Following Jon’s post about the fabulous new eduFire competition here are some ideas about how to market yourself.

- Social networking sites: Facebook, MySpace etc.

- Forums: this doesn’t involve spamming, nobody likes that, but simple things like ensuring you have a signature linking to your eduFire profile page. This will show up on every post you make! In addition if you come across people discussing languages make sure you make a post!

- Join non-language forums! It isn’t only language forums where people want to learn languages, check out travel forums perhaps expat community forums like Britishexpats.com. There are hundreds of community forums where people have moved country and need to learn a new language.

- Blogs, either comment on existing blogs or start your own! Travel blogs, food, cookery, relevant blogs such as book reviews etc. Keep using your personal eduFire url!

- Your own website! You don’t need to be an expert or know anything about html nowadays, places like www.weebly.com give you professional looking sites using just drag and drop features, check out mine to show you what a little effort can produce! www.theitalianteacher.com – as you can see, you can use the eduFire logo which can be linked directly to your profile! Best of all, it’s all free!

- Similar to websites, you can have your own pages like Yahoo360 and Microsoft’s Spaces! These are automatically searchable in search engines too!

- Youtube! Create free lesson videos and they will come! People love free stuff so post some lesson videos and always use your eduFire link on the more info space for each video!

- Be active on the eduFire forums!

Remember the more work you’ll put into marketing yourself, the more lessons and students you get! These are just online ideas, don’t forget you can advertise anywhere in your local community too. There may be a whole bunch of students that are in need of your services just around the corner!

If any of you would like one-to-one help with any of the above, such as creating a website with Weebly.com or generally get started with your marketing please send me a message, we can schedule a date and time and I’ll be more than happy to talk you through it! :)

In the meantime if any of you have any other ideas on how marketing, post them here! The more the better! :)

I am upset : Why always YouTube ? My videos are on GoogleVideo. Screugneugneu !

Screugneugneu = French onomatopea meaning discontentment.

O.K. here is my two cents. I think there should be other options for setting up tutoring lessons and payment. For instance, I work for the government and they pay me once a month. It is much easier for me to manage my money if I pay all of my bills once a month. Like my gym membership gets automatically paid by my bank “bill pay” account right after the first when my check is deposited. This is likely to be the case with retirees and other government workers.

So I am thinking, why couldn’t I pay in advance once a month and schedule a month worth of lessons? It would make the tutor’s schedule more predictable and how nice would it be for them to have some income they can count on? For me, I just budget in my tutoring session, like everything else. I know how much I can afford and I am less likely to cancel, reschedule or just not show up for a lesson. It is just a thought and I am not sure how EduFire would accomplish it but I think it is probably a good goal to work toward. Naturally, this should only be an option. I think you still have to be flexible enough to allow for drop-ins or people who don’t want to be on a defined schedule.

Marco,

Great list, there are so many great places online to market yourself. I think somebody else mentioned it on the forums before, but business cards are really cheap or even free at sites like vistaprint. You never know who you’ll run into looking to learn a new language. Also setting up google alerts and responding to relative blog posts and include a link to your tutor profile is a good way to increase traffic.

Is anybody on Facebook?

Facebook.com is a social networking site (for anybody that doesn’t know). It’s actually as private as you want it to be in that you can put as much or as little information about yourself as you want. Though it is useful to at least to use your name! ;) People you know then ask to be on your friends’ list.

In addition to it being a huge network of friends and colleagues, you can join ‘groups’ and people on your friends’ list can see what groups you belong to.

There is an eduFire group that Jon created and I think it’ll be really cool if we all joined it and then were on each other’s friends’ list too! This will not only help spread the word about eduFire but also highlight to people that you could be their tutor!

Check it out! Just search under Groups for edufire! Feel free to add me (you’ll see me as a group member with a photo of Steve McGrarrett from Hawaii Five-O as my profile pic! lol) and we can get the network growing! :)

Great idea, Marco! You have terrific ideas. I’m sure the EduFire team appreciates your ideas. A mind like yours would be a terrible thing to waste. You also have a great sense of humor. I laughed at your H5O Steve McGarrett photo humor. Thanks for making us all laugh on occasion. Humor has great power, so therefore, you are empowered.

Hey Candy!

Steve McGarrett was great! Hey and what about the theme music to the show? Fantastic! ;)

Are you on Facebook? I think it’ll be great if we could all network together. Somebody on my friend’s list joined eduFire as a student because she heard of eduFire on Facebook so we know it works!

I intend to do that and soooo much more! I just need to find the time between personal events…travel, moving, death in family, and tutoring. I will appear in Facebook soon, with a picture of any female heroine I can find an image of, or I will draw it, be assured of that! See you later, “Steve”! Great ideas!!!

Yes time doesn’t stop does it! Sorry about your sad news, my condolences Candy.

Look forward to your female heroine picture on Facebook! :)

Well, Marco, unless I can come up with a better face than mine, as I am a heroine to my family and friends…I think…I will have to go with my own photo. Guess, what! I joined myspace and I now have another place on which to display my sense of humor! Go to: www.myspace.com/candyh4evr if you want to learn more about this heroine! I still have to get on Facebook though as a heroine. Where did you find your picture of Steve? I want someone funny but strong. I’ll have to look for (buscar) a picture. I must do that now.

Thank you for your condolences, Marco. But out of sad comes good. I get to see people I haven’t seen in a very long time.

You’re right Candy, there’s always a silver lining if look for it. Good for you. :)

I just found the picture of Steve on Google Images. :)

Wow your myspace page looks great! I like how you’ve used your eduFire link to take visitors straight to your eduFire profile page! Cool.

Okay, Marco., I was afraid to use the picture I wanted as I do not have a copyright to it, so I put my own painting of someone on my facebook page. Hope you can see it.

Thanks, Marco. I am a quick learner at times, especially after a cup of tea with milk and a snack. After 8:00 p.m. it’s all downhill! How do we start a group for edufire on Facebook?

Yes I’m not too sure on copyright issues, though I see many people with very strange pictures so I think if things are in good taste there’s no problem.

eduFire already has a group of Facebook. :) Search for it under ‘Groups’ and you’ll see the logo. Then simply join! You’ll see Steve McGarrett there too! :)

Now am on Facebook and seeing that there are only five members it would be nice to have more people sign up. Networking does help. Good picture of Steve, by the way.

Great Candy! :) Thank you for your message there too! :)

I am on Facebook as Tina Solar (I know, creative). Also try www.ryze.com. For Tutors who are Moms you can join www.mompack.com. It is a FREE networking yahoogroup for Moms in business. The yahoogroup link is on the homepage I believe.

Be sure not to spam. Whenever you join an online community be sure to introduce yourself. Focus the introduction on you as a person, with a little blurb about your biz (tutoring). It is not so spammy when you do this.

Great websites Tina, thanks! :)

Good point about not spamming too.

I’m going to add you as a friend on Facebook so we can increase our eduFire network. :)

Oooh there are two or three Tina Solars! Have you joined the eduFire group yet Tina? If you join that I can add you from there! :)

I think I found you on Facebook Tina… least, I hope it was you! lol :)

Are there really 3 Tina Solars? That is strange, they are not me either. I have only joined once. I have not yet joined the eduFire group. I have not developed the habit of going to Facebook regularly yet. I will check it out Marco!

A great way to market yourself as well is to create a custom signature with a link to your tutoring page. You would do this on forums that allow linking in signatures, again, not to spammy.

I’m going to Facebook after work and joining the group

Fabulous Stephanie! I’ll add you to my friend’s list too! I have the Steve McGarrett picture! ;)

Great that you’re going to join. It’s really starting to grow already!

Awesome, I will do that later today