What You’re Actually Selling As A Private Practice Teacher

In this episode, Rachel Cicioni explores how teachers can transition from traditional tutoring to private practice, emphasizing the value of expertise over time-based billing. She shares innovative service ideas and success stories from previous members of the Teacher to Entrepreneur course, authentic marketing strategies, and how to leverage personal gifts to create impactful, profitable teaching businesses.

Chapters
00:00 The Evolution of Private Teaching Business
02:04 Understanding What You're Selling
04:23 Bridging the Gap Between Parents and Teachers
06:58 Elevating the Teaching Profession
09:12 Innovative Solutions in Private Practice Teaching
11:20 Identifying Your Unique Offerings
13:00 Creating a Joy-Based Business
15:11 Marketing Your Expertise
17:53 The Value of Teacher Superpowers
20:12 Finding Your Ideal Clients
22:49 Conclusion and Future Directions

Resources
Rachel Cicioni's Private Practice Teacher Directory -
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the Teacher to Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm your host, Rachel Siccioni, former classroom teacher turned entrepreneur and mentor to educators building their own unique teacher businesses. This is a space for teachers who are curious about alternatives to the classroom, exploring private practice and other multifaceted work, and for those who want to know what success can look like beyond the classroom. I'm glad you're here. Now let's get into today's conversation. When teachers first start thinking about creating a private teaching business, the very first thing almost everybody thinks is tutoring, and that makes sense. But that's where the brainstorming starts. That's not where it ends. We go from tutoring to private lessons, to small group lessons, to workshops, and on from there. That's where my brain was when I started too. As a foreign language teacher, conversation hours, and I started thinking more about the different types of things that students would want and need practice with. But because most teachers are only thinking about their student facing time, they're thinking about the hour or 45 minutes or 30 minutes they're sitting in front of or working directly with the learner. But what they're not thinking about yet is the planning, assessment, the expertise and knowledge that they're bringing to that one hour of face-to-face time, the communication, the problem solving, the before and after, and even the work side, the business side of their business. They're not really thinking yet about what they're actually selling. So if you listen to the episode from two weeks ago about teaching versus tutoring and why that distinction matters, we talked a lot about the difference between being the primary instructor versus supporting the instruction that's happening in another teacher's learning environment. And that naturally raises the next question. If I'm not selling my time or what I'm doing, what am I selling? Now, if you have spent any amount of time in the business coaching or entrepreneurial content world, you've probably heard people saying over and over again, don't sell your time. And I don't think teachers necessarily need another lecture about scaling. But I do think that we need to understand what people are actually paying us for. Because parents are not really paying us for 60 or 45 minutes or homework help or additional practice like worksheets or even access to us. What they're paying for is a solution. And that's what all business really is. People have a problem or they have a need. They want help from getting where they are to where they want to be. And your menu of services is simply the way that you deliver that solution. That understanding changes everything about your marketing. As educators, we know what our students need. We know what the finish line is, and we understand the gaps and everything that's needed in order to bridge that gap and get them to cross that finish line. But in marketing, we have to translate that into language parents can actually recognize from their own lived experience. For example, in upper elementary and middle school, academic struggles often start becoming a part of their child's identity. Kids start saying things like, I'm bad at math, I'm not smart, I'm not good at that, I just can't read, or I'm not a good reader. And what parents are witnessing at home isn't just an academic issue anymore. They're watching their child's confidence and self-esteem crumble. They're seeing resistance, avoidance, shame, frustration. And I think that's where the disconnect between parents and teachers can happen a lot of times, is we see, as parents, we see what's happening in our child's inner world and we kind of see where we think what's causing it without understanding that as the teacher's perspective, we can see that as well. We don't necessarily see all of the inner world crumbling, but we have the unique ability of seeing how that's connected. And as parents and teachers, we really want the same thing for the students. We want them to learn the content, but we also want them to learn that they are capable of learning the content or the skill. And what we get to do in private practice is offer a space for new tools. And we can offer a bridge to that conversation between the classroom teacher and what parents are experiencing at home with their kiddos. We get to help the students see that the problem is not their ability to learn. The problem is more often tools, support, pacing, or the instructional approaches that are available to them. And we get to show that not only to the students, but also the parents. That's the transformation. That's what parents are actually investing in, in not just their child's academic success, but also their child's self-confidence and confidence in their own ability to do things. So we need to meet our ideal clients where they are. Now, here's the interesting tension. Even though we're not really selling time, our clients still think about educational services in an hourly way. And it makes sense if we think about it, if we break it down. It's the only framework they've been exposed to. It's the only frame of reference that they have. Most people only experience teachers as students themselves. So what they saw was only the student facing six or seven hours a day. They assume that that's what teaching is. What they don't see, and I think what even we as teachers sometimes don't always recognize, is the planning, the pedagogy, the continued education, the assessment and feedback, the instructional decision making, the whole body of knowledge and experience that we are pulling from in order to make these informed in real time decisions. So part of what we're doing as private practice teachers is scaffolding, but not just for our students or even our ideal clients, but for society as a whole. Okay, let's think about it this way. When I first started thinking about private practice teaching, and what attracted me to this name in calling it this as opposed to tutoring or anything else that I could have could have named it, is that one of my big goals is for us to elevate the profession of teacher to be alongside other educated professionals, to be in line with the level of professional respect that is given to other similarly educated professional fields. And I think that that's a really important place that we need to start. And when we are looking at what we have to offer as professionals, it makes sense to be looking at other professional fields. So let's look at when people go to the doctor. They're not thinking I'm paying X or I'm paying my copay for the 15 minutes that I get with the doctor, right? As patients, we also understand that we are paying for the years of education, the clinical training, the experience, the judgment, expertise, the continued education, right? And it's the same thing when we need a lawyer. Nobody questions why lawyers charge hundreds of dollars an hour. Because it's not just the work that they're doing in that hour. It's because we understand the value and everything that has gone on prior to that hour that allows them to get this work done in an hour. And I believe that teaching deserves to be understood in a similar way. Because, like medicine, teaching is also a marriage of both science and art. There's science behind learning, pedagogy, development, neurocognition, but every learner is different. Just like every human body responds differently to healthcare treatment options, every learner responds differently to different teaching methods. So there is an art form to teaching as well. And that's what highly trained educators are able to bring into their work. And that's something that we are gonna have to spend some time educating the public, society, to understand. So let me give you some examples from my own business. When I talk about my own menu of services, one of the services I offer is a conversation hour for French learners. Now, for me, that's like almost no prep is involved in that. So they really are just paying me for the time. Or I guess I shouldn't say they're not paying me for the time. They're paying me for my time and expertise. I'm only charging for that time because of all the prior experience and expertise. It doesn't require prep work or very little prep from me on the front or back end of that hour-long session we have together. I show up, I lead the conversation, I assess the fluency in real time, I track their stamina for their ability to stay in the target language, and I'm able to adapt on the spot to whatever language level they're functioning in. That's the expertise that the clients are paying for. That's the expertise that's baked into that hourly rate. Then there's tutoring, which for me requires more prep, more communication. Um, I'm at the point now where the only students I tutor are referrals, and I usually have access to their teacher, their classroom teacher. So I bake into my pricing the communication, the time I put in communicating with their classroom teacher or the parent in order to know what the students should be working on or what the teachers think the student needs more support with. It's more targeted support, and I provide feedback. So I charge more for that session. And then there's full instruction, where I design the curriculum, I do all of the assessment, the feedback, homework, communication with both school and families, and the back end of my business as well, which I bake into the pricing of every service I put in. But with full instruction, that requires significantly more work on my part before, during, and after the instruction. And so the pricing reflects that. So, yes, as consumers, my ideal clients are still experiencing an hourly rate framework. But what they're actually purchasing is the expertise and the solution that's baked into that time. Now, here's where things can get really interesting. Because once teachers stop thinking only about tutoring or lessons, they start creating some pretty incredible things. And this is probably one of the most exciting parts for me and something that I'm, I think, most proud of in my work mentoring teachers in creating these businesses. Because when we really start thinking about their ideal clients and the things that their ideal clients are struggling with and they need the solutions that the teachers come up with are, I'm struggling to even find words. They are so creative and innovative and timely. And I shouldn't be surprised because teachers are so solution focused. We are such doers. But when I sit there and I listen to these teachers talk about their ideal clients and these communities that they want to serve, the ideas for the solutions that they come up with are just really awesome. So I won't make you wait any longer. I'm going to share them with you because it's they're just so gorgeous, these what they come up with. So this first one is actually something that I I thought of, but I have not been able to execute and not nearly as beautifully as Steph. So Steph is one of the first teachers that I worked with when I started the private practice teacher. She is the owner of Learn in Rome. And you can check out all of the teachers' businesses on the private practice teacher directory. So everybody that I talk about, you can find their business on the directory, or it will be coming soon to the directory. It may not be quite ready yet, but they are will all be available there. So Steph is also a French teacher. She teaches pre-K through college. She's a native French speaker and she does immersion, French immersion teaching for the littles, and then can also teach all of the high school and college prep levels of French as well for those that just want to learn French. And one of the things that she has done and added to her business over and above conversation and tutoring and private lessons and small group lessons is a really awesome teachers pay teacher store. And she also sells her resources on her own website. Within her balance as a private practice teacher, she creates a lot of really awesome resources, original resources that she is able to monetize and put out there to share and add to the body of work for other teachers to use. And so she has added this as a part of her business, her own original stories, creative activities, resources, and to support French language learners and immersion learners. And then I also have Amy, who you probably heard me mention. She is not just my amazing virtual assistant, but she's also a former classroom teacher, one of my jumpstart alumni, and is a practicing private practice teacher herself, teaching earth science and biology. She does both teaching and tutoring. Another teacher that I work with, who's a French teacher, has an editing business specifically for French writers. That's Pam of French Creek Language Academy. And she edits manuscripts for authors creating texts, short stories, and biographies as leveled readers for language learners. So she has added that to her repertoire of services. Another former client is Gnaya, and she has built an entire creativity and learning framework called Index Craft that she uses with a unique type of learner that she refers to as a pathfinder. And I think one of my favorite examples of a pathfinder would be Leonardo da Vinci. So when she talks about Pathfinders, they are multi-passionate, multi-talented individuals who don't want to experience learning in these little silos, but as a kind of immersive, cross-curricular, cross-interest experience. And so she has found a way to do that, refers to it as Pathfinder Mentorship. So she really embodies this whole guide on the side style of teaching in helping her students create learning paths based on their unique interests, which is so cool. And she has also developed a nonprofit and community around this style of learning and mentorship called quantum mentors. So she has done some really exciting things in her own local community, but in a larger world community, even, which has been really inspiring to get to witness and be a part of for me. I have Sarah, who is an ESL teacher and a native Spanish teacher, and she is building a bilingual education program and language exchange opportunities for students and parents, where native Spanish speakers can be learning English and native English teachers are learning Spanish, and then they can also practice with each other, which is so cool. She's also created a Spanish for teachers because she's had teachers come to her and say, Hey, I would really love to learn some Spanish so I can help my Spanish-speaking students. And so she has created a course that she's going to be running this summer to teach Spanish to teachers that will be geared specifically for them, which I think is also very cool. Then I have Helen, who is also a native Spanish speaker. She's another one who can teach K through adult with some very diverse educational experience. And not only is she teaching Spanish to professionals so that way they can have the Spanish they need for their own professional work as adults, working with Spanish communities, but she is also working with the Spanish communities, helping them to have the English that they need in order to help their bilingual children be successful. So one of the things that she has found that she would like to incorporate into her business is helping Spanish-speaking parents navigate the college admissions process for their bilingual children. And I thought that was really super cool. This is the type of thing I'm talking about when teachers start thinking outside of the box and dreaming bigger and really taking a look at what their what their passions are, their knowledge, expertise, even beyond what they put on a resume, even their lived experience, and looking at their ideal clients and the needs and problems and struggles of their ideal clients, and then coming up with these really awesome innovative solutions that could not live within the confines of our public or traditional educational systems. And that's one of the things that I find really exciting about private practice teaching, is the ability to create containers for these services that wouldn't have an opportunity to exist otherwise. I have Sue, who helps families navigate literacy intervention and through the support systems that can be available through schools. She also does her own literacy intervention with her students and Erica, who does dyslexia intervention as well as literacy intervention and even helping families distinguish which of the two is most appropriate for their children. So I hope that you're able to see through all of these examples, and there's more, that you're not just selling your time and that you have a lot more to offer than homework help. You really are bringing your expertise, your creativity, your problem solving, your ability to create systems, your advocacy, your so much more, your ability to create human connections and facilitate transformation. And private practice teaching, this private practice model gives you the space to build all of that. So when teachers ask me how to figure out what their menu of services is, and honestly, this is probably one of the places where we take the most time. This is where I tell them to start. Think about your gifts. Okay. That's one of the places that you really need to start because this is an area, private practice teaching, this space is growing and it's wonderful. There are more and more of us mentors out here. We may call ourselves by different names, but there are more and more of us out there and it's wonderful. But when I work with my clients, I want you to start with your gifts because while there may be other people out here teaching your content, only you can do it in your way. And we refer to that as your key differentiator. That's what makes what you have to offer different. And don't downplay that. Don't think that that's nothing. Think about the fact that you have worked in a classroom with a diverse group of students. And some of the students you work with phenomenally. You just click, you get each other, and you may have been the only teacher who has been able to get through to that student. We know that not all students work great with all teachers, and we know that not all teachers bring the same gifts to the classroom. So start with your gifts. That's your teacher's superpower. That's where I tell all of my clients to start is take ownership of your teacher's superpower to your own horn. One of my superpowers is my ability to find out what my students want to accomplish, what my students' goals are, and then to show them their strengths and help them achieve their goals. That's something that I am exceptionally good at. And, you know, in the classroom where I don't have the freedom to necessarily make everything custom, like I do in private practice teaching, that's how I was able to get the buy-in because I knew what their individual goals were. And I could say, okay, so here's how this activity, here's how what we're doing today, gets you closer to accomplishing your goal. And that's how I could speak to each of my learners' individual learning processes. And that's what I get to bring into my mentorship as a business mentor as well, is that superpower. So get to know what your superpowers are and take ownership of them and be proud of them. That's your key differentiator. That's what makes you the best possible fit for your ideal learner. Then I want you to think about the things that you genuinely love teaching. And this doesn't have to be just where you're certified. Those of us who've been in education for a while, we know that a good teacher can teach a lot of different content because it's our understanding of the learning process that makes us able to teach a lot of different content. So don't feel bound by your certificate. When parents are looking at you, they're not looking at your credentials the way a school board might be looking at your credentials. They are looking at your experience and you get that professional respect and trust that I mentioned before, regardless of everything you might put on your resume. Third, think about the learners that you most enjoy supporting, that you most enjoy showing up for. Again, I've talked about this before, about having a joy-based business. That joy and that enthusiasm, that's what's contagious. That's what the learners respond to. That's what keeps them coming back. That's what gives you long longevity in your business. That's what helps to protect you from burnout, is because you're doing something that you love with people that you enjoy. I don't know how many times I have thought, oh my gosh, I can't believe I get paid to do this. I basically get paid to hang out with people that I genuinely enjoy spending time with, geeking out about content that we both enjoy. That's how I make money now. What? What kind of life is this? And I'm so grateful for it. But this is how I did it. I looked at my gifts. I looked at my key differentiator. One of my gifts as a French teacher is the fact that I am not a native speaker. I worked really hard to learn this language as an English-only monolingual. So I understand the types of things that my learners are going to struggle with. I understand them intimately. I've also spent over a decade teaching English primary monolinguals this language. And so I really do understand the majority of the pitfalls and misunderstandings that my students are going to have as they approach learning this language and building their proficiency in it. That's a superpower. So something that I used to feel made me less qualified to teach is actually something that I think makes me more qualified to teach now, since I've taken a fresh look at it as I've become older and wiser. And then the last thing I want you to look at are the problems your community is struggling with. Remember, we are selling a solution to their struggles. So when we step back and we look at these four different things, so we're looking at your gift, your teacher's superpower. Number two, we're looking at the things that you genuinely love teaching. Number three, we're looking at the learners that you most enjoy supporting and working with. And number four, we're looking at the problems that these people are struggling with. When I talk about your community, I'm talking about your ideal clients. So we want to look at the problems that they're having. And then as these talented, experienced, problem-solving teachers that we are, how can we help them? How can we create solutions for them to help them overcome? That's the overlap. We're going to look for the overlap between all of those four things. And that's where we start making your offers. And this is where your marketing begins. Because now we know who we're talking to, what we're talking to them about, and the solution that we're going to offer them. So we can call them out. We can say, hey, ideal client, I see you over there struggling with this thing. This happens to be my special gift. My superpower is helping people just like you with that thing. Here's how we can work together. Here's how I can help you solve your problem. That's really going to be the key to your marketing. It's not necessarily, you know, tutoring for $50 an hour. And we want to be careful, this is another area that's hard for teachers. Because we have spent so much time in the education world with jargon and buzzwords. Just all of the edu speak that we become fluent in as teachers within the system. Our ideal clients don't have that. So we do need to be changing our vocabulary in order to talk to them in ways that they can understand. But with the, hey, I see you struggling with this, I can help. And here's why I'm the person who can help you with it, that's what your marketing is. Okay, let's tie this up. I think teachers have spent so long minimizing what we do that many of us genuinely struggle to speak to the full value of what we can bring, of what we're capable of bringing. But when you understand what you're actually selling fully, you stop apologizing for charging accordingly. You can sit more confidently in those higher price points because you realize and your people also realize that they're not just paying for your time. They are paying for your expertise, your judgment, your experience, your ability to help create outcomes that matter to them and to their children. All right. So this wraps up episode 18, which means the next episode is 19. And that feels like it should be something special because I posted on the 19th, and the 19th is my birthday. So it's always sort of had a meaning for me. But I'm really not quite sure what to talk about next. So if there's something that you would like me to talk about, if there's something that you've been wondering about, let me know. I'm gonna post some things on my socials to see. Feel free to put it in the comments under this podcast wherever you're listening. I'm also gonna send something out in my newsletter. So if you, I'll ask Mary to put a link to join my newsletter if that's something that you're interested in. But I think I'm gonna put up something in my newsletter. But if there's something that you would really love for me to talk about, let me know. I will be doing some more interviews with the teachers that I've worked with in my program. I'm just waiting until everybody's on summer vacation because it's just a lot easier for us to get together. We have a little more flexibility in our schedules. I have people all over the country, so we're in different time zones, but those will be coming. So listen for those. And until then, I hope you have a great week. Thank you for listening. If today's episode resonated with you, please share it with a colleague or leave a review. This helps the conversation reach other teachers who may need it. You can learn more about what I do and how to work with me at the privatepracticeteacher.org. Best wishes always.