Why social media feels hard for tutors

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You have committed to getting started on your tutoring business. You have seen the posts that tell you that you can have the best tutoring business that there is, but if people don’t know about it, it will never grow. You will never succeed.

So, you commit to posting on social media.

You sit down ready to start.

A blank-screen stares back at you, mocking you, reminding you of all the things you don’t want to say, but it doesn’t help you by inspiring you of what you should say.

Instead, it fills you with fear of sounding salesy, desperate, unprofessional.

Although I often still find myself in this position, I’ve found over the past 14+ years since I started Clara James Tutoring some of the best posts I have written have purely been based up content that can simply help parents understand how they support children.

Start with the parents you want to help

As a tutor, who do you want to help? What subject, what age range? What are their struggles?

Start by talking directly to these parents. So, for example (this is an example I use a lot) if you are looking to support primary school children who struggle with maths, a good place to start might be offering some simple advice that they, as parents can use at home to support their own children.

Perhaps suggest the finger trick for the 9x tables, or writing it down and always having it with you as a prompt. Suggest they look for patterns that their child can use (i.e. the answers in the 5x table always end in a 5 or 0).

These things might seem obvious to you, but that’s possibly because you work with it every day. To a parent, it may be a lot less obvious.

You might suggest a helpful website for resources or share a simple resource that you use that they could possibly use as well.

It doesn’t have to be complicated, in fact it’s often better when it’s not. But this is a simple, non-salesy way to put your head above the parapet. If you’re scared that people will shoot you down, say that these are things that you have found that have helped you.

You’re not claiming their backed by scientific research or anything, just things that you’ve tried and have helped. A personal observation is much harder to dispute.

Five things tutors can post about

There are other things you can post about such as common questions asked by parents: my child struggles to concentrate on her homework? How can I encourage my child to read? If I struggle at maths, how can I help my child with their homework? (These are just suggestion, but hopefully they might give you some inspiration)

Like I’ve just mentioned in the previous section, offer practical learning tips, bust unhelpful myths, show behind the scenes of tutoring life, and share progress stories or wins with permission.

Sharing behind the scenes can seem very mundane and completely irrelevant. Who wants to see my desk or what I had for breakfast? I used to feel very corny doing it (and I still do, but it’s got easier with practice). During one of the summer’s heatwaves, I sat at the dining table downstairs rather than my usual desk. I posted that I’d moved location because I was waiting for the carpet fitters. I sent a view out the window (it was awful with the duvet and bedding which I had brought down from the bedroom to get it out of the way) looming into the edge of the photo, and it actually got quite a few likes and comments.

I also posted a photo of my hot chocolate from a spa day that my oldest daughter got me for my birthday, again it got a lot more interest than my carefully created graphics. So, I’m learning that if that’s what people want to see, show them…

Also, it shows the human side of you. You don’t need to get too personal, but showing resources that you have been creating, what you have achieved that day, etc brings people into your world and gives them an insight into who you are and what you stand for.

5 social media post ideas you can use this week

Feel free to tweak these or use them at will, but I hope they will give you some inspiration to help get you started:

“How can I help my child revise without arguments?”

“Three ways to practise times tables without worksheets.”

“What happens in a first tutoring session?”

“A phrase I never say to a child who is struggling.”

“The school topic parents ask me about most often.”

How often should a tutor post?

This will be completely personal to you. It is better to commit to just posting 2 or 3 times a week and being consistent, than waking up one Monday morning posting a thousand things and never been seen again.

I’ve slowly built up to 3-5/day but it used to be once a week if I was lucky. I have always, however, chosen one theme per post, and I often repeat topics in different formats when they are useful.

Increasingly, if I have a post which has done well, I might republish it a month or two later. Sometimes it will do better, sometimes it will fall flat. It doesn’t matter. I also use those posts as inspiration for things that people are looking for.

Be more inspired by actual families who are actually looking for tutors rather than family or friends (my ex-mother used to be my biggest cheerleader on social media, which was lovely/kind of her, but was never going to help me find any students and if I ever did a look-a-like audience as a meta-ad, I didn’t want it to be filled with people like her, for the simple reason she wasn’t my “ideal client”). And if you don’t get any likes or comments, don’t give up because a lot of people often look without reacting and it’s only when a comment is made later down the line how many people actually saw it.

How to turn posts into enquiries without being pushy

Offer a gentle call to action, such as inviting people to send a message, download a helpful resource, join your email list, or enquire about a session (though don’t feel obliged to put a call to action at the end of every post). Be helpful, I think is the concluding point. It doesn’t have to be salesy or pushy, just offering them the next place that you can help them, if they want to seek more support from you. No commitment, no pressure.

I hope that this has been helpful. As we concluded this with talking about calls to action, I shall offer you this one: If you’d like regular content ideas, encouragement and practical support as you grow your tutoring business, come and join our tutor membership. It’s a friendly place to get clear on what to share, build confidence in promoting your services, and take the next step without having to figure it all out on your own.

Here’s the link if you are interested: Join our tutor's membership group

Good luck on your journey as a tutor.