Singapore has often been considered one of the best places for children to get high-quality education, especially considering the advanced educational system practiced in the country. As a result, a lot of students from the overseas flock Singapore every year to try enrolling in one of the country’s well-known schools and educational institutions.
However, international students are required to take the Admission Exercise for International Students or the AEIS and pass it before they can enroll in their chosen primary or secondary school. Considering the popularity of Singapore’s educational system, the exam is quite rigorous and difficult and many had to retake it several times to pass.
Fortunately, AEIS tuition is now offered by many tuition schools and tutors throughout the country to help these students prepare for their AEIS exams. If you are a new tutor who would like to offer your AEIS tuition services for these students, you will need to establish an online presence so the parents of these international students can search for you easily.
To get you started, here are some steps you can take:
Set up your own blog
When building an online presence, a blog or a personal website is a formal way in doing it because it can serve as a place where parents and students can see your background, your offerings, and your prices.
Building a website or blog can be done in several ways.
First, you can create the entire website yourself with the help of free blogging services like Wix, Blogger or WordPress. When you sign up for these services, you simply need to edit a few aspects of the free blog that comes with your account and update it regularly. However, these sites have several limitations such as the lack of a personalized domain name, few plug-ins or widgets to choose from and the lack of better layout choices to make your site stand out.
If you are tech-savvy, you can get your site hosted in a different service and modify it to your heart’s content. A usual web hosting plan starts at $10 per month and can be upgraded depending on how much space you will need to make your website stand out.
If you have the cash to spare, you can ask a professional web designing company to handle your website’s design for you. Some of these companies would even help you host the site and ensure it remains active.
Regardless of which option you select, having a website is a good investment because your prospective students can simply check your site about your services and send their inquiries there.
Once your blog is active, simply update it with related content and share the link through social media for others to see. You can even supplement your income by using education affiliate programs. You do not have to keep updating it just to get people to notice it, making it a low maintenance investment.
Set up a LinkedIn Account
Aside from owning a blog or a website, it is ideal for new tutors to be connected in professional directories or networks to generate more leads to your service. A good way of doing this is by setting up a LinkedIn account.
LinkedIn is considered today as the much more formal equivalent of Facebook. Professionals – both employed and self-employed – use the site to connect with their co-workers and peers from other companies and businesses.
Companies and organizations also use the social media site to scout talents since the social media site enables users to upload their resume for preview. Users can even apply directly through jobs on the site or join in groups sharing the same interest or jobs, making it a one-stop-shop.
This social media site is free to use, but you can access their PRO features if you wish to use other features that would allow employers to see your profiles first or mail fellow users. LinkedIn also enables users to advertise their websites through the site, which would help drive in traffic and engagements for a certain fee.
Manage an Active Facebook account
If you want to reach a larger audience, Facebook is the social media site to use.
Lauded as one of the world’s top social media sites, Facebook is home to many types of users who would like to connect with others who have the same interest or connections.
For business and professional use, Facebook has a lot of tools available to make marketing easier and efficient. You can create a free Facebook page which would stand in as your Facebook profile, and you can use it to call in prospective clients by sharing related content of the services you offer. You can also use it as your online resume since the page can be modified to include basic facts about your background or service.
When clients find your page, they can contact you directly and chat with you. If you want to boost your engagements, you can advertise your page through their Facebook Ads program which will run based on your budget.
Just remember not to confuse your personal Facebook account with your Facebook page because you may end up posting the wrong information or something too personal.
Share Content with Friends, Family, and Colleagues
When you are trying to market your business or services, you wouldn’t be able to get a high amount of engagements immediately without people sharing your content. With this in mind, you can ask your family, friends, and colleagues to help you spread the word that you are offering your AEIS tuition service to students.
As your family and friends share your content, their network of friends and the friend chains attached to them will be able to spread the word out. Once an interested party gets informed, your social media page or your website would soon take in inquiries.
You can also ask your test students to help you make an online presence. By telling them you are looking for new students, they can use their student network to reach out to interested students and they can refer them to you.
Use SEO to Attract Audiences
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is important if you opted to create a website that lists the services you offer to students.
SEO ensures that your website can easily be searched through search engines like Google. For beginners, SEO can be tricky to apply in websites since it will involve inputting keywords on the site pages and on the main content. However, there are a lot of tutorials online which can get you started with SEO and plug-ins which you can install to determine if your site is SEO-friendly.
If you do not apply SEO on your website, it is possible that your websites will not be checked by prospective students because it cannot be searched easily.
Identify Gaps in the Market
Finally, when you try making yourself known as a tutor offering AEIS tuition for students, you must be familiar with the market you are trying to join in. Take some time to learn the ins and outs of the tutoring industry in your area and find out how the process is done. Who are the famous tutors offering the same service in the area and how do they promote their service?
When you are familiar with these factors, tailor your marketing strategy accordingly to the point you are offering a better and fresher tutoring experience for students.
Final thoughts
As a budding tutor, you must make sure that you market your services using key mediums that would help students in need spot you better. You cannot just rely on traditional word-of-mouth marketing and wait before someone calls for your services because almost everyone is now online. Parents are even increasingly seeking for online tutoring services.
By using the marketing strategies above, you will not just be able to help out students who need your tutoring, but also yourself since it will bring you closer to the market you wish to serve.
To stay competitive in the education industry, try learning these tips we have in these articles:
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