity cost in doing anything. Whatever you decide to do, you’ll always have to sacrifice something else in order to do that thing – what you give up is the cost of taking up that new opportunity. Always make sure you’ve done a proper analysis of the potential upsides and the potential downsides of a new activity before committing time and money to it. Shiny Penny Syndrome Checklist: Will this new thing (XYZ) help me to progress toward my Definite Major Purpose? If so, is it a good time to start? If it is not, diarise a review of the situation in 6 months. Review everything every 6 months as a matter of urgency. How much time will XYZ take away from my core activities? Will time spent on XYZ produce a better return on investment than anything else you could do? Can you afford to do XYZ? Can you afford to NOT do XYZ? To whom can you outsource XYZ? Do you really want to do XYZ for the right reasons? BEST MOMENTS “I go a mile deep or more in my one Big Thing, rather than splash around in the shallows of many.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

Welcome to another episode of The Tutor Podcast. In today’s episode, your host Neil Cowmeadow explains why staying playful, having fun and enjoying your job, may be the most important factor to achieving success in your tutoring business. If tutoring sessions are fun for you, you’ll never work a day again in your life, you’ll have fun and have a steady stream of income as a by-product. The more fun you have, the more students you will have, and they will become your fans your advocates and the greatest assets in your business. Learn how to merge your passion and profession and turn your playfulness into profit in this inspiring episode of The Tutor Podcast. KEY TAKEAWAYS Continuously explore your field - stay curious and get busy learning more. Ask yourself, how else can I do this? - if you only have one way or teaching you won’t be successful. Lighten up - put your happy smile on, every time you teach. Don’t be miserable as it will rub off on your students. Manage your emotional state and manipulate it. Ask your students to do things wrong - failure becomes a success. Catch them doing something right and amplify it - congratulate them for doing something right, rather than catching them doing something wrong. Use humour to teach - jokes are a great way to get lessons across. Draw pictures - pictures convey messages very effectively. Invent catch phrases - this helps to encapsulate ideas. Write poems or limericks - this helps to speed up the learning curve. Create games to teach with - have fun and use games to keep your students engaged. Use stories why you teach - this will help to create comparables, humans love stories and they can help you teach. Pursue the rabbit hole of curiosity - your students will have rabbit holes, when your students ask why explain why. Encourage questions - you are there to serve them, you’re their resources to education. Teaching anything is about putting the student first - your student is the most important person. Share your love affair with your students - show them how to use your passion in daily life and infect your students with your passion. BEST MOMENTS “Be real about tutoring, if you hate it people will know and you’ll struggle to find students, struggle financially and be unhappy” “If you’re the most important person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. Your student is the most important person, check your ego and lighten up.” “Playfulness really matters, if you laugh and smile while your tutoring you will be fulfilled it’s the key to a long career in business” “By being playful you will create fans and they will want to come and interact with you and learn from you” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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]

Welcome to another episode of The Tutor Podcast. In today’s episode, your host Neil Cowmeadow shares his top time management tips. Learn how to make better use of your time and make your business more consistent, more successful and overall, more profitable. Time does not exist in any substantial sense and therefore we can exert no influence over Time. Time is a useful illusion invented to allow mankind to make sense of life and our place in the world. But the truth is that we can only ever live in one instant – the Now. Discover how to build your business to service your life not your life to serve your business and how you too, can outsource everything and create a daily routine that puts the most important things first. KEY TAKEAWAYS Top Time Management Tips Think strategically and Plan ahead, consider planning in the Long range (15 years), Medium range (5 years) and Short range (1 year). Diarise a review every six months. Make sure your plans are moving forward and are still the right plans to achieve your goals. Develop a range of tactics that will produce the results you want over the timeframes you specify. Figure out the order of the tactics and mark them up in your diary, planner or software. Schedule Operations, the daily actions to execute each tactic in turn. Completing each operation will complete the tactic, and the tactic will contribute toward the execution of the strategy. Put the most important things in your diary first. This can be holidays, family time and learning/training dates to boost your education. Batch operations do similar and related tasks all in one block of time Localise off-site work and travel less – use a map to cluster your students into tight geographic zones or areas, then consolidate all your students’ lessons into a small time-window within their area. Plan for tomorrow, today and make a note in your diary of what you want to achieve tomorrow. Outsource, outsource everything you can. if you can get anything done to the same or better standard you can do it, for less than your own hourly earning rate, then you MUST outsource it. Automate, A little set-up time can give you an ongoing time saving for years Have a daily routine, having a default day takes a lot of decisions away, a daily plan prompts you to do what needs done, day-in, day-out. Buy multiples of any clothing you wear for work, effectively, give yourself a uniform. You’ll save time and appear more consistent to your clients and contacts. BEST MOMENTS “Yesterday’s gone, and tomorrow is a dream away” “People trust and pay more for consistency. ” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.Neilcowmeadow.com Elephant Sandwiches - The simplest time management ever 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]

Welcome to another episode of The Tutor Podcast. In today’s episode, your host Neil Cowmeadow discusses Talent, is it a myth or is it a method. Consider how harnessing the idea of talent can help you to grow your tutoring business and increase your student base. It doesn’t matter if you believe in talent or not, you can use it to your advantage. If the natural talent is there, acknowledge it and amplify it. But if it isn’t, erode the myth, minimise it and destroy it. As tutors, you can use the concept, to better direct, better encourage and better teach. Learn how to start, grow and love your Tutor Business. Talent is considered to be a natural gift, the idea that talented people are more gifted than others. But consider this; Everyone comes into this world on a blank slate, we’re all the same and everyone who is excellent at something was once, never even doing it. It’s the missing of the process that makes talent look like magic. KEY TAKEAWAYS We’re all born helpless, but something happens between birth and excellence, It’s curiosity, fascination, engagement, exploration, encouragement and direction. Talent is just a place marker word for socialisation, fascination, ongoing play and improvement. There’s time spent doing the thing, that’s what really counts. Student One (Believes in natural talent) Emphasise the talent myth, remind them of the background factors, but state that talent alone is not enough. It needs care and nurturing, it needs focus. Remind them of stories of wasted talent and acknowledge their view of the work and attempt to amplify it. Student Two (Disbelief in natural talent) Acknowledge that they have no natural talent and remind them that in the absence of talent they can go along way with hard work and a good teacher. Consider implementing a system to help them learn and remind them that everyone is capable, everyone started somewhere. You will minimise the talent myth incrementally. BEST MOMENTS “If natural talent is more than what most people get, it’s an anomaly” “Talent is shorthand in a way with constant learning, it’s not magic, it’s consistent” “Every master was once a disaster” “Every winner was once a beginner” “Every hero was once a zero” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.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!

In Today’s episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil wraps up the Killer Copywriting mini-series with Part 3 ‘Developing Your Own Voice’ discover how to create your own personal style, write compelling copy and super-charge your tutoring business by communicating with your customers more effectively and more efficiently. Learn the correct techniques to construct your own killer copy and share your story. Tune in to episode #027 to hear Neil discuss Talent - Is it a myth or is it a method? Learn how to start, grow and love your Tutor Business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Active Voice - Use present tense verbs and not dry adjectives, it’s more compelling. Be Playful - Experiment with words and have fun. Be Topical - If it will help, refer to current events etc however if you’re to create evergreen content relating to current affairs will date your copy. Don't Ask Pointless Questions – Rhetorical questions do not come across well in copy, they’re pointless. Emotional Impact - Provoke emotions to convince your audience to take action. Everyday Language - Using plain English you can be straight to the point when communicating with your audience, this trumps fancy flowery words every time. Invent Your Own Words - Be unique and wacky with your copy to make it unique. ‘Brainify’ it, it’s all yours and it could develop into a hashtag on social media. Power Of Opposites - Create contrasts in your copy to accentuate your points. Rich/poor, healthy/sick, loved/lonely. Power Words - Use powerful words to cut through the noise and keep it personal. Now, you, yes, love all address your audience. Proper Punctuation - Always check your work and ensure the grammar is correct. Sense Of Entitlement - If what you delivery is the best, remind them they deserve the best. Strong Words - Use forceful words to provoke a reaction and make an impact. Subvert The Rules - Feel free to challenge the old rules and develop your own style. Tell A Story - Create a story with your copy and easily identifiable characters within the story. Your audience with a vivid imagination will be much more engaged. Paint Pictures – Create mental images in your reader's mind and allow them to walk into your story with an open mind and this can draw them towards a call to action, a buying decision. Tone Of Voice - Have your own voice and trust it, it’s who you are! BEST MOMENTS “Even if you’re not going to write your own copy, you’ll need to know what good copywriting looks like” “Speak directly in your own voice” VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.Neilcowmeadow.com Episode 25 The Tutor Podcast ‘Killer Copy Part 1’ Episode 26 The Tutor Podcast ‘Killer Copy Part 2’ Eats Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss 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!