You know when you go to the movies and they show trailers of movies coming soon?
The best bits of the movies are always in the trailers.
And that’s because the job of the trailer is to get you to pay to see the movie. There’s no point in saving the best for the movie they might not come and see.
Well, it’s the same with what you give away on your website – give away your best bits!
Doing business online is different from face-to-face business. We know that, but do we really know that?
It takes longer to build connection and trust with someone online.
And that’s something that we, working in the online space- tutoring online, have to really work at.
Your potential students (and their parents) want to know who they’ll be working with.
They want to trust you.
To feel a connection with you.
Your website is key here. That’s where you show your expertise in your subject, reassure your audience that they’re in the right place.
Once they’ve had a look round your website and like the cut of your jib as it were, you should reinforce this sense of trust in you and give them something of value free.
Two words capitalized there no less! Let’s take a closer look:
Give away your best stuff- have I said that enough?
That way your students will be wowed and reassured that you’re the tutor for them and want to work with you. Result !
(In exchange for your giveaway they give you their email address- all of that is another blog post!)
What you give away in marketing terms is called a lead magnet.
The ‘lead’ part being their email address, they’re a potential lead.
A good lead magnet has the power to turn hundreds of website visitors into students.
So it’s really worth spending time on this and making it really good.
First up then, What does a lead magnet as an online tutor look like?
- Video
- PDF – lots of different formats
- Quiz
- Audio
All of these are great lead magnets and the good news is that it doesn’t need to be long – in fact it shouldn’t be, but it does need to be valuable.
So we have a rough idea of the different types of format, what about the content?
Look at what pains your students and make the lead magnet about that.
What do your students struggle with?
What do their parents say the problem is?
So as an English teacher, my students’ struggles might be how to write an essay, how to answer the question and just generally lacking exam confidence. So my lead magnets would address these –
Critical Essay – the lowdown to writing a great essay with confidence
Close Reading – you’ve got this!
Ten tips to make learning vocabulary easier
Conjugate verbs with ease – my top tips
Sets, Quadratic Equations and Logarithms – the lowdown
The critical essay question a step – by step guide to how to answer it
Interestingly, Stacey Howe Lott – a high earning US tutor, aims her lead magnet at parents rather than students -a good move because of course you’re alleviating their pain, gaining their trust and confidence – and they’re the ones paying.
Learn how to help your child navigate the test prep process is her lead magnet.
Let’s dive deeper into the PDF options now you have a better idea of your lead magnet subject.
Checklist: A checklist will condense everything your student needs to know into one easy to use, reusable actionable list E.g
The A level Maths Success checklist
Cheat Sheet
Not sure how appropriate this is for students sitting exams – lol – but it similar to the checklist but gives guidelines and systems and procedures to follow to ensure success .Students might like the cheat sheet title – use your own judgement
Swipe File
As it sounds something that can be swiped or copied- processes for exam success, maths or scientific formulas, exam questions worked out – something that comes up again and again in exams.
Planner/Calendar
A study plan for a month running up to the exam would work well. The beauty of this is that if it’s used every day or regularly with your branding, you’ll be front of mind.
Countdown to Higher English Success / 30 days to a great pass in Higher English
Template
For those teaching more technical subjects – is there a project your students need to produce and you could set out a template for them to follow ?
A practical project they have to do this works well.
Video Tutorial
This is what I do for my course Pass Higher English- it’s very effective and it lets potential students see what I’m like and the way I work -a great idea of what working with me would be like .
Toolkit
Share the love! Know lots of other great helpful sites with really good resources? With lots of links to other great resources. Compile a list and set up the links and you’re off. Make it as comprehensive as possible and of course include links to your own great materials.
Quiz/Questionnaire/Test
A quiz is always a winner and I think we can really make this work for us as a great lead magnet – especially if your subject has a multiple choice element to it
Or a mini version of an exam or a test that they’re taking
This shows gaps in their knowledge and make that dovetail with your offerings – ie link to your courses with the results
Mindmap
Would your students benefit from some form of mindmap overview of what you want to get across to them? All the different steps mindmapped or flowcharted for them ?
Resource List
Resource list, a reading list around your subject great resources and books for exam success
Audio
Is you audience mobile- on public transport, walking lots? Could your lead magnet be an audio recording- would that work?
Lots of options here for you to consider.
Next Steps
Take a piece of paper and list all your students’ pain points – which are the really big ones, the ones you hear most often?
Beside each one write PDF or video or checklist or template – however it would work best.
You should end up with lots of ideas – save these, you’ll need them later .
Next we need to get a bit technical
A step by step process of putting all these bits together .
Next blog post!
