Firstly, I joined in Sept 2011. I haven't been active during that time; just occasionally reading stickies and journals during my coffee breaks.
At the end of this post there is some background info. But in a nutshell, I want/need to make an extra 5000€ (6600$) per year. I've got a couple of ideas, and I'm wondering how much mileage they have; whether this is the right way forward, or if it would be a waste of time.
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Idea (1)
I have a friend who owns a successful English Language school. He has recently bought the ownership rights to a bunch of PDF files. It's a course which trains people to become certified 'English as a Second Language' teachers. The idea is that trainees do most of the course as distance learning, and then go to the school for a week to do the practical component and get certified (which allows you to travel Europe, India, Middle East, China, Thailand, Japan, etc teaching English to fund your travel/lifestyle - that's why most young people get into it, anyway).
There are actually four courses, increasing in difficulty and cost, from 400€ to 800€, depending on how qualified you want to get.
However, my friend hasn't done anything with it, and knows virtually nothing about marketing - like most people he thinks you put up a website and 'they shall come'. This is where I can perhaps help by obtaining referrals. I don't have the skills yet, but I've got a better grasp of how much work needs to be done and how much money needs to be spent.
If I can persuade him to pay me 200€ for each referral, and my customer acquisition is less than 100€, then signing up 4 or 5 people per month would get me my target of 5000€ each year. All he has to do for his 200-600€ share is marking coursework, so I think it's a realistic commission - my effort will be harder than his marking, and I'll probably have to spend a large percentage of my cut on acquisition.
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Idea (2)
There are lots of ESL teachers around. For English speakers who have emigrated and can't speak the native language, it's virtually the only work they can get. Plus a lot of people are slowly travelling the world, using teaching to earn some money to get them to their next destination.
Admittedly there are loads of ways for teachers to find clients and vice versa, but you'd be surprised how many people are still sticking postcards in shop windows or relying on friends to refer them. The turn-over of clients is high, and teachers are constantly struggling to find good clients and to keep all their weekly 'teaching slots' filled.
Most clients only want 1 or 2 hours a week. So if you teach 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, that means you are probably juggling 15-20 clients at a time. It can be really hard work to maintain. But since you can get 20/25€ per hour (as opposed to 5€ an hour working in a language school), most people are doing it at least part-time.
I thought I could have a go at making a directory of teachers for my locale. Once I had 'beta' user-base of free users, I'd try charging a fee to stay in the directory - if the site is working for them, then maybe some will stay.
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Thanks in advance for any feedback, although I know many answers are going to be 'Won't know until you try it'. But really I'm in a complete vacuum. I've got no idea if I'm thinking along the right lines, or whether this is simply just not how money is made online?
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My social situation:
· Middle-aged.
· Married with one toddler.
· Originally UK. Now living in Europe, but cannot speak the local language.
· Classroom assistant in an English school.
· Wife also works.
· 20 hours/week for this, if I don't do anything else except work/family/this.
My financial situation:
· Just getting by (until now).
· 15k in the bank. We'd been saving 1k a year, but it's slowly reducing now.
My skills/knowledge:
· General ICT - slightly above average.
· Sound/graphics/video - slightly above average.
· Can slowly build websites in Wordpress/Drupal using other people's plugins (never tried to monetise).
· Know a bit about teaching; lots of contacts in the field.
· Could probably learn how to write good sales copy.
My lack of skills/knowledge:
· Coding/scripting/PHP/CSS.
· Marketing a product.
· SEO/PPC.
At the end of this post there is some background info. But in a nutshell, I want/need to make an extra 5000€ (6600$) per year. I've got a couple of ideas, and I'm wondering how much mileage they have; whether this is the right way forward, or if it would be a waste of time.
--------------------------------------------
Idea (1)
I have a friend who owns a successful English Language school. He has recently bought the ownership rights to a bunch of PDF files. It's a course which trains people to become certified 'English as a Second Language' teachers. The idea is that trainees do most of the course as distance learning, and then go to the school for a week to do the practical component and get certified (which allows you to travel Europe, India, Middle East, China, Thailand, Japan, etc teaching English to fund your travel/lifestyle - that's why most young people get into it, anyway).
There are actually four courses, increasing in difficulty and cost, from 400€ to 800€, depending on how qualified you want to get.
However, my friend hasn't done anything with it, and knows virtually nothing about marketing - like most people he thinks you put up a website and 'they shall come'. This is where I can perhaps help by obtaining referrals. I don't have the skills yet, but I've got a better grasp of how much work needs to be done and how much money needs to be spent.
If I can persuade him to pay me 200€ for each referral, and my customer acquisition is less than 100€, then signing up 4 or 5 people per month would get me my target of 5000€ each year. All he has to do for his 200-600€ share is marking coursework, so I think it's a realistic commission - my effort will be harder than his marking, and I'll probably have to spend a large percentage of my cut on acquisition.
--------------------------------------------
Idea (2)
There are lots of ESL teachers around. For English speakers who have emigrated and can't speak the native language, it's virtually the only work they can get. Plus a lot of people are slowly travelling the world, using teaching to earn some money to get them to their next destination.
Admittedly there are loads of ways for teachers to find clients and vice versa, but you'd be surprised how many people are still sticking postcards in shop windows or relying on friends to refer them. The turn-over of clients is high, and teachers are constantly struggling to find good clients and to keep all their weekly 'teaching slots' filled.
Most clients only want 1 or 2 hours a week. So if you teach 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, that means you are probably juggling 15-20 clients at a time. It can be really hard work to maintain. But since you can get 20/25€ per hour (as opposed to 5€ an hour working in a language school), most people are doing it at least part-time.
I thought I could have a go at making a directory of teachers for my locale. Once I had 'beta' user-base of free users, I'd try charging a fee to stay in the directory - if the site is working for them, then maybe some will stay.
--------------------------------------------
Thanks in advance for any feedback, although I know many answers are going to be 'Won't know until you try it'. But really I'm in a complete vacuum. I've got no idea if I'm thinking along the right lines, or whether this is simply just not how money is made online?
--------------------------------------------
My social situation:
· Middle-aged.
· Married with one toddler.
· Originally UK. Now living in Europe, but cannot speak the local language.
· Classroom assistant in an English school.
· Wife also works.
· 20 hours/week for this, if I don't do anything else except work/family/this.
My financial situation:
· Just getting by (until now).
· 15k in the bank. We'd been saving 1k a year, but it's slowly reducing now.
My skills/knowledge:
· General ICT - slightly above average.
· Sound/graphics/video - slightly above average.
· Can slowly build websites in Wordpress/Drupal using other people's plugins (never tried to monetise).
· Know a bit about teaching; lots of contacts in the field.
· Could probably learn how to write good sales copy.
My lack of skills/knowledge:
· Coding/scripting/PHP/CSS.
· Marketing a product.
· SEO/PPC.
