 Hey guys, it's Lisa from IITTT and I'm happy to welcome you at another live stream session. So today's topic is going to be really challenging, but I should say it's worth it because it helps a lot when it comes to your income. Moreover, it also helps to increase your expertise and professional qualities. So I hope you will love it and before we dive into today's discussion, I would like you to let me know if you hear and see me clearly. Please do so using the chat box, using the comment section. I'm here to be helpful for you and I would love to hear from you for sure. So please type in a couple of words, like if you are there and if you see and hear me, that should be enough because it's extremely helpful when it comes to presenting something online, especially in such cases when you don't see anybody behind the screen. So please let me know that you are there and I hope to have a great and fruitful conversation with you today. And let me change my screen a little bit so I'm going to share my presentation. Yes, I have prepared and I would like to give you as much value today as possible. By the way, I am also going to share several ideas as an infographics. So stay tuned to get it for free, absolutely. I prepared it as an incentive for you, for my listeners. So I hope you will love it. And yes, as you can see, today's topic is devoted to how to narrow down your ESL niche. It is extremely important for not just ESL teachers, but for any business-minded people if you want to become successful in doing something online or even in a real classroom, in this real world, it is very important, it is crucial to narrow down your niche at some point of time. And I'm going to share five steps. So I can see that there are some people watching, but I'm still not sure if you guys hear and see me clearly. Please let me know in the comment section that you are there. And yeah, I'm also going to change the slides a little bit. So this is my self-presentation. My name is Liza, but there is my long name. So it might be slightly challenging for those who doesn't know Russian, but it basically means the same as Elizabeth. So people call me just Liza or Elizabeth. So it's just up to you. And I'm an ESL teacher working online primarily. And I also represent ITTT. So today's live session is provided by ITTT International Teflon TESOL Training. So this is the platform and the stream is provided by this company. Basically, that's it. So I'm specialized the Teflon TESOL courses. So if you have any questions related to this point as well, let me know. But today's presentation is going to be focused on how you can develop your professional skills and at the same time increase your income by narrowing down your ESL niche. And as you can see, I actually have already narrowed down my ESL niche. I decided to work with the exam preparation only and I find it really profitable. And at the same time, it's a great resource for myself development and for my professional development as a teacher, because I constantly have to learn how different exams are organized. And I have to research a lot to understand that my teaching methods are correct for these or that type of student. So that's probably it. And I would also love to hear from you. So please introduce yourself in the comments. I know that some people show up at these live streams regularly. So I'm glad to see you guys here. Thanks for coming back again and again. It's really important for me as for the speaker. And yeah, it helps a lot to develop my confidence as a speaker, because it's not something I do on a regular basis. It's not the same as to teach someone, which I do a lot. But public speaking is also a great skill to practice. So let me know where are you guys from? And are you a teacher? Or maybe you're looking at this profession yet? So let me know what is your current situation, because it also might be helpful to understand how to develop your skills and career goals and stuff like that. All right. So there is Rahim from Tunisia. That's cool. Thanks a lot for showing up. And there is also Asif. He's from Lebanon. Yeah. All right, guys. Thanks a lot for joining. It's not an active live stream today, unfortunately. But I hope that those who will watch it a little bit later can find it useful as well. And as a reminder, basically, this live stream is provided by ITTT. And we are a leading Teflon TESOL provider to be more exact. And every live stream, we share this discount, this pure code, that gives you a 30% off any online Tefl courses. So if you guys want to get Tefl certified at some point of time, you can totally use this QR code or link from the chat box. And also let me know, let me see some other comments, because there are some more people sharing their stories. Okay, so there is Iftacar. I hope to pronounce the name correctly. Thanks a lot for joining in. So Iftacar is from India. I like Indian people and your pronunciation. I think it's really, really nice. So thanks a lot for joining in. And I hope today's session will be useful and helpful. And there is also SK. I'm not sure how to pronounce the name, and maybe it's just your nickname. But thanks a lot for joining in as well. So let's dive into the session. Okay. Oh, look, so Asif has joined our Tefl course recently. That's cool. Thanks a lot. And let me know if you have any questions. And we are guys moving on to the point of today's session. So we are going to discuss how to narrow down your ESL niche. So basically, you can see this first step on the slide. It is important to evaluate your skills and passions as in beginning. So basically, I would ask you, what can you do in the next five years or even more? And if you give me a clear answer, a clear explanation of your choice, then probably that is your niche. Well, you might say something like I'm going to teach the next five years or so, but it's too broad. And it's better to narrow down at this point of time. Like think about what aspect of teaching interests you most. Is it general English? I don't think that many people prefer general English because it is again, it is too vague and too broad in meaning. And you have to deal with so many different types of people with so many different types of challenges and needs. So probably general English can be your true passion, I would say. So you must be genuinely interested in a specific topic. So for example, as for me, I am really in love with the international exam preparation because this type of course, when you prepare students for different exams, this type of course helps children and not even children only, but it also helps teenagers, young adults like adults and so on. It helps to prepare for real-life situations using this exam practice. So basically, you not only prepare them for doing different tests, but also you help them to practice various real-life situations. It depends on the type of exam, but for example, Cambridge exams are like that and my students enjoy doing this practice, doing this course, because we work on various skills, not only on drilling exercises and we don't pay that much attention to grammar itself. We build on fluency and we work on various skills. All right. So let me quickly check out the comment section because there are some questions or maybe some comments. Okay. Yeah, your name is really unusual, but I like it and you should be proud of course. All right. So how to apply? You can apply using this link, which is slightly above or by scanning this QR code. So you will get to our website and you will be able to choose a course which suits you best and as for is it free or not free? It is not free. Tefl courses have various fee structures. So our Tefl courses start from slightly more than $250 and also no, we don't provide any Tefl courses for free because well, basically such courses cost some money. So you have to invest in your studies and you have to value what you learn, right? So there are some companies that provide courses for even less or even for free, but the quality is not the same. So they do not guarantee you any high quality services. They do not provide you high quality training, which ITTT does. So yeah, just think about it and if it doesn't suit you, well, no problem. You can learn using different books and I don't know, free materials on the internet. And I would like to continue today's topic because well, basically it's not about Tefl courses, but about narrowing down your niche. So that's it in terms of your skills and passion. So as the first step, you should think about something you can do and something you really like to do and combine it. So if you know how to, I don't know, if you know how to work with the elderly people, for example, it might be your value and it might be that niche you can choose. Okay. And the next point would be really easy as well. You need to understand your client. So if you work with a really specific niche, you can create your clients, your perfect client's portrait. Again, this step can be implemented not only just in the ESL teaching, but also in any other business area, especially if you work in the online business. It might be helpful when you think about marketing strategies and the ways how to promote yourself online. It also works the same in the real world, in the real life situations, not only just in the online settings. So basically, when you start creating your perfect client's portrait, you should think about their age, occupation, maybe their social status and income as well because you want to target a specific client, a specific group of clients, and you want to make sure that you are able to give them a reasonable price. And also, it is important to think about their interests and needs. So if you know this image, if you have this image of your perfect client in mind, you can craft your services even better. So you can adjust as a business person and provide the most reasonable quality price and those services that your specific clients need. And again, let me give an example. So for example, when I work with my exam preparation students and when I promote my services, I usually target a very, narrow group of people. So basically, I work with teenagers, but in fact, those are their parents who decide if their children are going to study with me or not. So I think about two separate segments of people. The first ones would be teenagers, like I usually work with 12-year-olds to 15-year-olds and then their parents. Their parents usually have a kind of the same social status because the price is like this and I want to make sure that my clients can afford it and I will make sure and I can make sure that I will get that cost that I expect to get. And of course, when it comes to interests, I think about my teenagers' interests and I usually adjust my course to their needs and interests. So that's probably like I do that. You can consider a different strategy, but it's usually like that. So you just have to understand who you work for and who you offer services for. Even if it is a general English course, you still have to think about a perfect client for your services because there are so many different segments of clients. Some people can afford lessons for $50 an hour. Some people would find it too pricey or even overpriced and you can't offer the same standard services to whatever people. Just think about your perfect client, work a little bit, maybe grab a piece of paper and a pen and try to create various segments and think who you would like to work with. And if you guys have any questions at this point, please let me know. Maybe something isn't that clear. I will try my best to give you a better example. Just think about it and maybe if you have your own example, if you have like a case study, you can also ask me and I will help you out right here. So if you think about a specific segment, a specific type of client, share your ideas and I will let you know what is my point of view and maybe our visitors, our viewers will also suggest you something. Okay. All right, so step three. At this point after you have considered your personal interests and passions and your skills and then you chose a specific group of people you want to work for and you have this clear image in your mind, that's time to narrow down even more. Why is it important? Several reasons. It increases your competitiveness. It develops your personal brand and it adds on to your expertise. I would dwell upon the first, actually on this third point a little bit more. When you work in a really, really narrow sphere, a sphere in a narrow field, it is easier for you to develop your skills and to develop your expertise as a result. You can get those types of trainings that suit your profile best. You don't have to spend time on doing some broad courses that provide too many skills at a time. You can just target and focus on your specific needs. That is why understanding who you work for and what are your passions is important. Okay. As for personal branding, people who have a really narrow niche, they can represent themselves over the social media and the internet even better than those who offer broad services. When it comes to competitiveness, it is super easy to show what value you give versus your competitor, for example, and explain why your clients should work with you, why your potential clients should work with you, but not with somebody else. As an example, if you work with business English, it might be suitable to work with various types of professionals, but it is still quite wide. The area of the field is pretty wide. If you narrow down to a specific niche inside this business culture, you can give even more value to your potential clients, and you can find those who you want to work for for sure. For example, you can offer your services in business English teaching to IT specialists only, and it might be more profitable for you and it might be easier for you to find clients and to attract clients because you target a specific niche. This niche is very, very narrow. Usually, in such cases, people recommend a lot, especially if you are a very skilled trainer. If you have expertise in the field, if you, for example, understand some things related to the sphere itself, you know their culture, you know their special words, you can offer higher quality services. Such people will definitely say something to their friends, and you can get new clients without paying any money for your promotion, for marketing and stuff. And when it comes to paid ads online, it is also easier to find this target audience when you adjust your Google ads or Facebook ads, for example, and it might cost slightly more for attracting these people because the niche is narrow. But anyway, as a result, you will get more money because of this paid partnership, not partnership because of these people who come and pay you for your services. Once again, if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments. I will try my best to help you out. And the next point, research your competitors. Again, this is a pretty common thing for whoever working online. It is important to know what your competitors offer to the same audience. And at the same time, it is a source of your professional development. If you see that your competitors offer something, but you can give even more value, you can use it as your benefit and you can use it as a way to promote yourself on social media as well or anywhere on the net. Always try to research your competitors. It also helps to understand the pricing. Usually people ask me, other teachers ask me how to set a reasonable price. And I say, you have to research the market. So go to ESL teaching platforms, for example, or check out different employers and see how much money they charge their clients for the same services. And then you just set your price on the same level as the rest of the market. Or you can think about your advantages and set even a higher pricing. And the last point I would like to dwell upon, it is important to test your niche. So, for example, you have decided to work for a really narrow audience, for example, for IT specialists. But before selling your services, especially if they're expensive, try to offer something valuable for free or something for a small fee to estimate the potential of your business. It is easy to do this type of marketing online on social media. I bet you have seen a lot of advertisements alike when, for example, you should fill in the form. And after doing so, you will get some checklist or another incentive for free. So this is how people test their niche. This is how they find out if their business ideas are profitable and if they work in general. So that's probably it. It might seem pretty challenging at this point of time, but when you come up with a strategy of creating your business or even creating your service, one service, not necessarily a bunch of services, you will find out the right way how to test it, how to promote it, and so on. But doing those steps is quite important to narrow down your niche at the maximum rate. And if you guys have any questions, once again, feel free to ask me. I will be happy to have this Q&A session right now. I have shared everything I know about narrowing down any ESL service, any ESL teaching quality and stuff like that. So if you have any questions on today's topic, feel free to send them in the comments section. I'm going to check out the questions there right now. So SK is wondering if it is a secure platform. Of course, it's a secure platform. So ITTT provides the high standard services. And if you are not sure about some specific things, I recommend you following this link. Give me a second. I'm going to drop it in the comments section. Yeah, one second. Yeah, here you are. So if you follow this link, you will get to a specific page on our website that answers such questions as like how much it costs about discounts, customer service, and so on. So if you are interested in delivering your certificate upon its ending, you can also find out information right there. If you guys have any further questions, please send them to the chat box. Otherwise, I will just finish today's session. I would also love to share a valuable thing with you. So I have created an infographics related to different ESL niche ideas. So if you wonder what niche to choose, you can check out that infographics and choose the best idea, choose the best way to promote yourself, and so on. And I would also love to invite you to my ITTT, not ITTT. I would like to invite you to my Facebook group for ESL teachers. There I actually have just figured out what niche I should work for. So I will update this group really, really soon, and I will work for those teachers who want to represent themselves online and who want to attract clients online. So if you would like to find students online, if you want to build on your ESL teaching business online, feel free to join in my Facebook group. I will also send you a link to this group just now. Give me a second. I don't know why I haven't prepared in advance with all of those links because I always know that I have to share different links, but anyway. So feel free to join in my Facebook group. If you have any questions related to today's topic, you can ask me there. But if you have whatever questions related to TEFL and TISO certification, I'm also open to help you out, guys. You can also ask questions in the comments section, and later we will reach you out and help if you have any concerns or doubts. And I would like to mention as well that ITTT is presented on various social media. We create content on Instagram and Pinterest. And if you want to find some ideas, if you want to learn a little bit more about ESL teaching, make sure you check out our services, you check out our groups, and we will keep in touch, guys. Today's session was not that active as usually. I'm a little bit confused and it's pretty sad that not many questions are there. But I am still really happy to share my experience with you. And if you guys stay in touch, if you keep in touch, I will try my best to assist you. Next week, no, not next week. This week, my colleague Linda is going to go live as well. And she's a native English speaker. She has expertise in teaching abroad because she travels a lot. So if you have any questions related to working in various countries, feel free to check out her next live stream, maybe on Thursday or on Friday. And she also has a lot of recordings as I have. Check them out. If you have a particular question on your mind, it might have been answered already. Just feel free to check out our folders on YouTube and Facebook. We store all of the previous live streams right there. So yeah, something like that. And the last point to mention is that ITTT has a really popular podcast. So we turn out our live streams into podcasts. And if you prefer to listen to podcasts instead of watching these videos, feel free to check out Apple podcasts and other popular services. Yeah, that's it. Thanks a lot for joining in today. I will see you next week at the same time. And have a great day. Bye, bye, guys.