Bowei Strategy

Transforming Teachers to Entrepreneurs

Who is to blame?

by Leave a Comment

An ESL teacher I talked to today shared a very insightful observation:

There seems to be a general pattern which many online teaching companies/schools have followed or are following

They all started strong with attractive rates and nice perks for teachers

They made a lot of promises and were able to hold

All of the teachers talked about them and were excited to be a part of their ventures

They were indeed the rising stars

After a while, things started changing

They started taking away the benefits little by little

They started implementing ridiculous policies that were hard to follow

They started penalizing teachers for things that didn’t make sense

Teachers started leaving and finding other rising stars

Students started leaving because they couldn’t find the right teachers like they used to

These companies went down and eventually were out of business

Questions are:

Why are these online companies/schools doing this?

Why can’t they just learn their lessons?

Doesn’t the management know how important it is to treat teachers well?

Doesn’t the management know teachers are the only reason why they have a business?

Yes, they know, they know it too well

The truth is:

People who made decisions when they first started were not the same people making decisions when the company went down

I believe that people who started online companies/schools loved this industry and wanted to make an impact on teachers and students

However, when the companies started growing because of this same passion, more and more stakeholders joined, diluted their shares, and diminished their decision making power

Unfortunately, they had to watch when the bad decisions were made and could do nothing about them

So, who are these people behind these bad decisions?

They are the investors who only need a return on their investment and don’t care about the company, don’t care about this industry

One company goes down, they can find another company, as long as the numbers make sense to them

One industry goes down, they can find another industry, as long as the numbers make sense to them

Do you agree?

Do you want your independence?

Are you ready to start your OWN business?

>>>Click here to watch a free training video and start your OWN business today<<<

How should you market yourself to get students on your own?

by Leave a Comment

“What is preventing you from achieving your goals for your business by yourself?”

This is a question I ask teachers during my free strategy session, and 90% of the over 60 teachers I’ve talked to in the last three months gave me similar answers. They consider marketing to be the barrier to getting students by themselves, improving their monthly income, and growing their online teaching business, because either they don’t know how to do marketing—a lack of knowledge or skills—or they’ve tried and failed, wasting time and money.

It feels like there is a giant mountain sitting between teachers and students. Teachers don’t know how to get around the mountain to put themselves in front of students who could learn from them.

Taking advantage of this market opportunity, online companies came in and dug a tunnel that connects teachers and students. In return, they dominate about 80% of the value chain, take a significant cut from your pay, and push your rate low, so they can be competitive in the marketplace.

You, as an online teacher, feel it isn’t fair since you are the one driving this business, delivering results to students, and keeping the company up and running. You want to cut out the middle man, because you believe there are students who would love taking classes with you independent of the companies and their platforms. If you could dig a tunnel connecting you with students, even one just wide enough for you to crawl to the other side of the mountain, you would survive on your own (and make some real money).

This strategy can be DANGEROUS when it comes to growing your teaching business, if you don’t know the correct approach to marketing.

So, let’s talk about the two marketing models available for online teachers.

1. Fishing in the ocean with a wide net

This is the model online companies use to get you students.

They spend millions of dollars every year on marketing, building big ships to cruise the deep ocean, throwing out massive nets to catch fish for you. Because they don’t mind catching all different kinds of fish, and prefer to land really big fish, their net is huge with wide holes—their marketing messages are broad. They can get students using this model because they have the resources and can afford to let small fish go.

However, if you use this marketing model for your own business, you won’t be able to get any students. Why?

Because you don’t have sufficient resources for building the big ships necessary to navigate the deep ocean, or for making the net large enough to cover an adequate area.

Therefore, you end up going nowhere, staying close to shore, and fishing with a net with big holes that the fish simply swim through.

2. Fishing in a pond with a narrow net

With limited resources, even very little to no resources, can you still go fishing?

Of course! You just need to take a different approach.

Instead of the ocean, you need to first find your ideal pond, one that is accessible to you. Then, you narrowly tailor your fishing net to catch the best fish in that pond. In other words, you need to know who you want to target and how to target them with specific marketing messages that actually resonate!

This is exactly how I was able to get over 10 clients on LinkedIn in just two months without spending a penny. It’s also exactly how most of my clients get more than three new students every single month through LinkedIn and Facebook—also without spending a penny. We all have our own ponds and narrow fishing nets to get our fish by ourselves.

Marketing can be scary, risky, and expensive, if you use the first marketing model and lack sufficient resources, trying to cruise the deep sea and fish with an inadequate net.

Marketing can be pleasant, effective, and free, if you can find the pond ideally suited to you and tailor the narrow fishing net you need to be successful. This is the marketing model all teachers should take advantage of to get students on their own and have their business and life under control.

Teachers that are struggling with marketing tend to hope for a sort of magic bullet to bring in students. Some teachers I spoke with in my free strategy sessions assumed that I had connections in China to get them students, because I grew up there, or some kind of software with an awesome algorithm to get them connected with students around the world, since I seem to be smart about getting students.

Unfortunately, I offer neither of those things!

What I can offer is to help online teachers find their ideal ponds and tailor the narrow fishing net they need.

-Please read this article to know how to find your ideal pond.

-Please watch this video to learn how to tailor your fishing net.

What is a scalable online teaching business?

by Leave a Comment

“James, you told me that you can help online English teachers grow a profitable, sustainable, and scalable business. I know the word scalable, but what does it really mean in the setting of online teaching?”

This came up a while ago in a conversation I had with an online English teacher, and it caught my attention. Yes, I’m here to help English teachers who of course know what scalable means by definition, but what exactly does “scalable” look like for an online teaching business?  

Before I explain this, let me first set the stage by talking about the more urgent topics for online teachers—getting more students and earning a higher hourly rate. 

When you want to grow your business and improve your income, the first thing you think about is how to fill your schedule and increase your rates, because it just makes sense. Everyone knows that revenue = the # of hours x your hourly rate. You may have 40 hours available for teaching, but are limited to 20, because you don’t have enough students or that is the maximum number of hours you can get teaching kids in China who can only learn English after school and on weekends. In the meantime, you ideally want to find a way to increase your rate, say, from $20/hour to $25/hour: 

Now: $20/hour x 20 hours/week = $400/week

Desired: $25/hour x 40 hours/week = $1000/week 

It looks pretty good! If you can pull it off, you’ll be able to nearly triple your weekly revenue. Sounds great, right? 

However, this has nothing to do with scaling your business. This is simply reaching your full capacity with your current business model, and you are capped at $1000/week. 

Let’s not talk about how hard it is to get yourself fully booked and increase your rate at the same time. Instead, let’s take a look at another math problem.

You are teaching 20 hours a week at a rate of $20 per hour. You find a way to teach groups of, say, four students. You may need to lower your hourly rate since students have to share your attention in the course. Let’s say you charge $15 per hour, giving you an hourly rate of $15 x 4 = $60, and you are still working 20 hours each week.

Now: $20/hour x 20 hours/week = $400/week

Good: $60/hour x 20 hours/week = $1,200/week

Not bad, huh? 

Then, if you can reach your full capacity of 40 hours a week, this can get you to: 

Perfect: $60/hour x 40 hours/week = $2400/week 

Keep in mind that the number of students in the group can be larger as long as you can manage it. Let’s say you can get 10 students in each group, bringing you an hourly rate of $15 x 10 = $150, which leads to: 

Dream: $150/hour x 40 hours/week = $6,000/week 

Let me stop there. I think I made my point! 

The transition from one-on-one teaching to group teaching is what I mean by scaling your business. However, it is only possible for online teachers to make this transition when you meet all the following criteria: 

You have to be a niche teacher. 

If you are not familiar with the concept of niche teaching, please read this article.

It is only possible to teach groups when all the students are from the same niche, with the same problems that you can help with. They come to you for the same reasons and you will get the same outcomes for everyone in the group. If you are a general teacher and you teach subjects determined by the needs of individual students, you will not be able to group them and offer help. 

You have to transition to program-based teaching.

In order to group your students together, instead of letting them dictate what you need to teach in each session, you predetermine the focus of your program and topics covered in each session based on your niche’s specific problems. In addition, you need to develop a program with an effective framework and repeatable processes, allowing you to replicate it across groups with consistent results. 

Read this article if you are not familiar with session-based versus program-based teaching.

You have to start with one-on-one niche teaching. 

The order here is important. Even if you have a niche and become a niche teacher, you have to go through the stage of teaching one-on-one to refine your program based on student feedback and ensure that you can deliver consistent results in the one-on-one setting before moving on to group teaching. Why? The quality of your program will decrease when you teach in groups and you need to ensure the quality is still above your clients’ expectations. This is why you need to spend time refining your program by teaching one-on-one, to make sure that it’s effective even in a group setting. 

You have to establish an effective marketing system. 

When you offer group teaching with a reduced hourly rate, you still need a higher volume of students to fill up the group. If you don’t have an effective marketing system that can get you enough students, you won’t be able to offer group teaching—even with the best program for your niche in the world. 

Read this article to learn more about the marketing system for online teaching businesses.

Watch this video to learn how you can get students on demand and at a higher rate.

I’ve been wanting to write this article ever since I first had that conversation I shared at the beginning. I understand that online teachers would be thrilled to see their calendar fully booked and get higher rates in their contracts. 

However, I would like to tell everyone who is currently teaching English online that you can do much more, and that all of you can scale your business to the next level and reach your FULLEST potential! 

 

➢ Read here to learn more about how a profitable online teaching business looks like.

➢ Watch this video to learn more about how to start and grow your own teaching business that is profitable, sustainable, and scalable.

From Teacher to Entrepreneur: The 3 Mindset Shifts You Need

by Leave a Comment

When I first started coaching online teachers, I focused a lot on helping restructure their business model and build the foundation of their online business. When it came to how to run their business, it often took more time and effort than I expected to make progress. There seemed to be barriers preventing them from thinking as a business owner and entrepreneur. 

After a while, I realized that I was starting with the wrong type of engineering. Instead of restructuring their business, I should have begun with helping them rewire their brain and shift their mindset to be more like an entrepreneur.   

Transitioning from teacher to entrepreneur isn’t just getting another normal job, or deciding not to teach English online anymore but still working as a freelancer somewhere else. You are starting a job unlike any other profession—entrepreneurship.  

You’re undertaking the transformation from ship crew member, who only needs to follow orders, to the captain who controls the ship and steers at will. This significant shift of role and responsibilities requires a new mindset to ensure the success of your business.  

So, how do you progress from feeling confined to your current teaching situation to confidently running your own teaching business? After a lot of conversation with my clients to understand how they think, I determined the three most important mindset shifts for people looking to transition from teaching to entrepreneurship.  

You’re Not Conquering Mt. Everest 

A common misconception is that business is a game for a small number of people, where only very few can succeed. 

When we think about successful entrepreneurs, we imagine people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk, along with the exciting (but improbable) stories from the books and films about them. Next to these legends, we fully convince ourselves that it will be extremely difficult to succeed like them in business. This keeps us from moving forward. 

Yes, it is impossible for everyone to earn a fortune like them (but you already know that being a billionaire is not the goal for most teachers). Instead of a multimillion-dollar empire, a profitable and sustainable small online teaching business is actually the goal teacher-entrepreneurs dream of. Instead of feeling intimidated by entrepreneurship and taking the wait-and-see approach, you need to shift your mindset: 
 

Focus on your own definition of success, and work steadily to accomplish it—remember, it’s not Mt. Everest you need to conquer.

Don’t let the idea of the billionaire entrepreneur keep you from making your small teaching business dreams a reality. That’s like telling yourself you can’t climb the mountain next to you, because you’re focused on the height of Mt. Everest. Who cares that Everest is 9,000 meters tall and accessible to only a few? Your mountain has an incredible view and, at only 1,000 meters, is totally within reach!

There is a long list of success factors for these billionaires: their intelligence, profound ideas, luck, hard work, etc. However, in order to have a successful teaching business with a six-figure annual revenue, you only need two things: focus and action. Once you’re clear about this, all you need to do is move forward, taking action and focusing on your thousand-meter peak, step by step. One day, you’ll find yourself at the top, enjoying a view just as picturesque. You simply need to shift your perspective and get to work. 

 

Comfort Zones and Fear  

Everyone has their comfort zone.

Outside the comfort zone are the things you fear. As a teacher, you operate within your comfort zone, completing tasks you’ve been doing for years and have repeated over and over. You are confident in what you do and take action. Now, you’ve started your own business. In addition to teaching, you also run this business. There are tasks outside your comfort zone and you become fearful. Even worse—you lose your confidence and stop taking action.  

 

Here is the mindset shift: 

Fear is actually the tool you can use to expand your comfort zone, leading to more tasks you’re comfortable doing and fewer you’re afraid to do. 

Whenever you do something for the first time, you step outside your comfort zone and likely experience fear. If you can embrace this fear and take action on intimidating tasks for the first time, second time, then a third time, you will literally feel your comfort zone expand to include tasks you used to be afraid to take on. 

Any time you push past your comfort zone, you not only grow yourself and are able to handle bigger challenges, but you also experience the growth momentum and confidence that comes from accomplishing projects that used to scare you. 

Work ON, Not Just IN 

When you teach, you work to deliver results as well as keep your teaching business running. As an entrepreneur starting your own business, you now have two types of work to consider—that’s the third mindset shift: 

Work on the business as well as in the business.  

When you work in your business, you are working to keep the business running and sustainable. When you work on it, you are working to grow your business.
For example:

IN-work includes lesson planning, teaching, grading, communicating with students, and admin tasks. 

ON-work is marketing, sales, establishing systems, and hiring staff as well as undertaking training programs.

It’s crucial to be clear about these two types of work so you can know how to best utilize your time and resources at different stages in your business. For instance, at the beginning, you need to focus on IN-work to ensure the quality of your work and get familiar with all the tasks required to sustain your business. As you progress, your focus should shift to ON-work, so you can grow your business to meet your goals.
Shifting your mindset is the key to success when it comes to transitioning from a teacher to an entrepreneur, and it just takes practice. Make it a daily exercise to develop those muscles and adapt your mind to the entrepreneurial world. 

 

Watch the video here to learn more about how to start and grow your profitable, sustainable, and scalable business TODAY.

Can teachers sell?

by Leave a Comment

“I’m a teacher. I don’t feel comfortable selling.”

Often times, I hear this from teachers who want to establish their own online teaching business but are afraid of the challenge of selling their programs. Every time they think about sales, they see themselves as a used car salesman trying to steal money from their customers.

While I understand that it may be challenging for teachers, I can’t deny the fact that sales is the most important skill you’ll need to develop if you want your online teaching business to succeed.

Is there a solution? 

Can you become a teacher who can sell and maybe love sales sometime in the future?  

Yes, there is a solution; but there are two important mindset changes you need to make. If you can make it happen, not only will you be able to confidently sell your programs to students, but you’ll also love sales and enjoy every part of it.

– It’s not about selling. It is about changing  

If you are a giver and contributor, choosing teaching as a career is your gift to the world. You’re an agent of change who constantly contributes and changes peoples’ lives. The products and services you offer are all about helping students and helping them to become the best possible version of themselves. Sales is the very first step in the process of enrolling them in your program and helping them to achieve the results that they’ve always dreamed of.

You’ll want to win the sales not because you need the money, but because deep down in your heart, you want to help your students.

You are on trial sessions with your students, and you’re there to help. Money is simply a sign of commitment that your students need to make. If a student wouldn’t pay $1k for something that could change their life forever, how would you expect them to take massive action and implement what you’ve taught them to improve themselves even if you offered your services for free?

The moment you divert your mindset away from the fact that you are trying to make money and start realizing that your work is changing peoples’ lives, your confidence in sales will skyrocket.

– Change with your heart 

Just because you realize that selling to people means that you can change their life, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you truly believe that YOU can actually change their life. When in doubt, just take a look at the value that you offer and understand that when the student signs up for your program, YOU are going to do your utmost to help them achieve the results that they’re investing in. You will change them with your heart.

Yes, it’s true that a lot of online teachers are struggling financially, that they’re operating in survival mode, and that they would be only thinking about the money when it comes to selling to students. However, by understanding that sales is not about selling, but about changing, and that you’re about to change your students with your heart, you’ll be able to reconnect with the purpose of why you chose teaching as a career in the first place, and you will succeed at selling.

Watch the video here to learn more about how to start and grow your profitable, sustainable, and scalable business TODAY.