These past few months, I have been teaching on Wyzant—-a site that connects students and tutors for online and in-person lesson tutoring. I have been teaching private lessons for some time now, and it has always been a rewarding and flexible way to earn some extra income doing something I truly love. There is nothing quite like one-on-one tutoring, and, while the pay is lower than when I teach a private class, it is worth it to see how students grow and learn when they receive individualized instruction and live feedback.

Here are some of my insights from my first few months on Wyzant. Are you thinking of tutoring online? Let’s connect—comment below!

1. Parents and prospective students read your profile. In almost every lesson, a parent or student has mentioned a specific qualification or note from my profile, so I am glad I took the time to brainstorm and carefully edit a thoughtful Wyzant bio. Clients want someone who is professional, qualified, and caring, so take your time writing a bio that shows your expertise and personality. It will pay off! If you need help with this, I would be happy to guide you, so just comment below or email me (artfuleducational@gmail.com) and we can meet online.

2. Reasons for tutoring vary. Adult learners are usually there because they truly want to be. Sometimes this is true for children as well, and other times it is because their parents want them to receive tutoring. Talk to your students and try to find out their reasons for being in tutoring, so that you can best design their learning experiences to suit their needs. If a child does not really want to be there, you might have to work a little harder to make the experience more exciting and engaging for them. One way to do this is to share information about your life, and how the subject you are tutoring has improved your life in unexpected ways. This could make it more appealing to a young person who hasn’t necessarily chosen tutoring for themselves.

3. Parents who hire tutors care deeply about their child’s success. It is no secret that tutoring can propel a student’s learning beyond what they could do on their own or with regular classroom learning. That is a big part of its appeal—-more progress in less time. For this reason, tutoring is an invaluable gift parents give their children. These parents are to be valued and supported, because they are in a bit of a vulnerable position where they want more help for their child but can’t provide it on their own, so they have to pay someone else to do it. This might mean they have many questions, concerns or ideas about the tutoring. This is all normal and to be expected! While parent questions can take up a lot of time outside of actual tutoring sessions, remember that the parents have the same goal that you do—-for the child to learn as much as they can. A parent is always to be valued as an integral member of the child’s learning team, so always be patient and available to answer parents’ questions.

4. You can ask for reviews and referrals. At first I was a bit shy about this, but then I remembered that I am adding value to my students’ lives and providing a high quality service that is hard to find! If you treat your students very, very well by preparing challenging and thoughtful lessons, delivering energetic and engaging lessons, and offering specific, actionable feedback on their work, you should feel empowered to ask for reviews and referrals! Wyzant has a simple review process, where you can easily request a review with a pre-written email, and you can even click a button to ask students to refer you to their friends and family, though, if they really love your lessons, they might want to keep you all to themselves! :)

5. If you bring new clients to Wyzant with a referral link, you keep 100% of your fee. Normally, Wyzant takes a 25% cut of all earnings. This seems like a lot, but it is actually much lower than other sites, and is a small price to pay for connecting you to clients around the country who you otherwise would not have had access to. If you post your Wyzant referral link on social media or even print out flyers and post them around your neighborhood, you can keep your entire fee, which is wonderful, because of point #6….

6. You set your own rate. This is an incredible feature because you can charge a fee that is reasonable and appropriate for your skill level and experience. Because I have advanced degrees, lots of teaching experience, a teaching license, and years of being an active contributor to my field, I charge a higher rate for my tutoring services. Wyzant is one of the few sites I have seen where tutors can set their own rates, and where clients consistently pay tutors at higher hourly rates. This indicates quality and preparedness of the tutors, who are working for fair pay. I also raise my rate each time I take on a new client, because the more clients I have, the less time I have, so that time becomes more valuable. I also recommend that at the beginning you set your rate lower so that you can build up your reputation on Wyzant with reviews and hours logged.

7. Tutors apply for jobs by messaging students/parents. Every day, I spend a good amount of time browsing through the available jobs in my subject area and applying to any that seem like a good fit. I take my time to tailor a personal message to each prospective student. Some write back and most don’t—-be prepared to apply for many, many positions. When the right student comes around, it will all be worth it! Parents and students can also reach out to you, but in my experience that is less common, maybe because my prices are on the higher end.

   
   

   I hope these tips help you get started earning a side income on Wyzant. It is always good to have multiple income streams, and Wyzant allows for convenient teaching from home. Let me know about your tutoring experiences in the comments!

Book an art lesson with me today by visiting my Wyzant profile, and browse the many talented and dedicated tutors on the site!