The average hourly pay for a private tutor in the United States is approximately 25 US Dollars. Well, that’s just the average, the real numbers could be much higher. Whether as a primary source of income or secondary, tuition has always been a favorite choice for those with a penchant for teaching.
Today with the advent of online options, there are no limitations on how one can make money by tutoring. All that is needed is subject expertise, a will to succeed as a tutor, and patience! Yes, the real big chunk of money may take some time to flow in until you establish your prowess in a subject and get known.
Now chances are that you might still be iffy about the odds of taking up tutoring as a profession. Before you dump the idea, here are some ways in which you can start making money as a private tutor:
1. Start with an established tutoring center
To begin your career as a full time or a part-time private tutor, taking the classical internship like route could be beneficial. You can start by joining a renowned tutoring center or by assisting a reputed home tutor. This way you will familiarize yourself with the best-in-class teaching methods and the needs of the students. There is no better way than acquiring certain soft skills vicariously.
Once you become associated with a brand, you’ll be able to carry forward that reputation. The association with a well-known name will also add credibility and experience to your credentials. You will get the necessary word-of-mouth publicity and more students would seek your instruction.
Some questions to which you’ll find answers while you work at a center or assist someone are:
- What mode of lecturing works best for you – group or individual tutoring?
- How comfortable are you with students of different backgrounds and ages?
- What mode of assessment works best to judge a pupil’s progress – periodic tests, daily tests etc.?
- What subjects are your true calling and which ones aren’t even though you like them?
Also read: Qualities of the Effective Tutor: Check your Efficacy
2. Pick only one mode of instruction and perfect it
The next step is to identify what mode of instruction works best for you – group or individual tutoring? Home tuitions can be most convenient for some while they can be the most time consuming for others.
If you prefer group tutoring, for example, then stick to it and add it to your offerings clearly. If you think home tutoring and working with only one student at a time is more your thing, stick to it. Dithering this decision and trying out both the options can exhaust you before you can imagine.
Be a well-known tutoring center or the home tutor with most finesse – but choose one! It will for a very long time be associated with your credentials as a private tutor. So, building a reputation as one of the above is important. You should definitely not try to juggle with both and wait to see what works out best on its own. It must be your conscious, informed choice.
3. Advertise smart
Besides the traditional ways of advertising – sticking pamphlets, newspaper adverts, etc. you should try out smarter ways of advertising. For example, a lot of tutors put up sample lectures on YouTube. There are others who advertise by offering some free tests, questions, solved examples etc. on their study blogs.
You could as well publish your notes for a topic or two at renowned online forums. For example, a tutor for GMAT can put up their sample notes or questions at GMATClub.com.
A link or a phone number can be added so that interested students can contact directly to seek your instruction.
Tuition as a business has burgeoned in recent years. To make money, there are more ways than just advertising in newspapers of sticking pamphlets outside schools! Try social media, blogs, online content platforms, online listing websites, etc.
4. Partner, collaborate and leverage the network
Ask for introductions. Get in touch with tutors with a large student base. Also, collaborate with tutors that have comparatively smaller bases.
Wherever there is no clash of interests, a collaboration could work just fine. For example, if you know someone who offers math tuitions, you could ask them to introduce you to their class as a physics tutor.
Take guest lectures at tuition centers (of course there mustn’t be a conflict of interest).
Explore more and more ways to collaborate with existing tutors to start building your identity as a private tutor. For example, have a math tutor distribute to their class of 5-10 students a copy of your physics notes instead of asking them to give pamphlets.
5. Utilize the benefits of multi-channel tutoring
Today about 140,000 students in the US are enrolled in some or the other online courses by MIT, Harvard, etc. You can too explore the online channel along with offline tutoring. Start a blog or a YouTube channel of your own. Give out full content for a fee or connect discounts for offline courses with your online resources.
For example, Mary could run a YouTube channel devoted to Chemistry concepts and advertise a discount code for all those who sign up for classroom courses with her.
The use of multiple channels to make your services available to students can help diversify the income sources. For example, you can earn from advertisements on YouTube and on blogs apart from the paid course modules.
If you are a tutor looking for making tutoring a career, Talentnook can help you connect with hundreds of potential students in the neighborhood. It not only helps students and parents find their best tutor, but it also helps tutors find the right audience.
Sign up with Talentnook as a tutor to know more about local tutoring opportunities.
