I am an owner of a tutoring company. I have over 1000 students currently under a contract with the State. The problem I am having is that my contract will be expiring soon and I have the rest of an entire year to continue to pay my staff, bills, etc. Money is getting low and I am trying to find other entities to contract tutoring services with. Such as, Dept of Human Services, State Depts, etc. Does anyone have any ideas for me to find more solid clientel than private tutoring that is just paid out of pocket by parents? We offer private tutoring, but, parents just don't have the money even when we lowered our rates as low as we could. There's just not enough parents with the money or interested in tutoring. The parents with the money have their kids in private schools, etc. I need a State funded entity or the like to pull my wagon out of the ditch.
I need a brilliant idea that I can follow. I am a doer, so, send me some good business advice. I've been in this business somewhat successfully for about 10 years, I just need to go in a bigger better direction. Thanks!

Just a few thoughts...

Out of those 1,000 students you're currently seeing, surely some of them have been with you long enough for the parents to see the benefit in the services you provide. Therefore, one of your goals should be to RETAIN as many of these students as possible.

I realize it may not be easy because of the economy, but there ARE parents out there who value education.

You've got some time before the contract runs out, which is fabulous. This gives you some time to get busy.

You need to do whatever you can to build relationships with these kids and these parents.

Let them know how much you appreciate them. Let the tutors who work for you know how much you appreciate them and it will trickle on down to the kids, as well.

Do you have any way of pulling together some hard facts to present to these parents? This info would also be great for marketing your business to other potential clients. Figure out some percentages of improvement in the students you've been seeing.

You need facts to present in your marketing materials, to present to parents one-on-one, and also as testimonials.

"In the six months since Johnny has been tutored at Blah Blah Academy, his grades in English have gone from a C- to an A."

That kind of stuff.

Make sure they understand how vital your services have been in helping these children establish a firm foundation.

Are you currently sending out an ezine or newsletter, whether it's print or email? If not, get busy on this immediately.

Are you capturing the email addresses of every visitor to your web site?

How about your blog? Are you providing quality content that keeps visitors coming back? An RSS feed? A box to sign up for the ezine? Testimonials from parents and kids?

Keep in mind it's not always about the price. People are willing to pay for services that they value.

Establish yourself as THE expert in your area. People are willing to pay more when you are the expert.

How do you establish yourself as THE expert in your local area? Send out press releases at every chance. The media is always looking for an interesting story. Even if you don't get published immediately, you've just let the newspaper and other media outlets know that you exist. Your name will pop into the mind of a reporter when he or she is working on a story and they'll give you a call for a quote. You may not be the main focus of the story, but that's ok.

Hold an appreciation event for the students and families. Ask them to bring friends. Hold an open house with light appetizers. Give the families time to speak to you, the tutors, ask questions, etc.


Have you thought about branching into new areas?

How about providing computer training for people who are getting ready to re-enter the workforce, senior citizens, etc.?

Believe it or not, there are a lot of business professionals out there who don't know the first thing about writing a business letter or memo. They may THINK they do, but some fail miserably. How about offering refresher courses in certain topics and targeting those people?

Examples:

* A refresher course in business English for administrative professionals -- Offer the course during the lunch hour each Thursday for four weeks in a row. Contact businesses in the area, with your pitch going to the bosses in the office in hopes of offering this workshop so they can send their receptionists, secretaries, administrative assistants, etc.

* A class on the features of Microsoft Word and Excel. I once did an hour-long presentation for a local writers' group, and most of the members had no idea of the fabulous things they could do with Microsoft Word. They took notes like crazy, asked tons of questions, I had my computer set up with one of those fancy projectors so everyone could see what I was doing, and I talked my way through demonstrating the answers to their questions. They loved it and invited me back for more.

* I recently provided public relations services to a company and while I was visiting their offices, I overhead some of the oddest conversations. I figured out that their mid-level managers (who did not have their own secretaries) had no idea how to use basic features of Word and Excel. They were doing mass mailings by going into Word, changing the recipient's address and salutation, printing one letter, changing the recipient's address and salutation for the next person, printing it, etc. When she was finished, she sat down at a typewriter and typed all of those addresses all over again only this time onto the envelopes. I couldn't believe they didn't know how to build their list in Excel, then merge it with their Word document, then run labels.

Discover How A Mom Of 4 and Total Internet Newbie Quickly Built A $5000+ Per Month Passive Income From Her Blog. http://snipurl.com/6yeoy