One key way to increase your visibility and reach more clients is to build up your personal brand. Easy for you to say, you might think. Where do I even start? Well, luckily, we’ve asked teacher and personal branding coach Olena to give us an overview of what personal branding is, how, if used correctly, it can help tutors like yourself maximize your efficiency and save time, and, most importantly, the first steps to getting started.

“In the past, personal branding was not as important as most lessons took place in in-person classrooms and teachers’ capacity was limited – there is only a certain amount of students that teachers can handle in face-to-face lessons.” says Olena. True, the growing popularity of online lessons has removed some of the limitations of in-person teaching – particularly a teacher’s reach and impact. “These days, everyone is working online, which makes having a solid personal brand all the more important.” reiterated Olena, who just held a brand-building webinar for teachers with an impressive attendance of 200.

“Our mission as teachers is to help students. Do not overlook the impact of personal branding – it is the tool that will help you enhance your outreach and increase your brand awareness, which ultimately leads to new students/clients. Personal branding is the tool we need to master to increase the efficacy of our delivery.”

Having taught English for many years, Olena played with the idea of starting her own business advising teachers on teaching techniques and customer acquisition tactics. However, it wasn’t until the start of the war in her home country, Ukraine, that Olena finally decided that it was time to act to pursue her interest. Harnessing her newfound passion, Olena committed to helping other teachers succeed in attracting more students and developing strategies that could help them save time but elevate their impact.

“There is a lot of freedom that comes with personal branding. One of the first things I did when I started building my personal brand is launch an online marathon. I met with my marketologist friend and we developed a strategy to get people to sign up. I advertised amongst friends as well as in relevant facebook and telegram groups. Within two weeks, I had 12 teachers sign up for the program.” Olena’s event attracted a wide variety of teachers from different backgrounds. “Some of them had years of experience, others had just started teaching and needed all the help they could get.”

After that first online event, Olena realized she needed to narrow down her target audience. Now, she mostly works with experienced teachers who are interested in creating and promoting their own products. Olena coaches them on building a personal teaching profile and helps them develop strategies to sell those products.

“Personal branding is not just about the tools you use.” says Olena, who advises her clients to use tools such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Linktree to develop their personal brand image. “It’s also about the content you post. Many amateur bloggers make the mistake of focusing too much on posting content that is related to their expertise. That’s important too, but your audience wants to get to know you as a person first and foremost. You need to gain their trust. This is why it is so important to post personal content – something that people can relate to.”

Olena always makes sure the content she puts out on her instagram page is a healthy balance of personal and professional. “I’ve had my friends ask me, Olena, why are you posting videos of yourself unwrapping your birthday presents? Do people actually find that interesting? The thing is, candid moments like these are exactly what piques your audience's interest – in my case, we as teachers are all doing the same thing – teaching. Sure, everyone will have an abundance of tips and advice on methodology. However, what distinguishes us is our personal lives and experiences, and that’s what will ultimately captivate the interest of your target audience.”

“Also, I’m not just exposing my audience to some of the elements of my life. I always try to create some sort of storyline. For example, at the end of the video of me unwrapping presents, I introduced my upcoming free webinar – everyone likes gifts, why not give my audience a present on my birthday? Rather than overtly pushing people to buy, buy, buy, subtle ways of promoting your products are much more effective.”

Intrigued, I asked Olena how she manages to relate her personal content to her job. “The personal content doesn't even need to be related to your area of expertise.” For Olena, it’s all about being real. If she goes to the gym, she might shoot a quick workout reel, if she’s about to teach a lesson, she might record herself arranging some warm-up games. “Everyone’s daily routine is different, that’s the beauty of it. Don’t be afraid to share what you are doing with your audience, you’ll be surprised at how relatable a lot of that stuff is to other people. This is a great way to build that personal connection with your audience.”

Overemphasizing expertise is just one mistake that teachers make when starting to build their personal brand. Another common mistake is making their content overly wordy. Olena admits that when she first started out, she would put too much text in her Instagram stories. “People don’t have the time to read all that. Stories content should be entertaining and relatable. Soon after, I switched to posting more videos in my stories and leaving the professional stuff for posts.”

Another common mistake is focusing exclusively on marketing. “Stop bombarding your poor audience with prompts to purchase. It’s exhausting (and not very effective, to be honest). Make sure to have a plan on how you intend to sell your products and services. A much better way to sell is through storytelling – post a piece of personal content and focus on creating value for your audience, then mention your product or service at the end and do it in a way that is unimposing.”

“It’s also important to give away a lot of free stuff – you can’t expect people to trust you straight away. After all, they don’t even know you! By hosting free webinars and sharing free content, you are giving potential customers a chance to familiarize themselves with your delivery style and decide if it suits them with virtually no risk. This way, you're also saving yourself time because you can filter out people who are not a good match for your services.” Amen to that! Not only is free content a preview to your work, but it also helps you establish yourself as an industry expert. If you’re not convinced just yet, check out our blog on how you can use free materials to increase sales.

Olena’s advice to teachers who want to get started with developing their personal brand is to invest in planning, be consistent, and be motivated.

“Creating a personal brand is a lot of work, so you need to make sure you dedicate a set amount of time to actively work on your branding. Build a routine and try to stick to it.” As for marketing, Olena emphasizes the significance of staying consistent. “Post consistently. If you want the instagram algorithm to work in your favor and maximize your reach, you need to be posting regularly. Make sure you have content prepared for every day that you are posting.” Lastly, an essential ingredient in the recipe to success is motivation – “Share your personality, don’t be afraid to show the human, down-to-earth side of yourself through sharing content from your personal life, and be yourself!”