Attracting Students

Lessonface's mission is to help teachers find great students and students find great teachers. To achieve this, our system runs on its own "energy" points. The Lessonface energy system awards points to teachers based on certain actions. These actions generally have to do with attracting and keeping students. The more energy a teacher gets, the higher he or she appears in the lists of teachers on the site.

The end goal for you is to get students and lessons, of course, so with that in mind, here is how we suggest working the system for maximum success:

Getting the Ball Rolling: Book Some Lessons

Step 1: Recruit Students

Students are browsing Lessonface looking for teachers. But if you sit back and wait for bookings and messages to come to you, you may wait awhile. Two ideas to get started a bit more quickly:

• Inquiries: You can be proactive by reaching out to students & parents via our "Inquiries" tab. Students (and parents of students) can find teachers by browsing our listings and reaching out to teachers directly, or by completing a short form describing what they are looking for in a teacher at this page. Click "View Open Inquiries" from your dashboard (visible only to approved teachers) and you will see the requests and the links to respond to them. Inquiries don't always result in a student or even a response, and that can be discouraging. However, students on Lessonface who do end up booking spend several hundred dollars on lessons on average, and in lots of cases spend several thousand dollars on lessons. In other words, it's likely worth it to put in some effort in trying a few times, even if they don't all work out. If after a few tries you're still not getting responses, tweak your message. Make it friendly. Make it engaging. Try writing them the student more than once (probably no more than twice without a response though). Copy and paste your message as you go, but make sure you customize it a bit for each new inquiry, based on what they express they are looking for. Try it again with someone else.  Put a reminder on your calendar or phone to check back every so often, as inquiries are posted on an on-going basis.

• Reach Out to Students You Already Know: Reaching out to students that you already know is another excellent way to get the ball rolling on Lessonface, and ensures you start teaching with some friendly faces (and reviews). If you have some potential students in mind, you can invite them to lessons by clicking the “Invite a Student” tab in the teacher dashboard, or by just sending them your referral link (find that link at https://lessonface.com/outreach). You could also include your profile in an email notifying your past students of your online teaching availability, or post about teaching online to your facebook/instagram/twitter/snapchat/youtube following (make sure to tag us, so we can help amplify the message to our accounts). You can set up rates just for your existing students using price lists. For your existing students who you recruit to Lessonface you can utilize our secure booking system, easy recording options, reminders, and policy enforcement tools while giving your profile some momentum at only a 4% fee rather than the 15%.

Step 2: Be Responsive to Messages and Trials

When a new student signs up for a lesson - especially if it’s just a trial - send a message to confirm and to quickly say hi. All students who you have reached out to, or to whom you have reached out (via the inquiries tab, for instance) will be in the contacts area of your profile for you to send a message to. This helps to keep the energy up between when a trial is booked and when the student needs to actually log in, a key moment in getting the student fully in the door, so to speak.

Similarly, if a student messages you, be sure to respond, and keep the ball rolling by asking a simple question and/or suggesting a time to meet for a first lesson or a trial lesson. For example, "Thanks for reaching out about beginner banjo lessons, Sandra. I'd love to help you meet your goals. Take a look at my availability calendar and book a time, or if none of those times work let me know when is good for you and I can send you an invite."

During Your First Lesson

Step 3: Focus on the Student’s Needs and Goals

In your first lesson with a new student, focus on the students’ particular goals (or, in some cases, the parents’ goals for their child). Suggest a strategy for achieving those goals, and check in with the student to make sure he or she is on board. Toward the end of the first lesson, lay out some small, clear-cut objectives for the student to work toward on his or her own time.

Step 4: Suggest Follow-Up Lessons

Suggest a time for a subsequent lesson or series of lessons, thereby establishing a continuing relationship with the student. When signing up for future lessons, the student will have the option of booking recurring weekly or biweekly sessions, or setting up a subscription; encouraging them to do so during the first lesson will help to establish a longer-term commitment. Besides helping you build up an income stream, recurring lessons boost your energy score, lifting your profile in the site listings. 

After Your First Lesson

Step 5: Get Reviews

Getting good reviews is paramount to gaining energy points and credibility on Lessonface. If you are confident that your first lesson with a new student went well, encourage the student (or the student’s parent) to write a review of the lesson. Positive reviews go a long way in bolstering your online teaching practice.

Lessonface automatically sends a review request to the student once the teacher has confirmed that the lesson occurred. They’ll need to be logged into Lessonface to fill out the review. Lessonface only accepts reviews from real students who have taken lessons on Lessonface.

More Promotional Ideas

Use the Online Media Kit

You can promote your teaching on Lessonface to local schools and community organizations, on online forums, social networks, your own website, even Craigslist. Go to "Promo Tools" in the green menu to find your referrral link and to create a widget with your Lessonface stats.

Post to the Lessonface Forum

Post on the Lessonface forum and help us get the conversation going there. You'll gain energy points with each post.

More Ideas & Gain Access to the Lessonface Social Channels

Do you make videos, write, or make illustrations? Reach out to [email protected]. We love posting about your expertise on our social accounts, where we have a pretty substantial following. If you go viral - and we have had several teacher videos do so - it can result in some advertising revenue, as well as student inquiries. 

We want you to be successful on Lessonface. With our business model, we're only successful when you are. So we are aligned in this goal!  Have other ideas for how we could better help promote you? We'd love to hear about it. 

Here's to your online teaching success!