Sax by Catt

“I’m a saxophone teacher. I was unable to teach, or even move much, after suffering for 10 years with fibromyalgia. I finally got the correct treatment and within a few months I was suddenly better and began a journey of coming out of the very down world that I was in. I thought ‘I’m going to take back everything I lost!’, so I began retraining myself in the instrument and theory. I soon started playing again in our local church band and I thought, ‘You know what, I really want to teach again.’

“I started my business again when I was 63 and you can have a lot of doubt because of your age. But then I read about Colonel Sanders who was 65 when he started Kentucky Fried Chicken. After discovering true stories like that, I allowed it to inspire me, ignore my age and just go for it.

“Back when I was teaching before, since I was about 35, we used to just put an ad in the paper for $11 and you’d have all the students you needed. When it came to now having to let people out there know there’s a saxophone teacher in their town, I had no idea how I was going to go about that.

“I’d only just been learning Facebook myself for a couple of years and hadn’t done a whole lot on it. I don’t have any sons or daughters to help me, so it was just me, totally on my own. I decided to start by getting a business name and an ABN, and that’s when Gosnells City found me. Of course I heard about the Digital Solutions program through there and I thought, ‘Look, I’ve got to do this.’ So that’s how I got started and it’s just been an amazing journey! It’s been overwhelming, scary and exciting all at the same time.”

Neda Farzad, Social Media Advertising

13 December 2022

Small Business Advisory Perth | Darwin | Brisbane | WA, QLD, NT

Catt Reid is a Gosnells-based saxophone teacher. She joined the Digital Solutions program because she needed guidance and support to reach her target audience online. “It was all about how I was going to market myself, and I knew nothing. So gradually I’ve just learnt all these techniques. It was a huge learning curve, but I’m really proud of how I hung in there and kept going.”

Through the program, she was paired with Neda Farzad, an expert in social media advertising, Victoria Yuen, a social media specialist and Hayley Barrett, who specialises in digital storytelling. “Each one of them was lovely. I liked how they were ready to sit and listen to your whole backstory, and offer so much encouragement and some very wise advice.” Catt attended one-to-one sessions in person and online, as well as attending online workshops and webinars.

As a result of the program, Catt was able to use digital marketing methods to reach more students. “I did a bit of paid advertising on Facebook as I was advised to do every now and again, then an advisor in one of the online workshops taught me how to get my own Google Business Profile. I’ve been tinkering around with that while trying to run the few students that I had, but I did want more so I stuck with it. All of a sudden, even in the last three weeks, I gained 4 more students. Now I have 10 students learning saxophone and one’s learning trumpet.”

Catt’s favourite part of the program? She can’t choose just one — “I had so many good experiences, even being able to go to the networking events and meeting a great deal of other amazing sole traders, that was awesome.”

Reflecting on the Digital Solutions program, Catt says, “I’ve already encouraged a few people to do it. They look at your unique situation and tailor the program to exactly what you need to happen, then they give you some information on top of that that you may not even know you need. The advisors are so knowledgeable and I found them so easy to approach and talk to. If you didn’t understand something they’d go back over it for you and break it down.

“I’m a good advertiser for Digital Solutions; I talk about it to someone whenever I get the opportunity to say you’ve just got to do it!”

What’s next for Catt’s saxophone teaching business? “The only thing I see as far as the future is that I’ll get as many students as I can cope with and then I’ll start a waiting list. It’s quite a nice idea actually.”

Interested in the Digital Solutions program for your business? Learn more about it here.