This is just an idea, and it may need a lil’ tweeking. I am a stickler for discounts. I never shop without coupons. Discounts equals repeat customers, and you get more than the usual number of new customers a month, I know this number varies for everyone. It would be nice if the instructors offered discounts on tutoring for students that lived in their state, sorority sisters, fraternity brothers, etc….

When I was in High School and College ,I braided hair to make extra money, and I gave discounts to my classmates and co-workers and that is how I built my clientele base. I gave referral discounts to clients that referred me to their friends.

I am only referring to Tutoring Sessions and not classes. I know we have the SuperPass, but it is not valid towards tutoring.

I hope I am not offending any of the instructors on here, I know that this is a business for you. But I am a consumer and what can I say… I like a deal.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you.

since i like Americans and respect them, i am offering my discount to all Americans; one hour 1:1 session for only 10$, this is the least fee per hour on Edufire, that is my discount to the people i like.

I did like these offers before, and I think to do them
again in shaa Allah(God willing). I think it’s a good deal and attracts some students.

I am not offended Kellie…. yet, with all the work teaching involves (let’s not forget about the prep time tutors have to put in), I disagree with the idea of discounts…. most tutors here offer their service for the minimum hourly rate of $10…. I do believe it’s quite a deal! Provided that they give $1.50 to eduFire for the use of the platform… with $8.50 in their pockets for each hour of W-O-R-K, I do think it’s more than fair for the students!

Hello! I’m kinda new here. How much is the fee to eduFire? Thanks!

Hello Carla!

Welcome to eduFire! There is no fee to join this wonderful community as either a tutor or a student. There also is no charge for tutoring classes here on eduFire.

To attend classes as a student there are three different price points on eduFire. There are free classes, which anyone can attend. There are classes that have a fee, which you must pay to attend. The price for these classes are set by the individual tutor, and they vary according to who is holding the class.

There is also the SuperPass option which allows you to attend as many classes you want for one low fee of $29 per month! The only limitation placed on the SuperPass classes are they must have the SuperPass logo.

Take a look at the picture below. Hopefully this will help you understand how to determine the cost of any classes you are interested in here at eduFire!

If you have any questions please feel free to message me at my eduFire inbox. I noticed you have taken or are scheduled to take the tutor orientation classes here on eduFire. Most of your questions will be answered in these sessions. However, if you find you need some additional help please feel free to contact the tutors in the group Tutors-Helping-Tutors. The tutors who have joined this group have volunteered to help new tutors get acclimated to the eduFire community.

I look forward to learning more about you and your tutoring services here in the forums!

Ron Smith
Please follow me on twitter!

I think that it would be nice to see a link to a discount area on edufire for the instructors that ARE offering specials for Tutoring Sessions. And that discount section would make those instructors stand-out. Say me for example I am on here to learn Spanish, but if I saw a discount for a Tagalog Tutoring Session I would be interested. Teachers would have students who otherwise would have never considered taking their Tutoring Sessions. A lot of businesses acquire new customers and longtime customers via discounts. (Again I am speaking of the Tutoring Sessions Only.)
Any feedback is appreciated.

according to edufire, we can not accept less than 10 $ per a session for one on one

Kellie. I have discounts. Check my Profile

Kellie – it usually works “give to get”… maybe if you have the ability to bring paying students to a teacher they might be willing to give you a discount of some sort. If you just want to see what their teaching style is like I recommend that you take one of their free classes or an introductory they may be offering.
Most of the teachers here seem to be doing this as a job … they are really good at what they do and offer a real value for the small fee that is charged. they seem to be making their money on volume rather than individual fees so every little bit is a help and a lot of prep goes into creating each session.
If you find a teacher that you think that you really would like to experience and you can’t afford them….then contact them and see if there is something of value that you can offer… you never know… maybe you can market them on your face book or maybe you have friends or clients that would like their service or maybe you can put a link to their class on your web page… the possibilities are endless and some teachers might be open and others not so much… The idea is that you need to be giving in order for them to want to give to you…
All the best
Alaia

Alaia- as a co-owner of a business, I am speaking from experience, you OFFER discounts to GET customers. This was directed to the instructors who may be new, for those that have not held a session in several months or those that may just want to increase their profit. As a business owner these reasons make sense to me.
Whether customers see my business online,phonebook,newspaper advertisements, word of mouth, good customer reviews, A+ grade from the Better Business Bureau a discount always seals the deal!
And if it’s volume you’re talking about advertise a special and watch your calendar fill up.
I understand all the prep that comes with being a teacher, I was a student for 8 years and I have a sister that is a teacher. The idea is for a business to succeed and sometimes to do that you have to bend a little.

Kelli! Nice to speak to you regarding this topic. Several weeks ago when I announced my class From Start-Up to Profit in 8 Short Weeks I expected to be panned for my marketing strategy which I named, Perfect Attendance Has It’s Rewards! This strategy gives students who enroll and have perfect attendance an opportunity to earn two free one-hour sessions to discuss anything they need to discuss in regards to marketing their online tutoring business. However, since coming out with this strategy to promote this eduFire SuperPass class I have noticed several others start to utilize this strategy.

I am very happy to see this develop!

Recently I gave a marketing class called, Super-Charge Your Online Tutoring Income With Proven As-Seen-On-TV Marketing Techniques. I spoke about the habit that many tutors get themselves into which is giving free classes as a means to hopefully entice students to try the classes and then buy more of the same types of classes.

While offering free classes is one of the best ways to promote your services on eduFire, this approach seldom works because it lacks any type of commitment on behalf of the student or the tutor. I pointed out that when products are marketed on television in what I refer to as the ASTV Marketing technique, customers are rewarded for buying the product, not given a free one first to try in hopes they will buy it later.

This is how I am structuring my free or discounted class promotion. It offers a discount in return of the student attending every class. There are two chances to earn a free session, and those who attend every class will have two free classes awarded to them.

Will it work? I am not sure. However there are seven people currently enrolled and I haven’t started really marketing the class as I will on the next week. It starts October 10th, which is 18 days away. Perhaps it will prove to be successful. If so, maybe other tutors here will initiate similar marketing strategies to promote their upcoming classes.

I certainly hope so! To see the original class announcement please click here.

Hey Kelli,

Awesome topic! I’ve read through this thread and have seen some very good points being made. First of all, I would like to point out that I do understand what Lyne means. Nobody works for free. My session rules are that if you pay for 3 sessions of mine, I will give you 2 free! :)

Now, I know that somebody will disagree with me on that, but for my full opinion on free sessions, go here because I really don’t want to write all of that out again. :P

Also Carla, I would like to say welcome to EduFire and anything that you need will be summed up in the orientation class and by what Ron just said.

My overall opinion on this topic is that discounts are good, but tutors and students need to get something in return. ^^

Austin Blair

P.S. Ron, awesome picture! You’re just chilling… :D

Hi Austin! I decided to get my money’s worth this year for my Halloweeen costume!

I don’t know in what type of business people are, but I am in the service business and each of my hours devoted to work has to be compensated financially…. otherwise I couldn’t keep up with my mortgage, my car, my utilities, etc…. When someone sells goods it’s a different story: take the clothing business for instance, retailers can make up to 200% profit so…. a 50% or 75% discount won’t hurt them much…. And many times, they will raise prices on tags and then offer discounts…. I used to be a fashion designer when I was younger and a ski outfit that we would pay $15 from the manufacturer would be sold $35 to the distributor who, then, would sell it $55 to the retailers…. at the end, the consumer would pay $200 and more…. the same ski outfit going on sale for $100 was still bringing profit to the retailer.

My point is: classes and courses are not goods …. I have a business that is very healthy and I set my hourly rates based upon the market I do target…. and I never heard anyone complaining or asking for discounts/packages…. In my field of expertise, my services aren’t the cheapest but they aren’t too expensive either and they only reflect the quality of my services.

Hey guys, I’m just flying by to say: awesome points, there are some more here as well: http://www.a1articles.com/article_601132_27.html

@Kellie: it’s cool your suggestion and it doesn’t sound offensive. According to your profile you are a stay home mom with 2 children, so it really makes sense having these coupons that you like so much. Well, I definitively would look at giving out coupons to benefit children on learning a foreign language because they are brilliant beautiful little sponges. My kid is almost 2 years old now and I got to enjoy my coupon for the Kindermusik Classes with him when he was only a few months old!! Cute!!

By the way, if you home school your children why not join this class here: http://edufire.com/classes/8908-home-school-resources-to-help-your-child-learn-a-new-language

Bottom line: it’s up to every single tutor to work with coupons or not, right? I like the word “pass” better than “coupon” personally. It sounds more VIP-ish ; )

Cheers!!
Angie

Even though my husband and I own a couple of businesses which affords us the oppurtunity for me to stay home with our children. I am a consumer first whether I am ordering supplies for our business or buying groceries for home. Bottom line I always shop where I get quality for a good price and spread the word about it. Earning potential is unlimited can you see possible students look at your positive feedback and then see that you are offering a discount…. session booked! This is based on a individual basis of course, so if you already have more students than you can handle and would not like more then this is not for you. Every one on here is a consumer whether you’re buying a microwave or a new car you go to the place that is offering the better deal.

Have you looked around this site it’s page after page of competition, and you have to do something to stand out on this site. I see both sides in a positive light instructors gain NEW students, REPEAT frequent students and in return students can earn incentives towards free sessions, I don’t understand how this can be looked at in a negative light.
I like what Ron is talking about STUDENT INCENTIVES……. maybe that should have been my title…lol

Unfortunately, I have to disagree that classes and courses ARE goods. Anything that can be SOLD is a good, such as the languages (exclude native speakers) or whatever skills you are on here selling, you paid to learn it and now here you are selling it.

All feedback is appreciated.

I agree with Ron (looking great) when he says “there are two chances to earn a free session, and those who attend every class will have two free classes awarded to them.Will it work? I am not sure.”
And I do agree with Lyne (beautiful as always) “classes and courses are not goods” unless we are talking about language softwares when then (yes) I would gather my coupons, gift card and spend them away. : )

Yes, the tittle “student incentives” sounds better. I think by now…. tutors at edufire are quite aware of which strategies to take to attract and keep more students.

@Kellie: It would be nice to see your suggestion here: http://www.edufire.com/ideas (or click on the Idea Board on the bottom of this screen) that way it can be voted.

Cheers everyone!
Angie

@ Angela…. I don’t know whether I’m beautiful or not (it’s questionable!) ;-) BUT, I do know for a fact that I am a very successful business woman in my field of expertise. Yet I’m fully aware that the marketing strategies I do use in my practice would never work here…. and time being money…. :P

@Lyne: I totally agree and I just sent you a message. : )