For those looking to make money by sharing their knowledge through online education, the answer is often to create and sell online courses. However, you can also engage with students more directly through online tutoring and coaching sessions.
Online tutoring can be a great business model in its own right, or it can be used in conjunction with online courses to provide a more comprehensive service to students and open up additional avenues of monetization. So how can you start to sell private tutoring and coaching sessions online?
Why Sell Online Tutoring Sessions?
The main benefit of selling online tutoring sessions is obviously that it’s a great way to make money online by sharing your expert knowledge with others. However, it also has a number of other benefits, both for you as an instructor and for your students.
Benefits For Instructors
For instructors, the main benefit of selling online tutoring sessions is that it’s a great option for monetizing your expert knowledge. This is especially the case if you’re already selling online courses online, as there are many scenarios where students from your courses may want additional tutoring on difficult subjects.
As well as providing new monetization options, using your LMS for coaching and private tutoring can help to differentiate your e-learning site from competitors who don’t offer similar services. If a student is trying to choose between two sites, the option to seek additional one-to-one tutoring whenever they need it can help to sway them to use your site instead of another.
Finally, using your LMS for coaching and tutoring can help to build better relationships with your students and therefore lead to better customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. By getting to know your students on a one-to-one basis through tutoring sessions, they’ll feel more connected to you and your site and will be less likely to switch to a different site or stop using your courses.
Furthermore, providing additional guidance through tutoring can avoid students becoming frustrated and giving up on courses that they find too difficult. This helps to enhance your customer retention even further.
Benefits For Students
Using your LMS for coaching and tutoring doesn’t just help you and your business; it also helps your students. By offering one-to-one tutoring, students can access more support when they’re struggling with a course on your website. Offering private tutoring sessions also allows students to learn from you even if they don’t want to take part in an online course – different people have different learning styles, so the more options you provide, the more accessible your teaching is.
Private tutoring can also lead to better overall outcomes for your students. Since they can supplement your online courses with private tutoring, they can gain a more rounded knowledge of the subjects your e-learning site covers and ask questions about topics that may not be fully covered in your courses.
Finally, using your LMS for coaching allows students to gain a more personalized learning experience, as opposed to the generalized format of your online courses. This can be especially helpful for students who have different learning needs and abilities, or who thrive when given personalized feedback and encouragement.
How To Configure Your LMS For Online Tutoring
If you’re already hosting online courses on an e-learning site, it’s likely that you’ve already installed an LMS in order to manage and sell your courses. Using your LMS for coaching will depend on exactly which LMS you’re using. LearnDash is one of the most popular LMS platforms, so we will be using it as an example for this tutorial.
For LearnDash, there are three main options for implementing private tutoring on your LMS. You could use a purpose-built tutoring plugin; you could use a plugin that integrates Zoom or similar video-calling to your site; or set up a custom LMS solution that allows you to use your LMS for coaching in exactly the way you want.
Using A Coaching Plugin Like SnapOrbital
The first option for enabling private tutoring with LearnDash is to use a plugin designed specifically for this purpose. One option is SnapOrbital’s Private Sessions for LearnDash – a plugin that allows you to offer private, one-to-one tutoring sessions to students.
SnapOrbital handles booking and scheduling coaching appointments through its integration with Simply Schedule Appointments. The add-on has an instant messaging tool that connects you simply and effectively with your students. It also offers a number of useful features such as mobile optimization, file uploads, and custom notifications.
Using A Video Call Plugin Such As Zoom
While SnapOrbital is a solid option, online instructors may prefer using a video-calling app such as Zoom for their private sessions.
For example, eLearning Evolve’s Zoom WordPress Plugin can allow you to create Zoom meetings directly from your WordPress dashboard and conduct meetings via pages on your e-learning site using simple shortcodes. This gives you the advantage of being able to make voice and video calls directly from your site without you or your student needing to download the Zoom app. The plugin also displays a countdown timer that will help your students keep tabs on upcoming sessions. After the meeting, session recordings are also available on the meeting page.
While this option offers new ways to communicate with your students, it’s worth bearing in mind that it is not specially made for private tutoring.
If you are looking for a more extensive functionality such as personal scheduling, eCommerce and LearnDash integrations, working with a LMS developer to customize a solution will be required.
Using A Custom Plugin
If you want to use your LMS for coaching but can’t find the mix of features and functions that you’re looking for in ready-made plugins, another option is to invest in LearnDash customization. The advantage here is that you can work to tailor ready made solutions or design the exact functionality that you want for your private tutoring sessions to ensure you can fully meet your student’s needs.
This could include direct integration with your eCommerce systems, video-calling, screen-sharing, automated scheduling, and more. Customization can offer you the very best way to implement private tutoring on your e-learning site. We’re experts at learning management system customization and we can help you to design and create a plugin that delivers private sessions in exactly the way you want.
Using An LMS For Coaching and Tutoring
Using your LMS for coaching and private tutoring can be a great way to upgrade your e-learning site and offer new value to your students, as well as enabling a great new monetization option to ensure your e-learning site’s continued success. There are a number of ways you can implement this functionality on your site, but the best option will vary depending on the LMS you use and your exact needs when it comes to online tutoring functions.
If you need help selecting or customizing a solution to add private tutoring sessions to your e-learning site, don’t hesitate to reach out to our LMS experts. By customizing the exact functionality you need for your site, you can ensure that your private tutoring sessions are an absolute success, delivering better teaching for your students and new ways to monetize your online learning site.
