One of the most important aspects of your business as a language teacher is the ability to receive payments from your students. Stripe and PayPal are two of the most popular options for accepting online payments. Both platforms have distinct features and benefits, but which is best for you? In this article, we’ll go over Stripe and PayPal in detail, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of each platform so you can make an informed decision about which one to use for your language teaching business. Why Choose a Payment Platform? It’s worth comparing the pros and cons of payment platforms lik ..read more

Social media can be a great resource for promoting your brand and connecting with potential clients. Whether you prefer LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or some other platform, asking for feedback from your followers usually leads to better insights into your target client persona. Below are the results of 40 LinkedIn polls which I’ve conducted over the last 18 months, that explore different aspects of the independent online language instruction market. The results dispel a myth which exists in some places, that language instruction is a merely a semi-skilled, semi-serious, side-hustle of temporary ..read more

If you are familiar with online teaching or coaching, you would know that one of the most important choices you need to make, is the platform that you will use for teaching. Zoom is a popular choice, but it is primarily just a communication tool, not a virtual classroom environment. What advantages does switching to a dedicated online classroom tool bring to you as coach or language trainer? How does a virtual classroom streamline your business and add value for your clients? Today I am joined by Wilim Abrook, Head of Education and Community Development at LearnCube. He is an online ESL teac ..read more

You’ve probably heard countless business coaches tell you that in order to succeed online, you need to have a niche. And it’s true. The online market is flooded with generalists. You need to stand out. But how do you know that your niche idea “has legs”? How do you know that there is even a market of people who would hire you to help them? How do you know that you aren’t going to waste time and resources building a brand that nobody cares about? Today we are going to meet Kirsten Smith whom I think has a great story to tell about how she chose her coaching niche and the steps she took to val ..read more

As we slowly come out of the pandemic, we can see that there is a huge demand around the world for ESL (English as a Second Language) training. English is the business of international commerce, science, engineering, medicine and more, which drives a need for better global communication skills. Many people who need to improve their English ability are highly motivated and have the financial resources to pay for effective results. In this post, I will talk about how you can sell your language training service through a “program coaching” rather than a “class based” or “session based” approach ..read more

For service businesses where YOU are inseparable from the solution you are providing, you should create a self-introduction video. This is particularly the case for online teachers, tutors, and coaches where the potential client is trying to answer two questions. First, do you provide the type of service I am looking for? Second, do I feel as though I know, like and trust you enough to want to work with you? So what kind of format should your self-introduction video follow? Demonstrate Insight The mistake which a lot of people make is to treat the self-introduction video as a kind of video res ..read more

When you create a new website with a free website building or landing page service (e.g. WIX) you’ll be given the option of connecting to your own domain or using their free subdomain e.g., a choice between teacherjohn.com OR teacherjohn.wix.com Why would you want to pay for your own website domain? What are the advantages? In this article we are going to look at several reasons why it makes good sense to register and use your own custom domain name. Some Terminology Domain or Custom Domain : When people refer to this, they are usually talking about the complete address for a web destina ..read more

UPDATED: This article was originally published in 2020, prior to the dramatic changes which occurred in the Chinese ESL market. Prior to the shift in China’s regulation of language education, many online instructors were attracted by the apparently easy online lesson opportunities offered by companies like VIPKID and MagicEars. Those companies no longer operate to the same degree in mainland China. However, the language education market for young learners is not limited to China. Parents in Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Latin America and other parts of the world are all willing to invest heav ..read more

There is a saying in the marketing world that when you target “everybody” you are really targeting “nobody”. If you want your message to be heard, you need to have a specific audience in mind. When you decide to choose an ESL teaching niche, you can craft a message that specifically those people will want to hear.  Just to give you an example of what I mean, let me tell you a story. Some years ago I strained my back while moving a wheelbarrow in my parent’s garden. The next day I was in a lot of agony, so I went to the pharmacy to buy some pain relief medicine. I found probably three ..read more

If you are trying to build a brand and reputation as an expert in your teaching or coaching niche, one of the most important things you can do is create content. By writing, videoing, or recording your thoughts for the world, you are positioning yourself as an authority who your ideal clients will turn to for help. But producing content isn’t easy. How do you generate ideas for new content? How do you overcome “writers block”. How do you create original material that engages your readers and doesn’t put them to sleep? In this podcast, we hear from professional content writer, Cheri Gipson. S ..read more