Knowledge is power! – Rightly said. And we are sure that everyone agrees with us. The need to gain more and more knowledge has always been unquenchable. And hence this industry is an evergreen one, with always room for improvement and upgradation. And given the rapidly advancing technology, why leave this industry behind, right?
Every niche of business has started to go live virtually. People around the globe are moving towards convenience, accessibility and ease. Seizing this opportunity many entrepreneurs have even started their own online tutorials or started virtual coaching classes.
Education is a multibillion dollar industry and there is never a dearth for learning. And, the Covid19 pandemic has opened up so many doors for new opportunities.
You are in the right place, at the right time. Majority of the people getting into the business of online teaching is to make some extra money. So, in this article we are going to provide a few simple tips on how to teach online.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
Basically you have two options regarding how to make money teaching online?
- Conducting online courses on an already established platform:
Many people think they do not know enough about a subject to teach it. Truth be told, it is great if you are a subject matter expert but it is not mandatory. However, you need to be certified at least to earn a consistent customer base. Taking classes on others platforms also has its own pros and cons. Here are some of the pros –
- An existing customer base: Given that your chosen online schooling platform is already an established one and has its own client base, you will also be privy to them. Hence, you do not have to work too hard to get the attention of the audience and grow your business from the ground up.
- Time efficient: All it takes for you to get started is a click to register yourself as a teacher than how much time you will have to spend on developing your own application.
- Credibility: In this current world, it is really hard to trust a new, upcoming online tutor / tutorial. But given you are launching yourself through an already trusted online platform you do not have to worry about credibility issues you might face otherwise.
- Technical Support: Since this is not your own platform you do not have to take care of the technical issues yourself. Here you will already have a team to take care of that.
- Brand protection: When you are under the roof of a well-established platform, you need not have to worry about any breaches of copyright issues.
- Gain experience: You will get an opportunity to have an insight into how the things are being operated at the back end. And hence, when you are ready to start an online tutoring you will know what to expect.
- Building your own online tutorials:
In order to make money out of your virtual tutorials, you will need a huge customer base. The conversion rate of your website will be directly proportional to the increase in the ROI (Return on Investment). And hence the main aim for you should be in developing robust online tutoring software that has all the necessary features to attract and retain customers. There are two major ways in which you can develop your online tutoring software-
- From scratch or
- Purchasing a turnkey solution
Just by developing your website you will not be able to start off your business. There are a whole lot of procedures before and after your website is up and running. They are-
- Select a niche
- Study your target audience
- Drafting business model
- Choosing a revenue model
- Register your business
- Secure your website
- Promote your online tutoring platform
Once you are live, either through another platform or your own, the real deal begins. Without the audience there are no earnings. You need the right set of audience. And you also need to retain them, and simultaneously expand your customer base too. And an only effective marketing strategy is not enough.
You need to incorporate the below tips as well to achieve your goals.
- Draft an engaging course curriculum:
This is one of the crucial steps in retaining and growing your online tutoring business. If the course material is not interesting, or doesn’t meet the requirements or the goals that you promised then the whole purpose of building an online business fails. Hence you should plan a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) course curriculum. Make your courses into small, connectable modules and have a schedule that is not too overwhelming to the students. This combined with an effective CMS (Course Management System) there is no stopping you in achieving success.
- Keep your students engaged:
Your success depends on this step. Once your curriculum is finalized, you can choose to teach online using any of the below methods-
- Synchronous method: Live interactive virtual tutoring
- Asynchronous method: Pre-recorded sessions
- Combined method: An effective combination of both methods
There are multiple ways for making your course work engaging. Here are a few ways which you can play around with-
- Virtual group discussions and debates
- Pop-up quiz
- Group projects and assignments etc
The working principle of both the types of tutorials is similar. Especially when it comes to the revenue model. Here are a few models that have been in popular use.
- Commission model
- Subscription model
- Membership model
- Fee for one-on-one classes
- Separate charges for certification and course materials etc.
Though the operational procedures might seem the same from the outside, there is one major difference in the monetization process.
Since you are using their platform for the sales of your online courses, you will have to pay a percentage of your earnings to them. The fees are divided into two categories: upfront cost (subscription or commission per sale), and hidden costs. Whereas when you are on your own, there is no one you owe money to. You get the full percentage of your earnings.
Both the methods are equally great methods to make money from teaching online courses. But everything does come with a few advantages and disadvantages. However, you need to make the decision based on your business goals. You can either directly build and promote your own online teaching website or start by launching yourself on an already popular virtual platform and then build your empire from there.
Whatever your decision might be, we are always here to support you in your journey. Do give us a call or leave us a message if you need and advise or help develop your virtual platform or even help market your business.
