Tips from Successful Online Tutor Bloggers

 Are tutor blogs worth it? 

You might be thinking blogging takes an unbearable amount of planning, writing, editing, and posting, right? And can you really grow an online tutoring business through blogging? What if no one reads your blog posts?

Or worse, what if you don’t write well or your writing is boring?

These thoughts played over and over again in my mind.

I am Suzanne Davis and even though I wrote a lot, liked writing, and taught it for 15 years, I dreaded the work involved in blogging, doubted I could get students through blogging, and feared failing.

But the only way to push through that fear was for me to write, publish and share blog posts. So, I did. And I kept doing it weekly. Without realizing it, my fears went away.

A few months later, people were reading and sharing my blog posts. Six months later, I got requests for consultations every week (without advertising my services), and the most visited page on my website was my blog.

If you feel scared or are afraid to start blogging, you’re like most online tutor bloggers. But if blogging is something you want to try and are motivated to do it, you’ll succeed.

And in this round-up blog post, you’ll learn how 3 online tutors, Anna Dinissuk, Lynn Tracey Wilson, and Darci Zeigler, started blogging and their best tips for excelling at blogging. 

The Secrets to Creating Tutor Blogs

The tutors in this post had different blogging journeys, and they followed their paths to create unique tutor blogs. So when I approached them, I wanted to learn their stories and how they became tutor bloggers.

To find out their secrets to success, I asked them 2 questions:

1) How did you get started blogging?

2) What is your best advice about blogging?

Read on to find their unfiltered advice.

#1 Anna Dinissuk

Independent Reading and Writing Tutor for Elementary and Middle School-Aged Children

Two-time Tutor Blogging Star Challenge Winner

Anna Dinissuk is an online reading and writing tutor for kids because she understands from personal experience what it feels like not to enjoy going to school. Anna has been working in education since 2012 and has experience working in a variety of settings. She has most recently learned about how to teach online in a fun way through teaching ESL and how to teach reading better through Joanne Kaminski’s Reading Interventionist course.

In the Spring of 2021, Anna Dinissuk took my blogging course, Blogging to Get Found for Online Tutoring, at The Online Tutor Coach. During this course, she won “The Tutor Blogging Star Challenge,” where she needed to write at least 3000 words of blog posts in 30-days. Anna repeated her success in winning “The Tutor Blogging Star Challenge” again in the summer. 

When I asked her for comments on the questions above, I was surprised to learn about her blogging background.

1) How did you get started blogging?

I started blogging in 2016, mainly as a volunteer for a nonprofit organization about mental health awareness. This led to a paid position during my graduate degree, which I also enjoyed. Being on video is not always something I’m comfortable with, so writing blog posts is a good way to get my thoughts out into the world.

2) What is your best advice about blogging?

Taking a course about blogging will help you refine your writing and figure out what you’re doing wrong. I found Suzanne’s course to be very helpful and informative. The most important thing I’ve learned is that people don’t like to read big walls of text; breaking the content up with subheadings and smaller paragraphs will make information more readable.

You can find out more about Anna Dinissuk and her tutoring business, Learn to Write, at her website https://www.learntowrite.ca/.

#2 Lynn Tracey Wilson

Owner of Tutoring with a Smile, Online Reading Tutor

Two-time Tutor Blogging Rockstar Winner and one-time Tutor Blogging Star Winner

Lynn Wilson is a professional online reading tutor for K-5 students. She is a mother, grandmother, retired reading intervention teacher, and special education teacher. She is equipped with 27 + years of teaching, a toolbox of methods and resources, a sense of humor, and her Bible.

Like Anna, Lynn participated in the 30-Day Challenge to Grow Your Online Tutoring Business. She won 3 times: 2 Tutor Blogging Rockstar Awards and a Tutor Blogging Star Award. To win the Tutor Blogging Rockstar Award, a tutor must write at least 6000 words for blog posts in 30 days! Lynn exceeded the word count when she competed in the Tutor Blogging Rockstar Challenge. The first time she won, Lynn wrote 11,626 words in a month!

With all that success, you may think blogging was easy for her--well, not quite.

1) How did you get started blogging?

I balked at the idea of posting my first blog for 3 years! Thankfully, I met Suzanne Davis, who encouraged me to try freewriting, and the ideas flowed. Sonia Hubly, who became my virtual assistant/coach, took care of technology and details that stymied me. I loved seeing a finished piece of my writing online and hoped that maybe one little nugget I wrote would help someone have a better day or better life.

2)  What is your best advice about blogging?

I write down my topic (so I stay on topic) with 3 facts, questions, or points to be addressed. It’s just enough of a  framework to keep me writing without getting stuck. Putting something down on paper is important because, as my colleague, Robin, always said, “You can edit nothing.” We can always improve a piece of writing, and it will never be perfect, so we have to reach a point where we say enough is enough-- and hit publish.

You can learn about Lynn Wilson’s tutoring services and read her blog at https://www.tutoringwithasmile.com/.

#3 Darci Zeigler

Dyslexia Tutor and Owner of Defeating Dyslexia with Darci

Darci Zeigler is a Certified Academic Language Practitioner (CALP). She teaches reading online via zoom to people who struggle to become good readers.

I know Darci through The Insider Secrets Club for Online Tutors. She is an active member of The Blogging Mastermind Group, and she blogs regularly. Her tutor blog is packed with information and tips that can help her ideal client. When I met Darci, I was surprised to see how engaged and committed she was to blogging for her tutoring business.  

1) How did you get started blogging?

I really didn’t even know exactly what a blog was, but I learned that blogging was a good way to increase traffic to my website and help me to be seen as an expert in my field, so I decided to try it. At first, I wrote several blogs but did not write consistently, but recently I have decided to make it a priority to be consistent in writing one blog each month. I am learning a lot about what a blog should be and how to write a good one from Suzanne Davis.

2) What is best your blogging advice?

If you would like to add a blog to your website, then just sit down and take the time to write about a topic that you are already an expert on. Don’t be a perfectionist, or you may never get anything done. Also, don’t forget to tell others on your social media sites and email lists about the fact that you have a blog.

You can learn more about Darci Zeigler’s tutoring services at Defeating Dyslexia with Darci at https://www.defeatingdyslexiawithdarci.com/

What does it take to become a tutor blogger?

You don’t need some magic “writing gift” to blog.

You don't even need years of writing experience.

Writing is a little like wanting to ride a bicycle. Even if you’ve never done it, you can watch, learn and try. If you fall, you get up, sit on the seat, pedal and ride that bicycle again. One day, you’re riding anywhere you wish to go.

Anna, Lynn, and Darci had different levels of blogging experience; however, each of these tutors pushed themselves to start and keep up their tutor blogs. Whether through courses or joining a blogging community, they found their motivation to blog and overcame whatever obstacles they faced. 

Motivation drives you to learn more about blogging and keep writing even if you doubt yourself.

One way to motivate yourself is by working with others in a community of bloggers or taking on a challenge like The 30-Day Blogging Challenge to Grow Your Online Tutoring Business. Setting a goal and writing every day to reach that goal pushes you further than you think you can go.

And if you want to learn more about creating a successful tutor blog and The 30-Day Blogging Challenge to Grow Your Online Tutoring Business check out my course, Blogging to Get Found for Online Tutoring. I take you step-by-step from finding blog post topics to publishing and promoting your blog posts so more people find you and hire you.

Click here to sign-up and join us.

Your future students are waiting for you.  It is time for you to let your blog help you get found.