How to Get More Bookings with VIPKid

    So you just got hired and you're excited to teach your first class, but you need to get booked first. So, you open your slots and you wait, and wait, and wait... and wait... and wait... You may get a few bookings in the first few weeks. But your slots are not filling! What's going on?!?!? Fear no more. I have faced the same problem. I think many first time VIPKid Teachers do. Here are a few tips I have that have helped me to get more bookings. 

1. Open PT and PPT Slots as Often as Possible

2. Get Certified to Teach Different Levels 

3. Work on Your Profile

4. Focus on the Content! 

    Let's look at each of these tips. 

1. Open PT and PPT Slots as Often as Possible

    For those of you unfamiliar with VIPKid's schedule times, PT stands for "Peak Time" and often refers to weekdays 6:00 PM and 6:30 PM Beijing Time. PPT stands for "Peak Peak Time" and refers to the weekday hours of 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Beijing Time. Every hour of the weekend is marked as PT because kids will not be in school and so it is likely they will be available at any hour of their day to take a class. 

                                

    For those of you interested in teaching in the evening, please note that 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM Beijing Time are also PT. So, if you want the maximum opportunity for bookings, and your schedule (and energy levels) allow, open up all the PT and PPT slots you can. 

    *Please, pay attention to the times you are making yourself available. Depending on where you live and the time of year (China does not follow Daylight Savings Time), Beijing Time can be as many as 12-14 hours ahead of your time zone. So, do your research and pay attention. I have made many mistakes and can tell you more about them in my post on Teacher No Shows.    

2. Get Certified to Teach Different Levels

    In order to pass your mock class, you have to choose a level for which you want to become certified. Based on your choice, you will receive certification to teach that level. However, VIPKid's Certification program is spectacular in that you can be certified for a plethora of different levels at no cost to you! Simply, visit the Certification Center in your Teacher Portal to get started. 

    When I was first hired I chose to be certified to teach levels 2-3. I absolutely LOVED these students! They knew just enough to be able to speak in short sentences, but were typically young enough to still like goofing off and having fun! These were my kind of people! 

    Eventually, though, my New Student Bookings Plateaued. I found that I had reached my potential within these levels. I needed a new pool of students to draw from. So, I started becoming certified to teach other levels. I am now certified to teach Levels 1-6. I find that Level 4 has gotten me the most number of new student bookings and have led to the most number of recurring students. However, this may be different for everyone. I would recommend just doing what you can and finding out which level you enjoy most and which one brings in the most new students. 

    These certification quizzes are easy. They involve watching some videos, tutorials and reading a  little bit of information about the level and finishing with a short multiple choice quiz that you can take over and over again until you pass. What do you have to lose?  

3. Work on Your Profile

    The first thing that Teachers see when they go to book a teacher is his or her profile. That's why having it look professional and appealing is so important. Some of the things parents find the most important are the profile picture, the video, your bio, and reviews from other parents. 

    1. Firstly, let's talk about your profile photos. VIPKid requests that you upload one profile and two "lifestyle" photos to your profile before you begin teaching. These pictures are some of the first aspects of your profile visible to parents and gives them a first impression as to who you are and how you are, not only as a teacher, but as a person. Parents may ask themselves, "Is this the kind of person I want teaching my child?" No pressure. But really, it is important. 

    Now, don't get me wrong. I understand not all of us are professional photographers, in fact, I would doubt many of us are. However, we should strive to make our profile photos as appealing as possible. This does not require a whole bunch of fancy equipment or expensive lighting. Just a bit of time and creativity. 

    VIPKid gives some guidelines as to how your photos should look, but here are a few more that I have implemented to help you out. 

• Use good lighting in your profile photo. No one wants to look at a dark, shadowy figure in a poorly lit room. Great lighting looks cheery and much more appealing. 
• Make sure the angle of the camera is suitable to see your whole face in a flattering way. Parents want to see your whole face. Another tip is to prop up your laptop or camera so that you are looking up into the camera instead of looking down. Now only does this prevent unwanted extra chins, but it actually makes whoever is looking at your photo more confident. Looking down on the viewer may make them subconsciously anxious and prevent them from wanting to book you. 
• Be yourself! Especially in your "lifestyle" photos, you can show the parents a little bit of your personality. What do you like to do? What are you like? Where have you been? I chose a picture of my husband and I before a race because I love to run. My other photo is a picture of me reading with some of my students.  I find that many VIPKid Teacher choose to involve children in their "lifestyle" photos to instill trust in the parents that they have experience interacting with children. 
• SMILE! This is generally a good rule of thumb, especially in the VIPKid community. The more often you smile, the better. Parents and Students a like like to see a friendly face. It calms fear and promotes a sense of confidence in the Teacher.  

    2. Next, let's look at your video. If you're like me, the video will take you the most time and work, but let me assure you, it pays off. Especially when you see the bookings increase, you will know that it was all worth it! Your video should be short and sweet. You're not bragging on your credentials, or telling parents what you've done, how many kids you have or where you live. You can do all that in your bio. Instead, try showing off a few props or one really good one! Your video should be no longer than thirty seconds. You can use a script like, "Hello, my name is Teacher ___________. Welcome to VIPKid! ... I can't wait to meet you/ See you later! Bye!" It's that simple! 

    Here's my profile video as an example! 

 

    3. Your bio is where you tell parents what qualifies you to teach on VIPKid's platform. That's really all they're looking for. You can include some of your pastimes, but this should not be the main focus. It should be short, sweet and to-the-point. Make it sound nice, of course, but it doesn't have to be super detailed. In fact if it is too long, most parents won't even read it! Let's be honest, most of us prefer videos and pictures anyway. So talk about your education, your experience teaching or with kids, and a little bit about what you like to do. 

    Here's what my bio looks like.

    

Hello! My name is Teacher Madeline! I graduated with a degree in Spanish and a certification to teach English as a Second Language. I have been teaching in and out of the conventional classroom for five years. I am passionate about language, music and nature and I love sharing my knowledge with fellow learners. In my free time, I run, play the guitar, and spend time outdoors! I am so excited to meet you and to see you start your English learning journey!    

4. We've saved the best for last. An overwhelming majority of parents would say that they look at the teacher's reviews as the most important part of his or her profile. Now, that sounds great and all, but the point of this post is to get more bookings. How am I supposed to get good reviews if I don't have any classes booked? Well, I am glad you asked... 

4. Focus on the Content! 

    It took me a while to realize that when I was trying to get more bookings, I was actually marketing a product... and that product was me and the lesson I could provide! I was so busy looking at all these other aspects of my profile, my bio, my years of experience and wondering why I was not getting more bookings. But when I started focusing on making the product more enjoyable, I really started seeing results. Remember, your market is kids. The more the more enjoyable your class is, the more fun they have, the more they will talk about it with their parents, the more their parents are likely to book you! 

    Now, there is a balance between having fun and learning. And of course if parents see that their child is having a blast, but learning nothing, they won't come back. However, there are ways in which you can make the learning experience much more appealing to a 6-15 year old Chinese English learner. So, teach well and make it fun! Here are some things you can do to improve your product. 

• Use different props and reward systems. You can find a whole host of different reward ideas in this VIPKid Props and Rewards Facebook Group.     
• Attend Workshops. I have attended several workshops that have given me food for thought and inspired me to innovate different aspects in my teaching. One in particular focused on different learning styles and helped me to adjust my style depending on how my student best learns. Go under the Resource tab in your Teacher Profile to the Library to check out some workshops that might inspire you. 
• Just have fun! If you're having fun, odds are the student will have fun too! Obviously, there are the outliers, but overall this will be the case. I cannot tell you how many times, my students and I have genuinely laughed out loud at something either he/she or I did in class. You can make some beautiful memories teaching VIPKid school if you let it happen. 

    So there you have it. Four ways of improving your chances of getting more bookings. It's good to keep a firm grasp on the fact that these things will not work like magic over night. It takes time to build a clientele but these things can help. Remember, you are advertising and the product is you! So go out there and show 'em what you've got! 

If you are not yet a member of the VIPKid Teacher Community, but this post has peaked your interest, click HERE to apply and get started teaching from the comfort of your own home! 

If you have any questions or want guidance along the way, visit my Contact Page to learn how you can reach out to me. I would be more than happy to walk with your through the process! 

As always, thank you all so much! God bless and Happy Teaching!