Your Next Student Is One Awkward Message Away

IT'S WHO YOU KNOW...And Who THEY Know!

Your Tribe

You’ve heard the expression, it’s not what you know, but who you know. Is there a truer statement when trying to move up in the business world?

Make a list of people you know. Like, literally write it down. Add to it people from your social media (you probably already have some teaching contacts there, write those down, too).

Now ask yourself, who on that list might have a connection. Does you uncle work at a college? Do you have family that live overseas? How many brick-and-mortar teacher friends do you have?

You might not be able to say, “Hey FB friend that I barely know, can you refer me to some of you friends with kids?” But you can ask your teacher friends if they have any ideas on where you might finds some leads.

And if they do help you out, be sure to thank them and do something nice for them. Bake them some cookies if they are nearby or send them a $5 giftcard from Starbucks. This will go a long way to future help from these folks!

Referrals

Referrals are THE best way to get good students with the least amount of effort.

Let me rephrase that, if you put in the effort to be a really good teacher, those referrals will come more easily than from any other source. They don’t have to vet you as much and you don’t have to vet them as much.

There are two things that will help you get those referrals (aside from being a good teacher).

1) Ask for them.

Yep, ask your parents if they have friends that need a teacher or tutor.

2) Thank people for referring you.

Honest to goodness, I have been shocked at how effective this is.

Here’s the kicker: create a thank you that offers something special for their child/your student, not for the parent.

If you are a parent, you know that when someone shows that they care about your kiddo enough to do something special, that person gets so many brownie points and you will be willing to help them out again.

Recruiter Moms

Recruiters can be a great foot-in-the-door for new students. And some of the best recruiters are people you may already know: moms with children in your niche.

Moms who have children that need help with a specific issue have already done a lot of research on that topic, joined online groups with other moms, and become closely knit with the niche group.

If they know a lot of other parents in that niche group, instead of asking for referrals, it may be worthwhile to offer a commission for each student who signs with you.