I'm taking a look at this video and find myself feeling bad about recently losing a client because I did not know him well enough, and pushed him a little too hard and he panicked and ended the lessons. This was absolutely not a linguistic issue; it had to do with the anxiety provoked when trying to speak English in conversation. The first half of our lessons were always me talking him down from the anxiety that I think was largely provoked by his perfectionism, and I had to continually emphasize that there is no perfect communication so he needed to accept that he could make mistakes but still communicate what he needed to communicate. Unfortunalely I misjudged this on one occasion and his anxiety was provoked in a way that he found unbearable, and so I lost a client and my guess is that he has abandoned English altogether :(x2 I'm currerntly floundering a bit with another client, but now am getting down on paper exactly what I know about his needs (probably still not enough) after about 10 hours of lessons together, and am going to try to apply the info in this video to our situation and see if I can be as precise as possible about it. Both of these guys are my "target audience" if that's the right phrase, though I also need to be more precise about what that means.
It's definitely positive you're going through that reflection process - it will serve you well in the long term. Knowing goals is important, and I think our job as well is to reduce the perceived effort and sacrifice of our clients as well. Sounds like you're well on the way to that.
@Elisa Galbusera Oh, I love this reflection. Thanks for sharing, Elisa. I'm pretty sure every successful person has imposture syndrome and they are successful because they know it exists and power through anyway, as you suggest. Self doubts are all around us - and we learn to be successful anyway. We're happy to have you here!
@Debbie Muller so glad @Nicolette Taljaard encouraged you to join us, Debbie. I'm glad you're taking steps forward and we're here to support you. Small steps at first, of course. Dedicate only the time you have - 5 minutes a day if that's what you've got - and build up over time as it allows. Let's do this!
Hey peeps, I've just started the 3rd video and I'm curious to see what people pick when given the option between a course that's hard to sell and one that's easy to sell. What was your choice?
@Paola Natalucci great question. I see NLC as your method and how you help/work with your clients (see: fulfillment). But that's just one part of a niche - the other part is the messaging and attracting the right kind of person with whom you can implement that method. To grow effective lead generation, that message needs to be consistent. So, Step 1: what problem do you help people solve? That's the message you put out to attract those similar people. Then Step 2: how do you fulfill that (your how/method) --> this isn't the niche so much as your methodology. Then, yes, I'd agree that your "how" is the special sauce there. And personalization (to me) is a perception the client has. If you've helped many people "own their English" to use your example, I'm sure you have a process - or a few variations of one - that has been effective across the board. The client sees that as a personalized solution, and you're able to reduce workload since you have experience doing it. I hope I've answered your question? In short, a niche has two distinct parts: 1. Lead generation message - attracting and excluding prospects 2. Fulfillment - how you actually help the client once they enroll
Hi. When people ask me the question "where are you from?" l'm never quite sure how to answer, as I was born in South Africa, grew up in Ireland and now live in the UK in Northern Ireland. I'm a qualified primary teacher, currently employed as a classroom assistant and occasionally do substitute teaching in schools but also teach English online through a well-known, underpaying platform, which I enjoy but which also frustrates me. Recently I have got a private student also but lack confidence to grow this. I would love to teach online full time but some things are holding me back. Hoping that through some of the courses on here, I'll gain knowledge and courage to take steps to get where I'd like to be. Thank you for this community!
Glad to have you here @Sandra Armstrong! I completely understand the frustration and hope to see you develop some confidence here. What's a short-term goal for your business?