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PBirm123
Joined: 08 Apr 2013
Posts: 31
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 Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:44 pm Post subject: Is It Stupid to Advertise & Brand Your Tutoring Services |
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I have a Z-Visa and permission from my school to do extra tutoring on the side, but would it not be very wise of me to register a .com and try to brand my services?
I eventually want to segue into better-paying jobs(such as Corporate classes or developing English content for websites), and it will be much easier if I have a professional reputation and an actual business.
On the other hand, I'd have to assume advertising a .com and running a business that isn't legally registered isn't smart to do in any country, much less China.
Am I being a little too paranoid, as I'm a small fish in a very big pond? Or is there an easy way to register my 'business' without dealing with excessive bureaucracy? |
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GeminiTiger
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 999
Location: China, 2005--Present
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| Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:22 am Post subject: |
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You want to brand your amazing and original tutoring services for 5 kids a week?
edit: I'm actually being serious. What do you honestly hope to accomplish by branding some tutoring services besides bringing unwanted attention?
Last edited by GeminiTiger on Tue Jul 16, 2013 5:57 am; edited 1 time in total |
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mwaltman
Joined: 07 May 2013
Posts: 78
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| Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 5:11 am Post subject: |
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| Wow, with all the idiots that ramble on about trolling behavior, there has been none of that yet. You ask a ridiculous question regrading the desire to advertise your illegal activity. You actually ask the question. What makes you think you are immune to a country's laws? |
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vikeologist
Joined: 07 Sep 2009
Posts: 600
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| Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:02 am Post subject: |
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I gave the OP's question some thought this morning.
On the whole I think the moderate risks would outweigh the minimal advantages.
I don't think you will be seen by businesses as having a professional reputation and established business. My instinct is that this is not how things work here. You don't need a website or 'brand'. You need relationships.
I do understand where you're coming from, but I think you should concentrate on getting some clients, and build a reputation and client base from there.
I'm sure you can realise that there are some good reasons why the government won't let you start an unregistered and black market business, (and maybe bad ones as well). By all means get business cards with your name and 'English Teacher' on. If at some later point you want to start a business, I would go about it the right way or not at all - for a number of reasons. |
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dean_a_jones
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 1151
Location: Wuhan, China
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| Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 1:02 pm Post subject: Re: Is It Stupid to Advertise & Brand Your Tutoring Serv |
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| PBirm123 wrote: |
| I have a Z-Visa and permission from my school to do extra tutoring on the side, but would it not be very wise of me to register a .com and try to brand my services? |
If you mean establish a website you can send potential clients to so they can see your experience or whatnot, then it is just an online CV. This is not such a bad thing, perhaps adding that professional touch (however superficial) that setting up a website brings to certain circles.
| Quote: |
| I eventually want to segue into better-paying jobs(such as Corporate classes or developing English content for websites), and it will be much easier if I have a professional reputation... |
You build that reputation, in China at least, by word of mouth and getting happy clients who are happy to let you add them to your (now online) CV. But as before, the web presence might help, especially on the latter point.
| Quote: |
| ...and an actual business. |
Yeah, this is where it gets a bit tricky, I guess. The closer it is to a CV just posted online (not in form, but in function) then you are fine I suppose. I don't really see a 'business' in what you are doing, but that is the kind of thing that grows with success; until that happens, I would not be too worried. It sounds like self-promotion to me, like handing out a business card. If suddenly you are much in demand and it is less a website among millions and you are stuffing money into a large sack, then expect people to pay attention. But that will be because of the sack, not the website. |
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LongShiKong
Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 1082
Location: China
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| Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: Is It Stupid to Advertise & Brand Your Tutoring Serv |
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| PBirm123 wrote: |
| I eventually want to segue into better-paying jobs(such as Corporate classes or developing English content for websites), and it will be much easier if I have a professional reputation and an actual business. |
Is it stupid? Like any tool, it depends on how you use it and how well you do your homework. Hope you realize the dot com bomb exploded when people woke up and realized that paying for webpages was not the same as paying for a full page display ad.
Having said that, some ELTers argue online is the direction the industry's is just beginning to take. Despite, or perhaps a result of Apple's arm-twisting of the major ed publishers, there's still a lot of techno-dread among them... and many teachers, even some here who see no value in using Skype to connect EFL classrooms around the world. To see what possibilities exist, you may want to Google a video and discussion on it elsewhere started by a guy called 'Brendan': 'Top 5 Benefits for Teaching English Independently'. The video is about tutoring privately but as others have done, he's since ventured online and that's what's being discussed. |
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dean_a_jones
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 1151
Location: Wuhan, China
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| Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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| mwaltman wrote: |
| Wow, with all the idiots that ramble on |
Was just thinking the same thing... |
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Bud Powell
Joined: 11 Jul 2013
Posts: 1736
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| Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with Vikeologist. Just get a business card printed up with your photo and your phone number on it saying in English and Chinese that you teach English to whatever level you are capable of teaching.
Caveat: corporate teaching/training is a giant step away from private tutoring and class room teaching. You will be expected to function in a business-like manner and REALLY have your act together. Expect to make your own lesson plans based upon the corporate student's ability and needs, and the HR manager's expectations. These are often miles apart.
Good luck. |
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LongShiKong
Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 1082
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 2:29 am Post subject: |
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| Bud Powell wrote: |
Caveat: corporate teaching/training is a giant step away from private tutoring and class room teaching. |
For where you are, definitely. But this is China.
I actually worked at a kids school franchise in Hefei with a corporate trainer from S.Africa. It was a pleasure to work with him--he was a quick learner, and a natural in the classroom with kids of all ages. Since we were looking for additional revenue (too few students), he proposed and planned the kind of corporate English training program that made a lot of sense and frankly, something that head office could never get right and eventually scrapped altogether as did most schools. Chinese management just couldn't see the distinction between teaching kids and adults---if you're going to teach adults, you've got to be accountable. |
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GuestBob
Joined: 18 Jun 2011
Posts: 270
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| Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 2:40 am Post subject: Re: Is It Stupid to Advertise & Brand Your Tutoring Serv |
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| dean_a_jones wrote: |
| You build that reputation, in China at least, by word of mouth and getting happy clients who are happy to let you add them to your (now online) CV. |
This. You'd be better off taking out a gym membership somewhere posh than spending cash setting up a website unless you want to grow this into something bigger. |
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LongShiKong
Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 1082
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 3:05 am Post subject: Re: Is It Stupid to Advertise & Brand Your Tutoring Serv |
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| PBirm123 wrote: |
| Am I being a little too paranoid, as I'm a small fish in a very big pond? Or is there an easy way to register my 'business' without dealing with excessive bureaucracy? |
Most foreigners just partner up with a local to help them hoop-jump their way to legitimacy. I was tempted to just tutor privately with an F visa--yes, illegally--but didn't want to take the risk. |
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Bud Powell
Joined: 11 Jul 2013
Posts: 1736
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| Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 3:51 am Post subject: |
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| LongShiKong wrote: |
| Bud Powell wrote: |
Caveat: corporate teaching/training is a giant step away from private tutoring and class room teaching. |
For where you are, definitely. But this is China.
I actually worked at a kids school franchise in Hefei with a corporate trainer from S.Africa. It was a pleasure to work with him--he was a quick learner, and a natural in the classroom with kids of all ages. Since we were looking for additional revenue (too few students), he proposed and planned the kind of corporate English training program that made a lot of sense and frankly, something that head office could never get right and eventually scrapped altogether as did most schools. Chinese management just couldn't see the distinction between teaching kids and adults---if you're going to teach adults, you've got to be accountable. |
Actually, I've taught university and corporate in the U.S. and in China. If you found no difference between teaching college students and adult working folks, hats off to you.
I found that teaching ESL corporate in China (three separate companies) had different goals and objectives from college and university class room teaching. At one company, the managers and HR person wanted to promote a company-wide English-speaking atmosphere within the office staff and to prepare salesmen to go abroad. (Two actually came to my home town). The curriculum changed almost every session, but the goal was to get the English -fluent sales people and engineers accustomed to making small talk leading up to the sale and/or discussion of the engineering problem. That was quite a leap from my college-level students whose mastery of English was a bit deficient. I also found that corporate work often centered more around recall of acquired skills than teaching rudimentary things such as grammar and vocabulary. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 3:52 am Post subject: |
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OP
Use it as an electronic business card and embed some teaching videos and pics of you alongside local landmarks.
Host in the US and use a development template as available from firms like Big Commerce and it shouldn't cost a mint. They host as well for under $30 pm.
Another plus if you use a url that isn't your name but more generic like guangzhouenglishtalk.com, is the possibility of onselling the business when you want to quit.
This idea of building up goodwill and capitalising on it came up a few weeks ago when someone wanted to sell a client list.
There was much criticism from people who don't understand that the FT's way out of our current serfdom is through these entrepreneurial approaches.
Go for it! |
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Bud Powell
Joined: 11 Jul 2013
Posts: 1736
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| Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 4:04 am Post subject: |
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Use it as an electronic business card and embed some teaching videos and pics of you alongside local landmarks.
I just wonder how long it would take for his website to be easily searchable. SEO is a skill that takes a long time to master.
Another consideration is how long the OP intends to stay in one area. If he's gone to another city in a year, that could cause some confusion and questions concerning reliability. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:15 am Post subject: |
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As an electronic business card it would partner an actual card.
If the SEO repeated the name of the OP a few times at appropriate places ie beginnings of site paras, it would come up pretty readily on Google
If the card is handed out in sufficient numbers it will direct people to the site.
Having a .com would be a big deal for Chinese and a two-page website would enable a lot more information (Chinese as well as English) to be put out there.
If OP's locality has public English Corners on Saturdays that would be a place to distribute cards. Get your students to distribute and pay them with a Big Mac and a chance to hang out with their fave teacher.
Moving city?
Sell the site and business and ditto repeato somewhere else. |
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