Blog Archives

How to Write a Business Plan: A Guide for Self-employed Teachers, Tutors, Coaches, and Trainers

When I was a college student, I used to tutor a few kids in Japanese as a way of earning a bit of extra money. After about the third lesson, I realized that I had no idea what I was

Posted in Getting Started, Operating Your Business

Three Essential Productivity Tips to Jump-start Mondays

You’ve just spent a relaxing and fulfilling weekend with your family and friends. You even capped it off with a Sunday-evening movie. You are feeling pretty good. Life is great. Then Monday comes… If you are a self-employed teacher or

Posted in Operating Your Business

Entrepreneurship is Ours Too

I recently watched a video of the new flying car from a startup called Kitty Hawk, and it got me thinking. So much of the business news in Silicon Valley comes from tech companies that it is easy to forget

Posted in Growing Your Business, Marketing

Who stole my ambition?

Since I haven’t updated the SET blog since February, I thought this would be a good way to get started again. There comes a time in every entrepreneur’s life when everything that was once exciting, invigorating, and motivating becomes repetitive,

Posted in Operating Your Business

What if I get sick? – A Flu Season Survival Guide for Self-employed Teachers

Last week was bad. Really bad. I caught a really nasty bug that took me out for almost 7 days. That’s a long time for a self-employed teacher. If teaching and tutoring is your full-time job, 7 days is almost

Posted in Operating Your Business

How to Market Your Tutoring Website – Part 1

Many teachers and tutors seem to expect instant traffic to their websites. If I can just get my website online, the thinking goes, that will be enough. This is simply not the case. It can take months or even years

Posted in Marketing

Three Marketing Keywords Tutors Need to Succeed

To successfully market your tutoring or teaching services you need three things. Before I tell you what they are, I want you to take a moment and think about why marketing is difficult. Almost every self-employed teacher or tutor I’ve

Posted in Marketing

Sell something today. You deserve it.

If the biggest barrier between you and a (much) more successful business and a (much) bigger paycheck is the minor discomfort of telling someone about your services, shouldn’t you take that chance? Today’s goal: Get just 1 person to say

Posted in Marketing

The Puzzling Nature of Business

My wife and I just finished assembling a 1500 piece, black-and-white puzzle. Simultaneously frustrating and rewarding, the parallels to business are remarkable. Here is what I discovered: 1. Some pieces take a few seconds; other pieces can take a really,

Posted in Operating Your Business

How can I get my students to pay me on time?

All self-employed teachers like to get paid. So, what can you do to make sure that your students pay on time and how do you handle a student who has not paid his bill? We have found that the easiest

Posted in Operating Your Business