Becoming an Online Music Teacher With Bidvine

Liam Cromby

Guitar Teacher

With a passion for helping students express themselves through music, adapting to online teaching was a winning option for Liam Cromby when lockdown hit. Read our interview with Liam to hear how Bidvine helped him keep his schedule full with online music lessons.

Getting Started as a Music Teacher

Before I got started with teaching lessons, I used to be in a band, playing music, singing, and writing songs. We did that for 10 years, we toured the United States, Canada and Australia. We did the Vans Walk Tour.

That finished about 4 to 5 years ago and I completely stopped playing guitar and stopped playing music for a while. I picked up a job in London making suits and then from that I was fitting furniture for offices.

In 2019, I went to Nashville for a writing session. I came back and I knew then I needed to pick up the guitar again and figure out a way of making it work financially.

I was busking in my local towns and that was really good. Then I picked up this job teaching piano in a couple of schools and found out that I like teaching and I’m quite good at it.

I like to share my knowledge, my experiences from touring on the road, and help people express themselves through music - that’s my main thing.

Teaching Online Lessons During Lockdown

My plan was to stay in London and finish the school year until June. Doing online guitar lessons wasn’t in my mind yet. Then the lockdown happened at the end of March.

I thought, well what am I going to do? I still had a few students and we started working through Zoom and it was going pretty well.

It was rustic and DIY at first, I was drawing tablature on pieces of paper and then scanning that and sharing it with my students. Since then I’ve updated the lessons and they’re all digital now.

As Soon as I Made My Bidvine Profile, I Knew it Would Work

I had been trying to find a new job like teaching in a school and they’re hard to come by. Then Bidvine came about.

I read up about it and it looked pretty good. I wasn’t doing anything else during lockdown, so I thought I’ll give it a try to see how it goes, and so far it’s been so good! As soon as I made my Bidvine Profile I knew it would work. 

With Bidvine, I’m my own boss. I pick and choose. At the moment my schedule is really full but I know if I ever lose a student or two I can pick them up in a week. Knowing that is so healthy, I’m comfortable with Bidvine.

I also really appreciate that if a customer doesn’t read the bid that the money is refunded which I think is really good. I buy bundles of credits and it’s gone really well. It’s all fair.

Getting Reviews is Essential to Building Trust

I knew it was going to take time, I realised I needed to get reviews when it was difficult at first. 

Mums and dads are more willing to hire me now because I’ve got previous reviews from that first parent who hired me. There’s a lot of trust when hiring a music teacher. So getting that first review from a parent was an absolute win. 

I now have more reviews from mums and dads and that really opens it up. People are more willing to look at your profile. So when I get hired I ask if they can write a review.

Be Quick to Reply

When I have a request come through I’m on it like sonic, right away. I send my pre-message out. Then if I see they’ve read it or viewed my profile, straight away I’ll say thank you for reading my bid or thank you for viewing my profile.

I’ll let them know that if they have any questions about online learning I’m happy to answer them. Putting my personal touch on things is really important because it personalises online communications over the phone.

Interested in booking music lessons with Liam? Click here to visit Liam’s Bidvine Profile.