| The allure of teaching English in a foreign country | | | | With a little forward planning, a pinch of imagination |
| brings tens of thousands of starry eyed people to the | | | | (something teachers have in abundance), and some |
| ranks of ELT (English Language Teaching) teachers | | | | work any teacher can have their own online business |
| each year. Yes, it's true; it is a fabulous opportunity and | | | | up and running before even setting foot on a plane. |
| an experience that lasts a lifetime. Unfortunately, the | | | | Most English language teachers come to the |
| same cannot always be said of the teacher and his | | | | profession with experience of some other area of life. |
| her job. | | | | Combining ELT with this knowledge can provide an |
| Once the initial buzz of landing in a strange and | | | | excellent source of income for those ready to do the |
| wonderfully different land wears off many teachers | | | | work. |
| begin to find that most of the day to day issues of | | | | Everything from affiliate marketing to ELT forums and |
| living are the same 'here' as 'back home'. Bills need to | | | | drop shipping of ELT supplies worldwide are just some |
| paid, salaries may not stretch, and it may be difficult to | | | | of the opportunities awaiting the teacher. |
| make ends meet. Alas, too often there are the | | | | Look around you! There are dozens of sites and |
| cowboy outfits that feed on the gullible and | | | | publishers looking for photos, travel blogs, in-depth |
| inexperienced and teachers find themselves working | | | | reports on the place you live in. Many people use the |
| far more hours for far less money than they'd planned | | | | excuse that they don't know how to build a website |
| for. | | | | so couldn't possibly hope to have an online business. |
| I once received an email from an American man in | | | | Poor excuse. My site, teflmoney, took me a few hours |
| great distress in South Korea. His employer had kept | | | | hard work to set up (and I'm a wally when it comes to |
| his passport, and a medical aid he needed to walk | | | | IT) and I was in business within a week! There are |
| properly. The employer hadn't paid the teacher in | | | | dozens of ways to build a site and a business for less |
| some time and the teacher was desperate to escape. | | | | than the cost of a weekend of fun - some are free. |
| This is an extreme example of what can happen. | | | | Beware the quick buck schemes - they don't work. |
| However, it got me thinking about how different | | | | Rather look for something that is a slow build business. |
| teaching is now to when I started some 20+ years | | | | Get into it now and you may find you can take a |
| ago. With the rise of the internet no teacher need find | | | | proper well-earned summer break; just like the school |
| themselves without an independent source of income. | | | | owners do. |