How to Advertise Your Tutoring Services on Craigslist

Craigslist is awesome because you can advertise for free and your ad will have little competition on the page. I rarely see more than 5-10 ads for tutors on craigslist for each day. Here are some guidelines you can follow to write a great craigslist ad.

1. Stick to advertising one subject in your ad.  A common misconception is that you can get more clients by appealing to a more general population. If there are other subjects you'd like to tutor, make just make separate posts for them. Why? Think about it, if you were looking for a Trigonometry tutor would you click on the post titled "MATH TUTOR" (I got the previous example directly from craigslist) or "Experienced Trigonometry Tutor"? By advertising one specific subject you can appeal specifically to the clients you want to attract. By appealing to everyone you appeal to no one.

2. Be descriptive in your title and location fields. Be descriptive in your title; include the subject you've selected to tutor in as well as whatever adjective describes you best whether it be 'experienced', 'college grad', 'certified teacher', etc. In your location field make sure to tell your location as well as a note stating you're willing to travel (if you're willing to travel).

3. Clearly and concisely state your experience, qualifications, and why you should be hired. You want to have the least amount of text possible while avoiding crappy posts such as: "im in college. chem major. email if interested." After briefly stating your qualifications and experience, tell your prospects in why you should be hired. Make sure that you focus on a quantitative benefit. For example, "I have the knowledge and experience to tutor any student!" is something you want to avoid. If I'm looking for a tutor then it's a given that they should have knowledge and at least some tutoring experience. Instead, use something like: "75% of my students have increased their World History scores by a full letter grade within just one month!" The most important thing is to be honest. Don't promise anything you can't deliver.

4. Provide as many ways to be contacted as you can. I personally provide my email, Facebook profile, LinkedIn profile, Twitter account, and cell number (making sure to tell potential clients to call or text me anytime). When I make posts for RocTutor, I also include a link to Facebook, Twitter, and the website. Your prospects will all have different preferred modes of communication and you want to be easily accessible by whatever means they prefer. Make sure you check your voice mail greeting and would be okay with customers hearing it.

5. Price to value. Do not under any circumstances try to advertise your services lower than your competitors. Getting into a price war is a race to the bottom. Instead, go above and beyond expectations and work hard to prove that you're worth the price you ask for. I started charging $15/hr and then steadily increased my rates to $30/hr once I began getting more clients than I could handle. If you're good, the news will spread, and then you can start increasing your rates.

6. If you already have clients, ask them if they'd be willing to be references for new clients. In my experience, my clients have been happy to help me out by volunteering as a reference for me. If you give them your best work they will feel obliged to help you in return. Including references can help to win over skeptical first-time customers and they also let potential clients know that you've been successful tutoring in the past.

If you have any questions, comments, or criticisms please don't hesitate to share them in the comments!