Craigs List Challenge!

Craig’s List is the ultimate in FREE advertising.    Craig’s List has online boards all over the US, in Canada, and world wide!

The challenge?

Post your studio, a link to your website, and an invitation to try a class.   Agree to post on Tuesday, 2/17 and again on Tuesday, 3/8.   Hold yourself accountable to the challenge by posting here that you will and then again when you have posted.   Imagine, if we all agree to post, on the same days, how much influence we will spread online with just that one small action!

Below find sample text and directions for how to use Craig’s List.

Sample Text:

Your studio name and website.   Now accepting enrollment for Spring 2009. Kindermusik is the world’s leader in developmentally appropriate music and movement classes.  We are so much more than music!   Classes available for newborns through age 7.   Call your name at xxx-xxx-xxxx or email to set up a time for a free preview of a class.

Keep it short and sweet so that you get potential leads but are not really “advertising”.   The point is to get our name out in front of people on the boards.

How to use Craig’s List

• Google Craig’s List. This will take you to your local board.   There are several in Georgia.  Mine is http://www.atlanta.craigslist.org.  Once you’re there, you can then sort by areas. It gets pretty specific.

• Select post to classifieds

• Select create posting

• Events (says will expire in 30 days but classes are allowed a two week window)

• Choose category – Classes. There are many options but this is the most basic. No subscription required.

• Choose area nearest you

• Fill in posting title – “Kindermusik Classes!”  Or  “Kindermusik!”

• Description.   Use the sample text above or use your own.

• Type in email twice

• Check off how to reply to event.   I chose middle selection so that email stays anonymous on Craigslist to ward off spammers.   Interested parties can email you easily.

• Your posting sample will appear.

• Hit continue.

• Accept terms.

• Finalize post by typing words that appear in security box and click continue.

• You will receive notice that you will receive an email to publish.

• Open email and click on link to activate and publish your free listing. Save the email to publish, edit, or delete your free post.

There is no need to set up an account, although there is that option for small biz ads. There are some guidelines and rules and regulations for this that I didn’t want to get into at this time. These instructions are for the basic, free, classified listing.

So, are you up for the challenge?

I am.   My name is down there at the bottom on the list!

PKE Meeting Update

Due to many conflicts and cyberspace mailing failures, the Atlanta Area PKE meeting scheduled for Friday, September 5th has been cancelled. 

Be sure to watch your inbox for a survey from the Georgia PKE, requesting your  input about a day and time in the week following Christmas that would work for you for educators to get together and preview the following semester. 

Please add kindermerri at yahoo dot com to your email address book to avoid PKE mailings being sent to your spam file in the future.

Atlanta Area PKE Meeting – Friday, Sept. 5th

Atlanta Area Kindermusik Chapter

Let’s Get Together Again!

Friday, September 5, 10:30am

Dunwoody Baptist Church

Jane Hendrix – hostess

 Hello Atlanta Area PKE!

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer – time to relax and rest a bit.  I’m hoping that many of us are available for a last minute get together before we’re all up and running our Fall programs.

 We’ll need at least 10 educators to join us for this meeting for it to take place so RSVP ASAP.  With 10 attendees, this will count towards the 100 points that will be required for licensing beginning in April, 2009. 

Bring your new ideas, bring questions, we’ll look at a new webinar, and just enjoy each others enthusiasm regarding this amazingly incredible music program we’re so blessed to be teaching.

Hope to see everyone Friday!

Amy VanderLugt, Atlanta Area PKE

Merri Williams, GA PKE

Jane Hendrix, Hostess and Webinar Facilitator Extraordinaire
*****************************************************************

From I-285 East or West:
Exit # 29 Ashford Dunwoody Road Go North on Ashford Dunwoody Road approx. 1.75 miles Past Perimeter Mall DBC will be on your left

From GA 400 South:
Exit #5 Dunwoody/Sandy Springs Make a left onto Abernathy Road go approx. ¼ mile Make a left onto Mount Vernon Road, continue approx. 1.1 miles DBC will be on your right

From GA 400 North:
Exit #5A Dunwoody/Sandy Springs Merge onto Abernathy Road (you can only go in one direction) make your way to the far left hand lane At the 2nd traffic light make a left onto Mount Vernon Road, continue approx. 1.1 miles DBC will be on your right.

Please RSVP Amy, Merri, or Jane so we can adequately plan for attendees.

Atlanta Area PKE Meeting Cancellation

The next meeting of the Greater Atlanta Area PKE, scheduled for this Friday, April 25th, at 11AM has been postponed until July.  Due to several circumstances, notably construction and renovation in the music suite at Dunwoody Baptist Church where we meet, as well as many educators having *packed* schedules right now, we felt it better to postpone until this summer, giving more folks time to plan ahead. 

There are some plans now in the works for a local PDS here in July as well as our own local PKE meeting and planning for the Kindermusik convention in November in Raleigh, North Carolina.  We will have further information here as soon as details are nailed down.

Don’t forget! —- Forget what, you say?!

Calling all Georgia Kindermusik educators -

This Friday, February 15th, we celebrate the kick-off meeting of the greater Atlanta Partnership of Kindermusik Educators.  Bring yourselves and an idea you’d like to share relating to one of this semester’s units – something that your families *really* enjoyed, whether it be an activity, an extension, or a book.  Also, if you’ve got something that you’ve had difficulty with making it work in class, plan on sharing that as well. We are here to come alongside one another and support each other!

We will also have exciting news about a possible state-wide advertising campaign through the Georgia Public Broadcasting System that would be *extremely* affordable for Kindermusik educators throughout the state.  More on that later this week!

Come join us this Friday and enjoy the sizzling energy that fills a room when you get Kindermusik educators together. I can tell you from personal experience from attending a local meeting, PDS, and KM convention – there’s absolutely *NOTHING* like it!

For maps and directions, please visit the blog here. See you there!

New PKE Chapter Forming!

Calling all interested Georgia Kindermusik educators! 

 

The first official meeting of the metro Atlanta PKE chapter will be Friday, February 15th, 2008 from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM.  We will meet at Dunwoody Baptist Church, location of Jane Hendrix’s program,  near Perimeter Mall, and plan on eating lunch together there in the area. 

Dunwoody Baptist Church

1445 Mount Vernon Road
Atlanta GA 30338
Phone: 770-280-1200

From I-285 East or West:
Exit # 29 Ashford Dunwoody Road Go North on Ashford Dunwoody Road approx. 1.75 miles Past Perimeter Mall DBC will be on your left

From GA 400 South:
Exit #5 Dunwoody/Sandy Springs Make a left onto Abernathy Road go approx. ¼ mile Make a left onto Mount Vernon Road, continue approx. 1.1 miles DBC will be on your right

From GA 400 North:
Exit #5A Dunwoody/Sandy Springs Merge onto Abernathy Road (you can only go in one direction) make your way to the far left hand lane At the 2nd traffic light make a left onto Mount Vernon Road, continue approx. 1.1 miles DBC will be on your right.

Amy VanderLugt has graciously volunteered to be the Metro Atlanta PKE representative.  (Thank you, Amy!)  She would like to compile a roster of greater Atlanta Kindermusik educators with names, all phone numbers, email, website, address, location of Kindermusik classes, names of other teachers you have teaching with you, etc. before the meeting in order to hand them out that day. 

Even if you can’t be there on the 15th, please send your information on to Amy as she is willing to send it to all educators in this area, even those unable to attend.  RSVP and personal information should be sent by February 1st.  Amy may be reached at vanderamy at yahoo.com.  (Please insert the @ sign in the appropriate place.  I have written it this way to avoid automated spammer programs that surf blogsites for email addresses.)

For map and directions to this location, please visit Google Maps here:  View Larger Map

Welcome to the new PKE Board!

 

Your PKE Board (from left, Helen Peterson, Kathy Morrison, Julee Kowalis, Ginger Bennett and Katie Henderson) are already working away on a number of things that will have a positive impact on your business and you!

The PKE Board may be contacted at pkeboard@yahoogroups.com anytime you have a question or concern.  Don’t sit and stew over a problem when these lovely ladies are willing to listen and help!

Welcome, ladies!  We look forward with great anticipation to the days ahead under your guidance and leadership! 

Heads up! Check your calendar!

There will be an organizational meeting for a metro Atlanta/North Georgia PKE chapter on Saturday, August 18th, at Dunwoody Baptist Church, 1445 Mt. Vernon Road, Atlanta, Georgia, from 10AM to 12 PM.  This is an organizational-type meeting to put together a local PKE chapter in the metro Atlanta/North Georgia area, but we will also have additional topics of discussion.  Any Kindermusik educator is welcome and invited to attend.

      Topics will include organizing the metro Atlanta/North Georgia chapter, the Demo Days campaign the following week, convention travel information, *and* Jane’s recent trip to South Africa for the Kindermusik/PKE convention held there.  We will also be planning on eating lunch together somewhere near the church.  If you’d like to attend, please email me  (click on the link) and let me know, so we can accurately plan for seating and room space.  If you have any suggestions for additional topics, we need those as well!  Hope to see *TONS* of you there! 

 Dunwoody Baptist Church, 1445 Mt. Vernon Road
Atlanta, Georgia  30338

From I-285 East or West:
Exit # 29 Ashford Dunwoody Road  – Go North on Ashford Dunwoody Road approx. 1.75 miles past Perimeter Mall.  DBC will be on your left.

From GA 400 South:
Exit #5 Dunwoody/Sandy Springs – Make a left onto Abernathy Road, go approx. ¼ mile. Make a left onto Mount Vernon Road,  and continue approx. 1.1 miles.  DBC will be on your right.

From GA 400 North:
Exit #5A Dunwoody/Sandy Springs – Merge onto Abernathy Road (you can only go in one direction).  Make your way to the far left hand lane. At the 2nd traffic light, make a left onto Mount Vernon Road,  and continue approx. 1.1 miles.  DBC will be on your right.

Click here to get directions to Dunwoody Baptist from your home.

Are you missing out on something totally free and *really* special?

 

This summer Kindermusik International is offering the Kindermusik educator a series of professional development classes via the internet and teleconferences that are totally *free*.  With topics such as “Overcoming Objections without Anxiety”, “Retention 101″, “Your Virtuoso”, “Your Grocery Store Speech”, and “The Research Behind Kindermusik”, you have a variety to choose from. 

Some of these are one-hour Go To Meetings which allows participants to see simultaneously , on their own personal computer screen, the same visual aids from the instructor, while communicating via a teleconference.  Direct links are provided via email upon registration as well as informational documents needed for the class. 

I have participated in two of these and they are truly *marvelous*!  The last one I experienced was “Retention 101″ with Katie Henderson.  It was extremely well-presented, with additional clear, concise visual aids that we received via email afterwards. Katie was a wonderful instructor who made everyone feel welcome, no matter their level of experience and expertise, and no question was frowned upon. (Thank you, Katie!)

KI is also providing podcasts via email and the Masterful Minutes in the Teachers Lounge.  Besides the ones for this summer, there is a treasure trove of information available on the Masterful Minutes page with additional links to QuickTime videos as well.  Check them out here.

There are also five (5) one-day Professional Development Seminars scheduled across the country, beginning July 28th in Greensboro. 

In Georgia, our PDS will meet on Saturday, August 18th, at Dunwoody Baptist Church, 1445 Mount Vernon Road, Dunwoody, Georgia.   This is located just 1.75 miles north of Perimeter Mall, off Exit 29 of I-285.  Dunwoody Baptist is located at the intersection of Ashford-Dunwoody and Mount Vernon Roads.  More details on the Georgia PDS will be coming later.

So how do I find out when these are available and how do I register?

Simple – visit the Training Calendar and decide which ones you want to attend.

Then visit the Educator’s Store online and go to “Kindermusik Courses” located in the left hand margin.  You can register for the classes by “buying” these through the store.  This includes going through the checkout process, submitting your credit card number, but the final charge is $0.00.  In other words, *FREE*!

So, the next question is: have you taken advantage of any of these free opportunities?  

ABC Music & Me’s “Amen Corner”

Tonight I received an email from Sherry Carter, KM educator in Dalton, GA, who shared an adorable story that I have to pass along.  I guarantee that it will put a smile on your face and in your heart!

From Sherry:

Today was Kindermusik day at the preschool. One mother related the story of her child’s contribution to the family’s prayer circle this morning prior to leaving for school:

They were holding hands and taking turns praying when the two-year-old (who is enrolled in my class) wanted her turn. After her request was recognized, she sang: “ABC Music & Me,” raised her arms and said “Amen!”

Anybody else had a child intercede to the Lord on your behalf?
Sherry in GA