Sunday, September 24, 2006

 

Maximizing ESL Revenue, Part 1

In a sporadic series, I'll be posting some comments about how I was able to build a strong income in Taiwan over a 19-year period in the ESL business. I'll be posting these also in my blog, the-esl-life.blogspot.com.

1. Change how you see yourself

Why mention this first? Because if you don't do this, nothing else I say will work for you. It works like this. If you think of yourself as "an English teacher", that is what you will always be: an interchangeable commodity. Instead, you have to think of yourself in a more distinct, high-end, less commoditized fashion.

Over the years, I identified myself as:

- Language consultant (my favorite, and the one I put on my business cards, English on one side and Chinese on the other)
- Language trainer
- Executive coach
- Corporate trainer

This is important for three reasons:

1. If you think of yourself in terms of a higher professional identification, you will grow into that role. This is extremely important for your success. Mark my words: you will grow into what you describe yourself as. So aim high.

2. It makes you stand out from everyone else. For example, when you go to American Chamber of Commerce networking events (and you _do_ attend these, right?), you introduce yourself as a "staff development specialist", and explain that you "help business professionals communicate better for their bosses". This presents you entirely from saying "Oh, I teach English at LTTC/ELSI/Hess/Gramm/whatever".

3. I save the best for last. When you are talking to a prospective client, and you say "I'm an English teacher", the prospect immediately pegs you at NT$500-NT$700 an hour. You're pigeon-holed. You have to negotiate upwards. However, on the other hand, when you say, as I always did, "I'm a language consultant", the client has no fixed expectation. Then, when I said, "This is very specialized training you're talking about, and usually I charge NT$1500 an hour for work like this", you make it easier for him or her to say yes. Because (and forgive me for repeating the obvious), they're not thinking of paying for an English teacher, and this frees you to charge more.

That's my point for today. And next time you are talking about some training for a new prospect, try this approach out. It worked for me 85% to 90% of the time. It helped me book more than 10 billable hours a day.

Comments: Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?