There has never been a better time to become a private tutor. The demand for tutors is increasing and the ability to tutor online makes it even easier.

There are a number of advantages to becoming an online tutor. There is no need to travel to your pupil or for them to travel to you. This means that you don\’t loose time travelling and your potential student base increases massively. You no longer have to restrict yourself to students in your town or city, you don\’t even have to restrict yourself to your country.

So What do you need to do to get started as an online tutor?

Each of these sections could have a thousand word article each written about them. The following are just a summary of the things you need to consider.

What To Teach

Obviously there are some subjects which suit online tutoring better than others. For example it would be extremely difficult to teach something physical such as dance online. Instead it is better suited to academic subjects such as maths, English, foreign languages or computer programming etc…

You need to know the subject you are teaching inside out. If you are okay at something, don\’t tutor in it. You need to be of a high standard, higher than the levels you are going to teach. If you were to become a traditional teacher you would need a degree in a subject in order to teach at high school. You will need to sell yourself to potential students so some formal qualification would be a big advantage. You may be a qualified teacher in the traditional sense, this too would be a big advantage.

You could become a general tutor, teaching lots of subjects. I would suggest concentrating on 1 or 2 though. It would be much easier to build a good reputation teaching your best subjects as opposed to spreading yourself too thin with many subjects.

It is also important to teach something you are enthusiastic about. If you do not really care about your subject, this will show in your teaching.

Technology

If you are going to become a professional online tutor you need to invest in the right technology as these will be the tools of your trade. If you a builder you would not make do with a few old spanners and a blunt saw. So an online tutor cannot succeed with an out of date computer and software that is not fit for purpose.

A good computer can be bought for a few hundred pounds. I will not go into specifications here as they change every few months but just look online at what\’s on offer from the likes of Dell etc…

There are a number of specialist software packages designed for online tutoring at very reasonable prices. You may feel that something like Skype video chat is enough, but I would seriously suggest looking at the specialist software.

You Are A Business

You may be running a small business from the comfort of your own home, but it is still a business and you need to treat it like one. You need to appear professional, get a business email address, don\’t use your personal one. Get some business cards and learn to sell yourself.

There are legal requirements to running a business, including dealing with tax returns, national insurance etc… You should consult your local government website for more information. In the UK, the requirements are quite simple and there are only a few forms to fill in.

Promotion

You may be the best tutor in the world, but if no one knows you exist, you won\’t get any pupils. It is important to promote yourself constantly. As you are an online business and operating over a wide region, I would concentrate on online promotion.

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Category: Education
Keywords: online tutor,tutoring,become a tutor,remote tutor,virtual tutor,tutoring online