Advertising methods: how to compare

[tutormike]

My field is computer science tutoring, not exactly tech related, but the mods let me join because I primarily have some advertising questions that I think overlap with yours.

I don't expect anyone to have answers but I'd like to know if you have suggestions about how to *get* answers. In the past I've had a very low response rate to social media ads, so it's hard to run experiments and compare techniques. It's not as bad as it sounds because I only need about 7 clients per school year to have all the work I can handle.

I'm comparing social media advertising and direct mail via USPS. To give some background, when I get a new client it can be worth thousands of dollars per year. It makes sense for me to spend, say, $200 in advertising per new client.

My target demographics is : upper middle class to wealthy families with high school aged children, in a very local area (within about 5 miles radius of my home city, Pasadena).

The target area is much narrower than Facebook allows. If I advertise to the smallest region that Facebook permits (15 miles? I don't remember), something like 80 to 90% of my views would be outside my tutoring area.

My past problems with Facebook might be that I didn't use a video ad, nor was my landing page well designed. I'm working on fixing those things.

 

[sapphirescales]

In my experience, Facebook offers a TERRIBLE ROI because you're essentially advertising to random people that aren't looking for what you're trying to sell. Sure you can weed out the the people that would be a complete waste of money to advertise to (for example, not advertising tampons to men), but other than that the targeting is pretty useless. All you can do is show your ad to thousands of random people that may or may not be interested and hope that they click on it and that you can somehow convert them into paying customers. If the cost per thousand impressions were $0.25 or something then it might be worth it, but otherwise it's a complete wash.

That's why I like AdWords. You're only advertising to people that are LOOKING for your services. The conversion rate is so much higher it's like night and day compared to untargeted advertising like Facebook has.

 

[tutormike]

That's why I like AdWords. You're only advertising to people that are LOOKING for your services. The conversion rate is so much higher it's like night and day compared to untargeted advertising like Facebook has.

Does AdWords make sense for me? I'm targeting people in a very local geographic area, first. And the search results (I'm talking organic results now, but advertising is probably similar) in my field, tutoring, are massively dominated by big companies. Does that mean I can still get an ad running, but maybe have to pay a higher amount per impression to get above the big players? A single client is worth 800 to 3000 dollars to me, so it might be worth paying a lot per impression. I don't want to go overboard, but spending $150 to get a new client would probably be a safe average.

 

[Porthos]

A single client is worth 800 to 3000 dollars to me

In the break/fix market I might get 150-400.00 per client. No recurring income.

 

[Markverhyden]

Have you made a business plan? Most don't plan to fail, they fail to plan. @Your PCMD has put together e template to help facilitate that process. Don't need to do the whole thing, just what matters.

Beyond that business promotion option vary significantly. What works for one geographic or demographic may not work for another. Maybe some more details might help.

 

[tutormike]

Hi Markverhyden, thanks for the business plan. My tutoring business has been running for 3 years and I've experimented with several ways of finding clients.

Note: I've hired a few marketers/business planners. Haven't gotten much useful, probably because I have a lot to learn, a lot of stuff I didn't know yet to tell them.

Let me give a summary:

What I provide: private, in-home tutoring in computer science and programming.

Typical clients: upper middle class to wealthy families near me (Pasadena CA). Age of student is typically 13 to 19.

Goal: although I prefer to tutor in person (need to be within about 5 miles of me for traffic reasons), I want to develop ways to tutor long distance.

Goal for money earned: this is part time now, so it gives me freedom to experiment and make mistakes. Goal is to be full time within 2 to 3 years. Currently I get paid about $50 per session; goal is to find clients who value me more and will pay $90 to 100 per hour. Currently work about 15 to 18 tutoring hours per week. Goal is to get that up to 25 on average. Currently I lose most of my clients at the end of the school year and need to find new ones in the fall. Goal is to speed up the process of getting a full client load rather than having 5 or 6 weeks of slack each semester.

How I locate clients:

- main success has been a profile on tutoring platforms like Wyzant. However, they take a cut of the pay and competition is fierce, driving down wages. Goal is to find more clients myself through advertising, word of mouth, and social media presence.

I've worked a *ton* on knowing what people are looking for and how to make myself stand out. This summer I'm working on marketing materials and free content and will put that in action as soon as I can.

So the question is how to reach people without needing a tutoring platform. I'm thinking of handing out flyers, direct mail marketing, social media advertising, etc. Organic social media has the problem that 99% of people who see my content are out of my travel range, which might not be a problem if I do long-distance tutoring, but in-person is more satisfying and productive.

 

[Porthos]

What I provide: private, in-home tutoring in computer science and programming.

Typical clients: upper middle class to wealthy families near me (Pasadena CA). Age of student is typically 13 to 19.

Personally I think most that age if inclined to learn know about Google and "You of Tube University" and do not wish to pay.

 

[sapphirescales]

Personally I think most that age if inclined to learn know about Google and "You of Tube University" and do not wish to pay.

You don't know much about rich people do you? Their kid could be an excellent programmer or already know more about computers than they do and they'd still pay for a private tutor. Learning by yourself is fine, but these rich parents want to make sure their little snot-nose gets a "proper" education.

As for middle-class families, the rule still applies. They're just more likely to take their children's already innate talents and the ability to teach themselves more into consideration before going through the expense of hiring on a private tutor.

Does AdWords make sense for me?

If your competitors can afford it, you should be able to too. If you can't then you're doing something wrong.

 

[ihatecomputers]

Mike I've found targeting past clients are easier to sell to than new ones. Especially in your case if you have rapport with them using your past services. How about giving them a price break for future remote work at the end of the school year. Maybe get them to pay you up front for X amount of discounted remote sessions. A webex meeting plan might work for you in this case.

 

[Your PCMD]

Oh my word, I have a new signature quote.

"You don't know much about rich people do you?" - @sapphirescales

 

[tutormike]

Personally I think most that age if inclined to learn know about Google and "You of Tube University" and do not wish to pay.

Others have addressed this, but I just want to say that learning from YouTube is NOT easy. It's hard, it feels hard, the students know it's hard, and it takes vast initiative and self-starting gumption. I'm talking about real learning, what you need to pass a class, not just surfing casually.

Most students have nowhere close to the initiative necessary. Both they are their parents would 100x rather hire a tutor.

Mike

EDIT: I'm talking about learning programming and other skill-based knowledge. Other topics might be easier on YouTube, in particular fact-based knowledge.

 

[tutormike]

Mike I've found targeting past clients are easier to sell to than new ones. Especially in your case if you have rapport with them using your past services. How about giving them a price break for future remote work at the end of the school year. Maybe get them to pay you up front for X amount of discounted remote sessions. A webex meeting plan might work for you in this case.

Interesting idea. I see what you mean about past clients being easier to sell to. However, my situation may be a little different. My problem is not that I don't get enough business, because it only takes 5-6 clients (who want tutoring 2-3 times per week) to keep me busy week after week. My problem is getting my fee up, and also finding clients who are pleasant to work with. I need to be more appealing to more people, but not because I need more business, but so I can be choosy and charge a high fee.

 

[tutormike]

If your competitors can afford it, you should be able to too. If you can't then you're doing something wrong.

My competitors are corporations who make their money by running a platform on a huge scale and extorting -- excuse me, charging -- a large fee to the tutors who use it. I assume that gives them an advantage, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Markverhyden]

I think you really need to do the business plan part. And not just the financials. Your customers, content, competition. Don't be afraid to ask an existing or potential customer if they have considered other options. If so what or who.

I've personally never dealt in the education market. I did retail for a few years and the rest was B2B in different industries. But I can say, as a parent, I had no problem spending money on tutoring to help my daughter, beginning in middle school. Not a whole lot but it was worth it.

On your rates. I think your going to have a hard time even getting wealthy parents to not blink at $100/hour. Unless you've got a very impressive array of certifications and degrees wall papering your living room. So you'll need to come up with other ideas to increase the cash flow for the effort. Like documentation or other materials. Have you discussed group rates?

Fist thing that comes to mind for finding customers is, after reviewing the business plan, contacting local schools to talk to teachers, etc. I'm sure some may be competitors. But you may be able to also get you name in front of faculty, staff, parents and students. Do schools still have special days? Like fairs, exploring professions, etc?

One thing I forgot to mention. You're certain to have a local chapter of the SBA. They can help with some of the brainstorming, etc.

 

[tutormike]

Markverhyden - I appreciate your point. I've worked with business planners and marketers in the past three years and it all went nowhere, because I'm still learning the what/where/why/how of the material I'm good at and like to teach. For instance, in the past year I've gotten a more realistic assessment of what topics are successful and enjoyable for me, and where there's demand. I've let certain ideas go.

I think I need to brainstorm what my plan would look like and where I can find help. I've noticed that business consultants question certain things, like where to find my customers, and take other things for granted, like my personal goals. I need someone who constructively questions everything and makes not a rigid plan but a plan for researching and discovering what's currently unknown while doing part time tutoring and creating materials. In the past three years I've learned what not to do, but only spending a ton of money on marketers who were eager to help me create materials for services which turn out to be impractical or unrealistic.

Thanks,
Mike