Things I learned this week: never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never miss a frenzy. Did I mention never? And yet, dear reader, that’s exactly what I did this week. I didn’t open for the frenzy, thinking that I could get short notice bookings and at least make an extra two dollars for every class that booked. The strategy was the most epic fail ever. I opened up on Thursday last week, And as of this writing I’ve only gotten four bookings. One was on Sunday at 9:30 AM. So not only did I have to wake up but I had to wake up and teach a free talk. They are not my favorite. At the lower levels the kids don’t have the language for what they’re trying to learn. It’s another flaw in curriculum design. I have been kicking myself. Short notice is only worth it if it works, and by that I mean more than the three classes that I was able to get yesterday. But that is rare, at least for me. It might work once the kids are on vacation themselves, in January for Chinese New Year. But my lesson has been learned: better a bird in the hand than two in the bush. I’d rather have non-short notice bookings throughout the week, then have a zero booking schedule and depend on short notice. So the first week of January was an extra week of vacation. You might think that’s really cool, but not when you’re trying to pay bills.
I do still have my private clients, though my Chinese twins are taking a break until nearly the end of January. English Center will pick back up on Friday with my student who is doing academic English. I work with her until the first week in February. And then on the 11th all goes back to normal with my Monday student coming back from Curaçao. At least I hope he’s able to come back. I also hope he tests negative for Covid. Because it’s an in real life lesson. Yesterday, brought a twice weekly client from Lingueo, and though I had to make some adjustments, schedule-wise, that student is on my schedule until the end of April. I just have to remember not to open VIP slots when she has her lessons.
But, dear reader I have learned my lesson. Never again will I not open for some sort of frenzy. Therein lies lots of danger, at least for me. And since there isn’t enough work on any of my platforms it’s not like I can refuse to do VIPKid. Having learned my lesson, I’m happy to report that I opened for frenzy this week and got at least some bookings. Of course, it’s not the 60 that I opened up it’s more like half that.
That’s all she wrote For this Inkreadable installment. But stay tuned. As always, there is more to come.
Inkreadable 