An Honest Outschool Teacher Review from a Top Earning Teacher Part II

My first blog post about teaching on Outschool brings in a lot of questions about the potential to earn income from teaching online. I have been teaching online since 2008 and currently earn more money teaching online than I have ever made, and this was prior to the pandemic. So, my honest review wasn’t just me trying to show proof but also to provide tips on how to make it a possibility. While the tips I am going to share can be applied to teaching on Outschool, they can be applied to any teaching platform, even your own, if you plan on developing your own content. The #1 question I get asked is if money can really be made teaching online. The answer is always the same, “Yes!” However, this isn’t a get-rich overnight pyramid scam. It is actual work, and you are going to build your brand as an educator.

Building Your Brand as a Virtual Educator

1. Develop Content

Determine what you want to teach.

What are you going to offer?

What are you passionate about teaching?

From there, develop the content that you are going to utilize to teach that topic.  I have basic outline lesson planning template in my Ebook Teaching Online Guide Bundle. There are several elements to consider when developing a course from the objective(s), class time, and material. Make sure the content is beneficial and useful. All classes do not have to be academic. Enrichment classes and social circles sale just as well. However, you want to ensure that the content is still rich. If you want to include presentations become familiar with different formats (ie. GoogleSlides, Canva, Nearpod, etc). If you want to incorporate activities become familiar with multiple options (ie. Kahoot – this one is really popular). Your audience will appreciate the effort you put into producing the content as it is being used to teach your class which leads into the relationship you are building with your audience.

2.Build Relationships

Get to know your students and their parents (that paid for their child to attend your class). This also goes for those of you teaching adults or children on other platforms. Depending on the company, you may not always have access to parents. That’s okay.If their child loved your content, they’ll be telling their parents about you. Find a way to stay in touch and keep them updated on new classes. Find out what your student’s interests are so you can have a conversation with them beyond the content. Allow them to build relationships with one another too if you are teaching group classes.

3.Consistency

Be consistent with your offerings and try to provide the same class experience. This can be difficult sometimes when you’re first starting out because you’re learning what works best, you’re adjusting your courses based on feedback, and everyday isn’t going to be your best day. If my daughter is taking a class and the teacher starts off super dynamic and engaging but becomes monotone and dull afterwards, I won’t be enrolling her in anymore of that teacher’s courses. If you are coming from a platform where you have to have forced enthusiasm and that’s not truly your personality (VipKid), it will show. You will burn out. You can watch as many YouTube videos as you want of other teachers, but it is important to develop your own teaching style that shows your personality. I develop my content and adjust as needed. If you don’t want to or don’t know how to develop content, you can take free courses online and/or pay for someone to develop the content for you. Building relationships is as simple as taking an interest in your students and sending a quick message to parents about their child. Being consistent is key! Stay focused and on track. It takes time to build a brand. In addition to these three tips, these next tips are going to be more specific to Outschool and a bit more biased as they’re from my personal experiences as a teacher AND parent. These tips are based on the questions I get asked the MOST.

1.Should I teach one learner? Yes! My first class had one learner. His father was a homeschool co-op manager and enrolled the entire co-op after I taught his son. One of the mom’s that was a part of the co-op had a really popular mom/homeschool blog. She ended up doing a brief write up about my class (which I didn’t even know about) but it helped catapult my class to even more enrollments. Another reason to teach one learner, you’ll be able to practice and assess what works versus what doesn’t work. That means you can adjust the class before the next set of learners. Also, you already had the block of time set aside to teach, so teach! You might only earn $7, but that’s more than $0. From a personal perspective, when a teacher has cancelled a class due to low enrollment, I remove the teacher from my favorites list and won’t enroll in future courses. This goes back to being consistent. I am going to assume that future classes may be canceled and if my daughter is looking forward to that class, there are chances it won’t happen. *If a class works best with multiple learners, at least offer to reschedule.

2. What should I do if someone copies my class? Nothing! Why expend the energy? Yes, it doesn’t feel good but if all they copied was your course description, they can’t copy YOU.I have had my courses copied. Are these teachers as successful as me? No, they’re not even teaching anymore because they can’t copy how I engage, they can’t copy my personality or expertise. If they STEAL my material, that’s another thing. I work hard developing original content. That, I will expend energy on with a quick cease and desist letter. Think about it this way, if someone copies your course, they aren’t going to teach it the same way, their students (and parents) will see they aren’t capable of delivering what’s offered. The “copycat” didn’t have the skill set to develop their own course, their ability to teach it is going to be lukewarm at best. Sometimes, classes are just really similar too. I am not the only person teaching essay writing and I love when my students take classes with other teachers teaching the same subject. That teacher may engage with them differently or give them a tip I’ve never thought of.

3. What should I do if I get a bad review? Let it go! I have nearly 1000 reviews. There are three stars, I don’t know how many are four, but the majority are five stars. So, it’s probably easier for me to take that attitude of letting it go. I received a two star review once, and I responded PRIVATELY to the parent that I would take in account her feedback. The purpose of the review is to let others know about your class. It can also be used to help you improve. Sometimes, the feedback isn’t going to help because there are changes, they want (“I wish the class was longer than two weeks) that aren’t really feasible with the content you’re providing. Sometimes, it will be helpful (“A handout would be really helpful for my student to review”). A bad review won’t end your class. When I buy things online, I look at reviews and it’s easy to note when the review is more personal and less about the course content and instructor.

4. What should I do if my class was bad? This is the time to build relationships. Send a message to the parents and let them know what you felt went wrong. I had an off day once and it translated in the classroom. I sent a message to the parents and offered a makeup class, refund, or a discounted class. I KNEW I wasn’t at my best. When I have new classes, I never know if it is going to go as planned even when I practice with a group of students. When I have new classes, at the end I send a message asking the students and parents what they liked and disliked. This helps build the relationship. I’m showing that I want to deliver the best content. It also helps me adjust the content, so I am delivering the best class.

5. How can I get more enrollments? Teach those classes with low enrollments! After the class is over, send a message, “I really enjoyed having you in class today! I am looking forward to seeing you again. If you really enjoyed the class, tell your friends.” And, offer an incentive. This is the message I sent to parents when I first started, “I really enjoyed having ________ in class. I offer 15% for Part II and if you refer a friend, you can receive(whatever discount I was offering at the time) for any of my listed classes.”

Now, this final point is mostly personal:

6. Can I end my class early/late? You can, but I wouldn’t recommend it. If I enroll my daughter for a class from 2-2:30 and we have plans at 3, I’m getting impatient wondering why she’s still in class Yes, the class can be amazing and so engaging that the students and teacher don’t want to part, but I have things to do! If the same class ends at 2:25 and I paid for a 30 minute class, I’m going to be annoyed. If I went to the movies, paid for my ticket, and the last five minutes of the movie cut out, please believe I’m getting a full refund or free tickets. This is why it is important to be consistent. Practice your classes. If a class seems like it is going to end early, always have a backup activity. If it feels like it is going to go over, make sure the objective of the class has been covered and announce it, “We’ve covered the needed material but there is a final thing I want to go over. If you have to leave, you’re free to go. If you can stay this will just take ___ minutes.” If you’re thinking about entering the world of online teaching get ready to develop content, build relationships, and to be consistent. You are becoming a brand and if your expectation is to make thousands in your first month (you might), you’ll be disappointed if you don’t. If you’re interested in teaching online for Outschool, use my referral code and send me a message. If you have children are interested in taking classes, use this code to earn a $20 credit.