Tutoring with Popless can be a flexible and reliable side-earner around your other commitments, or your full-time passion – it’s entirely up to you.

The first step to becoming a tutor on Popless is signing up. Luckily, you’re in the right place! With Popless, applying to become a tutor is quite simple. Complete the 7 steps in this article, and you’ll be working as an online tutor on Popless in as little as 24 hours.

With any luck, this will be the start of a rewarding journey where you’ll work on your own schedule, grow professionally, and help students in every corner of the world!

1. Create an account

The first step to starting your tutoring business with Popless is to sign up for a Popless account.

1. Go to www.popless.com.

2. Click on the "Get started" button.

3. Click "Sign Up."

2. Sign up as a Popless tutor

The first step to starting your tutoring business with Popless is to sign up as an online tutor by create an account. Applying to become a tutor is simple — you can easily do it in two minutes. You can also schedule a quick call with our team so we can show you around the Popless platform.

3. Create your profile

First, we’ll ask you some basic questions to set up your profile — including providing your email, what languages you speak, and your country of origin. This part should only take a couple of minutes.

Submit a profile photo

We’ll ask you to submit a square, portrait-style photo that clearly shows your face, which will be used on your tutor profile. For best results, it shouldn’t be a selfie, but taking it with your webcam or a phone camera on a timer will work perfectly. To choose a good photo:

• Show just your head and shoulders

• Use good lighting and a neutral background

• Make sure the picture quality is high  

• Keep your face and eyes fully visible (except for religious reasons)

• Avoid showing any logos or contact information

• Make sure it’s a photo of just you, no-one else

This is the first thing students will notice about your profile, so think friendly rather than passport-style. Our top tip here is so simple it might sound patronizing: smile! Our research shows that tutors who smile in their profile photos attract far more students than tutors who don’t. Even if you specialize in teaching English to elite business people, and want to show you’re a serious professional, a smile is still the best way to highlight how pleasant it’ll be to work with you.

Write a headline and description

Next, you’ll be asked to enter a headline and description to advertise your profile. This is where a little research goes a long way! Have a browse of Popless' online tutor search page, and see what kind of profiles catch your eye.

A headline is a 50-70 character summary of what you can offer as an English tutor. It’s wise to highlight your experience level, relevant qualifications and/or your areas of specialism. It might look like this:

• Spanish tutor with 10 years of experience

• TESOL-certified English tutor, IELTS coaching specialist

• 8 years experience, specializing in Cambridge exam preparation

According to our recent research, students love headlines that mention the tutors’ number of years of teaching experience. You don’t need any formal experience to set up a Popless profile, but if you have clocked up some years in the classroom, you should definitely mention them here.

You’ll also be asked to write a description. This is a few paragraphs describing who you are as a tutor, and what you can offer to students. Include a little about your experience, teaching style, and any specialisms you have, as well as a little note about why you choose to tutor. It should be more than 400 characters long, and shouldn’t contain any personal information or contact details (including your full name!) Here are our full guidelines for writing a profile description. Your tutor profile will probably change during the course of your Popless journey so you can update your profile anytime.

4. Set up your account to receive payments

You’ve been accepted as an online tutor: congratulations! Now to sort out the logistical part of earning money online. The good news is that once you’ve set up your account to receive payments, getting paid on Popless is fast and convenient. Here’s the information we’ll need.

Add payout information

You’ll have students all over the world, paying in several different currencies. To make it simpler to process, the money you earn through Popless is kept in your internal account at first — your Popless wallet. You can withdraw your money anytime by securely connecting your bank account.

It’s important to learn about Popless' commission model so that you know what to expect to see in your Popless wallet and can contact us if there’s a problem.

5. Get ready to receive students

Only a few finishing touches, and you’ll be open for business!

Polish your profile

Once you’re a verified Popless tutor, you will have a dashboard that shows information about your tutoring journey with us. If you look into the statistics tab, you’ll get some tips on how to start tutoring including things you can do to make your profile more appealing to students, and achieve a higher position in Popless’ tutor search results. Most of these are tips to do with your description, your photograph, or your specialties.

Set your availability

Now it’s time to tell students when you’re free to teach by logging your working hours in the Popless calendar. Of course, you should only set your availability for times when you are actually free, but the more slots you add, the more available you become to students in different time zones, and the higher up Popless’s search rankings you’ll go! Adding as much availability as possible increases your chances of getting your first students, and those precious first reviews.

You can also easily sync your Popless calendar to your Google calendar, so you never miss a lesson.

6. Prepare for your first lesson

Sooner or later — probably sooner if you’ve taken the advice in this article and crafted a very polished profile —  a student will reach out and book a lesson with you. Your first lesson might be nerve-wracking, but good communication with your students and a little preparation will go a long way.

Message students who book your lessons

When a student books their first lesson with you, you should send them a quick message through Popless. Greet them and show you’re looking forward to working together: it’ll make a great first impression! It’s also a chance to ask them what they hope to learn with Popless in the long and short term, and how they’d like to learn it. After all, the secret to a great lesson is giving a student what they want — so why not ask directly?

Prepare a lesson plan

The first lesson on Popless is where you’ll see if your teaching style suits the student and if they’d like to buy a package of lessons with you. Since this is the first time you’ll meet them, you should spend some time talking about their long and short-term learning goals. You should also aim to inspire a feeling of progress. You can consider whether they would like to receive homework to structure their independent study.

7. Tutor your first lesson!

Meet your student on the Popless video platform, and carry out your lesson. You can use the chat to send them any teaching materials you’ve decided to use, links or messages. Remember to follow up with your student after the lesson to leave a positive impression.

Congratulations! You’re now an active online tutor. The first lesson is always a little daunting —  but once you’ve taught your first student, your second, third, and fourth students will seem much less intimidating.

What now?

Follow these 7 steps and you’ll be a Popless tutor in no time. We’ll help you find students, streamline the process of planning to meet them, and make it easy for you to get paid. This way, you don’t need to worry about logistics, and can do what you do best: teach!

Once you’ve got one or two students taking lessons with you on Popless, it’s just a matter of filling up your schedule with more students until you’re reaching your personal and financial goals. Check out our article on how to advertise yourself as a tutor for some tips on how to do this.

It might take a few months to establish a student base. But as you start to get more bookings and one or two good reviews, the perks of online tutoring increase fast. Once you’re an established Popless tutor, you can get more selective about what availability you offer to students, and how much you want to charge. Online tutoring can make for a really flexible, rewarding lifestyle, and we’d be delighted if you chose to do it with us!