In this episode we talk about one of the most crucial components of any online business – your website. You may be thinking, "Why do I need a website when I can just use my social media profile page?" While social media can be a great way to validate your niche and get a "proof of concept", having a website is essential if you want to grow your onl…

The first BabelTEQ podcast episode for the New Year. Learn about: The new business trend that is going to drive opportunities for Business English instructors Changes in the China ESL market New B2B and IELTS coaching opportunities as we move out of the pandemic How AI is going to revolutionize ESL (in a good way) in the new year and beyond How you…

Anyone who has been teaching online for a while will understand that “success” doesn’t come from just from FINDING new students. It comes from KEEPING them. So, what are the secrets to reducing “client churn”? How do you consistently deliver a service experience that keeps your students coming back month after month AND referring their friends as w…

If you are familiar with online teaching or coaching, you would know that one of the most important choices you need to make, is the platform that you will use for teaching. Zoom is a popular choice, but it is primarily just a communication tool, not a virtual classroom environment. What advantages does switching to a dedicated online classroom too…

You’ve probably heard countless business coaches tell you that in order to succeed online, you need to have a niche. And it’s true. The online market is flooded with generalists. You need to stand out. But how do you know that your niche idea “has legs”? How do you know that there is even a market of people who would hire you to help them? How do y…

If you are trying to build a brand and reputation as an expert in your teaching or coaching niche, one of the most important things you can do is create content. By writing, videoing, or recording your thoughts for the world, you are positioning yourself as an authority who your ideal clients will turn to for help. But producing content isn’t easy.…

"By my second year, I wanted to scale by multiplication." - Jeff Johnson Today, we are going to hear from a BabelTEQ client who has achieved amazing success with growing his teaching business in a relatively short time. Jeff Johnson (a.k.a. "ESL Jeff") has been helping ESL students for more than 10 years and more recently has been helping clients p…

If you are like the majority of independent teachers, I’m going to guess that you feel uncomfortable about the prospect of “sales calls” with clients. Maybe you believe that as a teacher, trainer or coach, “selling” is something completely outside your wheelhouse, something you’d prefer NOT to do at all, if that were possible. And yet, anyone who i…

You’ve all probably heard of Twitter and Reddit, two popular social media platforms. But what if I told you there was another platform which has more active monthly users than either of those platforms? I’m talking about Pinterest. Pinterest’s user demographics make it an especially attractive marketing opportunity for independent ESL tutors who ar…

As a solo Teacher Entrepreneur, you no doubt have plenty of dreams, goals and plans for the future. But do you sometimes feel stuck? Do you feel like you aren’t making progress? Do you feel like your “to-do list” is overwhelming? Of course, what you would LIKE to see is visible, steady progress toward your goal of career freedom and financial succe…

The best landing pages in the world aren’t going to do a THING if nobody ever sees them. So how do you get web traffic to come into your ESL student funnel? Sure, you can spend hours posting, commenting, and direct messaging on social media. But the problem is that none of that activity scales very well. So how DO you get hundreds or even thousands…

How much money can you make in a year? As an independent language coach do you make enough to give yourself financial security and cover the risk and uncertainty of being self-employed? Could you afford to separate yourself from your business for one or two months without it having a critical impact on your income? If those questions make you uncom…

Why is it so crucially important to choose a well defined audience for your business? Why is it critical to have a clear idea of your ideal client? How should you go about choosing a niche? In this podcast I am joined by marketing expert and author, Mike Killen from Sell Your Service. He explains how choosing a niche can radically transform your la…

According to studies, MORE people would rather take a dip in shark infested waters than speak to a crowd of strangers. And yet, if you are trying to establish yourself as an authority in your niche, then at some point you will need to produce original videos or other media to support your claim to expertise. That can sound like a daunting prospect,…

The last 2 years have been nothing short of turbulent for the global online ESL market, first with the COVID pandemic and then with the shut down of several big platform companies in China. In this episode I make some predictions about trends which will impact independent online teachers in 2022 and how they can profit from them.…

If you are just starting out as an independent ESL coach, you are probably used to recruiting students one at a time and collecting payments from them individually. But what if there were a way to recruit not just one student, but SEVERAL students at once ... and have their company pay for your lessons? Welcome to the world of B2B clients! In this …

If you’re an independent ESL teacher who is struggling with lesson materials for young learners, then this podcast is going to interest you. I am talking today with Miranda Crowhurst, who is the ESL Segment Manager at Twinkl Educational Publishing. Twinkl is a subscription service offering a collection of English as an additional language teaching …

In this podcast I talk with Chris Rush from OFF2CLASS about the benefits and disadvantages of pursuing an ESL tutoring career through online teacher marketplaces such as iTalki, Preply and Verbling. We discuss and compare the options: Working for a company directly Working fully independently Working semi-independently through one of the marketplac…

With the recent changes to Chinese regulations concerning after school tutoring services, a lot of independent freelance ESL teachers are wondering what opportunities still exist in that market. In this podcast I am joined by Cheri Gibson who runs a Facebook group for teacher-entrepreneurs and Minji Xu who also runs a service to help teachers reach…

Instagram now has over ONE BILLION monthly active users, making it the 6th most popular mobile app in the world. In this episode I am joined by Instagram marketing expert, Joanne Kaminski, who specializes in helping online tutors launch independent careers. We examine the different kinds of Instagram content, plus how to increase your account reach…

Today I talk with Kristian de Groot about opportunities for ESL professionals in the field of language proficiency exam coaching. All over the world, there are millions of English learners who want to do well in the IELTS, TOEFL and Cambridge tests. This represents a potentially lucrative business opportunity for ESL tutors who are looking to pivot…

Yoshua Reece talks with me about his research into the ways in which independent ESL language coaches can get paid by Chinese clients. We discuss the challenge of getting paid from China and look at his own web project which offers payment page solutions to independent teachers, MyTeacherShop.com BabelTEQ can offer a sales funnel oriented website p…

In this episode, I talk with Tara Cull about how and why she recently began her own podcast as a way of connecting to ESL students. We discuss equipment, production styles and the benefits of starting a podcasting channel for your target audience.By Paul

In this episode I talk with frequent guest on the podcast, Rich Tweten, about how we can add value to our ESL teaching brand by building a community for our students. We discuss some things to be aware of when creating Facebook Groups and touch on some other options for making your students feel like they are part of your "tribe".…

Bryn Bonino discusses what "personal brand" means for freelance ESL teachers, why it matters and what we can do to create that brand identity.By Paul

Leah Sparrow talks about Facebook advertising, why Facebook ads are a great opportunity for ESL teachers and how to run successful FB campaigns on a budget which everyone can afford.By Paul

I am honored to talk with a legend of the ESL industry, Nik Peachey. In this episode we discuss the SIX necessary skills which teachers need to come to grips with in order to excel as an online instructor. We also discuss the future of online ESL teaching and Nik's new project - The Teacher's Classroom App.…

Liz Bigler, the owner of Bigler English Coaching, explains how she has grown her business by teaching Japanese students, at first through face to face teaching but now online. She talks about how remote teaching methods have changed her business and explains some things ESL teachers should be aware of if they are targeting English learners from Jap…

Are there any common trends, patterns or behaviors which seem to connect successful freelance ESL teachers? This week's podcast is an interview with Bryn Bonino who has interviewed more than 20 freelance teachers as part of her "Make a Leap" research project. She shares some interesting findings about common themes emerging from her analysis of the…

This podcast is for ESL teachers who feel frustrated with traditional teaching methods or who are interested in alternative strategies for helping students achieve language skill results. My guest is professionally certified coach, keynote speaker, neuroscientist, creator of the NeuroLanguage Coaching program and author of "Neurolanguage Coaching: …

In this mini-podcast episode I discuss the recent news that LinkedIn will be launching a freelance platform similar to FIVERR and Upwork later in the year. I give my opinion on the worst case impact but also the potential benefits this will bring for independent ESL teachers on the platform.By Paul

This week I talk with ESL Business Coaching expert Hugh Elliott about positioning your teaching services to achieve a higher income. We discuss pricing strategies for attracting the students who will help you build a sustainable and profitable career over the long term.By Paul

I talk with ESL coach and entrepreneur, Kris Amerikos about the essential skills which every independent ESL teacher needs to master in order to build a profitable and sustainable business.

Zsuzsanna Bekesi Smith returns to the podcast to give advice for any independent ESL teachers who might be struggling with developing lesson plan material for their niche. We talk about some of the mistakes that can easily be avoided when planning your curriculum. Zsuzsanna talks about when and why you might wish to develop video based course mater…

In this podcast Rich Tweten returns to talk with me about the ways in which free social media marketing can be utilized to attract potential students to your sales funnel. We do a brief discussion of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, SnapChat and TikTok.By Paul

Today, I talk with Steve Krajewski about how ESL teachers can help English language learners who get "stuck" at the intermediate plateau in their skill development. We discuss the successful tactics and approaches that Steve has used in his independent online English teaching career to deliver value for his intermediate students.…

Apple and Facebook are locking horns. This podcast examines how the planned iOS privacy updates will impact on the Facebook Ad platform. Any ESL teachers who are currently relying on FB Ads need to understand what is happening and how Apple's privacy changes will affect them. I list three of the ways that your Ad strategy will be impacted and sugge…

Many first time freelance ESL instructors struggle with the marketing aspects of creating a successful online business. In this episode we interview Jane Beachell who is a graduate of the Teacher-Entrepreneur Challenge; a business coaching course for ESL teachers run by James Liu.By Paul

This week I talk with Vivien Leung who is in the process of launching her exciting new independent online ESL business ... with a difference. She provides Neurolanguage coaching sessions for her clients. Listen to find out what Neurolanguage coaching is and how it benefits ESL students.By Paul

In this episode I explain why many independent ESL teachers are missing an opportunity if they don't target advanced level students. I look at two of the main misconceptions which teachers have about the advanced student market. I also list five ways that freelance ESL teachers can deliver exceptional value to their online students and justify high…

We are joined by Tara Cull, an independent ESL teacher who is achieving great success in her niche, English for Landscape Architects. Tara explains how LinkedIn has been an indispensable part of her online marketing and outreach strategy.By Paul

I'm joined by Angie Herrera, owner of First Class Language School. We discuss how she used her background as a native Costa Rican to grow her online English school into a rapid success. Angie explains the ways that non-native speakers can utilize their familiarity with the language and culture of the target niche audience to build a successful bran…

Today we are joined by two guests, Zsuzsanna Bekesi Smith and James Green. They are co-founders of a new service The Teaching Community which aims to assist solo online teachers. Our discussion today is around the issue of "Imposter Syndrome", a state of mind which studies how shown affects a large majority of people at some point of their professi…

We are joined by online ESL business owner and Facebook Group Administrator, Rich Tweten. We do a deep dive into the challenges of starting your own freelance online ESL service. In the podcast we discuss: Factors to consider when choosing a niche. Planning your business model. The two "P's" that get in the way of a lot of new business owners. How …

In this podcast I'll explain why I think online ESL is on the cusp of a DECADE LONG BOOM I'll also explain what you need to do NOW to take advantage of that. In the podcast I talk about: The factors driving future demand for ESL teaching. Why vocational English training demand is set to take off. The ESL segment that is effectively "recession proof…