Once you have decided that tutoring is for you, and researched the relevant curriculum areas, you will need to find new students. For many, this is actually the most difficult part of being a tutor, so we have created this chapter to help you attract new students for private tuition.
There are various ways to get started. Obviously, tutors look to get the word out to friends and family, which a great way of building your experience. You may wish to offer free sessions to those closest to you if you are new to the role, as this will allow you to build your experience. From there, some tutors choose to advertise locally, but this is incredibly time-consuming and can be pretty expensive.
We unsurprisingly, therefore, recommend signing up as a tutor on Tutorful. We help you to find new students, by allowing you to have a free profile, which beautifully sets out your experience and expertise. Students will then be able to message you to organise lessons. We’ll help you through it all and process all of their payments, which we’ll discuss later, as this is another difficult role to undertake.
Profile Photo
This is probably the first thing students look at, so it is vital to create a good first impression. Use a high quality photo, in which you appear friendly and professional. Here are some examples we like:
Make sure that you don’t use a group photo or one containing children.
Keep the shot tight, include the top of your shoulders, this should have priority to that funky new hairstyle you have, (which can change in a few weeks). You don't want to look like a floating head, you also don't want your face to be around 10% of the image, crop the shot right in so we see every little detail of that gorgeous face of yours.
Make sure you are well lit, try to keep it even and avoid strong shadows and do not use coloured lights as this will look strange.
Keep your eye line above the centre line, and don't be looking up, down or away from the camera, position the camera so it lines up with your mouth, this will make your eyes more engaging to the viewer.
Elisha Miller, www.elmphotostudio.co.uk
Tag Line
The tag line should be a short, snappy summary to promote yourself. This is the title of your page and the first thing parents will read on the search results pages, so make sure it states:
- The main subject(s) you teach
- Your location
- Something to separate you
For example, ‘Experienced GCSE Maths Tutor in Manchester’ or ‘Passionate Art Lecturer and Tutor in Cardiff’.
Price
Set your hourly rate. See ‘Chapter 2 - How much can I earn?’
Bio
Your profile is in effect your sales pitch. It is not only your opportunity to demonstrate what differentiates you from other tutors, it is also your chance to showcase some of your softer skills. Students want a tutor who has the necessary qualifications as well as an engaging teaching style.
If your profile is long-winded and repetitive you will repel students who think your teaching style will be the same. If you have a succinct profile, that is packed with active verbs and flows well then potential clients are more likely to read on.
You will come across as energetic and competent. To produce this information packed profile, try making a list of your key soft and hard skills first then write your profile. Rigorously edit out any repetitions and condense any long-winded phrases. You will be left with an attractive persuasive profile that will attract customers."
Emily Connor, Professional Writer @ www.cvfolks.co.uk
Write a professional personal statement, which sets out your experience and teaching style. This is your opportunity to sell yourself to potential clients and to let them know why you would be the perfect tutor for them.
- Why would you make a great tutor?
- How would you plan to help your students and what would you do during sessions?
- What qualifications make you suitable?
- What is your knowledge of the curriculum and exam expectations?
- You’re not the Queen, so be sure to write in the first person, i.e. ‘I’ and ‘my’.
Dan Ramirez, senior copywriter at rule-of-three.co.uk gave us his top tips on how to write persuasive copy for an online profile,
Advertising legend David Ogilvy famously said: 'You can’t bore people
into buying your product'. And he was right. Writing persuasively is
difficult. In fact, it’s a discipline. The discipline of copywriting – the art
of persuasion.
So how can you make your writing less boring and more persuasive?
Well, for a start, you can stop writing about yourself. This is not about
you. It’s about your students. That’s why it’s vital to keep in mind one of
the fundamental elements of writing effective copy: Readers are motivated by self-interest.
Of course, it’s tempting to write about yourself: 'My skills… My experience…
My achievements...' However, there’s nothing worse than someone
waffling on about themselves. It’s not persuasive. It’s boring. Focus less on ‘Me' and ‘My', and reframe your copy around the ‘you’ (your potential student).
Persuasion is achieved by framing communications around the needs of
the user: 'Your aspirations… Your ambitions... Your goals’... Quite simply, your readers want to know: ‘How can you help me?’. So, in short, make your copy about the reader’s favourite subject: themselves. There’s nothing they like reading about more.
Short Bio
This will appear on the search results pages - like a mini bio for parents to decide which profiles to view. It’s up to you whether you create a short bio. If you leave it blank, we’ll fill it in with the first part of your full bio. It’s worth filling it in though, as this is another chance to sell yourself! Just summarise the best parts of your longer bio.
Travel Policy
There is debate about the benefits of tutoring from home versus those of visiting your students. Here at Tutorful, we have found that the vast majority of parents want tutors to come to them.
If you are looking to tutor from home, make sure that:
- You have a comfortable, quiet location where you won’t be disturbed.
- You have a large table and all of the resources required for your subject.
- It does not contravene the terms of your rental agreement, mortgage or insurance.
- You have insurance.
If you are happy to travel to students’ homes:
- You have access to transport: for those without a car, a sensible travel radius is 2-5 miles, whilst those who drive should select 5-10 miles.
- You have factored transport costs and travel time into your hourly rate.
- You plan to minimise travel time between lessons.
Qualifications
Add any qualifications you have achieved, such as A-levels or Degrees. Be sure to list those which are applicable to the subjects you teach, rather than listing all of your qualifications.
Subjects
Add the subjects and levels that your are confident to tutor. Make sure that you add ALL of the levels you can teach, not just the highest.
Scott Woodley, Co-founder of Tutorful
Scott is a fully qualified primary school teacher who left teaching to set up Tutorful, a site which helps parents and learners find the right tutor for them.
If you are looking to become a tutor, you can easily create a profile with Tutorful. You can set your own price, offer online or face-to-face tuition and begin building your rewarding career in no time.
