How to be a Freelance Instructor by Teaching Your Favorite Activity

Posted on January 31, 2013June 2, 2014 by David C. Brake

Teach and Learn on LRNGO.com

This week, I’m going to discuss and present a few options for the uninitiated about teaching your skills. First of all, I want to stress that one on one instruction between two people provides a level of learning interaction and help/progress that one simply cannot get from a video online. Most people know by now that you can learn from a video, but it can never be your mentor.

Once someone falls in love with a certain subject, discipline, sport, or any activity, they tend to start devouring everything they can and practice/study religiously. After a while, the question of whether or not to teach the subject they learned and pass it on to others comes up. Today with all of us connected, there is perhaps more opportunity for freelance instruction than at any time before in human history.

There are two ways one can teach what they love to thirsty modern students and earn money doing it, the physical and digital worlds. Each one has its ups and downs, and both are in a constant state of flux and evolution. Of course, certain subjects may be more suited to one than the other, but in most cases the best option comes down to individual circumstances, niche, expertise level and access. Let’s explore both.

Real World Freelance Instruction

Most localized freelance instructors, whether activity teachers or extra-curricular tutors, begin small. They may put out an ad in the local paper, or perhaps print out some flyers to give to schools in the area. Regardless, the idea is to start with one single student and go from there.

A local tutor’s biggest money maker is going to be word of mouth. Make sure to print up wallet sized calling cards to hand out at parties, social gatherings, and within the homeschooling community.

The idea is to advertise yourself in unobtrusive ways until you have a student, and then build. Here are some tips to getting started.

Establish Your Fee – Typically most people expect an hourly rate, so give them one. Study up on your competition if there is any. As you get more students and there is more demand for your services, your hourly rate can move up, but until then make your rate average or less for your area.

Focus on Your Niche but Stay Open to your skillset – Is it best to pick one thing you are exceptionally strong in, and focus on just that, and that alone? In today’s highly diversifying economy and workforce, there is nothing wrong with getting as specific as possible. For example SAT prep math vs., math in general. However, you may have other skills which you can develop a curriculum for teaching and for which there is a high demand. Many college grads find that their minor or other skills they are familiar with are the ones that many others really want to learn. Once you’ve taught one subject or activity, it isn’t as hard to develop a curriculum for a second. Just remember how you learned, and then concentrate on imparting that information.
Familiarize – Once you’ve chosen your subject or subjects, no matter how practiced you may be, become intimately aware of the goals and needs of each individual you teach. In some cases, you may work off the traditional coursework that students are being exposed to, and in others you must set the curriculum. You must be able to adapt and diversify according to the demand that comes your way.
Lesson Plans – Become a master at crafting them in ways that engage and interest your students.
Establish Relationships – Always conduct yourself professionally and in a way that shows you are helpful, and have a 110% service orientated attitude. It’s equally important to form great relationships with students and parents. Always be upfront, transparent, and accommodating.
Consider Online Tutoring – Joining the online tutoring revolution isn’t for everyone, but it sure provides unprecedented means of teaching, and reaching students from basically anywhere on Earth. The biggest perk is flexibility, although getting started can be a bit time consuming since there are so many choices. There’s much more involved than simply handing out cards or paying for an ad in the local paper.

Freelance Instruction and the Virtual Classroom

Most of the tutors coming online have prior experience with in person private tutoring. They either catch wind of another local tutor making great money, or stumble upon the idea as the momentum within the online education system reaches more and more of our western society.

They start cautiously, typically without any real working knowledge of the industry, and then the desire for extra income streams and the ability to work from home drives forward. The amount of online tutoring companies entering the market makes it easy to find employment and get started with students, but that’s not the only way. You can use Skype (or one of hundreds of other platforms) and accept payments through Paypal, or even put up your own website. Here are some tips to make sure you have a solid foundation to build on.

Basic Supplies You’ll Need

No need to go overboard here and spend huge gobs of money, these are the essentials. On the other hand if this is a serious and long term career movement, make sure to get high quality products.

Computer – This is the command center of your business, and should be at least reliable, and a solid machine that is capable of performing all the tasks you will need it to.
Internet Access – This should ideally be high-speed with minimal chances for interruption.
Instant Messaging – This could range from any number of internet program choices, but to start I would suggest getting familiar with Skype.
Dedicated Email Account – This is one of the major hubs of the business, and should sound and look professional.
Online Payment Service – PayPal is the most popular, but some sites will conceal and use your own personal bank accounts as well making it much easier.
Headset – Get one that looks good and has an attached microphone you can rely on.
Web Camera – Don’t pinch pennies, get a quality web came that will display quality to those who are learning from you.

Baby Steps into the Online Empire

Once you’re set to go and the home office is looking tight and professional, it’s time to plan your approach. For those starting out, there are many choices. Going solo can be advisable, but there’s nothing wrong with going through a website with requirements either. The upside is you don’t necessarily need any formal education or certifications, although having them can help present you as a validated source for learning prior to receiving positive feedback.

Get some experience under your belt working for free or less than you will charge in the beginning (try our Trade lessons platform), learn, and then build. After you’ve made a name for yourself and gotten some experience, then setting up your own private online gig becomes a more viable option. If you have no certification, then consider getting certified by an association in each subject niche. For instance, if you’re tutoring chemistry and you’re not currently a college student with really high grades, then consider getting certified by the National Tutor Association or another accredited agency.
In the online world it is important that for each subject you teach to be as specific about the service you offer as possible. There are established sites that allow you to basically set up a profile and an advertisement, or choose from a list of subjects. The best thing to do is to start small, and incrementally take on more as you learn and get more accustomed to the work.
Most places will allow you to set your own wage, but there are others that take most of the guesswork out of the process and take a large cut of your pay. The best idea is to go with a popular site that is getting requests from potential students, and lets you communicate do business with those who contact you directly. After you get lots of traffic, you can choose to have finances streamlined and simplified for both you and your students.
If you are going to be teaching in students’ homes, consider getting some professional liability insurance so that you and your assets are protected. It’s not a requirement, but it’s also not a bad idea if you are planning a full schedule.
After you’ve chosen a site, your profile is all filled out, and you begin taking advantage of any marketing they offer, your job is to study the niche of each subject or activity. Find out what your potential students are after, and then prepare for the long haul.

Tutoring One Day at a Time

Whether it’s the real or digital world you choose or both, the moral of the story here is to tread lightly at first, learn and adjust, and then build your freelance instruction business.

Obviously there is more to everything than what’s contained in this short blog, because nothing teaches better than experience. If you’re new to the idea and interested in becoming a freelance instructor or tutor by teaching your favorite activity or skills, waste no time. Start getting experience by trading lessons with others for free here: Trade Lessons on LRNGO, or list to earn money immediately where people can find and learn from you here: Earn money teaching your skills on LRNGO.

Education Going Digital, in More Ways Than One

Posted on October 7, 2012June 2, 2014 by David C. Brake

Those claiming that the American Education system is broken aren’t looking hard enough. It’s not broken, it’s evolving. It’s molding like water to a punch bowl. Where universities are offering ebooks, teachers are getting paid online, and innovation is coming from people’s home computers. The dynamic is changing in relation to human progression. One lever of the system can’t be pulled without influencing all others.

For example, the industrialized free market economy based on raw materials is going digital. Where the money goes in America, so also will at least a part of education. Why should students pay huge amounts of interest on loans, when the rich ecommerce venture capitalists they admire say college can be a waste of time? They’re out creating online communities that connect teachers to students and teachers with teachers, sometimes raking in millions.

Deanna Jump and Freelance Education

What happens to teachers when an economy collapses and they find themselves in need? Apparently, they get crafty, and through fascinating sites like TeachersPayTeachers.com, make decent money on the side. In fact, one extraordinary teacher named Deanna Jump sold her original content teaching guides to hundreds of thousands of people. Why not? Here’s what I find interesting: if one does a search on Amazon for her name…guess what? They won’t find anything.

Ebooks are going this route as well. They’re condensing from epic novels, to small marketing/branding packages of 10-20 thousand words, and from hundreds of pages to roughly 20-60. Non-fiction ebooks are taking off like a lightning bolt strapped on an outbound meteor.

Laid off teachers, through the 21st century virtual world, are finding that they don’t need to deal with the educational system grappling with fiat currency collapse and social transition. Through solidarity, like farmers markets of the first depression era, people are sharing what they have for reasonable prices without interest, undue fees, greed, or crony capitalism.

Two Ways Teachers are Making Money Online

Teacher to Student

This could be anything from ebooks, to blogging or freelance work. A teacher could compose study guides and sell them on any number of sites that cater to parents of younger kids up through college students. They could get hired by online universities and teach from the comfort of their own home, or hired by individuals and go door to door. In fact, teachers all over the US are not only selling their expertise to students in America, but all over the English speaking world.

Teacher to Teacher

Speaking of which, English teachers are showing teachers in China how to teach English to their students through any number of ways. Through sites like TeachersPayTeachers.com, which has generated over fourteen million dollars in sales/income so far, teachers can empower one another and stay out of the clutches of a generically overregulated system that oftentimes strangles them.

Criticism Coming from the Oligarchs

It seems that this emerging and truly free market digital economic model where teachers aren’t supposed to make decent money is disrupting the status quo. Deanna Jump became a millionaire selling her teaching guides after that same establishment kept her living from paycheck to paycheck. How many teachers’ lives and classrooms did she influence in her spare time?

The top down model is crashing and burning, but as a flower will sprout up through the cracks of a decayed slice of road, human innovation will flourish. Expect to see an ebook by Deanna Jump available on Kindle soon, it’s inevitable. Perhaps a how to guide on making over $700,000 by writing the perfect lesson plan for kindergartners that can be bought all over the world.

She is one of many, a part of entire generations going online to make a living. It’s sad that teachers appear so under-valued in our society, but it’s invigorating and inspiring that they can contribute in new and innovative ways. Hopefully, these kinds of stories will cause a few light bulbs to go off in anyone’s head who has something inside them to teach.

Speaking of that, keep reading this blog. It’s coming, we promise. 🙂

Higher Education Models for Survival

Posted on September 30, 2012June 2, 2014 by David C. Brake

In my last blog, I talked about some of the challenges higher education institutions face to be sustainable. Of course no one has all the answers, but I think it’s important to start asking questions and begin thinking about some of these things. I keep hearing the face of education is changing, but will the consequences be disastrous for American Universities? If so, how will that affect the rest of us, and will it change what learning means? Will those universities that make it through the next decade do so by engaging new and potential students in new ways? Is it true that kids will need more convincing of the advantages when departing from their money and taking on new debt becomes a harder sell? (Is it true that I ask too many questions?)

By the way, for anyone who thinks I am spreading unnecessary gloom & doom about the state of higher education financials (or watering it down), here is a more emphatic economic viewpoint here: colleges that will be screwed when the student loan bubble pops, and for an extreme student perspective, try www.uncollege.org.

Meanwhile, I am going to jot down some thoughts about some of the major changes already taking place in response to the pressures burdening higher education. Some examples to explore are: free courses, grassroots education, and online universities. Additionally, I will mention a few other things that universities are doing to adapt, overcome, and survive.

Is it Socialism, or a Techno-Cultural Revolution?

So why should a fresh high school graduate go into debt when they can take free high level courses offered by high profile universities like MIT, Oxford, and Berkley? Why should they struggle to stay awake in endless lectures when they can take the class on their own terms? One answer might be for the credentials, but here are two key facts:

The perception of a college diploma has done a complete one-eighty in the minds of some in the millennial generation from their grandparent’s day. Universities have to shift their focus and what they have to offer, or they may wither on the vine of progression.

To make things even more competitive for universities, online colleges are gaining momentum, and credibility. They come at a fraction of the price, although as of yet there is still no legislation to protect students from predatory private loan lending. They do seem to be effective for some applications, even though all the trimmings have been shaved away.

No dorms, no sports, no walking to and from class. They’ve got archived classes, live and interactive classes through webinars, 24/7 tech, and possibly tutoring support, as well as virtual advising. An education in the palm of your hand? Perhaps, if you can tune out everything else around you and pay attention.

The direction that education is going with ebooks, mobile technology, and virtual reality is providing some interesting options as education is being organically socialized through technology.

Traditional Education Plays Along

If students do opt to pay for a university, who will they choose and why? Before answering this rhetorical question, I want to mention a simple truth I just came across that I found interesting. I was previously unaware of this. Apparently, statistics show the male participation rate in the workforce is at an all time low in America, while the ladies are enjoying their highest participation rate in US history. Male dominated industrialism is fading away, and there isn’t enough money floating around the service sector. Where have these guys got to turn?

In the last few days, the world has seen unprecedented riots in both Spain and Greece in response to basically one thing: unemployment. They’ve got millions of millennials with no job prospects. If any of them have access to a university, they may choose the one that convinces them it can maximize the value of their education, while minimizing investment risk and overall costs.

What Colleges Are Offering

Collaborative Social Value
High Job Placement Rates
Educations that Follow Industry Trends
Social Media Access and Integration

Many people may want jobs, but most desire full-fledged careers and they’ll likely pick the establishments that can prove they’ll deliver. To add to the scrutiny they face from students, cash strapped state and federal accreditation agencies are coming down hard as well.

With low job placement rates, colleges could lose a big part of the whole can of worms. They can have their accreditation stripped away, the ability to offer financial aid taken away, or have their doors shuttered for good. Social Darwinism seems to be taking over the educational system, and high income success rates are an important niche available to exploit.

In response, companies like Mach Interview are springing up to assist universities with higher job placement rates. Through consultation and determined methodologies, they are helping them turn things around using things like:

Online Career Profiles & Portfolios for Students
Special Niche/Industry Specific Software
Interactive Job Placement Curriculums
Working and Networking Directly with Recruiters during school.

As far as national trends go, for women the biggest push in the last four or five years has been the medical and nursing field. For better or worse, Healthcare in general in response to the aging boomer generation has manifested all kinds of localized small universities like Devry that try to cater especially to them.

For men (also for better or worse), the workforce seems to be going virtual. Our advertising tells men to join the military, learn a specific craft, or get behind a computer screen. Getting a degree in History, Literature, or General Studies isn’t pushed as hard anymore. If they choose to enter a university to pursue fields within the math and science categories, it is assumed they want curriculum tailored for a certain career path.

Where the Learning Curve Ends

Globalism, automation, nanotechnology, and virtual intelligence are changing what it means to be educated. This is happening as the collapse of old systems causes a reorganizing of the perception of work and education. Many things can be self taught or taught through peer to peer learning, universities are becoming more like clubs with social networking streams, and grassroots education is picking up steam. People are simply coming together and teaching one another. They are buying and selling quasi black market educations amidst a jobless recovery and a cashless society.

“Why pay for a class when you can download an extensive ebook independently published for free by a laid off professor on any subject for as little as a dollar?”

Plenty of universities will undoubtedly survive and live on. They will adapt to trends, make job placement rates a priority, and market the success stories that emanate from the social interaction that only comes from learning together on a campus. This is fair, and children and parents will always admire a classroom education and credentials, but will that mean the same thing as it once did? Perhaps more importantly, should it?