Going rate for coaches
- Thread starter trojanpony
- Start date
Phrasing your note as a question and with the conditional "might" weakened your admittedly strong point. To inspire confidence in others, it's important to speak in confident, declarative sentences. "Understating it plays better" would have served both you and your student better.
I'm available Monday evenings and most weekends, for whenever you want to give me 5 dollars.
I'm available Monday evenings and most weekends, for whenever you want to give me 5 dollars.
I'm sure you can find coaches who charge less, but it depends on how good of a coach you want.
I will coach any group, but I wouldn't feel comfortable charging anymore than a few quarters and a container of pizza. And not even a deep container. Really, just a microwaveable container of pizza that could easily fit in a pocket.
I will coach any group, but I wouldn't feel comfortable charging anymore than a few quarters and a container of pizza. And not even a deep container. Really, just a microwaveable container of pizza that could easily fit in a pocket.
So is there consensus that $60 for 2 hours with a not-that-established coach is kind of high? I recently had two UCB people who have just recently gotten into coaching and they both charged that much. It seemed a tad high to me compared to what more experienced coaches were charging just a few months ago ($40 or $50 for 2 hours)...
Nope. For a few reasons.
1. Not-that-established as what? A coach, or a performer? And what is established? On a house team at a theater? Some coaches are great and don't perform much; some performers are great performers but can't coach. Some performers are great, and can coach, but aren't 'established' or famous.
2. It's all what the market will bear. if you need a coach and he's available, it may not matter if his rate is the same as someone better if that better person isn't available.
Pick a coach based on what other people tell you. If nobody knows if this person can coach, it's up to the coach to do something to prove they can - offer free coaching, for example. Or, pick a coach based on how well they perform...but that's no garantee they can coach.
I coach, and know I was once passed over with my now 9+ years of improv experience for someone who's been doing it for 2-3 years strictly because they got on a house team at a theater. "If they are on a house team they *must* be good!" I'm not even saying they aren't. I'm saying you don't really know until you try them.
Look -pay the $60 once, and if the coach isn't worth it, consider it a $40 coaching fee and $20 "not wasting anymore of my time" fee and don't use them anymore.
1. Not-that-established as what? A coach, or a performer? And what is established? On a house team at a theater? Some coaches are great and don't perform much; some performers are great performers but can't coach. Some performers are great, and can coach, but aren't 'established' or famous.
2. It's all what the market will bear. if you need a coach and he's available, it may not matter if his rate is the same as someone better if that better person isn't available.
Pick a coach based on what other people tell you. If nobody knows if this person can coach, it's up to the coach to do something to prove they can - offer free coaching, for example. Or, pick a coach based on how well they perform...but that's no garantee they can coach.
I coach, and know I was once passed over with my now 9+ years of improv experience for someone who's been doing it for 2-3 years strictly because they got on a house team at a theater. "If they are on a house team they *must* be good!" I'm not even saying they aren't. I'm saying you don't really know until you try them.
Look -pay the $60 once, and if the coach isn't worth it, consider it a $40 coaching fee and $20 "not wasting anymore of my time" fee and don't use them anymore.
Well by "consensus" I just meant the gist I was getting from all the posts in the thread...most of which seemed to indicated 2 hours being in the $40-$50 range. But maybe $60 is common... By not-that-established I meant as a coach. I just found it odd to pay $60 for someone with little coaching experience when a few months ago I paid like $40 or $50 for two different coaches that both had significant experience.
I guess I feel like after you've been coaching for so long and built up some kind of reputation you've EARNED the right to charge top dollar and let people decide for themselves if it's worth it...but if you're just getting your feet wet in the coaching arena and have never taught classes at a theater or anything it seems reasonable to me that you would charge a little less...
I guess I feel like after you've been coaching for so long and built up some kind of reputation you've EARNED the right to charge top dollar and let people decide for themselves if it's worth it...but if you're just getting your feet wet in the coaching arena and have never taught classes at a theater or anything it seems reasonable to me that you would charge a little less...
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I think it comes down to how an individual considers how much their time is worth. For a lot of the coaches that I have paid top dollar to learn from, I know they have very few free hours for coaching. I assume their value isn't based on ego, but based on how free that person is.
I mean if an individual makes 100k a year and is busy 24/7 they probably need to charge more.
I mean if an individual makes 100k a year and is busy 24/7 they probably need to charge more.
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Should there be an anti-trust investigation into these coaches?
On a serious note though, since I've been doing this practice group thing I've found it harder and harder to convince my teammates to go for a whole 3-hour practice. Every group I was in used to spend a healthy 3 hours practicing at each session. Now, no one ever wants to do more than 2 hours. Also, that 2 hour booking of the coach usually falls at a time that makes it hard for him to do another coaching gig that night- if you're practicing from 7-9, how many groups will your coach find who practice from 9-11 (or more realistically 9:30-11:30), or 5-7? That 2 hours kills other possible bookings. A lot of these coaches used to do a lot of 3 hour sessions, now they're only doing 2 hours. So it needs to be worthwhile for the coach to take the booking. Perhaps this has something to do with the recent inflation of coaching prices.
Furthermore, yes teammates, this is a thinly veiled cry for us to increase our practice time.
On a serious note though, since I've been doing this practice group thing I've found it harder and harder to convince my teammates to go for a whole 3-hour practice. Every group I was in used to spend a healthy 3 hours practicing at each session. Now, no one ever wants to do more than 2 hours. Also, that 2 hour booking of the coach usually falls at a time that makes it hard for him to do another coaching gig that night- if you're practicing from 7-9, how many groups will your coach find who practice from 9-11 (or more realistically 9:30-11:30), or 5-7? That 2 hours kills other possible bookings. A lot of these coaches used to do a lot of 3 hour sessions, now they're only doing 2 hours. So it needs to be worthwhile for the coach to take the booking. Perhaps this has something to do with the recent inflation of coaching prices.
Furthermore, yes teammates, this is a thinly veiled cry for us to increase our practice time.
In the last year or so I've been charging $40 for 2 or 3 hours. The reason being that 1) over time, rehearsals tend to bleed money out of people who aren't getting paid to perform, and 2) I don't feel like the $20 more a group would have to pay me should factor into the decision of whether or not they want to keep rehearsing when their two hours are up.
As a teacher and as an improviser I want people to rehearse as much as possible, so I want to do what I can to remove the obstacles preventing that. I figure we're all in this together.
It's a personal choice, but I've enjoyed it so far.
Furthermore, yes groups I direct, this is a thinly veiled cry for you to increase your practice time.
As a teacher and as an improviser I want people to rehearse as much as possible, so I want to do what I can to remove the obstacles preventing that. I figure we're all in this together.
It's a personal choice, but I've enjoyed it so far.
Furthermore, yes groups I direct, this is a thinly veiled cry for you to increase your practice time.