Episode 67: How to Market an Education Business with Allison Williams

For this episode I had Allison Williams, founder of Tutor Tots online, back on the podcast. Allison's business focuses on creating engaging online classes for kids and it has really grown in the past few years since we started working together.

Allison is also an Educator Forever team member. She helps me run our Education Business Foundations program, and our Grow Your Education Business accelerator for graduates of the Foundations program.

We discussed marketing our education businesses and the winning strategies we’ve found over the years. We also get into the importance of having the right mind set when growing your business.

 
 
 
 
 

Read the transcript for this episode:

Welcome to educator forever, where we empower teachers to innovate education. Join us each week to hear stories of teachers expanding their impacts beyond the classroom and explore ways to reimagine teaching and learning.

Lily Jones 0:01

I'm super excited to have Allison Williams, founder of Tutor Tots online, back on the podcast. Allison's business focuses on creating engaging online classes for kids and it has really grown in the past few years since we started working together. Allison is also an Educator Forever team member. She helps me run our Education Business Foundations program, and our Grow Your Education Business accelerator for graduates of the Foundations program. We love working together to support educators starting and growing successful education businesses. So I'm super excited to have Allison on the podcast to talk more about how to market to an education business.

Hi, Allison. So glad to have you here.

Allison Williams 0:49

Hey, thank you for having me again.

Lily Jones 0:51

Yes, always so happy to talk with you. Today I thought we'd talk about a topic that we talk about a lot in our education business programs, which is marketing. And I know like going from being a teacher to doing marketing for my business, and figuring that out was a journey and is a journey. Definitely not done. But I would love to start off hearing from you, you know, going from a teacher to running an online business like how that was, in terms of marketing, like Did it come easy? Was it hard? What do you have to figure out?

Allison Williams 1:27

Oh, my goodness, well, like you said, it's something that you have to continuously learn. And just take it bit by bit, I would say, I really was just experimenting and trying new things. As far as marketing goes, you know, I kind of related to, you know, a kid, starting a lemonade stand is like, what would that kid do to make sure everybody on the neighborhood in the neighborhood knows about it? So that's the kind of approach that I took to getting the word out about my business. But yeah, it was a learning curve. It was a lot. It was a lot to take in all at once.

Lily Jones 1:28

Absolutely. And so how did you figure it out? Like, I mean, I think at the basics, like marketing, is just getting more people to know about what you're doing. And it can feel like really overwhelming, right? Because there's so many options, like you could spend 24 hours a day on like one social media channel and still feel like it's not done, kind of like teaching side note, where you can just like, keep working on it and never be done. But thinking about how to get more eyes on your business, or more people, you know, to know about what you were doing? What did you do first? And then like, what did you do after that?

Allison Williams 2:46

I think I started with what made sense to me, which was like starting with the people who were really close to me. So just kind of talking about what I was doing with my family and friends, and using my personal social media pages Facebook, to just kind of announced that, okay, I'm trying something new, this is what I'm doing. So sharing it with my close circle first was probably the first thing that I did. And then after that, you know, I would honestly, I'm really big on just like learning. So I went to YouTube University and just typed it in, like, how do you get your business out there? How do you get more eyes on your business? So I, I still do this, but I just took in a lot of content related to marketing, and would just try to apply a little bit of what I would learn, you know, along the way. So word of mouth, I would say really is like the top marketing strategy that I learned that if you can get people who are already know you and already working with you to talk about you, that has been very beneficial for my business. But then I had to learn like how do you get people to talk about you? So I was just really upfront, I would say, Do you know any other families who may be interested in my services? You know, or I would ask them to send me pictures of things that you know, we were doing in class or possibly posted on their personal Facebook. And a lot of people would actually do that for me. So I think just really building that connection with the people who are already working with you and already know you, they can really help you in and take your business a little bit further.

Lily Jones 4:30

Absolutely. And you have to ask, right, like, that's something that I had to learn to and something as a consumer, like, I just don't think about right. We're all busy for most things, right? Like, I don't really think about like, oh, I should write a review or oh, I should recommend this unless a very specific situation happens. And so being asked, it's usually easy, right? You're like, okay, yeah, I'll pass on this information to a friend or I'll write your review or whatever it is. But I think that step of asking can also feel really uncomfortable. At the beginning, because it's like we put so much like, when you're the person doing the ask, we put so much on it sometimes, like, oh, I don't know how they're gonna feel about it, or oh, I don't know, am I asking too much? But no, like, it's just a practice of asking, and people can decide to say yes or no.

Allison Williams 5:16

Right. And I think one technique I used is like, after a unit, or after working with a family for, you know, a certain amount of time, I would send like a survey and ask them, you know, some general questions about how do they feel about it? What did your child enjoy about it? And the last question would always be open to like, is there anything else that you would like to say or recommend, and usually, that would end up being a testimonial that I can use on my website, or on social media? Because I usually would have, you know, something positive to say. So I would pull from that, too. Yes,

Lily Jones 5:51

I love that. And going back to even what you shared at the beginning to have just like, spreading the word to people, you know, I felt really intimidated by that at the beginning, because I was like, Oh, if I put it out there, what I want to do with educator forever, then I have to actually do it. In that accountability, which was great, but also kind of terrifying, because like, Okay, I'm going to tell my friend, and then the next time I talk to my friend, she's going to ask me how it's going. So like, hopefully, it's been going. But I think that each of those steps is part of the process, like first just tell a friend or a loved one or colleague about what you're doing. And then the next day, tell one more person. Oh, and each time that you do it, not only will you be more clear on your business, and like how you're going to present it. But also you'll get more confident because like, Alright, I'm telling you a person today, don't care if somebody at the gas station or like somebody I know. But I'm practicing telling a person, what I do now for my job.

Allison Williams 6:49

That is so true. Yeah, the more practice, the better. You get your words together a little bit better. I remember the first couple of times, I would be fumbling, because I wasn't really sure what I was doing just yet, like I was trying out all sorts of things. But yes, like you said, the more that you talk about it, it will just start to roll off of your tongue because you know it better. And, you know, I'm super introverted, I'm not the type to just go up to a random person and start blabbing about what I'm doing. So I had to find, you know, different ways. So you know, I would have like a T shirt with my logo on it, and go to Publix and be able to strike up a conversation really easily. So kind of opening that door, through these, you know, nonverbal ways was really good. Or I also for a long period of time had a, like a car magnet on my car. And I would just be driving around and people at the fast food restaurant or whatever would say, oh, you're a teacher? Yes, here's my card. So um, yeah, there's a lot of ways to just open up that door to get a little bit more comfortable with talking about it. Absolutely.

Lily Jones 7:56

And I love that too, of like, what ways feel good to you. I think it's a balance of like, what feels good to you, and also pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone, you know, like, I don't want people to just be doing like something that feels good to them, which is actually kind of playing it small, you know, but I think your examples are perfect, cuz those are not that, right, like putting it on your shirt, putting it on your car, like Stripe, having somebody else, notice your business in a different way. And strike up a conversation is really smart. Like, I think that's great. And it's multiple entry points for all sorts of people too. And then going back to just like the learning about marketing, I want to hit on something you said earlier, the YouTube University, like, how powerful is that, like, that's so different from when I was a kid, like, we didn't have YouTube University, like we couldn't go and just like, look up anything that we wanted to learn and basically learn it. And I think as teachers, like we're experts in learning, and we can really learn anything. And so empowering people that it's like, it's okay, if you don't know anything about marketing, or whatever it is that you want to learn. But you can learn it one step at a time. And there's always more to learn.

Allison Williams 9:05

Right? That's really true. Something I do now is like, you know, like, I don't work on Fridays, on Fridays, I usually try to do some type of professional development. So it could be a podcast or a YouTube video. And what I will do is just type note and my email in the draft, and I'm just out the subject line is whatever video it was, and I'll just listen to it. And when I hear something that's like, Oh, I just type it, I just write it down. And then, you know, sometime during the week, I'll go back to those minutes and try to apply whatever it is that I learned. So if it's just one small thing, like you don't have to know everything at once. I think that sounds so overwhelming. But one small thing at a time, those small actions lead to big steps. So that's definitely a good strategy.

Lily Jones 9:52

Yes, I love that strategy. And that's an awesome time to build it into your routine to like you did have like Fridays. Use your own professional development. And then I love that you're also being like, and then how am I going to actually implement it? Because I've definitely had times where I'm like, I'm watching a lot of videos, or I'm going through a course. And like, Yes, I'm probably learning, but I could have taken it one step further to really think about like taking the notes, sending it to myself, and then how am I going to use it actually, in my business, and I think that's really like when you're thinking about signing up for a course. So or doing some kind of professional development where you do have to pay which like, some you do, somebody don't, right. But like having that return on investment, that you are actually making sure that whatever you learn, you're gonna take into your business and hopefully amplify the impacts that way.

Allison Williams

Absolutely.

Lily Jones

Awesome. So going back to just like this idea of marketing, like, I feel like, we've gotten some great ideas about how to learn about it. I mean, I think another way to learn about it is like thinking about people that you admire, who are doing things or have a business that you really like, or maybe are similar to what you're doing, and really studying them. Like that's another great thing about the internet too. Like you could go to somebody's or a brand's social media page and really analyze it of like, what are they posting? What are people engaging with? What kind of comments are they giving back? You know, what kind of ads are they doing? Like really taking that mindset of learning from other leaders in the field? And I think one thing we talk about a lot in our education business programs is like that brings up feelings, like all this brings up feelings, right? So when you're looking at people, particularly if you are like starting a tutoring company, and you're looking at a tutoring company that has like, you know, 10s of 1000s of customers, and has been around forever and has a huge budget and all of the things, it can feel really easy to be like, Oh, maybe I shouldn't do this, like, I'm not good enough. Like these people are doing so much more than me, like, why would anybody ever choose me like, we make up all these things in our heads? To talk ourselves out of actually doing the thing? And so I'm wondering if you have I mean, I definitely have tons of experience that you're like, I don't know, like, this looks really polished. But I wonder if you have any experience or advice around kind of like impostor syndrome, or things that come up around that?

Allison Williams 12:16

Definitely, yes, um, that's exactly what I did when I was trying to figure out exactly like what business model I wanted to use. As far as tutoring, I went to the big tutoring companies, and instead of letting it intimidate me, I let it inspire me, like, these are some really great ideas, it kind of takes a lot of the, you know, brain work out of it, if you if you find a business that is like, this is really smart, this is genius, you can use that business model or use their marketing strategies to help you develop your program or your business as well. So I will use your competitors or you know, don't even call them competitors all the time. Those are your inspirations, you know, that's who you want to learn from. So that one day, you may end up being the next best thing, or you can learn from them and do something that's different. You know, you can figure out what what are they missing, so that people may not, who doesn't want to go to this big company? And why not? And what can I do to kind of counteract what they're missing on? So there's, there's a lot of benefits to that. But yeah, imposter syndrome is real, it happens, it comes up all the time. And I think that's why so many people who own businesses really talk about mindset, it really does have to start there, you have to be positive, you have to see challenges as good things. A challenge is good, we can do hard things. So I think taking on that mindset will flip a negative really quickly to a positive.

Lily Jones 13:48

Absolutely. And I love even the way that you demonstrate to right, like they're not competitors, they really are people that can serve as inspiration. And that if people are having big successes in the field that you want to go into, like, that's good data, right? People want to buy that thing, like it's possible. And so I think seeing it as a possibility, and I like you're saying to making it your own, like there's only one you and whatever you do, you're gonna put your own spin on it, or you should put your own spin on it right? And so that and like magic differentiator, is you, but you can then learn from all those other places, as long as you don't let those feelings or like impostor syndrome creep up along the way. And I know like mindset when I first started business, I was like, what is all this talk about mindset, like, I just want to learn how to build my online course or whatever. And then as the years went on, I was like, oh, that's why people are talking about mindset. You really, really do need to work on reframing those challenges, like seeing things as growth opportunities. I think that building a business is really personal development like it has made me have so many more tools in my own life like business and personal life, to really reframe how I see things, and definitely it's hard, but it's like, yeah, like you said, like hard things are how we grow. And like, we can totally do hard things. So I think even like, reflecting on the challenges, kind of when you come out on the other side of something being like, Alright, how did I get through this? Oh, like, what went well? What could be done differently next time? What lessons can I take away? So it's like really building that toolbox as you go on.

Allison Williams 15:29

Right? I mean, that reminds me of teaching, I used to always be like, one of the questions when you evaluate a lesson, you do a reflection, how did that lesson go? So how did that, you know, action that you took? How did that go? How did that, you know, program that you put together? So really self reflecting and just being honest, you know,? What were the strengths? What were the struggles? And how can we get better,? It's this continuous thing of just trying to be you know, 1%, better, you can be 1% better, you're getting closer to your goal. And I like what really helped with my mindset was like, really celebrating the small goals, like the little small things add up. And when you start accomplishing smaller things, that's how you get your confidence. Like, oh, you know, I posted three times this week, next week, let's do four, you know, so small goals really add up. And that's what has helped me become more confident.

Lily Jones 16:23

Yes. And our brains have such a negativity bias, right? Like, our brains go to like, oh, what we didn't do or like, Oh, I didn't do five posts this week. So really reframing it as like, "Yeah, I did three posts. And that's awesome. And I'm gonna build on that." And I'm doing the thing, it can be so encouraging, and I think really flips it to get our brains focusing more on celebration and gratitude and the things we can build off of. And then it's just more fun. Like, I think that even though building a business is hard, it's like when you're building something for yourself, it should also be fun. An d it should be something that you're celebrating. And every step, even the first step, like of saying that you want to build a business is something to celebrate, like I told my first person, that's amazing, one step further down the road. And so every single step, I think I agree, you know, celebrate it, and also reflect on it, like not everything has to be amazing. And not everything has to be perfect at all, like really how we learn is by doing that analyzing and thinking, oh, what can I do better next time? What do I want to keep doing next time and building on?

Allison Williams 17:28

Right.

Lily Jones 17:29

So going back to just marketing, you know, I'm thinking about our listeners out there who might have an idea of a business. And maybe they've told a couple people, but they're like, What do I do next. And I know, we had a education, business foundations class yesterday, where we did kind of marketing fundamentals, but the whole idea of marketing is just getting your idea out there, like brand awareness. Marketing brings people in. Maybe not into being customers right away, but into knowing that your brand exists, that you exist. So I'm just gonna list off some ways that you can do that just to get people's ideas flowing. And then we'd love to hear from you kind of what approaches you've taken or where you've been trying lately. So you can definitely do social media marketing, you know, I think we see that all the time, right? The thing with anything, especially social media marketing is like you can't do it all at once. So do not try to go out there and be like, I'm starting to Tik Tok, I'm starting an Instagram, I'm starting a LinkedIn page, like all at once, and I'm gonna post on them all every day. That is not sustainable. And also, we don't know what works yet. And so I would choose one channel to start with, and really go deep. Build it out, try things out, test things out, see if you can figure out what works for you. And really, I think that like going back to the YouTube University idea, like learning what works for other people is great. But it's never going to translate exactly to your business. So taking information from lots of different places, and then putting it in your business, trying it out and seeing what works. I think that's where we see a lot of people stop, because it's like, I tried one thing, and it didn't work. So it just not gonna work at all. Like no, nothing works the first time. Absolutely. Like, I can tell you that nothing works at least perfectly the first time. And so really always tweaking it, seeing it as data and adjusting. So that's just a little bit about social media marketing. I feel like we've spent a lot of time there. There's email marketing, which is really, really important to build an email list is really, really important. And it's because social media algorithms can change social media companies can be sold or go under, and then you can lose your communication with your customers. So if you get people's emails and build that relationship that way, then you have a direct line to them. So I always recommend people start with an email list and one social media channel. And then marketing could be like going to events or conferences, it could be going on people's podcasts, it could be taking out ads, it could be putting up the sticker or the magnet on your car. Like whatever it is that gets people to know about your business is marketing. So lots of different options. And you only really need to pick one to get started and test it out and see how it brings people into your, you know, ecosystem. But I'd love to hear kind of what has worked for you like, where do you spend the most of your time marketing? Or where are you interested in exploring next?

Allison Williams 20:36

So, you know, marketing is definitely about just getting people to know that you exist. And also, you know, I always try to keep in mind the word attract, it needs to attract your target audience. And the only way your marketing can attract your target audience is if you're really clear about who you're trying to attract. So I definitely use Facebook groups . Most of my families are homeschooled families, so I become members of different homeschool groups on Facebook. And then I will just share value. I just share. I listen to what the parents are, you know, having trouble with or maybe what is going really well. And I'll just kind of give my advice if they ask a question about something that's frustrating them. And if I know the answer, I will share my expertise. And then sometimes that leads to a conversation, or maybe they click on my profile to see who I am. And it may lead them to my website or my Instagram. And there's there's a lot of ways to attract in the Facebook group. So if you notice that there's a common question that everyone keeps asking, then you can generate some content around that idea. So it can be an infographic, it can be a carousel, it could be a short video clip of you explaining the answer. So really does being creative with how you attract your target audience. Because some people may be more likely to click on a video than read a response. Or they might rather read a response and then see an infographic. So just think about different ways that your target audience likes to take in information. But that is really key to share value. So Facebook groups are huge, I would say. I spend a lot of time on Instagram. You know, that's where I post most of my content that I create. But I also use that same content in other ways as well. So if I have just started kind of writing a blog, I do like one blog a month, real simple, taking it slow, right? And I will use that blog. So I may create a graphic that says, you know, new blog post on my Instagram. So that brings them to my website, or maybe my blog is in response to one of these questions that I keep seeing in Facebook groups, here's, here's an article that may help you with that, you know, so it gets them to my website. So I'm just finding different ways to attract them to my website, which will hopefully lead them to my email list where I can really communicate with them. Something else that I use for marketing, I like to go to different like homeschool conferences, and just really be out there with the community, the homeschool community. So you know, setting up a table and putting out my little manipulatives. And my learning kits is the perfect way because I know they are my target audience. Even if their kids are not in my age range, they may know somebody who knows somebody. So really going out to where they are is a really good one. And making sure that you have like a paper for them to sign up to join your email list or a QR code to join, you know, your email list.

Then being really strategic about different things. So when I do homeschool conferences, I make sure that I either have a unit coming up or a free zoom party coming up. So it's like, oh, okay, you're engaging with me, we're talking Well, guess what? join my email list. I have a zoom party next Friday. You know, like make it really strategic so that they stay at you stay at the top of their brain. So I think those are some good ones. I'm trying to think what else do I do for marketing? And back to word of mouth. I mean, I offer like a referral program. So I tried to get my parents to talk about me, I tried to make the program so good that they want to post pictures like oh, look what my little child did today. And they posted on their social media. So it's making it very social in the classroom. And I actually started something called Parent paparazzi. So I'm like, urging them you know, a cute name like, yes, please take pictures. And you know, they either send it to me and I post it or they post it themselves. So, you know, just getting really kind of cutesy and creative has really helped with marketing.

Lily Jones 25:01

Yes, I mean, I think all of that focus on providing true value is what makes it effective, right? Like you're saying, all right, I'm gonna make this class so good, that people are really excited to take a picture of their cute kid doing this cute activity and posted on social media, like make it so good that people are like, I want to share this, like this is a truly enjoyable experience. And then really, I guess, going back to what you said about the Facebook groups like paying attention to the questions that people are asking, and then answering those, those will draw people in, right? Because they already are saying, I have this question. And then you're popping up being like I have the answer. So really, that is what they want to end going to the people that you hope to serve, and really listening and paying attention. And then creating content that matches what you hear them say they want is so smart.

Allison Williams 25:57

Another way to do that, like if you if you're having a hard time finding Facebook groups, so like you could, you know, follow some social media accounts of other companies that are doing something similar, and get into their comments and see what questions they're asking you to videos are a great way to do this. If you're watching a video about something related to what your business is about. Read the comments. What do the people what are the people still asking even after watching this video? What are they still need more of? And then you can create some content related to that. So that's another idea.

Lily Jones 26:29

That's super smart. Yeah, you don't even have to be the one asking the questions, right? Like you can go to where other pieces of content might be and then really pay attention there. So I love that, especially when you're starting off like really collecting and having like a dog or a notebook or something where you're writing down questions you're hearing people ask that relate to your business. ords they're using, how they're describing their problem, or like their pain point that you're going to help them solve.

Allison Williams 26:56

That was really good that you said that, yes. The words that they use are different from the words we use, I was doing too much teacher jargon too much teacher talk. And I don't think I was connecting with my target audience at all. And one thing that I did, I went to this, there was a zoom call, it was definitely my target audience on this zoom call it 200 People big, big homeschool community. And I was just writing down their responses. One of the questions that the moderator was asking was, why did you decide to homeschool? You know, what are what are your struggles? What's what's going on. And I literally was just in the comments, writing down everything that they were saying, as they said it, and I'm like, Oh, so this is how they say assessment and data. You know, they use other words, and so those are the words I need to use when I'm trying to address them.

Lily Jones 27:45

That's so smart. And I think sometimes we get so into our own heads about the words that we use, or our teacher jargon, like all the things. So really paying attention and having it just be your mission, in some experience, whether it's a zoom call, or on a Facebook group, or in YouTube comments, to just pay attention to the language and also how it differs from what you might naturally use. Like, as a teacher, I might call it this. But as a parent, they seem to be calling it something else. Or as a teacher, even like I find this important, but maybe most parents don't. And that's okay. But then my job, if I'm gonna teach that thing is to convince parents why it's important, or decide to focus on what they think is important. Because they're not gonna just magically see like, oh, you should actually be doing social and emotional learning, or whatever, if they don't already know that it's important, or you don't make the case for it. Right. So that's all so valuable hearing about your experience marketing and the things you're trying. And I'm wondering if we could end by just giving both of us giving a piece of advice to folks starting off building a business about marketing. I can go first, and then you could share your idea if-- that works for you. I think that my biggest advice is just to learn by doing it. That you don't need to have a perfect brand voice or perfect visuals or even a real idea about what your business is actually going to look like to be able to spread the word about what you want to do. Because I have learned that by talking about things or creating something and getting feedback on it is actually have gotten clarity about my business, because I'm like, okay, yes, people want this thing, or people want this thing, but in this other way. And so not being so tied to an idea that you can experiment and get feedback and not being so tied to an idea that it like it has to be polished and perfect. It doesn't. It just has to be your first try. And every trial that you do if you're doing like we're saying of like really analyzing, right? If you're really learning from it and paying attention to it, then it gets better if you're just trying things then trying things and not doing that analyzing, like, I don't know if it's gonna get better. But I think if you try it out in a scrappy way, first, really get the data and commit to learning. And then that's really where the magic happens.

Allison Williams 30:11

Yes, I will say my advice is that what I've come to realize is that people -- most people -- are very visual. And I think one of the easiest ways to attract people to your business is to make however your marketing be visually appealing to the eyes. I think they should see themselves through the graphics that you're using. I think, you know, back to the lemonade stand, you're going to stop at a lemonade stand that has balloons, and is maybe playing some lively music and has some cute little kids waving signs around, you're going to stop. You're going to. So when you're developing your marketing strategy, and maybe the visuals that go along with it, or just the feeling of it, think about that. What's going to make them stop scrolling and read what you're writing or listen to what you're saying or look at what you just posted? I think there is definitely a lot of value in that.

Lily Jones 31:15

And your social media is such a good example of that everyone should check out Allison's social media for tutor chats online because it is so visually appealing. And I think that that really is something to keep in mind. It doesn't also have to be something that seems really hard, right? Like you are a Canva master. And people can use Canva to create all sorts of things like you don't have to have crazy graphic design skills to be able to create something that draws people in. So I don't want people to feel intimidated by that, but inspired by it, right? Like, there are so many tools that you can use to create something that really draws people in. Awesome. I love that advice. So to close, if I just want to do a plug for our education business Foundations program. We'll have another round. We have round starting every quarter. And so if people are out there being like I want to start a business but don't really know what to do, we created this program for you. It's a 12 week program where we walk you through all the things that you need to do to build a successful education business. So I'll put a link down below. You can also find it at educator forever.com, in our program section. We'd love to have you check it out. Yes. And thanks so much, Alison, for joining us. I'm sure you'll be back on the podcast again soon. As always such a pleasure to talk with you.

Allison Williams 32:32

Thank you. Thank you for having me. Absolutely.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Lily Jones