Learning made fun

Musical Minis backs Have a Lovely Time

At Musical Minis, our emphasis is on fun.

That's why we're delighted to now be supporting the family travel and activities website, Have a Lovely Time.

This popular resource, written by parents for parents, is set to be relaunched in June and will be branded with some Musical Minis images and information.

We're looking forward to this partnership, which will also see the Have a Lovely Time team publish regular news from Musical Minis.

Musical Minis in video - it's all about fun

There's a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure that the children who come along to Musical Minis have an awful lot of fun.

Sometimes people get the impression we are all about teaching young children to learn instruments. But we are most certainly not as you can see from the video above.

But what this fun can help a child do, includes:

• Develop language and co-ordination to communicate well 
• Share stories and songs
• Meet new friends
• Grow in confidence by joining in activities in a relaxed group atmosphere
• Get creative exploring instruments, sounds, rhythm and movement

Does Social Media Have A Role In Business?

THIS is a question which is really hard to qualify. Over the last year I have used social media more and more. Whilst I do think it has enabled people to learn more about me and my business, Musical Minis, I'm not sure if I have had more business because of it.

My favourite tool is Twitter. I find it engaging and quick and easy to use. As you are limited to 140 characters each tweet is a mini challenge! I tweet in my name, Karen Sherr, as I talk about my personal life which obviously links to Musical Minis but is separate too. I enjoy responding to people I know and others who I've just met through tweets. On Twitter people are really supportive and I often find answers to questions I pose - whether this a request for a restaurant in Brussels or a hint for using Typepad. I have signed up for Nutshell a tool which updates me daily with new followers, quitters (people who stop following me - cheek!), any tweets for me or any mentioning Musical Minis. Nutshell also updates me on Linkedin and Facebook.

I have a Facebook page for Musical Minis. I had to set up my own account in my name to enable me to have the Musical Minis page, however, I don't use this. I'm not sure if people think I'm rude when they ask me to become their friend and I decline. I don't use my own page so it would be pointless to become their friends although I do post on my Musical Minis page and am delighted when anyone joins me there. I post information about Musical Minis as a whole and about specific events happening in local franchise areas. There are regular questions posted from individuals interested in finding out which class would be nearest to them and about franchise opportunities.

A number of my franchisees have their own local Facebook pages for their areas. Local information is posted and any class news updated. Their class members or prospective members are active in posting too.

Linkedin is another source of social media I am involved in. It's not a method of communicating with members or prospective members but more a way of interacting with other professionals. I have noticed some people on Linkedin seem only interested in building up vast number of connections. Maybe they find this useful but personally I can't see the point of this. I have joined various groups which are of interest to me and follow and comment on various discussions in these groups. I also regularly ask, look and answer questions posted on Linkedin. I'm even an 'expert' in the franchising section now. It's great that there is a social media site where people are supportive and able to offer business help to others.

I am also a keen blogger. My blog, learning made fun, (the Musical Minis strap line) is where I blog about my personal life as well as about Musical Minis. I don't blog as often as I would like to due to lack of time. Blogging does take longer to do than other forms of social media, however, it has enabled me to get to know, through their blogs not in person, other bloggers who are like minded professionals, Mums around the world or attendees from Musical Minis classes. I have written reviews, posted guest blogs on other blogs and linked all my blogs back to my Facebook page so the people who 'like' my page can read my blogs.

With all types of social media it works best when you are proactive. I read others blogs and comment on them, ask and answer questions on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook. I do have a genuine interest in people, perhaps it's my psychology degree that has paved my personality. I'm not just interested in building up numbers of connections or followers but interested in the people I'm connected to or following.

Now back to the question I started with, does social media have a role in business? In my experience it does. I think people by reading my tweets, posts and blogs can build up a picture about who I am, what I promote and about my business ethics. Perhaps the honest portrayal of my life and business may put some people off, however I am truthful so I prefer people to know the real me and Musical Minis. I know we have had new members from Twitter and Facebook and have undertaken contract work in Children's Centres and Nurseries who have found out about Musical Minis through these sites. I have had enquiries through social media from prospective franchisees although to date none have signed up yet. What I'm uncertain about is if I would have had these enquiries anyway without these sites.

If you have a business and are considering social media I recommend you give it a go. Apart from time you have nothing to lose and so much to gain.

I would love to hear others views and would appreciate your comments.

Photo by Flickr  Matt Hamm

21 Years of Progress

I AM writing this blog on my daughter's iPad whilst on an airplane and it has got me thinking about how technology has changed in the 21 years I have been running Musical Minis, and in turn how this has affected the running of my business.

When I first started Musical Minis the music was played on tapes and tape recorder. As the years progressed we switched to CD's and CD players and now we are onto MP3 players and speakers. It must show my reluctance to change that I still prefer using tapes! With each stage transferring the music has been easier than changing our Licence with MCPS, the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, but doing everything legally and paying the correct royalties has always been a priority to us.

Business Ethics

HONESTY and integrity are values that most of us seek out and aspire to. It is therefore extremely disappointing when you find businesses that do not cherish these values and resort to underhand and dishonest measures to try and gain a competitive edge.

As the franchise owner of Musical Minis, a business that has been operating for nearly 21 years and which has been franchised for some 13 years, it is inevitable that I have encountered others whose business ethics I disagree with. We have built up a successful business by delivering to parents a programme that we devised, aimed at stimulating and improving cognitive development through music. Over the years competition has become more fierce but we have maintained our competitive position by having a distinct approach that thousands of parents and children have appreciated.