Five business listing mistakes almost every teacher makes with his online presence
What Every Teacher Ought to Know About Establishing Business Listings Online
presented by EdCopy
You have probably been searching for quite some time now, trying to learn as much as you can about getting a fair return on your skills and abilities as a teacher. You have tried to figure out how to make more impact on more students for more money, but it did not turn out as well as you hoped it would. Indeed, if you're like a lot of beginner-in-business teachers, then you probably ended up trying to pick up gigs for the moonlit hours; as a tutor, virtual language teacher, education consultant, or freelancer of some sort. And unfortunately, the fair market return on your teaching skill remains an unearned unreality.
Do not despair. You can make yourself into a more valuable teacher, and all you have to do is tweak your professional development strategy a bit. Generally, that means you need to avoid making the following five common online presence mistakes. Read on...
Online Presence Mistake number one:
When You Have Inaccurate Listings
Having inaccurate business listings is a recurring mistake. It is not unreasonable to guess that close to half beginning so-called teacherpreneurs make this mistake. Worse yet, some of the local education businesses right around you, when you find them online, they are making this mistake, too.
If you see someone advocating against keeping accurate listings, do not argue. Listen, learn, then do the right thing. That is because having inaccurate listings is unhealthy for your fledgling operation. You are trying to establish that your business is present and worthy of trust.
Instead of inaccurate listings, what you want to do is ensure that your business data is always updated. This includes your business name, address or service area, phone number, and website. Up-to-date business listings help search engines and consumers find your business online.
Online Presence Mistake number two:
When You Don't Show Operating Hours
You lose trust points when you do not include hours of operation on your business profile. This is another exceedingly common mistake, simply because many teachers do not realize how much information like hours of operation matters to consumers buying from local teachers in business. However, if you want to take a step in the right direction with gaining the trust of consumers who know nothing about you, then you want to make sure that you do not leave Hours of Operation off of your business listings.
Online Presence Mistake number three:
When You Don't Take Control of Google My Business
Don't feel bad if you make this mistake. Even some of the biggest experts in private practice teaching and teacherpreneurship, do this. Just google the names of their education companies and you will see proof that education businesses regularly fail to claim, use, and optimize their Google My Business presence.
This is likely a case of "oh, snap— I didn't know I could do that." So instead of making it hard for people to find your business online, set yourself up with Google My Business. Your future self will thank you for it.
Online Presence Mistake number four:
When You Don't Send Your Business Profile to the Main Data Aggregators
This one is a little tricky, simply because you could be perfectly on track and doing all the right things, but suddenly, you hear about data aggregators and how it is a mistake to not send your data to the main ones. If it happens to you, don't worry— data aggregators is a term that is more confusing than need be. You do not need to understand the four main data aggregators to stay on track with your online presence goals.
All you have to do is use a type of software service that sends your business data to the aggregators without you having to entertain a jargon-filled theory regarding the importance of data aggregators as a foundation to your online presence.
Online Presence Mistake number five:
When You Wait Until You Have Something to Sell to Distribute Listings
As it seems, there are a whole lot of teachers getting their starts as education business owners. Not very many of them are escaping this online presence mistake.
However, those who do find it exceedingly gratifying because they are embodying the wisdom of "I'm not a businessman; I'm a business, man." Some teachers have just wanted to completely go harder and be more resolute in trying to make an impact as a teacher in business after they list before they are ready to sell.
Unfortunately, you can fairly easily avoid ever getting something to sell to market, so this is not an invitation to linger on developing offers of service for trade. Being unready to sell does not mean unready to serve. So, serve.
In summary...
Yes, it's true— now you too can establish an online presence that shows you mean business, especially if you avoid these common mistakes when you send out your listings. Try it out— get your listings distributed today to prove yourself.
-kaml-