LESSON 1 
 

Check out this picture -- what do you see? 

No, this isn’t abstract art or an attempt to create some sensational experience. It’s a 
picture without a focus. I haven’t done due diligence to zoom in (it takes a few 
seconds). Moved too quickly. And there you go. Something I should delete. 

When I began teaching English online, my business was a lot like this picture. 
Blurry, bland, faceless and vague. It was about nothing and everything. My goal was 
to help everyone. Little did I know that by doing that I was snapping blurry 
pictures, destroying my art and making my work faceless. 

Needless to say, I worried about competition and pricing. I stressed over every 
client and couldn’t imagine collaboration with other ESL teachers. What if they 
stole my students? How would I recover? 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 1     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

My business was all about numbers: more students, more teachers, more lessons. I 
did the best I could, as I’m sure you are, too, but it wasn’t motivating anymore. The 
novelty of 1:1 wore off, and there was no challenge, no destination. The only thing I 
had to worry about is where to find more students and what deal to give to them. 

Then things changed in 2014, and I had to look for a different market. I could no 
longer work with the Russian-speaking students only. I had to appeal to a wider 
audience, but I knew enough to try to please everyone. So I moved into accent 
training, and switched from the 1:1 focus to a program approach (you’ll learn about 
it in email #3). 

What I learned through the experience was this: 

● You can find clients if you narrow your focus 

● The narrower your focus, the more clients you get 
● The narrower your focus, the more expertise you get 

So how do you find your niche? I’ve done multiple workshops + helped dozens of 
language teachers on this subject, and here are the top 3 rules I’ve learned: 

Rule 1: Go with your passion, not with the trends. 

 

You might be thinking, “I hate teaching XYZ, but this is where all the money is.” 
Here’s what I will tell you: 

● When you teach what you hate, your marketing will not be authentic (don’t 
miss my next email with my own case study). 
● When your marketing isn’t authentic, you’ll have little confidence to 
communicate your message to clients. 
● When you have no confidence, you’ll feel fake and you won’t sell. 

So, explore your passions. What are the top 3 things you love teaching even if 
people weren’t paying you? Write those down. 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 2     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

Rule 2: Ask your most successful current clients/students for 

feedback. 
 

Here are some questions to ask: 

1. What were a few things you struggled with before you started working  
with me? 
2. How did I help you overcome those struggles? 
3. How would you describe me to your friend who needed help? 

 
When you get those testimonials (a dozen would be great), look through patterns. 
Find similarities and study those people. What do they have in common with each 
other? And (most importantly) what do they have in common with you? 

You may not realize it, but your ideal client is a reflection of you (that’s why they 
love working with you and that’s why you have the best results with them). What if 
you had more people like that? When you know why these people found your 
work helpful, you can explore those insights and build on them on your website. 

Rule 3: Nail your core message. 

 

Your core message is what sets you apart. Note: if you’re afraid that your 
competition will devour you it means you haven’t yet figured out the core message. 
Your core message is the “why” behind your business, it’s what you believe 
should/shouldn’t take place in order for your client to get results. 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 3     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

Otherwise you’ll feel like “there’re so many other, more qualified teachers than me, 
and I don’t think I can ever find my audience.” When you don’t have a core message, 
things get really grim.  

If you can’t answer how you’re different (other than, I use Skype for lessons or I have 5 
diplomas), it’s going to be really hard to connect. 

So, think about your core message and spell it out. Post it over your computer and 
think about it. 

Case study: 

It’s all great of course, but how can this be done in practice? One of the examples is 
my client Shanthi Cumaraswami Streat and her business English with a Twist.  
Shanthi has been a business coach for years, but has gotten to a point where her 
popular blog wasn’t bringing her clients. 

Her clients came through referrals and word-of-mouth, but her website that had 
amazing traffic wasn’t working well for her. What was wrong? We had to figure 
that out before we implemented a specific strategy: 
 

● Her niche was in place: she’s a business coach, she understands the demands 
of being in business and she herself used to work in finance. 
● She knew who her ideal client was -- a busy person who needs help 
expressing themselves in English, effectively, for work. 
● She didn’t know her core message. (bingo!) 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 4     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

In the process of discovery, through feedback and reflection, Shanthi realized that 
her core message was to help her clients move away from their obsession with 
“more grammar and more vocabulary” as a means to language mastery (and 
therefore better business opportunities), and focus on communication skills instead. 

The core message then had to come through her every blog post, so none of the 
“25 phrases with the word get” would be effective. She started writing to help 
people focus on communication rather than on perfecting their “B2 level.” 

As a result, her engagement went up (like, twice as many people opened her 
newsletters!), her core message attracted the right people and moved them to 
action (booking). 

Incredible, isn’t it? And all it takes is focus, knowledge of your ideal client and your 
core message. 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 5     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

LESSON 2 
 

Have you ever told yourself, “I can’t charge this much because I live in _____ 
country.” Or, “These people can’t afford me because they are from ____ country.” 
Or, “I think people in Europe are the only ones who can afford my prices.” 

Argh. 

Listen, I come from Ukraine, and when I hear this talk…let’s just say it doesn’t make 
me want to hire this person. Is it true, though, that pricing is based on geography? 

Yes and no. 

Yes in a sense that people with more disposable income can afford more things than 
those who have a more limited budget. But it doesn’t mean that they will a) buy 
from you, b) won’t look for a better deal, c) will be your ideal client. 

No because people who love working with you but can’t afford you at the moment 
need more time and planning. But it doesn’t mean they will never work with you. 

Of course a person needs to pay you the price you list, but that alone doesn’t make 
him/her your ideal client. Just like when you look for a life partner, you know it's 
better to have a few requirements for your “candidate” other than “currently 
single.” 

Case in point: I worked with a coach some time ago. She was helping me with my 
email marketing and conversion (I’d wanted to increase the number of paying 
clients). 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 6     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

 
Her advice was (not good, by the way): "Your website can appeal not only to 
language teachers, but to life coaches, nutritionists, fitness coaches, etc. -- all those 
people who are able to pay you more. So just change your messaging so it sounds 
less like a language teacher and more like a coach and it will be great." 

I went against my gut and instead of tweaking my core message, I began attracting 
people with more money. A few months into it I had my first client who was a life 
coach. Even though I believe our work was beneficial to us both, I discovered 
quickly that it was draining me, and that my heart wasn’t in it. 

So I said, “To heck with it,” and went back to working with language teachers (and 
yes, you’re one of them). I learned that a client with more money doesn’t mean 
the client I love working with. 

Back to our lesson. Before a person becomes your client, you have to a) find 
him/her online, b) attract them with your message, c) inspire them enough to join 
your community and grow. 

But how do you do that? 

 

Step 1: Go back to your ideal client feedback. 

 

Look at the three profiles of clients you love working with and go back to ask them 
more questions. Here’s what you want to ask: 
 

1. What do they like doing in their free time? 

2. Who do they follow on social media and why (or are they on social media)? 
3. What books do they enjoy reading (what was the last book they read)? 
4. What movies do they love watching? 
5. What is their ideal day like? What is their normal day like? 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 7     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

 
This is a fascinating exercise because it will help you find clues. Have you ever 
played those games where you needed clues for something? Once you see “clues,” 
you can take some time (a lot of time) and go down the rabbit hole: 
 

1. Follow the people they follow on social media. Join groups. 

2. Find the books they read, read them, read reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. 
3. Watch the movies/read movie reviews and find out why they like them. 
4. Learn more about their routines and see how working with you brightens 
their day. 
 

When I did this exercise years ago I found some amazing clues: 
 

1. My top 3 clients had demanding and exhausting jobs. 

2. Learning English for them was a breath of fresh air and an opportunity to 
grow and get themselves out of the rat race. 
3. None of them loved being online, but they enjoyed watching, reading and 
listening personal development materials (TED talks, podcasts, self-help 
books). 
4. All three of them loved traveling and took time to map their next 
destination. 
5. They were highly organized and loved the same, no-BS approach to 
language learning. 

So the clues led me to make the following adjustments: 

 

1. Stop wasting time on social media and focus on my blog instead. 

2. Change blog posts from “useful linguistic stuff” to personal development 
and growth. 
3. Inspire through the blog and show how language learning could enrich their 
lives and travels. 

Once you get this rolling, your next step is connecting. 

 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 8     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

Step 2: Connect with like-minded people. 

 

Let’s say your clients listen to podcasts/watch videos by specific people. Join those 
people’s email lists and begin learning from them. Use opportunities to connect 
with them directly (buy books, comment on their blogs, read other people’s 
comments and visit other people’s websites), find ways to connect with these 
people so you can get “seen.” 
 

You think that commenting for instance is a waste of time. I used to think it, but 
then I realized that good comments help right people connect with each other. 
Then they hover over your name, find out more about your business and begin 
following you. Soon they invite you to their podcast and you have more following. 

This is an incredible opportunity, and though it takes awhile (no 6-months-to- 

6-figures mumbo-jumbo), it works wonders. 
 

Step 3: Be helpful. 
 

When you join forums, courses, leave reviews or connect with people online, be 
helpful and generous. Don’t pitch, don’t try to be sleazy and sneaky about what 
you’re doing. Imagine each person that asks a question or engages with you online 
is your potential client or has a way to bring you to your potential client. 
 

Use this to showcase your expertise and be generous and caring. These days I get 
clients when people read my comments in other people’s threads. Someone would 
say, “This is really helpful.” Then they would end up on my website, sign up for the 
newsletter, and soon they’re ready to work with me. 
 

So now that you know how to find your focus and find your people, we can move 
onto the most essential topic: find how you can help them without digging 
yourself into the ground. 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 9     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

LESSON 3 
 

Let’s go back to the very first lesson and the reason you downloaded my Smart 
Teacher’s Kit. You wanted to find a way to work with more people, make more money 
and have more free time. 

You may have tried group lessons, hired extra teachers, created multiple online 
courses and tried to sell them (with little luck). Most of these strategies, though 
common, are quite labor-intensive: 
 

a. Group lessons are a logistical nightmare. Before you get all your ducks in a 
row with terms and conditions and payments, then you have recruitment. 
b. Extra teachers, though they might be really professional, are not going to do 
the recruitment for you. They also need training, and you’ll have to get their 
reports and touch base with them. 
c. Online courses are a lot of work, and unless you know your focus, ideal 
client and core message, your courses will add to the noise and not really sell 
themselves. 

So what is le ? 

What’s le is what I call a program. A program (unlike a course) is created for fewer 
people with a specific goal for a short period of time. Let’s say you do a 3-week 
writing course for test-prep students who need feedback, not so much the basics of 
writing. 

You give them topics (1-2 a week) and provide rich feedback. There are no Skype 
lessons, because your goal is to help students focus on their writing. You want them 
to start doing, not keep adding more information into their heads. 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 10     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

By the end of the program, your student will have written and re-written at least 3 
essays, worked on every paragraph, discovered what makes his writing effective and 
what he/she should stay away from. 

You spend 30 minutes on each essay, and your client spends 2-3 hours writing, 
re-writing and going through your comments in Google docs. 

They see results, they do the work, you show up and provide what you do best -- 
feedback. 

Sounds like a great idea, right? Well, this isn’t just a dream! I’ve helped dozens of 
online teachers remodel their businesses that way, and here are 3 important lessons 
they’ve had to learn the hard way (I hope you’ll learn from their mistakes): 

Lesson 1: Start with what you have.  

 

To sell a program like this, you go to your current clients, not FB ads. The ones 
you teach 1:1, they don’t need “pitching” -- they’re already sold out to you. All you 
have to do is to explain why this program is going to help them. 

Lesson 2: Less is more. 

 

This must be your mantra. Language teachers feel like fraudsters when they give 3 
pages of content, and they feel like they need to “teach” the proper way: a 300-page 
manual, a series of ten 30-minute videos before the student does the work. 

©2018 Elena Mutonono 11     www.elenamutonono.com 

 

Less is more. Instead of 2 essays, give 1 and really dig into it. Let your student see 
the progress from week to week. Both of you will be amazed how getting deeper is 
more effective than going wide. 

Lesson 3: Pricing matters. 

 

The easiest way to go about pricing is to ask yourself what this student pays you for 
his/her lessons per month. Let’s say it’s $100. Well, make it the price of your 3-4 
week program. “But what if they say that there are no Skype lessons?” 

This is where your expertise comes in. Do you believe that your student doesn’t 
need constant babysitting to progress? Do you believe that they need to do more 
homework and your role is to empower them? Then you can convince them to  
do it. 

Bonus: always tell them it’s a trial format. You want to try it out and see how it 
works. Also, choose students who are conscientious and disciplined. 

There you go -- you’ve changed the format from Skype lessons to something else. 
If you focus on speaking, think of using voice chats and provide feedback. Those 
are invaluable!  

©2018 Elena Mutonono 12     www.elenamutonono.com