Outside the debate of online freelance tutoring or employed face-to-face teaching, it is a sad indictment of the whole industry if we are chasing the clients and not regarded by either the online community nor the employers. I guess we need to ask the question, "Why do tutors teach online for themselves?" and I suppose the answer is that teachers are not as remunerated as highly as they should be. For those that work online full-time, then the precarious nature of online tutoring can be incredibly stressful and chasing students is not the way to go about changing the online ELT industry. Perhaps we need to rethink professionalising the English teaching industry to ensure that teachers are able to earn a respectful income regardless the platform or approach of finding students. Anyhow Rachael, this is another interesting video but I would be wary about placing all Preply tutors in the same basket. I have encountered many students who are keen to find a professional tutor rather than chasing a cheap alternative. I have many students who supplement my income and it is a great way to meet other students who are willing to pay the rate that I have decided. If students are willing to find a cheaper tutor, then I respect that but I have complete control over my hourly rate. Finally, I have encountered students outside of Preply via Instagram and I have secured two students in the last four years. They have paid my expected hourly rate for online teaching but should I compare two students outside Preply or 90 students that I tutored over the last two years at Preply? The latest student that I tutored needed support preparing for a job interview at a UK university as a tutor for psychology. I would not have been given this opportunity with Preply and I am pleased with my remuneration so far. You can make it work for yourself with the Preply platform. Anyhow, thank you for your video and I wonder if you have actually worked for Preply. If you haven't, then I suppose that your experience with the platform is limited, as well as questioning the suitability of Preply.
I'm glad to hear you've encountered students who are willing to pay proper rates on Preply, but I still feel from what I've seen (when signing up as a tutor) and heard, that the platform (as well as many others) encourages teachers to charge low rates, which is problematic to say the least. ''According to Preply’s internal business data, the average hourly rate for an online tutor is $18.30 (USD). However, when you look more closely, the average hourly rate for an online tutor could be as low as $10.00 or as high as $38.90 depending on the subject of study. The rates charged by tutors can, however, be significantly higher than the aforementioned average by subject area when it comes to teaching advanced topics such as business English, calculus or test preparation whereby we see some tutors charging $50 and upwards.' The strong implication is that charging more than $50 is pretty unusual. But I know plenty of teachers finding their own clients charging more than this. Personally, I would recommend investing the time and effort in doing free trials, and gradually building up a clientele on a platform, into marketing one's own business.
I wouldn't exactly call it advertising. It's more about building relationships and giving potential clients the information they need to make the right decision for them (though this would obviously include telling them about your service and what the next step is). In terms of where, I can't tell you that because it depends on who those ideal clients are, and where they hang out. This is why it's so important to really know and understand your niche. For me, it's mainly RU-vid and LinkedIn, for example, plus I do a lot of webinars, articles and podcasts. But it's likely completely different for you.
Hi Catherine, I don’t as such, but I do offer a free 40 minute chat to talk about your situation and how I might be able to help you, so we could start there? Here’s the link to book in to my calendar x portal.earnlearnthriveinelt.com/public/form/view/5f21aa807b16d25293f1d433
