Would you like to run your own business, as a Digital Unite Tutor?
You won’t make a fortune, but it’s really rewarding helping older people get to grips with digital technology. You’ll be part of a community of people doing the same thing, and you’ll have the Digital Unite Brand behind you. Digital Unite will support you with training and advice on marketing and other aspects of being a freelance Tutor, and with learner materials that are only available to our Tutors.
What do you get?
Digital Unite has been running a network of self-employed IT Tutors all over the UK since 1999. As a DU Tutor you’ll get:
- Rights to use the DU Brand and stand out from the competition.
DU is established as Britain’s specialist in Digital Inclusion for Older People. We are recommended by the government (see here) and by many organisations that work with older people, such as Help the Aged (see here). Our Silver Surfers’ Day and Silver Surfer of the Year festivals are reported in the national press and media.
- An exclusive territory, to market your services as a DU Tutor.
You will be allocated a territory around your home, based on the number of households. You have exclusive rights to market your services as a DU Tutor in this area, and we will refer all enquiries from potential clients in this area to you.
- Support, from DU Head Office and the DU Tutor network.
Being a free-lance can be lonely; you don’t have the colleagues to support you that you do in a company. You will get support and advice from the Head Office Team, with many years’ experience in the business. You will also be part of a network of Tutors doing the same job, and facing the same problems. You’ll have a private online forum, and contact details for all the other Tutors.
- Training on being a freelance Tutor, marketing and IT accessibility.
Your Joining Fee covers a one-day Induction Course, where you will work with DU Tutor Managers and other new Tutors to identify and suggest answers to the issues you will meet. You will also take part in a series of webinars on marketing and IT accessibility, from DU’s resident experts.
- Teaching materials and handouts that are unique to DU Tutors.
Look at Learning Zone to see examples of the DU style of learner guides. Du Tutors have exclusive access to a large database of other teaching materials in the same style.
Does it cost money to be a Digital Unite Tutor?
Yes, it does!
You’ll pay a one-off Joining Fee and a monthly Licence Fee.
The Joining Fee, which also covers your initial Training, is £250 + VAT (i.e. a total of £293.75).
The Licence Fee is £17 + VAT (=£19.98) per month. A 10% discount is available for annual payment in advance (£183.60 + VAT = £215.73).
Do you send me clients?
We get lots of enquiries for DU Tutors, and all those in your territory will be passed on for you to follow up.
But – we do not guarantee a constant flow of referrals. The bulk of your work will come from your own marketing and referrals from satisfied clients. It’s up to you!
Could you be a Tutor?
Eight years running the Digital Unite Tutor Network has given us a good sense of what makes a successful Digital Unite Tutor.
You need three sets of skills:
- Teaching;
- Marketing;
- Computer user.
Teaching
You don’t need to be a qualified teacher, but it is essential that you have experience (formal or informal) of teaching or helping others acquire computer skills. You may have this from training or mentoring colleagues at work, or from working as volunteer helping others learn to use computers.
A good teacher must have good people skills. Many of the people who come to you for help will be quite nervous about using digital technology. Some may have had bad experiences, from attending classes that were not right for them, or of being shown how to use a computer by someone who did not understand their needs.
So you need the ability to put them at their ease, to listen to them and understand what they really need, and then to explain and show them how to do it and encourage them to try it for themselves. And the patience to do it again if they don’t understand or remember the first time, and maybe the second or third time.
Marketing
You can be the best teacher in the world, and know more about computers than anyone, but if you don’t tell people, they won’t pay you to help them.
You will have to get out there and tell them. That means advertising, promoting yourself is various ways and building networks of contacts locally. You have got to be willing to put in the time and effort to do this, and to be sufficiently mentally robust, self-motivated and enterprising to stick at it and build your business over time.
We can give you training, advice and support, and the benefit of the DU Brand, but we can’t do your marketing for you.
So if you think that being a DU Tutor means you can sit back and wait for us to send you the clients – stop now!
Computer User
You’ll be helping people to use computers, so you need to be a competent and confident user of a PC, the Internet and the common applications for email, web browsing, word processing and maybe managing photos and music.
But you don’t need to be an expert, and you certainly don’t need to be a technical wizard.
Most of your clients will want help with basic skills, or to build on the basics to make better use of their computer. So you need the knowledge to give them that. If you have in depth knowledge of photo editing, or accounting, or databases, or other tools that individuals or small businesses may use, great – you can offer tuition in those things, at premium prices. But it’s not essential.
If you have technical skills with hardware or networks, that is also something you can offer. Many people want these services. But again, it’s not necessary. Many DU Tutors work on the basis that “I can’t help you with that, but I know a man who can!”
And if you are a technical expert, bear in mind that most of your clients will not be, and make sure that you don’t blind them with jargon.
What next?
If you are still thinking “Yes, that’s me” then get in touch. Use the contact form to send us brief details of your experience, and where you live. It’s important to to say where you live, as we do not take on any new Tutors in areas already covered by current Tutors.
For the contact form click here.
Bob Holmes or Fiona Syrett will reply with more information and to arrange a short telephone interview. If we agree that you are right for DU, and we are right for you, then we’ll invite you to join an Induction Workshop. We hold these in Woking at roughly two month intervals so there will be one soon after your interview.
And from there you will become a DU Tutor.