In an increasingly hostile financial climate, it is telling that at my upcoming conference appearance at Practical Pedagogies, a session hosted by Russel Tarr and I on “becoming an edupreneur while staying in the classroom”, so far appears to be the second most popular session of the entire event.
In the UK, teacher wages are stagnating and there have been recent calls for swift increases, to prevent a further haemorrhaging of teachers to schools abroad and even into other ventures. So, it’s with that I offer my five tips on how to generate that all important extra income.
1. Become a successful blogger
What you need: the internet, some kind of ability to write coherently, some knowledge or idea to share, a free WordPress account. And off you go.
What to do: First of all, you need to think about who you are going to be. You could be the “go to” on all things data and research, the blogger geek who will pedantically trawl through the latest on this and that to produce some new found analysis?
You could be a subject specialist blogger? If you are a science teacher, blog about subject specific teaching strategies. There are plenty who already do this very successfully. Think Amjad Ali, Russel Tarr and Kate Jones. So ask yourself how you could be different. What will your forte or niche be?
Finally, you prefer to (try) and comment on education. But if you do so, make sure you have a thick skin and a keen eye for what’s “trending” in the edusphere. What do people want to read?
If you don’t like writing, why not consider a vlog or a podcast as an alternative?
Earning potential: With Google Adwords, if you can generate the traffic, you will generate some revenue. Although don’t expect the big bucks unless you have literally thousands of visitors each day. However, achieving revenue of between £10 to £50 a month from direct ad links should be achievable if you can build a following.
To do this, you must write regularly and this is a huge challenge, especially for full-time class teachers. Writing needs to be a hobby, something you enjoy doing anyway.
Established edu bloggers like Nancy Gedge, James Theobald and Natalie Scott (all nominated for TES blogger awards) produce plenty of content, perhaps between four and six blogs a month. Up and coming bloggers like Ben Newmark might produce as many as 10 or 15. It’s difficult to produce high-quality content whilst holding down a full-time job and potentially supporting a family, but it is possible.
2. Become a successful trainer or speaker
What you need: are you a good speaker? Do you have good classroom experience? Do you enjoy supporting colleagues in their personal development? If yes, then becoming an educational consultant, adviser or trainer is only one click away.
What to do: Firstly, ensure your experience base is firm enough to do what you want. If you are going to train NQTs, have you been an NQT mentor in school? If you are going to train school leaders, have you been a successful one?
The second thing is to try and establish a reputation: this is the difficult bit. The key here is to give and share freely. Think resources, pearls of wisdom or individual advice and guidance - anything that helps or is useful.
Teachers will not only appreciate the support but they will remember your name. Later it may bring requests for you to deliver some training at a local school or institution. Running a teachmeet is also a great way to connect with other educators. Read my story of teachmeet organisation and creation here.
If you don’t fancy anything too grand, you could also create online courses for teachers, something I have done myself and written about in this blog.
Earning potential: huge. Many of the leading teacher trainers in the UK no longer work as classroom teachers at all. They can charge hundreds of pounds for a single “keynote address” and even more for a day’s training with follow up. I was asked to train some history teachers for a well-known academy chain back in February. This came about purely by building up a network of connections.
3. Sell your resources
What you need: resources to sell and an account with TES Resources or any other premium resources site.
What to do: create some high-quality content. You can use the TES Resources crib sheets to understand the most popular topics within your subject area then create bundles of resources where buyers can benefit from discounts on larger purchases.
Create sale periods to further incentivise your offering and make sure your shop looks the part by adding a cover image and an engaging bio that showcases who you are. Finally, behind your TES page, it might be worth having a website, a social media account or just a simple email list to promote your products.
I think it’s a good idea to have a range of free resources too; you need to build up some social proof and this is a great way of doing it.
Earning potential: Paul Urry, winner of the TES Resources award, was able to give his daughter £11,000 towards her house deposit last year. Sums it up really.
4. Write a book
What you need: ideas, commitment and a bit of time
What to do: It would seem that every man, woman and their dog is jumping on the book bandwagon of late. I say that in the most positive terms, because I have seen plenty of great books coming onto the market recently.
For some reason, selling a book seems to have a much better reputation than selling an educational resource (I’m confused by this. Answers on a postcard please). If you have an idea, then start writing. And keep writing. On completion, approach a publisher that specialises in education like CrownHouse. Hope they like what you are bringing. If not, self-publish using amazon for kindle.
Earning potential: This is too difficult to judge but obviously, this will depend on a range of factors, including pricing and platform. Have a go.
Tom Rogers will be presenting alongside Russel Tarr at Practical Pedgagies 2016 in Toulouse, France, next week. He is a head of history who runs RogersHistory.com and tweets @rogershistory
