Many tutors who have successfully been tutoring for years come to us seeking to grow their tuition business. We give them the following advice:
Gain more students by…
…delivering great lessons!
The most sure fire way of growing your business is to impress currents students and retain them. Similarly, they will recommend you to others if they love your lessons.
...asking your students to recommend you!
It’s amazing how many tutors are too shy to let their existing students know that they have space to take on other students. Once you’ve formed a good relationship, ask parents to spread the word for you - they’ll be more likely to speak about you if you’ve asked them to.
...giving people a simple way to contact you!
...signing up to Tutora!
Come on… we’ve put ourselves somewhat down the list. Seriously though, this is probably the quickest and easiest way of gaining new students as not only do you have a profile to attract new students, we will drive traffic to your page and let you apply directly for local jobs listed by students on our job board.
...asking current students for a review or reference!
Reviews are vital in allowing other users to see how well you’ve got on with other learners. Make sure that each student leaves a review on your profile, or gives you a written reference which you can pass on to other parents.
...using social media to promote yourself!
At Tutorful, we will provide you with ready made the promotional material to share on Facebook and Twitter so that you can promote yourself quickly and drive students to your profile. At the very least regularly post that you are seeking students and happy to help new learners.
...old-fashioned advertising!
You may wish to create leaflets or posters for your local area. Whilst this is time-consuming and can be expensive, it may help you to gain more students.
...build your own website!
Use AIDA in your advertising to find more students i.e. Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. You can use this approach with flyers, posters, newspaper ads, Facebook ads, Google ads etc, to attract new students to your tutoring business.Try it out. This approach has been used for years in advertising and it'll be around for many years to come! It dramatically increases the chances people will take action and call you about lessons."
- Attention - Create an attention grabbing headline for your ad (make this stand out on your flyer/poster)
- Interest - Give a little info about your tutoring service and get them interested
- Desire - Provide some information that pushes a person to make a decision. You could include some offer here.
- Action - Finish with a call to action e.g. Contact today, Call now etc.
Martyn Croston, Founder, MyTutorBusiness
Increasing your Hourly Rate
As you build your experience by teaching more lessons and increase the number of reviews you have received, you should, over time, up your hourly rate to secure an increased income. In doing so, grow your price gradually, as a large jump will put new students off, especially if they have come from a referral!
Never increase your hourly rate with your existing students unless you really have to - this is bound to create tension. For instructions on how you can easily change your hourly rate, see here.
Other steps you can take
Advertise at the right times
Tuition is seasonal, based on the academic year and exam periods. If you are only free to tutor in the Summer, then you may struggle to attract large numbers of students, as this is one of the quietest periods. September and January are busy periods, as well as the time leading up to school exams in May and June, although the relationship will often be shorter.
Edit your profile
If you are not receiving a high level of enquiries, it may be because your profile is not strong enough and you need to add more information or add a more professional photo.
Offer a block booking discount
You may wish to offer learners a slight discount if they book a block of lessons. Agree on the price and then change the hourly rate to reflect this when booking.
Reduce your price
If you are desperately seeking new students, but are struggling to gain the numbers you would like, it may be worth reducing your hourly rate as a last resort.
Build your idea: Spend time building and putting your idea to the test. The sooner you begin testing and sharing your story with your target market, the easier it will be to measure success.
Be unique and market-savvy: Remember that a great idea requires a solid and executable business plan. Demonstrate the market potential of your offering and ensure you can present a sound and scalable business model.
Find the right type of investment/funding: Consider the most appropriate funding model for your business. Focus on building a track record that can help you attract the right investors.
How to grow your business - Gemma Young, CEO and Co-Founder of Settled
Scott Woodley, Co-founder of Tutorful
Many tutors who have successfully been tutoring for years come to us seeking to grow their tuition business. We give them the following advice:
Gain more students by…
…delivering great lessons!
The most sure fire way of growing your business is to impress currents students and retain them. Similarly, they will recommend you to others if they love your lessons.
...asking your students to recommend you!
It’s amazing how many tutors are too shy to let their existing students know that they have space to take on other students. Once you’ve formed a good relationship, ask parents to spread the word for you - they’ll be more likely to speak about you if you’ve asked them to.
...giving people a simple way to contact you!
...signing up to Tutora!
Come on… we’ve put ourselves somewhat down the list. Seriously though, this is probably the quickest and easiest way of gaining new students as not only do you have a profile to attract new students, we will drive traffic to your page and let you apply directly for local jobs listed by students on our job board.
...asking current students for a review or reference!
Reviews are vital in allowing other users to see how well you’ve got on with other learners. Make sure that each student leaves a review on your profile, or gives you a written reference which you can pass on to other parents.
...using social media to promote yourself!
At Tutorful, we will provide you with ready made the promotional material to share on Facebook and Twitter so that you can promote yourself quickly and drive students to your profile. At the very least regularly post that you are seeking students and happy to help new learners.
...old-fashioned advertising!
You may wish to create leaflets or posters for your local area. Whilst this is time-consuming and can be expensive, it may help you to gain more students.
...build your own website!
Use AIDA in your advertising to find more students i.e. Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. You can use this approach with flyers, posters, newspaper ads, Facebook ads, Google ads etc, to attract new students to your tutoring business.Try it out. This approach has been used for years in advertising and it'll be around for many years to come! It dramatically increases the chances people will take action and call you about lessons."
- Attention - Create an attention grabbing headline for your ad (make this stand out on your flyer/poster)
- Interest - Give a little info about your tutoring service and get them interested
- Desire - Provide some information that pushes a person to make a decision. You could include some offer here.
- Action - Finish with a call to action e.g. Contact today, Call now etc.
Martyn Croston, Founder, MyTutorBusiness
Increasing your Hourly Rate
As you build your experience by teaching more lessons and increase the number of reviews you have received, you should, over time, up your hourly rate to secure an increased income. In doing so, grow your price gradually, as a large jump will put new students off, especially if they have come from a referral!
Never increase your hourly rate with your existing students unless you really have to - this is bound to create tension.
Other steps you can take
Advertise at the right times
Tuition is seasonal, based on the academic year and exam periods. If you are only free to tutor in the Summer, then you may struggle to attract large numbers of students, as this is one of the quietest periods. September and January are busy periods, as well as the time leading up to school exams in May and June, although the relationship will often be shorter.
Edit your profile
If you are not receiving a high level of enquiries, it may be because your profile is not strong enough and you need to add more information or add a more professional photo.
Offer a block booking discount
You may wish to offer learners a slight discount if they book a block of lessons. Agree on the price and then change the hourly rate to reflect this when booking.
Reduce your price
If you are desperately seeking new students, but are struggling to gain the numbers you would like, it may be worth reducing your hourly rate as a last resort.
Build your idea: Spend time building and putting your idea to the test. The sooner you begin testing and sharing your story with your target market, the easier it will be to measure success.
Be unique and market-savvy: Remember that a great idea requires a solid and executable business plan. Demonstrate the market potential of your offering and ensure you can present a sound and scalable business model.
Find the right type of investment/funding: Consider the most appropriate funding model for your business. Focus on building a track record that can help you attract the right investors.
How to grow your business - Gemma Young, CEO and Co-Founder of Settled
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.
