Tips to Help Increase Your VIPKid Class Bookings

For online English teachers, setting your own schedule is one of the biggest perks of the job. But once you set that schedule, it can be challenging to fill up your classes with regular bookings. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We put together six of our top tips to help increase your VIPKid class bookings consistently and fill those teaching hours each week. 

Follow these suggestions to help increase your VIPKid class bookings!

1. Have a bright, happy, and clear profile photo

As an online English tutor, your profile picture is the first impression your students and their parents have of you as a teacher. Parents are quick to overlook teachers whose profiles don’t stand out. 

So what makes a good VIPKid profile picture? Make sure you:

• Have great lighting
• Use a professional teaching background
• Clearly show your whole face
• Highlight something unique about your classroom
• Smile!

After uploading your profile picture, round out your profile by highlighting what makes you a great teacher. Do your lessons include lots of music, games, or props? Do you specialize in a certain teaching style or have an area of expertise like pronunciation? Let parents and students know with a short introduction on your VIPKid profile.

2. Create a fun and engaging introduction video

Did your profile picture grab a student’s attention? Great! Now that they’ve clicked on your VIPKid profile, it’s time to show them what makes you such a great online English teacher. Show them your teaching skills by including props and using TPR in your video, and speak slowly and clearly when introducing yourself. 

But it’s just as important to let your personality shine through the screen so parents know that their child will have a good time in your online classroom! Be yourself, keep it short and sweet, and show them what you’re made of!

3. Open consistent time slots

It’s simple: if students and their parents know when you’ll be available, they’re more likely to book you consistently. Try to keep your open VIPKid teaching hours unchanged from week to week, and make yourself available during peak times, especially when you’re first starting out.

VIPKid’s most in-demand time periods for lessons. Peak times are typically between 6 P.M.-9P.M. Beijing time. This converts to 6 A.M.-9 A.M. U.S. Eastern Standard Time, 5 A.M.-8 A.M. U.S. Central Standard Time, and so on. Keep in mind that VIPKid students observe Chinese holidays, and bookings will be less common during the slow season (typically in February). 

We recommend that VIPKid teachers open available time slots at least two weeks in advance for the best chance at getting booked consistently. Additionally, VIPKid’s Teacher Portal allows teachers to select an option to copy the previous week’s slots. It takes just a few seconds to set your schedule every week and it’s a great way to help increase your VIPKid class bookings.

Bonus tip! Make yourself available for last minute lessons. Other teachers will often cancel on short notice, leaving students with few options for lessons at that time. Open your time slots and be prepared to take on last minute lessons. If the student enjoys your lesson, they’re likely to book you again!

4. Acquire multiple certifications

It’s great to specialize with students at a certain English level, especially when you’re first starting out as an online teacher. But if you’re looking to teach more students and fill more time slots, you’ll likely need to expand to teaching students at different levels. Getting more certifications will allow you to cast a wider net on the amount of students you can teach. (Not to mention, you’ll learn how to become a better English teacher.)

For VIPKid teachers, we offer more than 40 certifications, from a standard online TEFL certification to more focused certifications based on different English levels and teaching methods. Find a few that interest you and add them to your profile to increase the likelihood of getting booked by students at different levels!

Are you already a VIPKid teacher, but still struggling to book lessons consistently? These next two tips are for you!

5. Engage students during your lessons

Once you start booking classes, this is the easiest way to keep students coming back. If a student enjoys your lesson, they’ll book you again. It almost sounds too simple, but it’s true! Keep your VIPKid students engaged with props and TPR. Greet students with a smile, be a positive teacher, and make your classroom a fun place to be!

Click here for more tips on engaging and building rapport with your online students.

6. Give students feedback

Finished a lesson with your student? Now it’s time to leave some feedback. Leaving your online English students feedback after your lessons shows parents that they’re learning and progressing in your online classroom, and that you as a teacher care about your students’ development. Let parents know where their child is improving, and what you plan on working on in future lessons. This leaves parents feeling more confident in rebooking lessons with you in the future! 

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By following all of these tips (and with a little patience), you’ll see VIPKid bookings go up in no time. In addition to these tips, VIPKid offers teachers loads of booking tools that make booking students a snap. Check them out here!