Smart

Teacher’s
Kit
How to Earn More While Teaching Fewer
1:1 Lessons as an Online Language Teacher

Elena Mutonono
SMART TEACHER’S KIT | INTRO

Welcome!

I believe that online teachers want to find ways to work smarter so they are
more effective and can really help people, not just clock in hours or do online
babysitting. Creativity can’t thrive in a stifled environment, and teaching 10
hours a day is neither sustainable nor healthy.

In this guide, I’m going to walk you through the process of growing your
revenue while working less hours and share with you the tools and systems
I’ve used to make my own business more manageable and sustainable.

Why am I the right person to help you?

I’ve cut down my hours from 20 hours of teaching per week to 5 and filled in
my time with more creative projects that continue bringing in clients and
paid subscribers. The more hours I’ve cut, the more my revenue has grown.

Then I’ve helped tens of other online language teachers do the same. You
will find some of their names with website links in this guide so you can see
it is possible to make such transition as a language teacher.

This is the beginning of your journey toward a more sustainable and

profitable teaching model where your current work pays off in the long run.

Welcome to the world of Smart Online Teaching.

Thank you for being here!

ElenaMutonono

© ELENA MUTONONO | ELENAMUTONONO.COM 2

SMART TEACHER’S KIT | WHAT’S INSIDE

What’s Inside

4 What Is Smart Online Teaching

5 Traditional vs. Smart Teaching Formats

6 Traditional Formats Examples

7 Smart Formats Examples

11 How to Make the Transition to Smart Online Teaching Without

Losing Clients

14 The Smart Teacher’s Toolbox: The Software You Can Use Even If
You Don’t Have a Website Yet

15 A Hall of Fame: 26 Smart Online Teachers for Your Inspiration

17 Your Next Steps

Copyright © 2022, Elena Mutonono. All rights reserved.

You’re welcome to print a copy of this document for your personal use.
Other than that, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the author.

Questions and feedback may be sent to info@elenamutonono.com.

Branding & design by Veronika Palovska.

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SMART TEACHER’S KIT | WHAT IS SMART ONLINE TEACHING

What Is
Smart Online Teaching
This guide will help you build a smart online language teaching business that
scales.

What does it mean?

In care you aren’t sure, “scaling” means greater growth with less effort.

For instance, when I say that Skype lessons do not scale, what I mean is, in
order for you to double what you’re making today, you have to double the
number of hours you work.

In reality, you’re not just doubling the hours because, in order to find twice
as many clients, you have to spend more time on marketing, and so on.

A smart teaching model that scales makes every hour you invest into your
business now compound in the future, bringing you higher revenue and
reducing your hustle and workload.

Scaling allows you to double (or triple) the number of clients while working
the same (or fewer) hours. It doesn’t mean that you stop teaching 1-on-1 (by
all means, do as much as you want to), but it means you create an
environment where a greater bulk of your revenue does not come from
private client sessions.

By switching your format from labor-intensive 1-on-1 classes to non-1-on-1

and by adding a community component, you’re helping your clients get
better results and increase their motivation without having to hold their
hand or babysit them.

That’s what I mean by Smart Online Teaching. Now let’s talk about how to
make it happen.

© ELENA MUTONONO | ELENAMUTONONO.COM 4

SMART TEACHER’S KIT | TRADITIONAL VS. SMART FORMATS

Traditional vs. Smart

Teaching Formats
What follows are examples of traditional formats that you’re familiar with
(p. 6) and “smart” formats (p. 7-10). As you’ll see, smart formats require less
engagement from the teacher and more work on the student’s part.

These formats change not only the way clients learn, but also the way you
teach. No longer are you the holder of the information, but more a guide, a
leader, and an initiator of conversations. You motivate and help your
students find quick shortcuts so they don’t spend hours browsing in search
of “the best” materials.

Note: In this guide, I stayed away from books and passive online courses,
although they are still valuable learning platforms. Here, I’m focusing on the
formats that help online teachers retain the joy of working 1-on-1 while
making it sustainable and scalable.

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SMART TEACHER’S KIT | TRADITIONAL FORMATS

Traditional Formats

1-on-1
Works for: Any niche and specialization
Benefits Limitations
• Meet with clients 1-on-1 • Doesn’t scale

• Work closely • Exhausting

• Provide instant feedback • Unpredictable

• Develop relationships • Can only work with 1 at a time

• Learn about other people • Can’t do while people are away

• Can’t leave clients

Group (live)
Works for: Any niche and specialization
Benefits Limitations
• Meet with several clients at the • Logistics and terms
same time
• Lack of 1-on-1
• Work closely
• attention
• Provide instant feedback
• Hard to bring everyone
• Develop relationships
• together
• Allow people to work together
• Hard to get people to commit

• Payment is still tied to 1 hour

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SMART TEACHER’S KIT | SMART FORMATS

Smart Formats

Voice chats
Works for: Speaking, listening, accent training

Tools: Telegram and Whatsapp (note you have to use your phone)
Benefits Limitations
• Increases practice • Needs basic tech knowledge to
opportunities for clients set up

• Reduces the number of 1-on-1 • Requires discipline on the part

hours of teacher and student

• Includes unlimited drills • Requires pre-program set-up

(to get people acquainted)
• Open for groups
• Requires marketing skills
• Helps create engagement and
peer interaction

NOTES & IDEAS

© ELENA MUTONONO | ELENAMUTONONO.COM 7

SMART TEACHER’S KIT | SMART FORMATS

Traditional Formats
Google Docs collaboration
Works for: Writing

Tool: Google Docs

Benefits Limitations
• Increases practice • Needs basic tech knowledge to
opportunities for clients set up

• Reduces the number of 1-on-1 • Requires discipline on the part

hours of teacher and student

• Includes unlimited writing • Requires pre-program set-up

exercises (to get people acquainted)

• Open for groups • Requires marketing skills

• Helps create engagement and

peer interaction

NOTES & IDEAS

© ELENA MUTONONO | ELENAMUTONONO.COM 8

SMART TEACHER’S KIT | SMART FORMATS

Regular chats (text)

Works for: Task oriented– resume, application, life coaching, culture
training, etc.
Tools: Telegram and Whatsapp (note you have to use your phone)
Benefits Limitations
• Increases practice • Needs basic tech knowledge to
opportunities for clients set up

• Reduces the number of 1-on-1 • Requires discipline on the part

hours of teacher and student

• Includes unlimited writing • Requires pre-program set-up

exercises (to get people acquainted)

• Open for groups • Requires marketing skills

• Helps create engagement and • Teacher must lead and initiate

peer interaction communication

NOTES & IDEAS

© ELENA MUTONONO | ELENAMUTONONO.COM 9

SMART TEACHER’S KIT | SMART FORMATS

Membership (ongoing group, materials)

Works for: Writing groups, monthly assignments

Tools: The easiest one is to use Patreon.com to set up monthly

payments and upload assignments on a schedule
Benefits Limitations
• Increases practice • Needs basic tech knowledge to
opportunities for clients set up

• Reduces the number of 1-on-1 • Overwhelm with assignments

hours
• Teacher must lead and initiate
• Changes the role of the teacher communication
to a moderator
• Teacher must find the gold
• Changes the model of learning medium amount of content
from consumption to (less is better)
application and interaction

NOTES & IDEAS

© ELENA MUTONONO | ELENAMUTONONO.COM 10

SMART TEACHER’S KIT | HOW TO MAKE THE TRANSITION

How to Make
the Transition
Without Losing Clients
I advocate for smarter formats and encourage online teachers to create
programs (like those you’ve seen on the previous pages) instead of online
courses because I believe when you are already teaching 1-on-1, you have
your basics covered:

• You’ve got students

• You’ve got an idea of what to offer

• You don’t have an online community (you’re not on social media or don’t
have your blog/podcast)

• You don’t have the tech knowledge (or time) to build and run a course on
a separate platform

A program sells better than a course because:

• It’s short (2-4 weeks)

• It has specific goals for the time that the program runs

• It focuses on skills development, not “covering the material”

• It offers ample practice and feedback through chats

• It doesn’t require social media

• It doesn’t require a separate website

However, one has to keep in mind that offering a new format prematurely
can lower your sales and create discontent. When people aren’t familiar
with how the format works and what its benefits are, when they have only
been exposed to one format (like Skype lessons), it will take time to move
people away from it.

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SMART TEACHER’S KIT | HOW TO MAKE THE TRANSITION

The transition can be unexpected and you might experience resistance from
clients.

So be patient and follow some of these steps (please use your discretion
based on your business and needs):

• Let people know about the new format in advance.

• Talk about its benefits, without pressure (use live videos or recorded
videos, maybe audios or just blog posts).

• Demonstrate how it works (create tutorials on using voice apps for

instance).

• Create a free trial (over a weekend or a week) and invite your most
motivated students.

• Run a kick-ass trial version of the program (be sure to make your
assignments smaller, and give people more chance to practice).

• Engage with people outside of the program (write emails, send messages,
ask for their early feedback).

• After people are done, tell them you might be doing something like this in
the future and would they like to be notified.

• Continue giving more information about the full-fledged program (2-4

weeks). Don’t make it longer than 4 weeks. Long programs result in lower
commitments. For language programs I’ve discovered 3 weeks is the
magic number.

• Set the launch date and take a week before that (pre-launch) to start
enrolling people.

• When you enroll, contact people via email (if you have a newsletter) or
via social media.

• Be creative about your promotion. Nobody wants to hear “My program

is wonderful. It starts in 1 week.” Think about interviewing your free trial
takers, giving previews, showing how things work, etc.

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SMART TEACHER’S KIT | HOW TO MAKE THE TRANSITION

Here’s the email template I write to clients who have

asked for more information about new programs:
Hey! How’s it going? [insert a few personal updates as warm-ups].

I’m writing because I think you might benefit from the new program I’m putting
together called [XYZ]. I think it will help you to do [insert] and practice [insert]
because I remember you said you would like to work on this more.

The difference from Skype lessons is during this program you will receive prompts
for voice recordings and can get feedback from me. You can practice as many
times as you wish.

You won’t be tied to a specific time for our lessons and can send me your
recordings while you’re stuck in traffic or on your way to work.

The cost is X, and if you book before this date you can get an early-bird discount!
Either way, let me know if you have any questions. This is the first time I’m running
this, and I hope you’ll be in my exclusive students group.

NOTES & IDEAS

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SMART TEACHER’S KIT | THE TOOLBOX

The Smart Teacher’s

Toolbox
The software you can use when you don’t have a website yet:

• It’s important to send people to register right away, and I recommend

using Jotform for registrations (and payments). Check it out at
jotform.com.

• I’ve also recorded a short tutorial on what you want to keep in mind
when you create a form. Please watch it at bit.ly/jotformtut.

• When you are ready, send people to a scheduling page (for a bonus 1-on-
1 or a group session, Acuity Scheduling (bit.ly/smartbooking) will take
care of all the logistics).

• For 1-on-1 and group lessons I use Zoom (zoom.us). It’s easy to use and is
reliable. You’ll love it.

• To process payments I’ve used Paypal invoices. I’m also beginning to use
Stripe, but it has its limitations in some countries.

• Another place to put your products (and even programs) for sale before
you have a website is Gumroad (gumroad.com)

© ELENA MUTONONO | ELENAMUTONONO.COM 14

SMART TEACHER’S KIT | HALL OF FAME

A Hall of Fame
A list of online teaching businesses that I’ve helped
my clients start

What follows is a list of my clients’ smart business, to give you some

inspiration and show you that it is possible for you, too.

To think that in November 2015 when I launched my first e-book about

running an online teaching business (entitled Opted Out of the Traditional
Classroom), very few of these businesses existed in the shape they are now –
what a gift!

Websites are listed chronologically (starting with my earliest clients and

Smart Teacher’s Library members, and ending with the most recent work).

Cara Leopold with Leo-Listening.com

Trisha Traughber with VagabondEnglish.com

Barbara Rocci with TimeToBeItalian.com

Milena Vujnic with EnglishMadeSimple.net

Lucy Samuels with LucySamuels.co

Kate Fisher with ConversationsWithKate.net

Maria Seco with SpanishForCamino.com

Alexandra Kapinya with VisualEnglishSchool.com

Karina Pearl with ShareYourStoryWithConfidence.com

Elfin Waters with AllAboutItalian.com

Curt Ford with AmericanVoicesApp.com

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SMART TEACHER’S KIT | HALL OF FAME

Sylvia Perrone with ItaLearn.com

Shanthi Cumaraswami Streat with EnglishWithATwist.com

Tetiana Bilokin with TetianaBilokin.com (in Russian)

Linda Alley with NoFearinWriting.com

Danae Florou with AlphaBetaGreek.com

Jessica Tefengki Rulle with French Sunny Side

Jessica Gardner with Artglish.com

Dominique Cordero with LaMariposa Spanish Lessons

Marco Treglia with OffTrackItalian.com

Ines Ramos with YourLifeinSpain.com

Linda Riolo with Piccolo Mondo Italiano

James Levin with English Arrow

Martin Johnston with RocknRollEnglish.com

Esther Ciganda with EstherCiganda.com (teaching Basque!)

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SMART TEACHER’S KIT | OUTRO

This Is Just
the Beginning!
Ready to take the next step towards smart online teaching?

Here’s what to do:

• Watch out for my emails. To receive the bonuses that come with this
guide, including 3 more lessons on smart online teaching and 2 printable
planners, please add info@elenamutonono.com to your contacts so you
don’t miss my emails.

• Check out my books at elenamutonono.com/books.

• Listen to my podcast, OnlineBound. Find out more at

elenamutonono.com/podcast.

• Finally, I host a community for online language teachers called The

Smart Teacher’s library. The enrollment is only open a few times a year,
but if you’re interested, you can learn more and get on the waiting list
here: bit.ly/smartbizlibrary.

If you find it helpful, please let me know how you’re applying it. Also, if
you have any questions, I’m here for you. Just send me an email at
info@elenamutonono.com.

Please share the link with your teacher pals so they can download it too:
elenamutonono.com/the-smart-kit.

Please do not share this kit (as a PDF) anywhere. It’s for your personal
use only, and they wouldn’t get the full experience and the bonuses,
either.

Thank you!

© ELENA MUTONONO | ELENAMUTONONO.COM 17