You’ve got a head full of knowledge and the desire to share it with the world.
There’s just one problem: you don’t want a regular teaching job—either because it doesn’t fit your lifestyle or you don’t want to jump through the necessary hoops.
We totally get it, which is why we think you should consider online teaching. This format will put your career in your own hands, help you connect with more students, and earn a good living.
So, in this article we explain what online teaching is, why it’s so beneficial, the types of online teaching jobs available, and how to build an online teaching business from scratch. Let’s go!
Table of Contents
What is Online Teaching?
Online teaching is the process of educating students through digital channels.
Teachers can deliver live classes, pre-recorded lessons, or a combination of the two. Either way, they must use an online platform to connect with students. This allows them to deliver lectures, distribute learning materials, answer questions, and otherwise facilitate the learning process.
Online teaching is still relatively new, but many teachers have jumped on the bandwagon. It makes sense, online teaching is wildly beneficial. Let’s talk more about that…
Why Teaching Online Can Be So Beneficial
Interested in teaching online? This medium is beneficial because it allows educators to bypass gatekeepers, reach a wider audience, and enjoy more flexibility in their day-to-day lives.
No Gatekeepers
No one can prevent you from becoming an online teacher.
Sure, specific institutions can decide not to hire you to teach students online. But if you really want to share your knowledge via the internet, you can find a way to do it.
This is true if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree, a teaching certificate, or even prior teaching experience. All you need is the desire to educate others and the will to succeed.
Much Wider Reach
Online teachers can connect with more students because they aren’t restricted by geography.
Students can attend classes from Los Angeles, Berlin, and Sydney at the same time. All they need is a stable internet connection to participate in your lessons.
In other words, online teaching will give you the chance to build and educate a global community, which could have significant personal, professional, and financial ramifications.
Way More Flexibility
Finally, an online teaching career will offer you a more flexible schedule.
When do you want to work? Who do you want to work with? And how many hours do you want to put in each day? If you build an independent teaching business, you can decide these details.
For example, you can set your own schedule and only teach live classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Or require students to fill out an online application form before enrolling in your classes; then only accept the people who meet your predefined criteria.
Note: if you teach online courses for an existing school or business, you probably won’t be able to set your own hours like we described above. BUT, you won’t have to commute to a physical classroom to teach, either. So, you’ll still enjoy more flexibility than traditional educators.
Types of Online Teaching Jobs Available
There are multiple ways to teach (and get paid!) online. Which job opportunities are right for you? Let’s explore a few of the more common teaching paths you can take to earn money:
Subject Tutor
You can tutor elementary, high school, or college-age students on specific subjects via the internet. For example, if you’re a native English speaker, you can teach English online—to kids in America or abroad. You can also teach math, or science, or any other subject that you have knowledge in. Doing so will help you earn money and do meaningful work.
Staff Teacher
If you have the proper credentials, you can become a staff teacher for an online school. This will allow you to teach students in an online environment that resembles an in-person one. Some staff teachers teach elementary school. Others focus on high school students. Still others teach college courses. But most of them are able to earn a steady stream of income from teaching.
Business Coach
You don’t have to teach traditional school subjects to become an online teacher. You can offer live and online courses to professionals instead. The goal? Help your students advance in their careers. For example, you can teach professional development webinars to help entrepreneurs improve their mindset. Or sales reps level up their selling abilities. It’s up to you.
Online Courses Creator
Want complete flexibility? Sell online courses. This will allow you to create educational content once, then sell it for as long as said content is relevant. This route takes a lot of upfront work, but has significant revenue potential. Think about your current skill sets—copywriting, or coding, or knitting, for instance. Then create online classes around your chosen topic.
Independent Online Teacher
Last but not least, you can become an independent online teacher. Doing so will enable you to teach live classes on whatever topic you want. You’ll also enjoy ultimate flexibility because you can set your own hours, choose your students, etc. If you’ve retired from a traditional teaching career, or have a lot of experience in a certain field, you can potentially make a lot of money (and find a lot of fulfillment!) as an independent online teacher. Just realize that you’ll have to do a lot more than just teach. You’ll have to build a full-fledged business. Here’s how to do it…
How to Build an Online Teaching Business From Scratch
So, you want to build an online teaching business, do you? You’ve come to the right place! This five-step process will get you up and running in no time. Here we go…
1. Lock Down the Basics
First, decide what you want to teach and who you want to teach it to.
You might want to teach traditional school subjects to adults, so they can pass their GED exams. Or teach solid business principles to new entrepreneurs, so they can launch their startups. Or teach parenting techniques to moms, so they have better tools to raise their kids.
Now ask yourself, “How often do I want to teach these classes?” Choose a frequency that aligns with your preferred lifestyle. Just realize that the more you teach, the more money you’ll earn.
Lastly, make sure you have a reliable computer, a stable internet connection, and a quiet area to deliver lessons. You can’t teach online classes without these three things.
2. Choose an Online Teaching Platform
You need more than a reliable computer and a stable internet connection to teach online. You also need an online teaching platform. That way you can connect with students in real time. Or record your lessons for future viewing. Or both. Luckily, there are plenty of options out there.
You’re probably familiar with Zoom and Google Meet. Both are low-cost ways to meet with students. But if you’re serious about online teaching, we suggest a more robust platform.
Give ClickMeeting a try. Our platform is used by tens of thousands of people in 125+ countries around the world. Why is ClickMeeting so popular? Because it’s super user-friendly, includes industry-leading features, and won’t cost you an arm and a leg to use. Win!
When it comes to features, Clickmeeting offers custom branding, screen sharing, live polls and surveys, moderated and private chat, social media streaming, webinar recording, and more.
Start your free 30-day trial of ClickMeeting today to see if it meets your online teaching needs.
3. Create Engaging Lesson Plans
Think about your favorite teacher in school. Why did you love that person?
It’s probably because they had an engaging teaching style that made the subjects they talked about come to life. You should aim for something similar. Here are a few tips to help:
- Get Your Students Involved: Don’t just lecture your students, ask them questions. If applicable, give them in-class assignments too. This kind of interactivity will do wonders for engagement and ensure your students actually enjoy your lessons.
- Use as Many Visuals as Possible: Images and videos are more engaging than plain text. By incorporating them into your lessons, you’ll capture your students’ attention.
- Allow Students to Collaborate: Encourage your students to work together. You can do this in online teaching situations by using digital breakout rooms. Basically, you separate small groups into their own digital classrooms so they can go over learning materials together, brainstorm project ideas, or whatever else you want them to do.
4. Market Your Teaching Business
If you want students, you have to market your online teaching business. That way your target audience, i.e. the people you hope to educate, know that you exist.
There are a ton of different marketing channels you can use. For example, you can post on social media. By sharing tips and tricks that relate to your subject matter, you can gain a loyal following. And who knows—some of them might take you up on your offer for online classes.
You can use email marketing too. Just shoot your subscribers a message every time you open up enrollment to one of your classes. This approach is simple and highly effective.
If you have extra money in the bank, consider paid advertising. Platforms like Google and Facebook will allow you to reach a highly targeted audience with your message. After a bit of trial and error, you should be able to create ads that convert at a consistent clip.
The point is, there are many (many!) ways to market yourself as an online teacher. Do your research. Find ways that work for you. Then commit to using them to find students.
5. Analyze and Update Your Approach
Once you start teaching, you need to analyze your business.
Are you able to market your classes effectively? Do students enjoy your lessons? Are you making money? If the answer to these questions is no, you need to update your approach.
Entrepreneurship is a never-ending learning experience. You need to keep your finger on the pulse of your business; then adjust your strategies based on your findings. Will it take a lot of hard work? Absolutely. But it will be worth it when your lessons are in high demand.
Want to Earn More Money? Teach Online!
Online teaching is a wonderful way to connect with more students, earn extra income, and build a career that suits your personal lifestyle. Now you just need to go for it!
Remember, you can’t teach online without a reliable online teaching platform. ClickMeeting is the tool you need. Our solution is easy to use and super powerful. But don’t just take our work for it. Sign up for your free 30-day trial to experience the power of ClickMeeting for yourself.
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