OK, you’ve decided on what to tutor, tested your market, set your prices, and set up your contact info and (possibly) website. Now, you’re ready to advertise your services. Only question is where and how? The answer depends on your market.
College Students
As mentioned before, college students don’t have much money to spend on tutoring (despite needing it in tougher subjects), so you don’t want to spend much money advertising to them, and with Craigslist, you don’t have to. Most college students shop for tutors on Craigslist, and, because it’s free, it’s an ideal place to advertise your services. A word of caution with Craigslist. Only advertise locally. There is a high volume of scammers using Craigslist, but you can avoid most of them by only dealing in your local area. You can read more about Craigslist scams and how to avoid them here.
Another excellent place for advertising your services is Yahoo! local. You can make a basic listing for free.
Flyers are another way to advertise. Most college have public posting boards with a three day time limit. Also, if the school allows it, you may post your flyer on department boards. One of the chemistry professors allowed me to post my flyer on the same board he posted the answers to his tests. Again, get permission before doing that.
High School and Younger Students
The high school market is more lucrative than the college one, but the advertising approach is different. It can also be more expensive. The reason for this is because you’re advertising to parents and not the students directly. There are some ways to reach parents without spending a lot or any money.
1. Referrals from Schools. This is a brilliant way to get a lot of business if you’re smart about it. Find out who the guidance counselors are the the school and send them a polite (and humble) email or letter explaining who you are and your tutoring services. It helps if you have your website up and running so you can refer to it in the correspondence. Nine times out of ten you will get a response informing you what the school’s tutor referral policy is. Some schools I have contacted have a private tutor page on their website that they have added me to. Other schools have invited me to come in for an interview before referring me to parents. Some of the relationships I have developed with the schools have been so positive, that I am allowed to tutor the student on campus during “Saturday School.” However you choose to make initial contact make sure it’s to the guidance counselor. Do not contact the teachers. Remember you are dealing with minors, so there are liability issues involved that most teachers are not comfortable with. Also, chances are high you will insult the teacher. A lot of teachers are threatened by tutors because there’s a perception that something is wrong with their teaching. Guidance counselors are there to make sure the student succeeds and are “bad” teacher watchdogs. Do not take offense if you receive no response or even a negative response. With some schools, the liability concerns are across the board, and, therefore, don’t refer outside tutors at all. Don’t take it personal 🙂
2. Listing in Search Engines: When you get your website up and running, spend the money to have in listed in the popular web portals. The top three are Google, MSN and Yahoo. Your hosting company will usually list you in one of them. You’ll have to pay a company like Submitnet to get a listing in the other two. It shouldn’t cost more than $50/quarter, and most have a 90 day free trial. Making sure search engine spiders can find your website is crucial for advertising to this market, so it is money well spent.
3. Yahoo! local. See above. Parents of school aged children use it too.
I don’t recommend using Craigslist for advertising to the school-aged market. A lot of parents do shop Craigslist for tutors, but they are not looking to pay more than $20/hour, and the market rate for tutoring to elementary and high school students is twice that amount, especially if you tutor in physical sciences or foreign languages.
If you tutor a subject that is marketable in both college and high school, keep your advertising separate. Avoid advertising lower prices for college students on your website, as this will turn many parents of high school students off. Make it very clear in your ad that your services are for college students only. Don’t mention your website (college students aren’t as impressed by them) in your listing, and use a different email address just in case a parent of a high school student responds. Craigslist gives you the option to make your contact info anonymous. Use it! (This also helps control spam.)
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