How to Become a Tutor
Teacher Resources
How to Become a Tutor
Table Of Contents
Getting Started................................................... 1
Setting Your Policies............................................ 2
Finding Students................................................. 3
Managing Your Tutoring Business....................... 4
Teacher Resources
How to Become a Tutor
Getting Started
Tutoring is a rewarding job — you help students get caught up in class, set goals, reach
their potential, and maybe even discover new interests! It’s a flexible resume-builder for
college students and a convenient side job for professionals looking for supplemental
income. But while tutoring is typically thought of as a part-time job, it is possible to
become a full-time tutor.
To begin, you’ll need to start thinking of yourself as a small business owner, in addition
to being a professional tutor. After all, you’ll be in charge of marketing yourself, finding
new students, communicating with each family or student individually, and more. With
the right marketing and business tools by your side, however, the results — enjoying a
flexible and rewarding career — are worth it.
How much can a tutor earn?
As a private tutor, you have the luxury of setting your own rates. You’ll need to do a little
research before making this call, as rates can vary depending on your location, the
subjects you teach, and your expertise. Typical rates might fall anywhere between $10
to $60 per hour for in-person tutoring, and even higher if you have extensive experience
or specialties. To research the rates in your area, try browsing Craigslist, tutor listing
websites, or salary calculators like SimplyHired and Glassdoor. (Tip: Checking out other
tutors’ posts and websites can also give you great insight into what catches your eye in
their profiles.)
Certifications
While not required to become a tutor, specific certifications can definitely help you stand
out and will allow you to increase your asking rate. We recommend checking out
the following:
National Tutoring Association
American Tutoring Association
The College Reading and Learning Association
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Teacher Resources
How to Become a Tutor
Setting Your Policies
Along with determining your prices, round out your “business plan” by thinking about
your policies and how you can market yourself.
Here’s what you’ll need to think about:
What are your areas of expertise? What sets you apart from other tutors?
What ages are you willing to teach?
How will you create your lesson plans?
What is your availability like? (Keep in mind that after-school timeslots and evenings
are the most popular.)
What kind of session lengths will you offer? (Most tutors recommend 60-minute
sessions, but some offer alternate options.)
Where will you teach — your home? A local library? Community center?
If you’re traveling to your students’ homes, how far are you willing to travel? Are there
certain neighborhoods you’d like to stick to?
Will you also offer live online tutoring? Do you want to be exclusively online?
How will you keep your students’ contact information organized?
How will you track your students’ progress?
How much notice will you require before tutoring a new student?
What is your rescheduling policy? How much notice do you need for a last-minute
cancellation or reschedule?
Determining these policies
beforehand will ensure you know
how to market yourself effectively
and answer prospective students’
questions, so that you and your
business are set up for success.
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Teacher Resources
How to Become a Tutor
Finding Students
Next, you’re going to need to fill your roster. Finding new students can be difficult when
you’re starting out, but it’s not impossible. There will always be parents interested in
helping their children succeed in class, and older students looking to prepare for tests
like the SAT and ACT. So how do you find these clients? Here are some ideas...
Offline
Fliers — post fliers on bulletin boards around your community
Business cards — hand them out to prospective students and families
Schools — contact schools to see if they have a listing
Online
Craigslist — post ads under the “Services” section of your city’s Craigslist site
Professional website or blog — create a website or blog with your information and
resources for your target students and parents
Facebook page — learn more here
Google+ account — boost your search engine rankings and show up in Google local
searches by creating a Google+ account and actively posting resources
Free TakeLessons.com profile
Get access to thousands of students every day by setting up a free
tutor profile on TakeLessons.com, the largest online marketplace dedicated to
matching students with teachers.
It’s an easy way to grow your tutoring business without spending hours on
marketing. Learn more.
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Teacher Resources
How to Become a Tutor
Managing Your Tutoring Business
Collecting payments
Once you have your students lined up, you’ll need to decide how you’ll collect payments.
Determine this beforehand, and either ask for a check at the beginning of each session
or month, or use a third-party service like PayPal. Make sure to communicate your
payment policy with your clients so they know what to expect.
TakeLessons tutors can use the payment tool within their accounts. This tool
automatically bills clients based on their chosen payment plan, eliminating the hassle of
asking (and reminding your more forgetful clients) for payment.
Monitoring your income
Any small business owner knows that keeping track of finances is crucial. If you want
to make tutoring your full-time (or close to full-time) job, you need to track financial
information. What are you making per lesson? When do you collect? What are you
projected to make?
Here are some important financial measures to track in order to stay on top of
your tutoring business:
Income per lesson
Desired income goals per period (week, month, year, etc.)
Number of lessons needed to reach income goals
Number of lessons taught per student on average
Forecasted earnings
These numbers are important because you can see what it will take to reach your goals.
You can track these in Excel and manually input information or you can use a small
business accounting software like QuickBooks.
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Teacher Resources
How to Become a Tutor
If you’re a TakeLessons tutor, the tools in your account can keep you up to
date on your earnings and progress toward your goals. You can forecast your
income potential for the year and look back on what you’ve earned so far. Keeping
this information organized is also essential when April rolls around and it’s time to do
your taxes.
Managing your schedule
Once you’ve built up a client list, you might find yourself juggling multiple schedules and
lesson plans — it can be stressful for even the most accomplished tutor! In order to stay
organized, you’ll need to find the tools that work best for you.
Some of the tools teachers use include:
Smartphone calendar
Google Calendar
Outlook
Pen and paper
However, juggling multiple schedules using these tools can often lead to frustration.
An online solution like TakeLessons can help you manage all of your students in one
place. With just a few simple clicks you can create recurring lesson times, reschedule
individual lessons, and quickly communicate the changes to all affected clients.
Tutors listed on TakeLessons.com can also display their open availability to potential
students, which allows for easy online booking.
Evaluating your business
As time goes on and your student roster grows, it’s smart to continually reevaluate
your business plan and marketing strategies to make sure everything is running
smoothly. If you’re having trouble finding new students in your immediate area, you
might want to consider online tutoring. To become an online tutor, all you need is
a solid Internet connection and an account with an online video platform, such as
Skype. It’s a convenient option for both parties, cutting out long commutes — simply
log on and get straight to teaching! Tutors listed on TakeLessons.com can include this
as a location to show up in nationwide searches, extending your reach even further.
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Teacher Resources
How to Become a Tutor
Lastly, make sure you are evaluating your prices, studio policies, and schedule on a
yearly basis. If you’re spending most of your day driving to students’ homes all over
town, consider rearranging things to make the most effective use of your time. If you’re
feeling burned out, don’t forget to include a day off in your availability!
Extra Resources for Tutors:
Hotchalk's Lesson Plan Page: Access thousands of lesson plans created by
teachers, for teachers - completely free.
Thinkfinity: Another resource for lesson plans, Thinkfinity features a blog, discussion
boards, webcasts, and articles for inspiration and teaching tips.
Prezi: Create engaging and memorable presentations for your visual learners with the
easy-to-use templates, and access them from your computer, tablet, or smartphone.
TeacherTube: Consider this the YouTube specifically for teachers! Find educational
videos and submit your own to this community-driven library.
Tips for Success: How to Create a Teacher Profile That Sells: Writing an attractive
teacher profile can be tough. “How to Create a Teacher Profile That Sells” will help
guide you through the process and you help put your best face forward.
The Tutor House: Business management tips, teaching ideas, and organization
strategies are covered in this helpful blog.
Top 16 Technology Tools for Teachers: Learning how to become a tutor and moving
toward a full-time career doesn’t have to be a pipe dream. Put your skills and talents
to use, and find the tools that work best for you!
Wondering how TakeLessons tools can help you grow and manage your tutoring business?
Learn more here.
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