What Are Your Unique Selling Points as an Online Tutor?

USPs, or Unique Selling Points, help something to stand out from everything around it. People look for them when shopping for a car, comparing hotel rooms, and even choosing a language tutor. 

When considering ways to present yourself to new students, it's always a good idea to remember the other tutors who are in the same position as you. Are you a fluent English speaker with lots of teaching experience? That's great, but how many other tutors can say the exact same thing?

Instead, ask yourself what you have that others may not. If you were a student, what would catch your eye and make you give someone a second look? What would you pass by or not find interesting?

In this article, we'll provide some tips on things you can do both before and during a lesson to stand out from the pack and catch students' attention.

Profile and tags

Let's begin with your profile. To help you stick out, focus on your specialities and interests. Things like certifications and special training are good to mention, but you don't have to limit yourself to academic skills.

Take advantage of the tag system to highlight your hobbies. Are you a martial arts expert? Do you love visiting World Heritage Sites? Do you have every word of the Harry Potter movies memorized? Share it! You never know how many students may share your passion and book a lesson with you because of it.

Miscellaneous points

Aside from special skills and interests, there are even more places to uncover USPs.

Some students may choose tutors because of their clear and easy-to-understand pronunciation. Some may enjoy a sense of humor, while others prefer a more business-like lesson that focuses on the material and less on friendly chat. Even speaking with an uncommon accent can help you to attract students.

Basically, it's not just about special qualifications — anything that makes you unique can help you as a tutor. Pay attention to the types of feedback or compliments you get from your students. What you hear from them may help you to discover some USPs you might not have been aware of.

Introductions and videos

Next, there's your self-introduction. It may be tempting to overshare and give details on everything you think students want to see. However, you should resist that urge: simple is usually better. Just like a pop song that stays in your head, aim for an introduction that is punchy and memorable. This also applies to your introductory video.

Speaking of which, for both your video and profile picture, make sure they stay updated and accurate. While an update every year or so is a good idea in most cases, it's especially important if your appearance has changed significantly from the photo on the site.

Basically, make sure students have a clear idea of who they're going to meet when booking your lesson. Surprises can be nice, but online lessons usually aren't the best place for them!

Be consistent 

So far we've covered things you can do before a lesson to stand out. Now, let's move to the lessons themselves.

Consistency is a very powerful tool for attracting regular customers in any industry, and online tutoring is no different. Even if a student has one fantastic lesson with you, it will be difficult for them to get excited about regular lessons if the next one is totally different. 

Like a popular chain restaurant or your favorite hair stylist, people feel comfortable when they know what to expect. So it's important to always conduct each of your lessons with the same amount of energy, focus and professionalism, whether it's the first lesson of the day or the last. This is obviously much easier said than done, especially for long shifts or double-bookings. However, feedback from students tells us this is noticed and very much appreciated.

Wrap-up

Rather than trying to compete directly with every other tutor for attention, a better strategy is to identify your unique traits and focus on them. After all, no one else has the exact same experience, skills, background and perspective that you have.

Combine that unique mixture with a consistent level of quality lessons and you have a strong foundation for success as an online tutor.