The Teacher's Guide to Pricing Matters

Freelance teachers, who have relied on 'the going rates' only to find out they have continuously undercharged their students and customers, can now work out an acceptable pricing rate for their teaching services to overcome the three-year death cycle causing many freelancers to give up their teaching careers. Teachers see many opportunities for freelance work but is it really possible to make a living as a freelancer in the long-term? Janine Bray-Mueller has encapsulated the key lessons on pricing she learned during her career as a freelance language teacher. Janine explains how to balance your business on three pillars: consultancy (one-to-one teaching), training (seminar workshops) and leverage (information products designed to be sold). This will enable you to build up a sustainable teaching business. In a competitive market, pricing is problematic, particularly in uncertain economic times. Understanding why many teachers are trapped in a position of underearning is the first step to escape. Your price should never fall below your 'resentment number', the lowest price you will accept without resenting it. Many teachers can be their own worst enemy if they lack self-confidence or undervalue their skills. Familiarity with local market conditions and competitors' prices is important, but the 'going rate' is not necessarily an appropriate rate to charge. You may be under constant pressure to discount prices, and when and how to increase prices to avoid a return to underearning. Value-based pricing is an approach that Janine has applied very successfully to freelance teaching and this is explained fully with valuable practical advice on how it gives a more flexible approach to pricing. Step by step instructions are given on how to identify both your personal and business costs. With the aid of this book, you can calculate your available teaching time and establish your resentment number and price range. Charts and calculation examples are available as MS Excel worksheets on request. Contact links are in the back of the book. Janine presents effective ways to manage pricing matters in an entertaining way that makes them both meaningful and memorable for the freelance teacher. Her book contains all you need to know to overcome your demons, price your teaching services effectively and establish a financially sound career which is sustainable in the long-term.

Janine Bray-Mueller is a freelance teacher trainer living in France. A former member of IATEFL Executive Marketing Committee, she now writes about marketing and the business side of teaching for her website 'Entrepreneurial Freelance Teachers - Training'. www.ft-training.com