How to teach English online and get paid

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Are you an English tutor? Wondering which is the best way to share the knowledge you have with other people? One of the best ways to share your English knowledge is online.

With online teaching, you have an opportunity to test your creativity and teach your students the way you deem right. While teaching online, you interact with students from all geographical regions. This way, you can charge what you feel you deserve unlike when you are teaching in a brick-and-mortar class where the prevailing market in an area sets the charges. Lastly, teaching online lets you teach on the go – it can be at the comfort of your home, office, etc.

There are main ways of teaching English online. They include getting an English teaching job with online schools, posting your profile on freelancing websites and Starting a website and get your paying students.

Getting a Job

Different teaching institutions offer online teaching. These institutions need you to be academically qualified to teach English, something that the two other platforms do not require. You might be interviewed through a video call before starting.

When an institution advertises a teaching vacancy, it means they already have students and need a teacher. As long as the institution remains functional, you are assured of a job.

However, the pay may not be significant. What's more is that you're always under the rules set by the institution. You'll get paid regularly unlike when you are freelancing.

Freelance Teaching

There are so many portals where you can create a profile, make a video, set your prices, and start teaching as soon as you find the first students. In such platforms, you do not necessarily need to have teaching experience or training.

Here you will need a compelling profile, extensive knowledge in the English language and passion for teaching English

After your first student, you need to garner positive reviews to continue getting students. Besides a compelling profile, reviews will make you stand out. The major problem you will face teaching in freelance platforms is the inundated number of teachers; the moment a new platform comes up, there are thousands of people waiting to create profiles.

How to Create a Profile that Stands out

You need a good profile photo to start with; something that shows professionalism but also shows your personality. On your profile, be clear on what you offer (which niche) and who will benefit from what you suggest. With a good profile, a freelance teaching platform gets you in front of millions of students.

Going Independent

If you cannot stand teaching in an institution and freelancing is not paying your bills, you need to go independent. Doing your business gives you control of your time, teaching content, earning potential and teaching method.

Once you have started your platform and you are teaching without restrictions, you can choose a niche of your choice. If you decide to specialize in IELTS preps, you can do it. When going it alone, you will need a website that highlights what you offer, posts your flyers on local and international noticeboards such as Craigslist and prepares for your first class.

What You Need to Teach Online

In your website set up, you will need a VOIP service, a payment service, a good computer, a headset, and a cancellation policy.

For starters, your computer and internet need to be fast and reliable as there's nothing that more frustrating than having a poor internet connection when you have live classes. With a good connection, your video app such as Skype, will work great.

After you have a video app, get a payment gateway such as PayPal. The payment gateway should be fast and easy to use.

Write up a cancellation policy that explains what happens when a student cancels or does not show up for a class. Make sure that the policy is easy to understand and all your students understand it. Lastly, you will need good audio, which you get from a good headset.

Getting Students?

If you are teaching independently, you will need to get students yourself. This means stating clearly what you teach (which specific are of English), who you target and how you teach.

For instance, you may plan to teach conversational English; how are you going to teach this and which kind of students are you targeting? Without teaching experience, it might be challenging to know where your teaching career will go but be sure it will keep evolving.

Charging

The primary reason why you are teaching online is to get money. How much do you want to earn? What is the going rate for an hour in your teaching niche? Most online schools charge between $15 and $50 an hour for students learning English as a second language.

You need to create simple courses as most people looking to learn English needs English homework cheats, something to learn fast.