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After reading through this eBook, you'll find it to be even more valuable than you ever imagined if you apply the techniques that I share with you. If you want to build a successful part or full-time online tutoring business, you need to believe in the technology and how efficiently it can help each student, you tutor.
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Your Blue Print For A Successful Online
Tutoring Business
By Scott Palat
Copyright 2007, by TutorFi LTD
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Getting your students excited about learning
Chapter 3 Timing is everything
Chapter 4 Getting started
Chapter 5 What subjects will you tutor?
Chapter 6 Define your goals
Chapter 7 Deciding on your hourly rate
Chapter 8 What online tutoring software will you use?
Chapter 9 TutorFi.com, a simple solution to building your online
tutoring business
Chapter 10 Your introductory offer
Chapter 11 Do you need your own website?
Chapter 12 Mental preparation to accept incoming calls from
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Chapter 13 Preparing for your new student’s first tutoring
Chapter 14 Long-term student preparation
Chapter 15 Building guaranteed monthly income from your
parent clients
Chapter 16 How to build your online tutoring business without
spending a fortune
Chapter 17 Mastering paid advertising
Chapter 18 Tax savings advantages
Chapter 19 Conclusion
Chapter 1
Introduction:
Thank for purchasing my ebook on “Blueprint For Online Tutoring
Success”. In this ebook, I will start by giving you some background
information on myself and my previous online tutoring businesses. I
will also explain some of the costly mistakes that I have made and
how to avoid the same pitfalls.
After reading through this ebook, you’ll find it to be even more
valuable than you ever imagined if you apply the techniques that I
share with you.
If you want to build a successful part or full time online tutoring
business, you need to believe in the technology and how efficiently it
can help each student you tutor.
Once you understand the technology, your next challenge will be to
make parents understand how it can be used to assist their child.
Most parents aren’t familiar or comfortable with the technology and
because of this they are very hesitant to try it. Communicating the
benefits of online tutoring with parents will be your biggest obstacle.
Most parents don’t know what online tutoring is.
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The best way to convince parents that you have an effective method
of tutoring is to simply show them. As a special unannounced bonus
to give you extra value from this ebook, you can use these links
below on your business cards or other marketing materials.
www.tutorfi.com/demo.asf high speed connection
www.tutorfi.com/dialupdemo.asf dial up connection
These online demonstrations will allow your potential clients to watch
an actual online tutoring session and see how it really works. Most
parents are happily surprised at what they see and walk away with a
much better understanding of this new technology.
If you don’t show your potential clients what online tutoring is, you’re
going to have a tough time selling your online tutoring service. Even
if you are not using our TutorFi.com online classroom (there are 11
other options listed in Chapter 8), other online tutoring software is
It is important for you to understand what online tutoring can do for a
student who is bored in school, hates doing homework and can’t
stand the thought of a private tutor coming to the house or meeting
him/her at the library. Believe it or not, many students feel this way.
Your online tutoring service, if instructed properly, can help students
do a complete 180 within a few sessions. Most disinterested
students will actually enjoy learning once you get them used to your
online tutoring service. After a few sessions, your students will
actually look forward to using this technology and receiving feedback
from you. They’ll also take more pride in their academic
achievements. This drastic turnaround will excite your clients
(parents) in a big way!
Most students who are currently struggling in school are simply in a
rut. Your technology and tutoring skills can help them get out of it.
Everyone gets in a slump sometimes; even professional athletes.
Many parents realize that, for some reason or another, they can’t get
their children out of this rut. As a result, they turn to tutoring.
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However, most parents don’t even consider online tutoring, because
they don’t understand the technology or they don’t know the true
effects it can have on their child. This presents a great opportunity
for you!
My learning experiences will help you understand how to build a
successful online tutoring business where you are in complete
Since this will be your own online tutoring business, you can decide
how many hours you want to work and how much you want to charge
per hour ($25 minimum recommended).
Inside this ebook, you’ll discover how to build a steady stream of
income year round. This is money you can depend on each and
every month.
How do I know you can depend on this monthly income?
It’s simple. The parents and students you will be working with will be
so impressed that they will instantly start referring you to other
families, teachers, and school administrators. You will continue to
pick up new clients while continuing your relationship with your
existing clients. Soon you will have more than enough students and
may even have to turn some away, hire your own tutors or raise your
rates! This could change from a part-time to a full-time job very
I hope you are excited! Thanks for giving me this opportunity to
share this information with you. Let’s get started…
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Chapter 2
Can You Get Students Excited About Learning?
The answer is YES! After reading this ebook, you will have the power
to do something most teachers have a difficult time with. It’s often
hard to get students excited while sitting in a classroom.
How do I know you can get them excited to learn online?
I’ve seen it firsthand.
When I was growing up, I dreamt of becoming a Health & Physical
Education teacher. I loved helping kids learn and feel good about
While in college, I looked forward to becoming and Health and
Physical Education instructor.
During my student teaching experience, I discovered something you'll
find very interesting about today's students.
The problem was right in front of my eyes, but it took me a while to
see it.
For the first two weeks of my student teaching experience in 2003, I
was instructed to observe my mentor teacher, Mark. He had been
teaching for 22 years and was instructing gym and health classes to
7th, 8th and 9th graders.
When I looked at the grade book, almost every student was receiving
an A in gym. But I was shocked to see that 1 in 4 students were
failing their Health class and another 1 in 4 had a D average.
This concerned me very much. When I asked Mark about it, he
blamed the student's poor grades on laziness. At that moment, I
decided I was going to be an inspiration to the failing students and
help them turn things around.
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I devised a plan and began teaching class in a more exciting way.
Each lesson was interactive. We had class discussions and I
constantly called on students who were not paying attention.
The next three weeks were a struggle! I tried reaching out to several
of the failing students and I even spent time with a few before and
after class. I was trying to boost their morale any way I could.
Many of the students thought of themselves as failures and would not
even attempt to learn the information I was teaching to them. Even
when I called on them in class, most disinterested students would just
say, "I don't know".
I was growing more impatient by the day!
After three weeks of teaching, I felt like a complete failure. It seemed
as if there was nothing I could do to help my students learn unless I
taught in a completely different way. Clearly my teaching tactics were
NOT working.
One day after class, I asked Mark if I could reserve the computer
room for the next health lesson. Looking back on it now, this one
decision to try something new changed my perspective on traditional
teaching methods and my future as an educator.
What I discovered during my student teaching experience is that
traditional teaching methods didn’t work for many of today's kids.
After I moved the class to the computer room, the "non interested
students" started to become more “confident, happy and enthusiastic
students” with a simple lesson I created online. I was encouraged by
this slight but noticeable spark in their interest.
As my student teaching experience progressed, I spent extra time at
home preparing online tutorials and developing a real online
classroom. Although generic, I started teaching health class inside
my online classroom and the students absolutely loved it; even those
students who were “too cool” to enjoy school or “too shy” to
participate in class.
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One day while dining in the teacher’s lounge, a few of them asked me
about this new approach to teaching. They explained that many of
their students were expressing an interest in learning online after
taking part or even hearing about this new way I was teaching.
When my student teaching experience was over, I helped all of my
7th, 8th and 9th graders pass health without any grade curving.
Needless to say, I was impressed with this outcome.
Mark and a few of the other teachers wished me luck on my last day
and expressed an interest in using my online classroom for their
classes. Unfortunately, nothing more ever came out of it, but I did
leave them with a great impression of online teaching.
After my student teaching experience, I felt that I had no choice but to
leave behind my childhood dream of becoming a gym teacher. The
focus of my life was going to be much bigger than I had ever
Let me explain...
Today's students are overly stimulated by television, iPods,
video games, and most influential...the Internet.
Imagine how hard it would be to remain focused on your schoolwork
if you had these distractions to deal with every day.
You probably agree with me and understand that things need to
So instead of taking a teaching job back in 2003, I took my passion
for teaching children and decided to create tools and technology to
deliver a uniquely effective, personal tutoring solution.
I spent long hours consulting with programmers, researching different
technologies and working to create an online learning system
designed to get students excited about learning.
After 48 straight days with minimal sleep, it was complete!
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I'm talking about a real, honest-to-goodness, interactive, "virtual
classroom." A place with all the tools a tutor needs to do their job
without the distractions found in a brick and mortar school.
In 2003, I started www.ehomeworkhelp.com after spending
thousands of borrowed dollars developing the online tutoring
technology I currently use today. My first website was a big flop.
My former partner Dave and I didn’t know how to market our online
homework help service and we tried to copy a successful online
tutoring company’s business model without thinking things through.
We offered unlimited homework help from 3pm to midnight for $99
per month. We tutored over 100 students that year, but managing
the business was a nightmare.
Our 15 tutors were on call and after 6 months of pain, we threw in the
towel on that idea. We lost a lot of money and my former partner
Dave didn’t want to be a part of my team anymore. He took a job
where he earned a steady paycheck.
In 2004, I launched a new website on my own and no longer focused
on kids who just needed emergency homework help. I made this
change for many reasons, primarily because I wanted my tutors to
build an ongoing relationship with their students. Another reason was
because I found out that most people looking for homework help were
students without credit cards. After interviewing dozens of parents, I
also learned that parents wanted more for their children than just a
few minutes of homework help.
I discovered that parents want to know their tutor personally and
most importantly, they want tutors who really care about their
child’s academic success. Homework help only offered a one time
fix and students never had a choice of tutors. Parents realized it was
important for their sons and daughters to work with the same tutor
each time they logged on.
They also wanted a tutor that they could trust to not only give their
child effective instruction, but also to help boost their child’s
confidence and appreciation for learning. Finally, they wanted the
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ability to pick up the phone and talk to their tutor when they had
questions or concerns regarding their child.
So in 2004, I created www.live-etutor.com. During this time, I also
picked up a new partner named Shari Nielsen. Prior and during this
time, I was receiving dozens of online tutoring applications per day.
Some wrote emails directly to me.
I remember Shari’s original email which was three pages long. Shari
explained she was currently teaching 10th grade Chemistry in
Connecticut and loved helping students feel good about themselves.
She also enjoyed working with teachers and helping them become
the best instructors that they could be.
Her email was inspiring and I knew I needed to get her on my team.
So, I called her and explained my current situation to her. I told her I
was looking for partners and that my online tutoring business was still
in start-up mode.
She agreed to team up with me and we started advertising
immediately. Shari focused her time interviewing and hiring tutors,
training them and consulting with the parents. She also tutored some
of the students. Things were going well in 2004 and then we had
some trademark issues (a long story).
We took about three months off and decided on a new company
name. We chose www.owlonlinetutoring.com and Owl Online
Tutoring Inc.
Most of our old clients from live-etutor.com stayed with us and in
2005 under our new name. Things were going well at this time, but
we needed help to manage all the tutors and to communicate with the
Shari and I decided to team up with Patty Zimmerman and Colleen
Palat (sister-in-law) to help us handle more students and manage all
of our tutors.
During this time, we were getting bombarded with online tutoring
applications and emails from tutors searching for online tutoring jobs.
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At that time, we were not in a position to hire all of the tutors seeking
jobs. In addition, we started to notice that some of our tutors were
not providing the high level of service that we had hoped for. For the
first time, some of our clients were canceling our service.
Shari, Colleen and Patty were consulting with the parents and trying
to keep up, but our $10 per hour tutors we hired just didn’t have
the passion like we did.
About this time, I had a revelation. The most important part of our
online tutoring service was taking the time to care. This was
something we took great pride in and because we grew too fast, it
was almost impossible for us to keep up with all of the parents.
One night, as I was reading through the online tutoring applications
we received that day, I had the idea that we should allow each
applicant to start their own online tutoring business.
My team and I could train them, they would earn a lot more money
and they would care more about their student’s success and the
happiness of each parent.
So in 2007, we launched www.TutorFi.com which was designed to
give tutors the opportunity to start their own online tutoring service
and more.
We decided to give each tutor all of the tools that they would need to
run their own online tutoring business. We provide each tutor with
their own online classroom which allows tutors and students to not
only write or draw on the white board, but to communicate real time
using our voice feature. Both tutor and student only need a basic
microphone and access to the internet to connect inside our online
The system also includes a scheduling and management system
which allows each tutor to assign usernames and passwords for each
of their clients. This system allows the tutors to post their schedules
so their students can pick and choose the session dates and times
that they want.
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As we were developing this, we made a group decision to offer free
phone consultations, training videos and access to our own
membership website at www.youretutoringbusiness.com which took
us seven months to create.
Inside our membership site, we created an online tutoring community
where tutors can communicate with other tutors inside the forum. We
also created training materials designed to teach tutors how to
advertise their online tutoring service with or without money.
The goal of TutorFi.com was to help each tutor earn money and give
the parent and student the highest quality of online tutoring service
Then, we took it one step further. We realized that our names were
attached to the success or failure of each tutor client.
In order for each tutor to be successful, they would need to have
access to parents who are interested in paying for an online tutoring
We then decided to play match-maker for our tutors. We added a
new option within our “youretutoringbusiness.com” membership
website which gives each tutor access to exclusive parent leads. We
created a webpage at www.TutorFi.com/parents.asp to collect
detailed information from each parent. We spend a lot of money
advertising this website.
This page allows each parent the ability to request a consultation and
demonstration inside our online classroom. We also provide the
parent with a free report on “How to Motivate Their Child”.
Once the parent provides us with their phone number, name and
subject(s) their child is having difficulty with, we store their information
inside our membership site. Our tutors have access to each lead and
no 2 tutors are able to call the same parent twice. These are
exclusive parent leads.
Before I go any further, I don’t want you to think this is a sales
pitch for our service. There are many options that you can choose
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from to start your own online tutoring business and I’ll be giving you
specific information below that will teach you how to use other online
classrooms and gather your own clients without the use of
TutorFi.com’s services.
My reason for explaining my past is to help you to understand that I
have tried many avenues to make this work, made some mistakes
along the way, and now believe that I have come up with a solution
for myself and for anyone else that is interested. Hopefully this will
prevent others from making the same costly mistakes that I made.
I decided to write this ebook to promote “online tutoring” and NOT my
own website. Regardless of which system you use, you will be
amazed at how effective online tutoring can be for your students.
Prior to this technology, it was very difficult to give students the
academic boost they needed. With the information you are about to
learn, you can personally be responsible for creating dozens, if not
hundreds, of proud parents. Plus, you’ll earn good money, too.
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Chapter 3
Timing is everything:
If you decide to start your online tutoring business, you are getting in
at the right time. In the business world, timing is everything. Below
are some interesting statistics you might be interested in knowing.
According to CNN, between 1982 and 2002 there
has been a 25% decline in teenage readers
According to a study done by Georgetown University,
"Multimedia is a powerful and efficient source for acquiring
learning resources."
According to Don Menn of San Francisco State University,
"interactive multimedia--properly developed and properly
implemented-- could revolutionize education."
According to R. Mayer (Educational Psychologist, 1997),
"When applied to multimedia learning, generative theory
presumes that mixed modes of delivery affect the level at
which learners employ cognitive processes to acquire
knowledge."
The Chicago Tribune has called online tutoring "a $200-
million-a-year" industry...
KVOA News in Tucson reported recently...
"...the nationwide tutoring market has more than doubled
in the past five years with about 10 to 12 percent of
students, more than 6 million, expected to receive tutoring
this year alone."
According to the University of Minnesota...
"...Increasing the ways students receive help should
increase success rates. As the college moves towards
computer based instruction, and eventually online courses,
the need for online math tutors will increase."
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Chapter 4
Getting Started
If you are serious about starting your online tutoring business, do
NOT skip any of these steps. Each one is important.
1. Create a tutoring email address
For example: [email protected]. If you want to be
professional, you’ll need to communicate with a professional email
name that has something to do with your online tutoring business.
2. Print your business cards at Vista Print
Since most tutors I spoke with never got around to printing business
cards, I decided I would help them out with the first step. I set up a
special deal for you at www.freebusinesscardoffer.com. Click on the
“free business cards” link. This allows you to get 250 business cards
for free (you will have to pay for shipping) and you can design them
right now. They also offer other business supplies you might want to
consider. You can also purchase an electronic business card that
lets your clients print your card from their computer.
3. Offer a toll free 800 number for potential clients to call
The web site www.best800service.com offers a free trial. Packages
start at $9.95 per month and you can instantly point your 800 number
to your cell or home phone on the fly. Plus you can set up a
messaging system and view all incoming calls. This service is the
best I’ve seen.
4. Get your video email system set up
With this software, you can quickly and easily create video emails
that will build a personal bond between you and your parent clients.
To receive a free one month trial offer, go to
www.TutorFi.com/videoemail.asp. You will not even need a credit
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card for this, but before you sign up for your free month, you must
agree to send me a video email within 24 hours of sign up.
If you can’t agree to do this, please do not sign up. I have an
instructional video that will show you how to send a video email in 3
minutes flat.
Monthly rates start at $9.95 per month after your free month.
5. Create your automated thank you card system.
If you want to build a close relationship with parents and guarantee
yourself a steady stream of income, sending thank you cards is
Yes, you can send them out yourself, but if you want to automate
your business, I recommend going to www.customizeyourcards.com.
Either way, you must send thank you cards to your clients!
If you want a free trial, just email me at [email protected]. Put the
words “free card offer” in the email subject and I’ll give you a free
account with $3.00 on it.
If you decide to sign up yourself, you can send a post card or card
inside an envelope for around 75 cents to $1 including the price of the
6. Sign up for a merchant account
You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars setting up your
merchant account, just go to www.paypal.com and create a free
account. You can upgrade for $30 per month (only upgrade when you
charge your first client) and receive your own virtual terminal. This will
allow you to process your client’s credit or debit cards. You can
accept Master Card, Visa, Discover and American Express. The
money you collect will be deposited directly into your bank account.
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One other option is www.merchantservicesprovider.com. The price is
a little more, but this is a real merchant account with excellent
customer support. The monthly fees cost around $50 per month, but
you’ll pay a smaller percentage on transactions when compared to
paypal’s credit card fees.
WAIT!
If you don’t plan on completing all 6 steps, do not go on. If you
go on to read this ebook without mentally preparing to complete all 6
steps, your chances for success will be reduced drastically.
That’s simple. It’s because you did not take action. This is your
chance to start something that is your own. All it takes is a little
dedication. These simple business tools will help train your mind for
Just by having your own business cards inside your house will make
you feel like a professional online tutor. When people ask, “What do
you do?” you can proudly hand them one of your business cards.
You’ll be amazed at how many referrals you can get by doing this.
When your potential clients read your business card and see your
online tutoring email address and a toll free 800 number, they’ll know
you are indeed a true professional and this will help you become
“etched” in their minds.
Some parents will send you an email as soon as they get home.
Imagine their response when you reply with a video email telling them
about your service. They’ll be impressed for sure.
Even if some parents don’t need your tutoring services, most will
gladly refer your services to other parents. This would be the perfect
time to send a thank you card, even if the person who referred you is
not a client.
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These systems were put in place for a reason. To help you succeed.
It’s up to you to take action right now if you are serious about starting
your own online tutoring business.
I went out of my way to set you up with free offers for everything
listed above.
Please take advantage right now. Set up your own tutoring email
address, print your free business cards, get your free video email
trial, set yourself up with a free 800#, get free postage on your thank
you cards and get your free paypal account set up.
If you don’t take these steps, your business is in jeopardy before you
even get started.
Also, from a selfish standpoint, I really want you to succeed with this
business so that you can thank me someday. No one else will give
you this much specific detailed information on such a unique online
business. I am truly dedicated to your success and I want you to get
the most out of this ebook.
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Chapter 5
What subjects will you tutor?
Since 2003, my team and I tutored hundreds of students from around
the world. Our team of tutors have successfully completed over
1,000 tutoring hours to students from around the globe.
The most popular subject that students need help with is math. If you
can confidently tutor algebra-level math or higher, you’ll put yourself
in a great position to gather many student accounts with parents who
will pay you monthly for your services. The accounts you acquire
today can easily guarantee your pay checks for months to come.
Other subjects parents actively hire tutors for include:
English
Foreign language
Writing
Reading
History
General Science
Chemistry
Biology
Physics
Algebra I and II
Geometry
Statistics
Trigonometry
Calculus
and more…
Some parents will request a curriculum type of tutoring service. In
these cases, you can use many different resources found online to
accommodate your clients and they will be grateful.
Once you start your online tutoring business, you must communicate
effectively with your parent clients and the students you tutor. If you
19.
expect to build a profitable online tutoring business, it is very
important for you to understand the subject(s) you agree to tutor.
If you need a refresher in Algebra or any other subject, I suggest you
go to www.cheapesttextbooks.com to buy a text book. You’ll want to
get a more in-depth understanding of the subject(s) you decide to
tutor. These books can help you to offer a curriculum as well.
The last thing you ever want to do is to put yourself in a position
where you don’t know how to tutor a particular subject. If this
instance would occur, the parent would most likely demand a refund.
It is normal for most tutors to refresh their knowledge on a particular
subject, so don’t feel uncomfortable about relearning a specific
subject or having a text book to assist you during an actual tutoring
session. Once you feel confident with your tutoring skills, you can
begin advertising your online tutoring service for one or more
particular subjects.
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Chapter 6
Define your goals.
For most of you, this will be your first time starting a business. For
others, you've been down this path before. Whatever your experience
is, the purpose of this ebook is ultimately to help you achieve
Success can be defined as achieving your goals. In order to measure
success, you must have clear and precise goals.
So my question to you is:
What are your goals?
How much money do you want to make with your online tutoring
If you love tutoring and helping students feel good about themselves,
you are going to love tutoring online. Even if you just want to tutor to
make extra money from home, that’s fine too.
Once you get going, you’ll feel good no matter what. Online tutoring
makes a tremendous difference in both parents and students lives.
You’ll quickly learn how much your service means to each family.
Are you looking to start a full-time online tutoring business or a
part-time online tutoring business?
With the technology and tools that I am about to introduce you to, you
can choose either. The best part is that you don’t have to leave
home and you can literally make money in your pajamas if you want.
The key to building a part-time or full-time business is to build a
relationship with each parent and student you work with. If you take
the time to care about your clients, they’ll be glad to pay you each
and every month for years to come.
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I know I keep repeating myself, but I need to make sure you
understand this point! Caring is everything when it comes to online
tutoring. Most parents will be happy to enroll their sons and
daughters into a summer program with a tutor who takes the time to
care. This type of caring can bring you a steady income year round.
Don’t read on until you decide what your goals are.
Write them down right now and be specific.
If you want to make $500 per month or $5,000 per month, write it
If you just want to feel appreciated by parents and students, write it
There is nothing wrong with feeling this way. I know a lot of online
tutors who achieve a high self worth by tutoring students online.
The goal of this ebook is to help you build relationships with parents
and help their children achieve academic success. By doing this,
you'll have a strong client base for years to come!
Your individual goals are the number one focus of this ebook.
Children are our future and if you commit to your business, you'll
single handedly help many struggling students feel good about
themselves, build confidence, and build a successful future that their
parents and you can be proud of.
Who knows, you might just tutor the future president of the United
Keep in mind that your success will come to you only if you commit to
hard work, so please prepare yourself for just that. I highly
recommend you read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. You
can go to www.amazon.com and purchase a copy today.
Inside this book, you'll find great information designed to help you
grow your business and make wise decisions along the way. You can
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find this book at any bookstore, or you can go to amazon.com and
purchase this book. It's an investment you'll be sure to benefit from!
You should also purchase the DVD called “The Secret” as well. The
information on this DVD will change your life. I actually studied very
similar information in 1996. I had a dubbed cassette tape called the
“The Strangest Secret” read by Earnest Nightingale in 1921.
“The Secret” is the new version of time tested proven methods that
successful people use to achieve their goals. Talk show host and
entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey highly recommends “The Secret” and
she has featured it on her show.
What are your goals? Feel free to share them with me. You can
email me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.
23.
Chapter 7
How much will you charge per hour?
When tutoring online, you can charge as much or as little as you
want. If you research the competition, you’ll see that some
companies charge as little as $10 per hour and some charge more
than $75 per hour.
I recommend you do a search on www.yahoo.com and find some
online tutoring companies who are tutoring students.
You’ll see that some tutors are located in India and some are right
here in the states. Some offer curriculum based tutoring and some
offer one-on-one help. Some even offer a 5 to 1, student to tutor
Since you are starting your online tutoring business from scratch, you
must decide what is going to make your business unique. Don’t
worry too much about this, because I have a plan that has been
proven to work and as you’ll soon see there are not many online
tutoring companies who provide this type of service.
Here is your answer. If you want to be unique in the market place
and charge an average-to-high hourly rate, all you have to do is take
the time to care. (Notice how I keep mentioning this?)
Once you follow the system outlined in this ebook, you can
confidently charge anywhere from $25 to $75 per hour, depending on
the location of your client.
In California, parents often pay up to $150 per hour for a one-on-one
tutoring session. New York City and Connecticut average $75 per
hour. Since you’ll be able to tutor students from around the country,
you can charge different rates for different states if you choose.
Our successful online tutoring businesses revolved around three
“monthly” pricing options. We never made parents sign contracts, but
we did inform each parent that they would be automatically billed
every 30 days.
24.
The three pricing options we used for our previous online
tutoring businesses are listed below:
Bronze—up to 3 hours per month plus free phone consultations
for $119 per month ($40 per hour)
Silver---- up to 6 hours per month plus free phone consultations
for $199 per month ($32.50 per hour)
Gold-----up to 10 hours per month plus free phone consultations
for $249 per month ($25.00 per hour)
About 75% of our clients opted for the Gold program. 15% chose the
Silver and 10% opted for our Bronze e-tutoring program.
You don’t have to choose these prices, but I will tell you that I only
had a handful of people tell me that they did not want to enroll in one
of our packages after their child tried a one-hour tutoring session
(introductory offer with bonuses). Ninety-eight percent said yes to
one of the three options and proceeded to ask when their child could
schedule their next online tutoring session.
Since we had their credit card information already, billing was simple.
25.
Chapter 8
What online tutoring software will you choose?
Decide what online tutoring software you want to use for your online
tutoring sessions. There are many options available and some are
even free. The most difficult part of the set up process is configuring
the microphone. Be prepared to deal with this issue for each client
you tutor.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to configure microphones. Each
person’s computer settings are different and sometimes you will have
to use software to get into your clients computer and configure their
microphone. The web site www.logmein.com is one of many that
allow you to remotely access another computer from your home.
The use of the microphone is more important than a video camera.
In fact, the face-to-face video is more of a distraction than anything.
You will really only need to write and type inside the white board
while speaking back and forth.
Some of the advanced online tutoring software on the market offer
tools that make learning even more fun. If you are tutoring geometry
or algebra, the shape tools will help your tutoring session’s look and
feel more professional, because you can put exact shapes inside the
online classroom without drawing them by hand.
You’ll also want your students to be able to print each lesson. If your
software doesn’t allow you to print each lesson, you can hit
Control and Print Screen at the same time.
This will take a picture of their computer screen and allow them to
save it as a .jpg or .gif file inside their photo editing software.
Following this, your student can print the lesson and use it as a
Below is a list of online tutoring software you can use today. Keep in
mind, things are changing. Next year, there might be more options
for you to choose from.
26.
An in-depth Online Tutoring Software Review of 11 online
tutoring software programs.
Starting an online tutoring business doesn’t have to cost you a
bundle. With a little planning, you can assemble several tools to help
you teach online. This review will provide you with a good list of web
applications to start. Below is a list of online tutoring software
programs that you might want to consider working with.
1) Skype.com
2) ATutor – (free but may require good web hosting plan)
3) Vyew.com ( Excellent Whiteboard )
4) Windows Live Messenger
5) Yahoo Messenger
6) Thinkature.com
7) ACollab
8) Marratech 6.1 - Meetnow
9) AOL Instant messenger
10) Google Talk
11) Gaim
Before I give you the details of each program, I want you to know that
some of these can be used in conjunction with each other.
You might need to do more in-depth research to figure this stuff out,
but the information below will certainly give you enough information to
get started with your integrations.
Review #1 Skype.com
Price – Free
As low as $30 per year PC-to-Phone calling
Skype is a popular voice chat application that is currently owned by
the eBay company. It became popular a few years ago for making
internet phone calls. It also allows you to make very cheap PC-to-
27.
phone calls and send instant messages and video chat. This can be
a good tool to use for your online tutoring sessions.
Pros and Useful features for Tutoring
Instant messaging
Free PC-to-PC calling
Cheap Worldwide PC-to-phone calling (Including unlimited
plans)
Video Chat
Voice mail
Call Forwarding
Conference Calling
Group Chat
Send Money via Paypal
File Transfer
Add Skype and outlook contacts
Allows for other plug-ins and add-ons
Works on Window, Mac, Linux, etc.
Skype offers rates as low as $30 a year for unlimited U.S and
Canada PC-to-telephone calling. You can also buy very cheap
webcams and headsets in the skype shop. You’ll be able to
download several plug-ins that allow more collaboration like
whiteboards (Whiteboardmeeting, Sketch pad or TalkandWrite) and
desktop / application sharing
Free PC-to-PC calling is not very good with slow connection
(dial up)
Downloadable Whiteboard plug-in (separate)
Learning curve for your students
You’ll have to configure your clients microphones
.
Although it has very easy video and voice chat setup that
improves with the speed of your internet connection, the voice service
is not very good on dial up and video is about the same.
28.
The Unyte plug-in is also available for Skype and allows your
student to view your computer screen and any applications you have
open such as MS word, Excel, paint etc (similar to using a
whiteboard). So, as you run Powerpoint or work on a math problem
in MS Word or excel, your student can view the steps on their
computer screen and vice versa using Skype.
The other option, as mentioned in the Cons is to download a shared
whiteboard. There are many other useful features like call
forwarding, speed dialing that come free with skype. With these free
and cheap features Skype offers, this is definitely a good tool to
It will take some time for you and your students to get used to Skype,
but once you do, you’ll be able to conduct online tutoring sessions
just fine.
Review #2 ATutor.com
Price - Free
Optional Installation by development team - $100
Optional Customer support packages start at $175
You should be able to find a web host for less than $10 per month
ATutor is a Learning Content Management System (LCMS or LMS).
LMS is a pre-made website that you can upload to a server. ATutor
has very robust features; it freely provides a web site system similar
to the commercial and expensive Blackboard systems used by
Universities and Schools.
For a fairly tech-savvy tutor or one willing to have it installed and
cheaply hosted, ATutor can provide almost anything you would need
for online tutoring sessions/business. It probably has more features
29.
than you would actually need because it is geared towards large
institutions. This software is very user friendly and has many useful
features you and your students will appreciate.
Pros and Useful features for Tutoring
Audio, Video and Text Chat
Whiteboard – (Marratech Module)
Set up Tests and Quizzes
Blogs
Forums
Mail System
Calendar
Online Payments thru Paypal
Video and Audio Playback
Can support a very large number of people
Create different courses
Many other features and new ones all the time
Depending on what level you want to take your online tutoring
business to, you might end up feeling like a school administrator with
all the features at your finger tips.
For online tutoring sessions, you’ll have every feature you or your
student could ever need. ATutor can be installed on a free server but
free accounts are usually limited and you may find yourself needing
to upgrade anyway to support some of the features. You can also
look for web hosting companies that already have ATutor installed or
will install it for a small fee.
You will need in-depth training on how to use Atutor
Expect to hire someone who will be available when needed
Requires a good web hosting plan
There can be a bit of a learning curve while getting used to the
system but once you spend the needed time to learn it this system
30.
will be everything you need to run your online tutoring business. Be
prepared! The learning curve is steep.
All your students can sign up for accounts and the video and audio
seem good with broadband. Dial up users will experience some
problems. Some of the sections will require you and your student to
download java applications and applets to your PC initially. Atutor
seems to be improving all of the time.
Review #3 Vyew.com
Free Version – 4 vyewbooks (sessions), 20 participants
Vyew Plus - Starts at $6.95/month, 10 vyewbooks, 25 participants
Vyew Enterprise Starts at $13.95/month, 20 vyewbooks, 45
Vyew offers an awesome free online collaboration website that you
can use to tutor your students. It provides an online account
complete with an excellent Whiteboard, text chat, telephone
teleconference, and many other features that you can use for online
tutoring of one or more people.
Pros and Useful features for Tutoring
Great whiteboard – Write and Draw
Import and view MS office and other documents
Teleconferencing – Your phone company may charge long
distance rates
Text Chat
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Automatically saves sessions as “Vyewbooks”
Works with any browser
Make sticky notes
Many other plug-ins like audio and video players
With Vyew you can start tutoring sessions (sessions are called
Vyewbooks) with one or more students and they can dial into the
teleconference line from their home phone (long distance rates will
The text chat works well as does the whiteboard which allows you to
draw or write notes. You and your students can also upload MS
Office, html and other common file formats to review together online.
The entire session and all files are automatically saved for future
reference as a “Vyewbook”.
Cons
Desk top sharing is a bit buggy and freezes with dial up
connection
No virtual voice connection (only through land phone which
connects to online classroom although their plan is to upgrade
this)
The desktop sharing seemed a bit slow with a dial up connection and
also it actually froze on me. Desktop sharing allows your students to
view your computer screen as you work, open files and vice versa. It
is limited to being an advanced whiteboard with no built in video or
voice chat.
Vyew definitely offers a good free online collaboration website that
you can use to tutor your students.
Review #4 Windows Live Messenger
32.
Price – Free
As low as 2.3 cents per minute PC-to-phone calling
Windows live messenger 8.5 is the latest version of MSN instant
messenger which has been freely available for many years and is
one of the most popular instant messenger applications. Yahoo
messenger and Windows Live messenger are finally compatible after
many years. They now allow cross network communication and are
second only to AOL messenger in popularity.
Windows Live messenger is a solid product with very few flaws. It
should start working almost immediately with your webcam and
headset / microphone & speakers. Configuring these for your
students might take some time, so keep this in mind. As with any
online technology these days, the quality improves with a broadband
Instant messaging applications have evolved over the years, starting
with earlier applications like ICQ which is still available. Windows
Live messenger, like most modern instant messengers has many
features that would be useful for starting an online tutoring business.
Pros and useful features for tutoring
Instant messenger chat
Free PC-to-PC Voice Chat
Video Chat
Worldwide PC-to-Phone Chat at affordable rates
Talk to Yahoo Instant Messenger Contacts
Sharing Files and Folders
Online Conferences with multiple students/people.
Apparently one of the few IM applications with a free
Whiteboard (Very Basic)
Links to Windows Hotmail email.
Links to Windows Outlook Express
33.
Remote Assistance
Scaled-down Web version available at Msn.com
Application Sharing
Browse the web with your contacts
Voicemail
Online sessions can be saved
Contacts can leave IM messages for you
Instant messaging tools today like Windows Live messenger are
simply a must have for an internet based business, especially
since they are free and work well for online tutoring sessions.
Instant messenger chat was originally the main focus of most IM
applications. This chat technology can prove very useful in your
online tutoring sessions, especially if you do not own a webcam,
headset, microphone or speakers.
If you have a good high-speed internet connection you may prefer
to use the PC-to-PC voice chat, video and whiteboard features.
Video and voice chat can conceivably work with slower dial up
connections but do tend to lag (slower). You can also share files
and folders with your students through IM and if you have multiple
students you can even communicate with them all via online
Note: You should now be able to chat with Yahoo contacts that
use Yahoo messenger; there seemed to be some bugs with this
feature originally so you might notice some problems when trying
to talk with yahoo contacts, also Windows Live messenger only
works on Microsoft Operating systems. If your Yahoo contacts
have an older version of Yahoo messenger this feature might not
Windows Live messenger has lots of other secondary features that
you might need for tutoring. Some examples include sending
alerts, text messages and reminders to email or cell phones (which
is great for scheduling), making PC-to-phone calls through your
headset or even with web enabled phones, linking to your hotmail
contacts and also linking to Microsoft Outlook Express Contacts.
34.
With the remote assistance you can actually perform actions on a
student’s PC like opening files, etc. You can also share
applications like MS Word with them via application sharing.
Only works on Microsoft Windows OS
Online whiteboard is extremely limited
You’ll have to manually configure your students microphone
May not work with older Yahoo versions
You might get bombarded with IM’s
The online whiteboard, similar to a physical whiteboard allows you
to draw images that can be viewed by your students in real-time,
but does not offer any other feature at this time.
It’s easy to see that Windows Live messenger is a very well
rounded product especially if you are already using Microsoft
products like Hotmail and Outlook Express. It should be a good
tool for online tutoring and if there is a missing feature you need,
you can still use it simultaneously with other online tools (online
message boards) to make the most out of each tutoring session.
Review #5. Yahoo Messenger
Price – Free
As low as 1 cent per minute PC-to-phone calling
Yahoo instant messenger is one of the other popular instant
messengers that you can consider for online tutoring. You’ll find that
35.
a lot of people already have popular instant messengers like Yahoo
messenger. Yahoo IM can download to your PC’s rather easily. You
can start using it without much instruction or a complicated setup.
Like most competitors, Yahoo messenger also offers a scaled down
version that works directly from the Yahoo messenger website and
provides basic instant messaging.
Yahoo messenger does not have a whiteboard but some are
available as separate plug-ins like Thinkature and Scribbler. Yahoo
messenger has many of the typical IM features.
Pros and Useful features for Tutoring
Instant Messaging
Free PC-to-PC Voice Chat
Free Video Chat
Worldwide Paid PC-to-Telephone Chat
Conferencing with multiple contacts (Your Students)
Calendar
File Sharing
Alerts
Contact Windows Live messenger Users
Address Book
Browse the web with your contacts
Voicemail
Accessible by cellphone
Online sessions can be saved
Contacts can leave IM messages for you
Links to Yahoo account and Yahoo 360 (Free site and Blog)
Many other plug-ins like whiteboard, desktop sharing etc.
Works on Window, Linux, Mac, etc.
Yahoo messenger is another great application to use simultaneously
with other online tutoring tools. It is well established and solid with
several million users worldwide. With a broadband connection, the
video and voice chat works fine. Video and voice chat with slower
connections work well, but you may notice slower service.
36.
Your headset, webcam, speakers or microphone should be ready to
work with Yahoo messenger as long as you have them properly set
up on your PC. As mentioned above, configuring is always an issue,
but once it’s set up, it will always work for both you and your client.
It also has lots of other freebies like online radio (currently a bit
buggy), chat rooms, games, many plug-ins (like iTunes), sending text
message, cheap PC-to-phone calling, Yahoo search and much more.
Yahoo messenger also now allows you to chat with contacts who use
Windows Live messenger and you are able to link to your Yahoo
account directly if you have one. Another Yahoo feature you can link
to is Yahoo 360 that can provide you with a free website and blog.
A separate downloadable desktop sharing plug-in called unyte allows
your students to view your computer screen and any applications you
have open such as MS word, Excel, paint etc. So you work on a
math problem in MS Word or excel and you student can view the
steps by view you computer screen and vice versa.
Some minor bugs with the free plugins
Must manually configure you students microphone
No built in whiteboard capabilities
By not having a built in whiteboard, it’s a little hard for me to like this
as a good option. It makes it more difficult to get your students set up
with two separate online tools.
Despite some of the minor annoying bugs, Yahoo messenger is a
must have instant messenger application you can use for online
tutoring. You may want to use Yahoo messenger with other online
tools like a message board, whiteboard and forum etc for your online
tutoring sessions. Contacts using an older version of Windows Live
messenger may not be able to chat with you. Make sure they
upgrade first.
37.
Review #6 ACollab
Price – Free
If you can’t install it yourself, you should be able to hire someone for
$100 or less
You can probably find a web host for less that $10 per month
ACollab is a free groupware script that used to be a module in ATutor
and provides basic collaboration like mailboxes, a calendar, file
sharing, forum and other useful features. ATutor now has these
features embedded and plans to phase out ACollab in the future.
ACollab is still available for download and is very easy to install and
Pros and Useful features for Tutoring
Mailboxes
Forum
Chat Room
Calendar
News and Announcements
Document sharing and creation
Free
Can support a large number of people
Easy to set up and use
ACollab basically provides you with a pre-made site that you can
upload to a web host and start using right away. ACollab can be
installed on a free server but free accounts are usually limited and
you may find yourself needing to upgrade anyway. You can also look
for web hosting companies that already have ACollab installed or will
install it for a small fee.
38.
Requires a good web hosting plan
Learning curve
No Voice or Video Chat
No Whiteboard
ATutor plans to phase it out so there won’t be customer support
You may have to hire someone to upload it to a web host for you if
you are not very tech-savvy but that can be done very cheaply for
$100 or less. The setup and usage are not very complicated once it’s
Without voice or whiteboard built into it, I just can’t recommend this.
ACollab provides a very small subset of the ATutor system features
and may be more suitable if you just want a small limited online
tutoring business or website.
Review #7 Thinkature.com
Price - Free
Thinkature is an online whiteboard that allows you to write and draw
images online for other people to view, in real-time.
Pros and Useful features for Tutoring
Write and draw to the board
Online text chat on the board
Is available as a plug-in for Yahoo messenger
You can invite your students to your thinkature.com online whiteboard
and solve problems and write to the board as you would in a physical
39.
classroom. Some whiteboards allow only drawing of images but with
thinkature you can also write to the board
Voice chat – ( I couldn’t get this to work at all)
Buggy and sometimes unusable
The whiteboard is pretty neat (if you can actually get it to run) and it
works directly in your web browser. It is flash based and quite buggy
sometimes or won’t load at all. Not a stable tool in my opinion.
Review #8 AOL messenger 6.1
As low as $14.95 /month PC-to-phone calling
Another notable mention is the IM heavyweight AOL Instant
messenger. As of 2-3 years ago AIM was still the IM tool with the
most subscribers, AIM now owns the ICQ network so you can also
contact people that use ICQ.
Pros and Useful features for Tutoring
Video Chat
Voice Chat
Instant Messaging
Free PC-to-PC calls
Receive Free Phone-to-PC calls
Make Cheap World PC-to-phone calling ($14.95 / month)
Works or Windows, Linux, Mac etc
Links to ICQ contacts
Use Aim Express without download
40.
Links to AOL accounts and profiles.
Save IM (Tutoring ) sessions
Other plug-ins
AIM and ICQ are among the earlier IM tools, but AIM now supports
video and voice chat also. A good idea would be to have an account
for all of the major IM programs including AIM for your tutoring
sessions. You can also use AIM express which is a scaled down
version of it available for use directly from the AIM website - without
download. The video and audio quality improves with a fast internet
Is unuser friendly and a bit annoying to add contacts
Must configure your students microphones
No built-in Whiteboard
Without a built-in whiteboard, it’s hard to put this at the top of the list
of great online tutoring software. You can still use this in
collaboration with other whiteboards to create a great online tutoring
session for your students.
AIM can provide you with the modern IM tools you would need to
reach your students. I think AIM sometimes seems less intuitive to
use than other software. But it’s still a good tool. Be prepared to
create an account for all the major IM clients including AIM for your
tutoring sessions if you decide to use this for your tutoring sessions.
Review #9 Marratech 6.1
Public Meetnow rooms from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm U.K Time
41.
Or as low as 28 cents per minute per person all the time
Recently acquired by Google, Marratech 6.1 is available as a module
of ATutor or can work on its own as a standalone application
Pros and online tutoring features
Very easy setup wizard
Good Video
Good Audio
Excellent Whiteboard
Easy to use
Text Chat
Share Images and other documents
Make PC-to-phone calls
It provides good audio/video and text chat and an excellent
whiteboard. You can use Marratech by downloading the full
application to your PC or directly from Marratech.co.uk, for the online
version (MeetNow), you still need to download some components to
your web browser so it may take some minutes to start. Very easy
audio/video setup, and works very well.
Free MeetNow rooms are Restricted to daytime hours
Must configure your students microphone
Needs Broadband for best results
Free service may get phased out
The audio works fairly well with dial up but to use audio and video
effectively, I recommend broadband. The service can get expensive
if you don’t use the free MeetNow room and the word is that this will
eventually be phased out.
42.
The installation is very simple, and a wizard helps you setup your
audio and video so you can start running in no time. The software is
very intuitive and easy to figure out, but free MeetNow rooms are
restricted to daytime hours so you might end up paying for extended
Other free online tutoring tools you might use with the tools
mentioned above:
Quick Review #10 Google Talk
Google Talk is a newer contender in the IM world but has all the main
features you can expect from the big 3 and is gaining popularity. It
uses the jabber network and can connect to Jabber, Trillian iChat,
and similar networks. Video, Audio and Voice chat are all available
and improve with your connection speed. You can use the scaled
down web version too, if you don’t want to download full program.
Some interesting features are linking to social networks like flickr and
youtube. Google talk is also accessible by Blackberry.
Quick Review #11 Gaim
Gaim is interesting to note because it provides basic instant
messaging to all the major IM tools and also others like Jabber,
Trillian, iChat, Miranda, etc. However, it can be lacking in the many
tools you might find in more popular IM tools, like video and voice
chat. You can still use this in collaboration with the tools mentioned
43.
Chapter 9
TutorFi.com a simple way to run your online tutoring business &
build a steady income stream
Price $199 set up fee and $97 per month for unlimited tutoring hours,
support and parent leads (this offer is for individuals only)
This online tutoring system is much more than just a form of online
tutoring software. This is an all-in-one do-it-yourself business center
built by online tutoring professionals. I don’t think this is the best
online tutoring software available, but the tools, training, exclusive
parent leads and online community you are able to participate in
makes this one of your best options.
Pros and Useful features for Tutoring
Private/customizable online classroom (put your name on it)
One-on-one speaking with built in voice
Shape tools
Easy to use whiteboard students learn in minutes
Dial up tested and approved (works great with dial up)
Color tools
Text Chat
Copy and pasting of documents into whiteboard
Built in print option
Scheduling system allows you to post your schedule for clients
Username/password capabilities for your clients (their own
administrative? section)
Your client can choose dates based on your schedule
Secure management system to store credit cards, usernames,
passwords and detailed info about your clients
24 hour toll free microphone tech support for your clients
Free phone consultations with my partners and myself
44.
Access to members only website
www.youretutoringbusiness.com
Access to exclusive parent leads who are interested in paying
for your online tutoring service
Access to online tutoring community & other TutorFi.com clients
Training videos on every aspect of your online tutoring business
Monthly teleseminars designed to cover important topics on
how to build a successful online tutoring business
Updates to the software and more
High start up cost
Strictly monitors and communicates with members in an
attempt to ensure success
5 – 10 minute wait for your clients when calling microphone
tech support
Only available for phone consultations when/if scheduled in
advance
When compared to any other option, TutorFi.com gives you the best
chance for success. You might not need to start here, but
TutorFi.com should be considered if you have troubles generating a
definite monthly income with your online tutoring business.
The online tutoring community is just what this industry needed. By
communicating with other tutors who are building the same type of
business, your chances for success will increase significantly. It also
helps to have leaders in the industry (like our team combined with
over 11 years of online tutoring experience) available to help you with
your business.
45.
Chapter 10
What’s your introductory offer to parents going to be?
Never try to sell a monthly plan without offering the parent an
“Introductory Offer” with a “Money Back Guarantee”. Once you
provide a good tutoring session, the parent will be asking you about
monthly tutoring programs. I recommend you set your introductory
price at $35 or less depending on your target market.
If your student’s tutoring session goes well and you communicate
effectively with the parent, you will be able to close 95% or more into
a monthly account (verbal agreement with parent to automatically bill
them every 30 days, no contract).
The key to your introductory offer is to include free bonuses plus a
great one-hour tutoring session. At www.owlonlinetutoring.com, you’ll
see that we offer $296 worth of bonuses. Our bonuses include a Self
Study Skills Evaluation, a Straight A Strategy ebook and a free phone
consultation before the first online tutoring session.
The documents we created took time and have proven to be great
bonuses that parents truly appreciate. The Self Study Skills
Evaluation is so good that many of our parent clients asked that our
tutors spend the last ten minutes of each tutoring session reviewing
study skills with their child.
I highly recommend that you sit down and construct your bonus. It
does not have to be 50 pages long. Four pages or more is sufficient
if the information inside your bonus is indeed valuable to the parent
and student.
You must use this bonus as a way to impress your client. You can
email your bonus to the parent as soon as they remit payment for
your introductory offer.
One other important note: NEVER offer a free introductory session. I
learned this the hard way. It was a complete waste of time. Anyone
46.
who takes you up on your free offer will expect free service in the
Even if you charge $1.00 for your introductory offer, charge
something and get your new client’s credit card information at this
time. Once you have their credit card information, it’s a lot easier for
the parents to choose one of your monthly tutoring options.
47.
Chapter 11
Do you need your own website?
This might come as a shock, but you “don’t” actually need a website
to run your own online tutoring business. I do recommend you create
a simple informational website, but it’s not necessary. If you do
decide you want to create a website, I recommend you keep it simple.
Be sure to include your name, phone number, email address and the
subjects you tutor. Give parents a reason to call you. Offer a free
demonstration inside your online classroom plus a free phone
consultation with no obligation to buy anything.
As a reminder, you’ll want to include www.TutorFi.com/demo.asf as a
way for parents to watch an online tutoring session. Keep in mind
that most parents don’t understand the concept of online tutoring and
how it works. This demo will help them understand what your service
is all about.
If you do decide to create your own free or paid website, you’ll want
to purchase your own domain name. For example, you can create
Susansonlinetutoring.com by going to www.hotbargaindomains.com
and purchasing that domain name.
Once you make this purchase, you can follow these 5 simple steps to
redirect your website to the domain of your choice.
1. Buy the domain of your choice $7.45 per year
2. Login with your user/pass that you’ll create
3. Go to manage domains in the center section
4. Go to domain forwarding on the left side
5. Choose the url you want to forward to (if you have a free
myspace webpage, just insert the full website in here and your
new domain will lead to your free website)
If you don’t know anything about creating website, I recommend
going to www.hotbargaindomains.com and using the “website tonight”
website building program. It’s a bargain for only $4.50 per month.
48.
This simple program can help you create your own website in less
than 5 minutes. This is a very simple tool to use and they even have
phone support if you get stuck (I don’t think you will). I have not
found a better software for creating websites quickly and easily.
This next software I recommend you consider makes it easy to create
a more advanced website. It comes equipped with some great tools
like an autoresponder and other things designed to automate your
business. If you go to www.simpleautomatedwebsites.com you can
get more information on this website building system for about $30
per month.
You also have the option to hire someone at www.elance.com to
create a website for you. Your website can be created for under
$200 if you don’t mind hiring a programmer from overseas. Just post
your project and you’ll have bids by the end of the day.
Your last option would be to create a simple tutoring website at
www.myspace.com which is “”free. Again, you can redirect your own
url to this for only $7.45 per year. This is a bargain price that will
make you look professional to your prospective clients.
49.
Chapter 12
Are you mentally prepared to accept calls from interested
parents?
If you are at all nervous about “selling”, don’t be!
You are not and will not be selling! You will be informing interested
parents about this wonderful tutoring option for their child.
Remember, they are calling you and there is no reason for you to feel
This checklist will help you prepare for each consultation you
1. Try to ease the stress that the parent may be experiencing by
making them believe you are the key to their child's success.
2. Let the parent do the majority of the talking. Be a good listener,
encourage the parent to give you as many details as they wish and
take good notes.
3. Be sure to use the parent's name and their child's name whenever
you can. Avoid referring to their child as “he/she”.
4. Stress to the parent that you will be focusing on building their
child's confidence as well as covering academic concepts.
5. Ask about feedback from teachers and previous strategies already
6. Be sure to get information regarding the child's perspective on his
or her problems. There may be a wide range of reasons for poor
grades or academic difficulties.
7. Be sure to determine what days and times would be best to meet
online. This will help you plan the hours you should post as available.
50.
8. Remind parents that if/when hired, you work for them. You will
structure sessions around the specific needs of their child. Some
sessions may focus on homework help while others focus on test
preparation, previewing future chapters, reviewing study skills,
organization strategies, etc.
9. Explain how the online classroom works in detail. Oftentimes this is
the first exposure parents have had to such an advanced technology.
Most are amazed at what can be accomplished on their own
10. Make sure they have a working microphone. If they don't already
have one, they should purchase one for as little as $10-$15. Inform
them that they will have to run through a quick configuration and
review of the online classroom before their first session with you.
11. Be positive and confident. Convey the emotion that you can't wait
to work with their child.
12. Discuss your fees along with when and how you will be paid.
Inform the parent of your policy regarding scheduling or canceling
sessions at the last minute.
13. Leave time for questions at the end of the conversation.
14. Exchange email addresses and telephone numbers. This will be
especially important in case either of you need to cancel or schedule
a session at the last minute.
Use this phone script when talking with parents for the first
Thank you for inquiring about my online tutoring service.
Who am I speaking with?
Please allow me to get some information about your (son
or daughter). I want to make sure I would be a good
match for both you and your (son or daughter).
51.
What grade is your child in?
What is your (son or daughter’s) name?
What subjects are giving (child’s name) the most
Please tell me what specific type of academic assistance
(child’s name) needs.
How long has (child’s name) been struggling in school?
Has (child’s name) ever received academic assistance
before? If so, what methods have been used?
Can you get online right now? (If not, schedule a time to
call back)
I would like to show you how our online tutoring
program works. This type of learning has been proven to
get students excited about learning and I think you’re
going to be impressed. Please go to
www.TutorFi.com/demo.asf and we’ll watch the three
minute demo together.
AFTER THE DEMO.
Now let me tell you how I can help (child’s name) get
better grades, build confidence and actually look forward
to each tutoring session.
I put together a no-risk plan for you and (child’s name) to
try my online tutoring service. For (x amount of $) your
(son or daughter) will receive a one-hour tutoring session
52.
and a free consultation with me. During this time, we’ll
talk about your goals as a parent. I am also going to give
you two free bonuses (create these bonuses) designed to
give your child a huge advantage in school.
The first free bonus I am offering all new clients is called
(create a catchy title..ex…Self Study Skills Evaluation,
How To Get Better Grades). This bonus is written in a
step-by-step format and I’ll gladly email this to you and
review it with your (son or daughter) to help make sure
they understand the processes.
The second free bonus I am offering all new clients is
called (create a catchy title..ex…Self Study Skills
Evaluation, How To Get Better Grades). This bonus was
designed to (give details).
If you decide to enroll into one of my monthly programs,
I’ll also review these documents at the end of our first
one- hour tutoring session. This will help (child’s name)
comprehend the (be specific).
I can email both of these documents to you right now and
we can schedule your (son or daughter’s) first tutoring
session today (or tomorrow depending on time and
software set up). Just to let you know, my service comes
with a money back guarantee. If there is any reason you
are not satisfied, you’ll get a full refund and you can keep
the bonuses.
Since my time slots are filling up fast, it would be best to
schedule (child’s name) tutoring session right now. I just
need to get your information and I’ll send over the
bonuses immediately. We can have our full consultation
right now or at the same time I review the bonuses with
your (son or daughter).
53.
DON’T’ SELL; JUST ASK THEM FOR THEIR NAME,
ADDRESS AND CREDIT CARD INFORMATION. GET
THE EXPIRATION DATE AND THE 3- OR 4- DIGIT
SECURITY CODE ON THE BACK OF THEIR CREDIT
CARD. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THEIR BILLING
ADDRESS. SOMETIMES THE CREDIT CARD HAS A
DIFFERENT BILLING ADDRESS.
YOU CAN PROCESS CREDIT CARDS AT
PAYPAL.COM. SET UP A VIRTUAL TERMINAL AND
YOU’RE IN BUSINESS.
54.
Chapter 13
Are you prepared for your new student’s first tutoring
(introductory offer) session?
Take the time to get the online classroom set up and make sure the
microphone is working properly for you and your student. You might
want to schedule time before the one-hour session to do this. Set up
time can take 5 – 60 minutes depending on your student’s computer
For your first one-hour (introductory offer) tutoring session together,
have the parent or student email you examples or topics of what they
are currently struggling with ahead of time.
If feasible, talk with the student on the phone first. This way you can
break the ice easily and not waste time once you are in the online
classroom. Make mention of future tutoring sessions and how you
can help them get better grades, improve certain areas and more.
The checklist below will help you prepare for your new student’s
first tutoring session. Remember that your student’s satisfaction is
a very important if you want to have returning monthly clients.
1. Once you both log on and check your microphones, spend a few
minutes getting to know the student and showing him/her around the
whiteboard. Ask questions about the student's approach to
academics. Be sure to get information regarding homework, tests,
math skills, essay writing, reading, etc.
2. Some students may be shy at first so you may need to do most of
the talking to keep things flowing. This quiet/shy period is typically
short-lived as most students aren't as inhibited online as they would
be if they were face-to-face or in a classroom in front of their peers.
3. If you come to the session not prepared (not recommended), ask
the student what they would like to work on and begin there. If the
student doesn't have specific problems or assignments to work on,
then have them give you some examples of what they covered in
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class from their notes or textbook or from previous tests or quizzes.
Spend some time trying to determine exactly what the student is
learning and how their teachers are explaining the content. Get a feel
for what types of assessments the student takes and how often they
are given. Most importantly, determine how the student prepares for
these assessments.
4. Be positive and encouraging throughout the session. Make the
student feel that they are experiencing success, no matter how small
the strides are. Positive reinforcement will help to build confidence
and generate excitement for the next session.
5. Before the conclusion of the session, help the student establish a
few short-term and one long-term goal. The student should be able to
reach short-term goals by the next one or two sessions. It could be
something as simple as reading a few extra pages, studying for ten
extra minutes, or creating a quiet place to study and do homework.
You may even give the student problems to work on before the next
6. Check with the student to make sure he or she knows how to
schedule the next session.
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Chapter 14
Prepare yourself for future tutoring sessions with the same
student
This checklist will help you keep your students happy and dependent
on your online tutoring service.
1. Spend the first few minutes of each session getting caught up on
what the student is doing in school and reviewing what you ended
with last time.
2. Allow students to decide what should be accomplished during the
session. If this becomes a problem like they do not have a sufficient
amount of questions or if they have difficulty directing the session,
then you may have to generate examples or problems that you can
work through together. You can even send each other links to web
sites that may be helpful.
3. When working through problems, ask the students what they think
they should do first before you prompt them in a specific direction.
Sometimes they already know what to do even though they believe
they don't. Never give away answers but lead them in the right
direction and make them believe they will ultimately be able to solve
their problems themselves without prompting. Some may get
frustrated with this and demand the correct answer. Just remind them
that giving away answers is not your job; you are here to guide them,
not do it for them.
4. Stay on topic and refrain from non-academic conversations. Don't
allow students to berate their school or teachers if they don't
understand something. Placing blame is a common defense
mechanism for some struggling students. Do, however, make
comments that build confidence, self-esteem and a pleasant
relationship between you and the student. Always be positive and
5. Take advantage of the features on the whiteboard and use
different colors to emphasize different points or steps in a problem.
You may even set up a constant system in which colors indicate
57.
something specific. For instance, red may always indicate
subtraction, blue means multiply, etc. Some students are extremely
visual learners and anything you can do to create a picture in their
mind will be helpful.
6. Remind the student that they can print out the screens before you
move on. They could even keep these printouts in their notebooks or
binders and refer to them in the future.
7. Try to make connections to non-academic concepts before tackling
tougher, academic ones. Sometimes the silliest examples are best for
laying the groundwork for more complex ones. Try to help the student
see how what they are doing now connects to what they did in the
past and what they may be doing in the future.
8. Have fun with this! Keep in mind the positive impact you will have
on your student's views regarding his or her experience in school. In
addition to making money, your goal is to help each student to
succeed and enjoy learning.
58.
Chapter 15
The 3 keys to building guaranteed monthly income from each
parent client
All you really have to do is take the time to care. It’s that simple.
Video emails, thank you cards and phone consultations will be the
keys to your long term success and longevity with each client
Key #1
Be sure to update your parent clients a few times a month via video
email. This will cut down on the amount of phone time you’ll put in
and it will help to build a tight relationship with your clients.
You can get a free one month trial by going to
www.TutorFi.com/freevideoemailoffer.htm. I created a step-by-step
video to show you how to quickly and easily create video emails.
Inside each video email, you’ll want to discuss the progress that you
and the student are making. Ask for feedback from the parents.
Do they see an improvement?
What kind of feedback have they received from the teachers?
Talk about each tutoring session and more.
You also want to call the parent and discuss the number of times you
are tutoring their child each week. Offer more or less tutoring
sessions depending on your student’s progress.
Provide the parents with some ideas of what they can do to help you
in your online tutoring efforts. Parents want to know exactly what they
can do to help and reinforce their child’s confidence and good grades.
I recommend that you offer tips for motivating their child. Keeping
your students motivated is very important. It is also important to
remind the parent to play an active role in their child’s life.
59.
Sometimes parents get wrapped up in their work and other things. A
friendly reminder from an outsider can go a long way and will be
appreciated by your client.
Key #2
If you want to build a close relationship with parents and guarantee
yourself a steady stream of income, sending thank you cards is
Yes, you can send them out yourself, but if you want to automate
your business, I recommend going to www.customizeyourcards.com.
This website lets you input your client list (you can do this with friends
and family too). Once you input a name and address into the system,
you can custom create your cards and have them mailed directly to
If you want to have a lasting impression on your clients, take a picture
of yourself holding a white board. You can import this image and
write the words “Thank You For Being My Client” inside your picture.
You can also write on the back of the post card to make it even more
Your clients will be blown away when they see you holding a
whiteboard thanking them on a post card. This idea alone can help
you keep clients for months if not years.
If you want a free trial, just email me at [email protected]. Put the
words “free card offer” in the email subject and I’ll give you a free
account with $3.00 on it.
Key #3
Phone consultations and follow ups are always a good idea. If you
use the 2 keys above, this will cut down on your phone time. If you
don’t use the 2 keys above, be prepared to make 1 phone call per
week if you want to ensure yourself of having a long term client.
60.
If you decide not to do any of the 3, don’t expect your clients to stay
with you for long. They will cancel your service.
Ideally, you should incorporate all 3 keys into your routine. This will
help you build long term relationships with your clients and they’ll
gladly pay you for your service for months if not years to come.
61.
Chapter 16
How to build your online tutoring business without spending a
fortune
I know you are excited to get started, but please understand you must
either pay money to advertise your tutoring service or spend time to
advertise your service.
In this section, you'll learn how to build your business WITHOUT
spending a lot of money. In my opinion, it's better if you go out and
gather your first few clients without using paid advertising.
If you choose to pay for advertising later, you'll truly appreciate the
influx of phone calls and the ease in which you can gather paid
student accounts. If you just don't want to spend time or much effort,
you can use paid advertising and explode your business fast, but it’s
going to cost you.
Free Technique #1 -- Get the most out of your business cards
When designing your business card, you must decide what you want
to offer. After reading through Chapter 9, you decided on your
introductory offer and bonuses.
You’ll want to include this information on your business card. By
putting this no-risk offer with bonuses on your card, parents will read
about the subjects you can tutor and your no-risk introductory offer.
Your business card must include your name, phone number and
introductory offer, the words "free phone consultation" and the online
demo website link. The link is www.TutorFi.com/demo.asf.
To get your business cards printed for free, go back to Chapter 4 for
a special offer. You will have to pay for shipping, but the cards are
free and can be at your doorstep in a day or two.
62.
Free Technique #2 -- Letting parents know about your online
tutoring service
There are many ways to let others know about your online tutoring
service. I recommend using flyers and business cards first.
Start by passing out business cards to local businesses. Speak with
the owner or manager personally. You can offer them money for each
referral they send and some might do it for free.
Decide how much money you offer your referrals. Remember that
most of your customers will pay you $200 or more per month for
months and maybe years to come.
Ask the business owner if you can leave your business cards in front
of their cash register. If the storeowner has school-aged children,
offer him or her a free session so they can be the best testimonial for
your service. They may also be a great way to get referrals. This is
one of the only times I recommend you offer a free session.
A different and proven strategy is to purchase small envelopes and
cut them in half. Then tape down the flap and tape or glue one of your
business cards on the front. Then place a hand full of business cards
inside the envelope. You can place these envelopes in local
businesses like:
Grocery stores
Libraries
Bookstores
Any place with a community bulletin board will be appropriate
You can also generate paid student accounts with a brochure or flyer.
First create and have your brochures or flyers printed on professional
paper. The more professional this looks, the more calls you'll receive!
Next, place the flyers inside the doors of the neighborhood you are
targeting. Do NOT put your flyer inside a mailbox. This is illegal and
you'll get better results by placing your flyers inside or on doors.
63.
There is a good chance you’ll catch some parents at home if you do
this in the afternoon. The easiest way to introduce your online
tutoring service to parents is to catch them at home.
Your other option is to hire some local kids to pass your flyers out.
This strategy works great and requires no work on your part. If you
pass out 500 flyers, you can expect a dozen or more calls. Of the 12
or so calls, you can usually gather five or more clients who will use
your service for months to come.
This one single decision can result in about $1000 per month of
steady income. If you pass out 1,000 flyers, you can expect double
(about $2,000). Note: These are just estimates.
Is this worth it? The answer is YES!! Remember that you can easily
keep your clients happy to pay you each and every month.
Another great option you have is to contact your local PTA group and
see if they will allow you to advertise in their newsletter or at their
meeting. This will boost your business almost immediately if you can
get in with this group.
Each school and PTA group is different, so you'll have to figure out
how to approach them. If you can get in with either group, your
business will explode! It’s amazing how many parents and teachers
will talk about your service if you just let it be known.
Free Technique #3 -- Letting teachers know about your online
tutoring business
If you can leave business cards in schoolteacher's mailboxes, they
can and probably will recommend your services to parents. If you
want to guarantee results, use the following method:
Write a letter and ask each school’s secretary to leave your letter
inside each teacher’s mailbox.
64.
Here is a sample letter you can use right now. Get this written up and
printed out today. Don’t delay! You can have five new clients by the
end of this week.
If you can get the teachers first names, write a letter to each teacher.
Have the secretary place your letter in each of their mailboxes. If the
secretary won’t give you first names, write the letter to the department
you are targeting.
Sample letter
XYY Junior High School
Attn: Math Department
Dear Math Department Teachers,
Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. I am
writing to offer my online tutoring services to your math
department students. Since starting my online tutoring
business, I have found most of my students get excited
for their tutoring sessions.
I have helped many students improve their grades,
confidence and attitude and would like to expand my
services to any of your struggling math students.
I set up a demonstration at www.TutorFi.com/demo.asf
so you can see how my online tutoring sessions work.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions
about my services or need any reference information. I
have included some business cards for any parents or
students in need of tutoring.
If you know of any students who can benefit from
additional tutoring, I would be grateful for a referral.
65.
Online tutoring sessions can take place from any
computer with an internet connection.
Thanks again, and I look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Free Technique #4 -- If You Ask For Referrals, They Will Come!
There are many ways to go about this. If you choose, you can simply
ask for names and numbers of friends from your current clients. Call
the parent and let them know who referred you and offer a discounted
version of your introductory offer. For example…instead of $35, offer
it for $15.
Another option is to offer one or more free tutoring sessions for any
new sign up you get as a result of their referral.
This third option is the one I recommend the most. Send your clients
a free unexpected gift (calculator, shirt, mug, etc.). We recommend
you put your business name or your own name/tutoring service on
the item you send.
By giving your client a free gift and thanking them sincerely for the
opportunity to tutor their child, your client will be more inclined to offer
referrals when you ask them to.
After you give your client the gift, ask them directly for referrals or you
can print up coupons and mail them to your client. Then ask your
client to hand the coupon to any parent who might be interested in
your service.
This is the system I recommend. Use these two letters and coupons
to help you gather new customers through referrals.
66.
This is letter #1 that you’ll send after your students first tutoring
session and the agreement of a monthly account.
Letter #1
Congratulations!!
You have Finally Found the Solution To Help Student
First Name
Get Better Grades…
Dear Parent Name,
Student First Name has completed his first online
tutoring session.
I just wanted to send you a quick note and most
importantly…..
Thank You for enrolling Student First Name,
considering my recommendations,
and for giving me a chance to help your Son Or Daughter.
I know that I have already thanked you for enrolling
Student First Name, but now that I have gotten to know
you better I want to thank you again and give you a free
gift! I hope the gift name comes in handy.
Anyways, back to business…..
I would also like to take the time to remind you to please
take a day- to-day interest in your Son Or Daughter’s
school work. I know it’s easy to forget about the
difficulties Student First Name was having just a short
time ago, but I feel it is my duty to give you the best
67.
possible advice so your Son or Daughter does NOT end
up falling behind in school.
As we have already discussed, more tutoring hours for
Student First Name are optional, but I highly recommend
we discuss a program that will keep the Student First
Name’s grades high enough to at least maintain honor
roll, and keep your Son or Daughter from falling behind
again.
If you are happy with the current program, feel free to
schedule a consultation with me anyway. I want Student
First Name to continue to get the most out of our
program and I want you to love our service just like the
other proud parents that I work with.
You can schedule a consultation with me by calling me at
your phone number. If you don’t feel the need to discuss
Student First Name‘s academic situation at this time, this
is ok, too. I am available any time to speak about your
child’s education.
I am glad Student First Name is understanding his or her
school work better and I thank you again for giving me
the opportunity to help your Son or Daughter get better
grades. Don’t quit now, your Son or Daughter is not far
away from straight A’s.
Yours in academic success,
Your name
Your Phone number
After you send the first letter and free gift, your client will feel like they
owe you because you have done so much for their child and gave
them a gift that was not expected.
68.
Next, you must prepare letter #2. Inside letter #2, you must
include coupons. Here is a sample coupon you can use.
Coupon Sample
Congratulations!!!
This coupon entitles you to:
A FREE phone consultation and an
online tutoring demonstration inside my online
classroom.
PLUS $20 off your child’s first one hour tutoring
session.
Call me at your phone number to redeem this
coupon and schedule your demonstration and
consultation.
There is absolutely NO obligation to enroll into
our monthly tutoring program.
*This offer expires on 30 days later use specific
date
Be sure to include these coupons inside letter #2. You can use as
many as you would like.
Inside the letters and coupons, you'll need to fill in the blanks where
the words are underlined. The key is to tailor each letter to the parent
and child.
69.
Below is letter #2 that should be sent two weeks after you sent
the free gift with letter #1. Write this down on a calendar and
remember this. Your timing is a very important part of this process.
Letter #2
Hello Parent Name,
I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to tutor
your Son or Daughter. I hope you are completely
satisfied with my dedication to Student First Name’s
education. Please feel free to schedule a consultation with
me at any time. Just call me at your phone number to
schedule a consultation and we can discuss Student First
Name’s academic progress in more detail.
As a friendly reminder, have your son or daughter review
the title of your free bonuses again. I have been getting
tremendous feedback from parents like you and they
believe the lessons inside of your free bonuses have
helped their children understand list specific strategies
listed in your free bonus.
I have also included how many coupons for any parents
you know who might be interested in my service. Each
certificate offers $20 off my $35 introductory offer price
plus a free demonstration and consultation for their child.
There is absolutely no obligation for them to enroll into a
monthly program or commit to a one-hour tutoring
session.
I just want the chance to prove that I can help any student
who is falling behind in school. I want all parents to
know I’m available to help their child get better grades. I
have helped many students and I can’t wait to help more!
70.
Thank you so much for your business and attention to
this offer.
Yours in academic success,
Your name
Your phone number
PS. Please give the coupons to any four friends before
they expire.
With this system in place, you can expect to build your business fast!
Free technique #5 -- Selling Without Being A Salesperson
When starting your business, you should focus all of your attention on
business cards, flyers, repeat monthly accounts and referrals. If you
focus your time and money on these strategies, you will surely hit a
home run and gather a large client base.
The best part about these strategies is that you don't have to be a
good salesperson or spend a lot of money to build your business.
You might have to get out of your comfort zone when approaching
local businesses, but if you are sincere in helping students, the
business owners will recognize this and gladly hand out your
business cards.
I hope you feel comfortable with the strategies listed above. If not,
don't worry. You can opt for paid advertising. My main concern is
your success!
71.
I don't want you to spend $500 on an ad that gives you one phone
call. Sometimes this happens and that's why you must test when
using paid advertising. You can't try it once and say, "It doesn't work"!
If you use the strategies listed in this free report, you'll find that you
can make sales without being a good salesperson. Your sincerity will
do the selling and you won't have to!!!
72.
Chapter 17
How to use paid advertising
The ads you create will determine your success, assuming you are
targeting the right group of people. Targeting the right group of
people is a very important factor.
How To Write An Ad
We are all bombarded with advertisements every day. No matter
where you go, you see or hear advertisements. Before you get
started, there are a few things to be aware of when you create your
advertisement for your online tutoring service.
Don't think that by paying for an ad, your phone will ring off the hook.
This is not how advertising works. Please understand this and
prepare to lose some money and test some different ads.
A good ad must be directed at people who are most likely to pay for
your online tutoring service. Obviously you want to target parents and
the more focused your ad the better.
Print classified advertising can be cost-effective and successful, but
you need to know a few basic guidelines that will improve the
response and create the foundation of a successful advertising
Whether you are looking to create copy for newspaper or any other
print media, your success depends on three things:
Good ad copy
Targeting the right market
Repetition or frequency of advertising within that market
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