Marketing Your Tutoring Business

You don't need a large initial investment of money or a great innovative idea to start a tutoring business and make it successful.  Tutoring can be one of cheapest and easiest businesses around since it doesn't require any equipment or even an office to work out of. However, you do have to market your tutoring business if you expect to get clients.  But you won't have to spend a lot on advertising - here's how to market your tutoring business with very little money!  
 

Giving Your Tutoring Business 
a Professional Image

The first thing you need to realize is that there is a difference between your tutoring business looking professional and advertising your tutoring business. It's important for your business to look as professional as it can and that has more to do with appearance than substance.  

Here are two quick and easy steps that will make your tutoring business look very professional to clients, even if are tutoring from your home.  These steps cost some money, but the benefits gained are well worth the costs.

First, get a phone number for your tutoring business and hire an answering service to take your calls.  Many answering services offer a package deal where they will provide you with a phone number as well as answer your phone for one monthly fee, and it's usually less than $100 a month.  It's OK to do this when you first start a tutoring business, but as soon as you have some clients, your tutoring business should have its own phone number.  Why?  Because many parents who are thinking of hiring you will look in a phone directory to see if your business is listed.  Being listed in phone directories gives your tutoring business the apppearance of being a real business that has been around for a while.      

Second, get envelopes, invoices, and business cards printed with the name of your tutoring center on them.  Don't use a computer to do this - go to a local printer to get it done.  It should cost $200 or less.  Be sure to get both regular-size business envelopes and return-size envelopes for clients to mail payments back to you.  The business cards should have your name on them as well as the name and phone number of your tutoring center. 

Promoting Your
Tutoring Business

It's OK to advertise your home tutoring business by advertising in local papers, but don't overlook using organizations you probably already are a member of to get the word out. These organizations, your church for example, have members who already know and trust you. And some of these members are also parents of children who would benefit from tutoring. Even if they don't have children who need a tutor, they probably know parents who do and they can recommend your services.  Word of mouth recommendations are the best advertising for your tutoring center.

Also, join the local Chamber of Commerce, even if you have to drive 40 miles to attend the meetings. Be sure to use the name of your tutoring business when you join and list yourself as "President" or "Administrator" or whatever title is shown on your business cards. After you join, attend all the meetings and volunteer your services to help out on all the Chamber's activities.

People who belong to a Chamber of Commerce are almost always business leaders that earn better than average wages. Most of them are parents who can easily afford tutoring for their children. Best of all, tutoring businesses are not usually represented in Chambers of Commerce, so your tutoring center probably won't have any competition at all there. If you make yourself known and welcome, you can earn a very good living just from the tutoring business you get from your local Chamber of Commerce.