Looking to improve your online tutoring business model or establish a new one from scratch? The following guide is intended to answer this question in 8 easy steps. Here’s what you’ll find inside - 8 steps to increase your income as an online tutor:
Join an online tutoring platform
Get more students
Start giving group classes
Choose a pricing strategy
Find your niche
Learn to navigate technical issues
Reduce no-shows and be prompt
Personalize your approach
Follow our step-by-step guide to earn more money when teaching online.
8 Steps to increase your income as an online tutor
Below are a few examples of how you can maximize your income to improve your online tutoring business model.
Join an online tutoring platform
Whether it’s your first time tutoring online or you consider yourself an experienced educator, connecting with students online is key to strengthening your tutoring business model. By increasing your reach beyond a traditional classroom setting, virtual tutoring allows you to teach students around the world and expand your market. Consider becoming an online tutor on a platform like POpless, where you can set your own schedule and pay rate.
Rather than teaching independently, creating a teaching profile on a dedicated site will allow you to reach a broader audience while attracting students that are seeking out your specific language expertise.
Choose a pricing strategy
Choosing a pricing strategy is essential to building a solid online tutoring revenue model. Before you can begin an online tutoring job, you must set a price that is sustainable for you and your students. It’s especially important to keep your demographic in mind when doing so. You can keep your expectations fair and realistic by searching up some basic facts about your student market, including average wage, minimum wage, and currency conversion rates from their countries to yours.
Keep in mind that setting a price can take some trial and error. Flexibility and patience are key in developing a sustainable tuition business model. For example, you may notice that your price is not attracting many students and need to adjust accordingly. You may also have many demands for tutoring, in which case increasing your price can earn you more money while preventing your schedule from being overbooked.
Sell lesson packages
After the first lesson is completed and confirmed by a new student, you can give your students the option to purchase a package of hours to continue lessons with you. Students can prepay for 5, 10, or any amount of tutoring hours they choose. Following the first session, you can discuss these options with your potential student, as they can benefit both educationally and financially from committing to their learning early on.
The more hours your student purchases, the bigger their discount per tutoring hour. Also, the more likely they are to renew their hours when their current package has concluded.
Find your niche
Oftentimes, students come to lessons with a specific goal in mind, be it professional development, travel, or another topic. Rather than presenting yourself as an expert on all aspects of various topics, identify your teaching strengths and advertise those transparently with your students. As a more efficient tutoring business model, finding a niche will lead to stronger matches between students and tutors, in which both parties feel they are participating in a productive teaching and learning experience.
Not sure what your niche is? Consider what level of students you’ve taught in the past (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and in which topics. If you have a particular area of expertise (for example, if you are an engineer or businessperson), you may consider focusing on attracting students who seek to grow in those industries.
Learn to navigate technical issues
While it may seem rudimentary, your online tutoring business model depends on your ability to promptly and effectively respond to technical issues. Check your Internet connection (or consider investing in a stronger router if yours is failing consistently), and make sure your devices are fully charged. Test your audio and video before starting the lesson to reduce any miscommunications, which can already be considered if your student is a beginner.
Although poor Wifi and unexpected power failures cannot always be avoided, do your utmost to ensure you will not have any technical difficulties during the lesson. Remember, being a good online tutor is critical to providing a positive learning experience for your student and ensuring they are following and understanding you.
Reduce no-shows and be prompt
Once your lesson is confirmed, be sure to be on the agreed-upon platform at the scheduled date and time. If an unavoidable issue occurs, be sure to alert your student as soon as you know, and, if possible, offer to reschedule at your earliest convenience. Be clear about your expectations with your students. Inconsistency due to no-shows on their end leads to poor results and may strain your tutoring relationship.
Create an appealing online profile
To expand your online tutoring business, you’ll need to extend your reach to as many students as possible. Popless allows you to include a short bio, which can be a great opportunity to showcase your unique experiences and help students understand your teaching style and approach.
Start giving group classes
If you’re already a tutor on Popess, you may have started off just teaching one-on-one classes. Now, Popless offers group classes to facilitate an even more productive learning experience while giving tutors more opportunities to earn. You can even teach classes by topic, including job applications and higher education.
Beyond increasing your earnings, students can also benefit from this format by interacting with their peers to learn different problems, learning styles, and new modes of expression in their target language.
Personalize your approach
Part of being a good online tutor is listening carefully to your student’s previous interactions with the target language to provide helpful and productive language support. While it can be beneficial to have a few basic lesson plans on hand that you can modify as needed, having a one-size-fits-all lesson approach may not produce the best results for you or, more importantly, your student.
During your first online tutoring session with your students, take the time to ask for essential background information. For example, from how long they’ve been learning the language and what specific goals they hope to achieve in your time together. Consider inquiring into their personal learning style and which materials they prefer (textbooks, Youtube videos, etc).
Personalizing your teaching plan based on your student’s profile will likely heighten your student’s pace of retention and make your and your student’s experience much more enjoyable.
Final thoughts
Whichever online tutoring revenue model you choose, following these eight steps can help you get more students and facilitate a more productive and pleasant teaching experience. While online tutoring has the potential to be profitable, you can increase your earnings by employing strategies to attract new students who will return to your classes.
If you are wondering how much online tutors make, remember the more hours you book, the more money you’ll bring in—and the better tutor you’ll become.
