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.

➢ 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.

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. 

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!

Comfort Zones and Fear  

Everyone has their comfort zone.

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. 

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. 

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:

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

“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.

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

Most online teachers are offering session-based teaching, but not program based. What are session-based teaching and program-based teaching? What are the pros and cons?

In session-based teaching, sessions are independent from each other. The focus is determined by students and varies between sessions. What you teach and how you teach in each session are modified to meet the specific needs of the student for that particular session. Of course, students pay you by session. Even though you might bundle a number of sessions together and sell at a lower per session price, you’re still doing session-based teaching.

On the other hand, with program-based teaching, sessions are integrated as a whole. The focus of each session is predetermined by you to serve the goals of the program. What you teach and how you teach in each session are systematically designed to maximize the results of the program. Students pay for the program, which consists of a planned number of sessions.

Your teaching focus is designed specifically for your audience, not decided by the students.

A program is developed specifically for a group of people with problems and needs in common. With a clear understanding of the problems, you’re able to identify and leverage the knowledge and techniques necessary to best address these problems. You might need to develop new skills, but you will be better prepared to get your students results.

On the other hand, in session-based teaching, because the focus of each session is determined by students, you have to shift the focus constantly to meet different needs from different students. Not only are you not be able to help every student, but you’re also less prepared to get your students results. You want to help everyone, but you end up helping no one.

Teaching duration (# of sessions and frequency) is optimized for results, not determined by students.

In session-based teaching, how long the student stays with you and how often they come to class can be affected by you, but is ultimately controlled by students. The fact that students often don’t take enough sessions jeopardizes the results you can get for them.

However, in program-based teaching, the program duration and session frequency are systematically designed to maximize results. You can give sessions twice a week to keep students active or once a week to give students more time for homework, or even vary the frequency between modules to best engage with students and maximize results.

Student action can be systemically managed and reinforced.

One of the biggest challenges of online teaching is getting results for students. And, one of the reasons why students don’t get results is that they don’t implement teachings or take action. Simply put, if you don’t get students to implement what they learned, very likely they are not going to see results. If students don’t see results, they don’t blame themselves, they blame you and associate it with the quality of your teaching.

In program-based teaching, student action can be managed by incorporating action elements into the program. For example, you can plan homework assignments that students have to finish before the next session. You can hold students accountable by reminding them and empowering them to take action. Sufficient student action ensures the results generated at the end of the program.

You can justify a higher rate.

This is the pain point for most teachers on online platforms. How much can I charge? How can I justify a higher price? A higher price is hard to justify by good reviews alone, when almost 90% of teachers have close to full stars on the platform. It also cannot be justified by the fact that you are a native English speaker or that you have taught English for a certain number of years.

Program-based teaching allows you to charge a higher price because, first of all, you are more likely to get students results (as explained above). Second, you offer a package with essential services that students need to solve their problems as well as extra services that students don’t think they need, but actually benefit from significantly.

For example, one of my clients helps working professionals with their business English. In his program, he also helps his students improve communication skills. His students thought their ceiling at work was their business English proficiency, but the real problem was that students had challenges advocating for themselves and explaining complex ideas to their colleagues and bosses.

By having communication development incorporated into the package along with business English, the teacher is able to charge much more than while offering these services separately.

It is scalable.

Another problem associated with session-based teaching is that it is hard to scale because you don’t have a consistent teaching process. You can’t help a group of students with all different requests. However, in program-based teaching, the content and teaching process can be designed with high consistency, because your students are from the same group with common needs, and you’re able to offer group sessions to scale your teaching business.

What is a scalable online teaching business? Please read this!

You have a more pleasant teaching experience.

Most online teachers want to teach as their career. You enjoy teaching and meeting students from around the world. But, how can you do it when most online teachers quit in three years?

With session-based teaching, teachers work with each student independently. You have to customize each session with each student, and the only way to earn more is to clock more hours.

With program-based teaching, 80% of what you teach and how you teach it in the program will be the same. The program is systematically designed and the results are more solid, with a lot less work involved. You get better at teaching the program as you progress. You become a thought leader in your niche much faster. Your income improves. There are so many reasons why you’ll enjoy teaching again and, luckily, it can be a career for you.

CONS 

You need a niche for the program. 

You just can’t develop programs targeting every student. You have to pick a niche for the program you would like to develop. It doesn’t mean you have to become solely a niche player, but you do need a niche for every program. (For more information about why you need a niche and how to determine your niche, please read this!)

You need an effective marketing channel to support your program-based teaching.

I can definitely see the challenges in selling programs, if teachers don’t have an effective marketing channel that helps them attract students who are perfect candidates for the programs they designed, especially for teachers on session-driven platforms. It’s like selling oranges in a supermarket—you’ve decided to sell a kind of oranges with a unique flavor. You probably won’t be able to sell many there because most customers are there for normal oranges. However, if you have an effective marketing approach to tell customers looking for this unique flavor that you have it available, then they will come to you and are very likely willing to pay a higher price because they can’t find it anywhere else. (For more information about effective marketing, please read this!)

The program has to work.

If your program does not get your students results, it won’t last. You’ll just be wasting your time developing programs. This happens so often when it comes to online courses—people develop these courses without ever teaching them to students and dream of making a fortune out of them. What happens is that the online course ends up selling at $9.99, with still no one buying it.

To summarize, when you teach with programs, the quality of your teaching is higher and your life will be easier both financially and professionally. In addition, you are often not simply an English teacher to your students any more. You become more of a career and life coach to them, because you usually end up teaching skills and knowledge besides the English language in your program—skills that help your students become the best version of themselves both personally and professionally.