Today I have a great guest post from Jason @ StudyPool.
Having a strong educational background has brought me a few perks in my later years. Teaching online wasn’t in my radar until just a few years back. I took a stand, and decided to give it a shot.
My tutoring journey was rocky my first year, since there wasn’t too many trustworthy communities out there, and online tutoring was in it’s early years – not a lot of trust back then. Things changed, and now there’s too much to do, and too many options. So that you don’t go through the same turbulence I did, here’s a blueprint to bootstrap yourself so you can make a few benjamins a day, if you do this right.
Set Up A Foundation For Success
- Find your nest. Your home isn’t always the best place for work to get done. Distractions and interruptions can easily detour your concentration. In this ballpark, deadlines have deadlines, so it’s critical that you find this nest; whether it’s a library, your backyard lawn, or a coffee shop (I’ve tried all three) – choose wisely. Trial and error is your best bet; you’ll know once you’ve found it.
- Find your hardware. It’s a given that you’ll need one of these, but owning a laptop is so much more convenient, and cheaper. Don’t settle for a computer you find at yard sales, invest for speed and reliability – don’t be scared to slap a warranty on it. This one’s for the long haul, and to be covered in stickers and suffer from a few spills. My laptop has endured my graveyard hours and my early bird burts. Buy a brand that you trust, and make sure the specs are top notch.
- Find your bandwidth. In this market, you’ll be sharing – massively. Overtime, as your tutoring skills grow, the amount of content you share will grow with it. Mentally prepare yourself before you commit to online tutoring. Your discipline and dedication will determine your earnings and size of income. It’s imperative your master the fundamentals first before climbing Mount Everest. Establish how much time you can realistically spend per day and per week. Don’t trick yourself into squeezing time in during your lunch break; set a goal and stick to it.
- Find a provider. If you don’t have internet, get it. Settle for a good reasonable upload speed since you’ll be uploading a lot more than downloading as an online tutor. Speed enables you to work quickly and hit your deadlines without having any “internet issues” down the road. Hijacking wi-fi every time you need to get online gets old, real fast.
Choose Your Destination
Several websites offer their services for online tutoring for those who want to work from home and earn good money. I’ve traveled around some online tutoring communities in the past few years, and I’ve switched over based on my preferences. Don’t get lost and join a community you’ll end up hating, you can start with one of these:
- Studypool – An online tutoring platform – where tutors get paid to answer students questions (no video chat required).
- TutorVista – Affordable tutoring that gives you an option for hourly or monthly packages.
- WizIQ – Massive online learning delivery platform allows you to be the tutor you’ve always wanted to be.
Every platform is unique and offers pretty cool benefits. Don’t be scared to try more than one until you find your creamer.
Building A Network
The goals between a tutor and an online tutor are the same: build a trustworthy network of students. Trust is harder to find online, so let your work do the talking 😉 You can’t be a bad tutor and have an extensive network, it doesn’t work that way.
Stay consistent with quality and communicate often with your students. Personalize yourself to their needs and learn some background about them, just like a physical tutor would. If you take this part seriously, you’re looking at some steady income in the long run. By focusing on your network from day one, students will locate you because of the trustworthy reputation that you’ve raised and kept parallel with everyone.
Remember, it’s a professional relationship which could last for years. You may lose some students for multiple reasons: end of school, graduation, change of preference – don’t sweat it. When they refer friends or family members, your network build itself organically. Of course, it’s easier said than done.
Hustle!
Going the extra mile is the new norm. The last key element that will thrive your tutoring journey is having the hustle mentality. Hustle beats talent if the talent doesn’t hustle. If you’re committed to helping and teaching, high earnings will trail right after. Don’t take my word for it, join a tutoring community today and get started!
Hmm, never heard of these sites and this is great. Means I can get my teeth into this side-hustle that could generate even more income. Thanks for sharing 😉
Awesome 🙂
Interesting idea. Totally agree that finding the right work space has a huge impact on productivity. I remember renting a tiny office for the first two years I worked for myself until I built up the client base – and focus – to work from home.