I'd add an "amen" to Peachey's comments, particularly about "posting just for the sake of bringing attention to yourself"

Participation in the Community areas is useful but it needs to be the right type. Posting well written and thought out Articles can get you kudos points but they require a lot of effort and time and you can't keep doing them. (Though an article which hits a lot of language topics that people are likely to Google may pay off in terms of long term visibility.) Even simple posts which have some thought behind them and provide useful hints, tips or discussion of issues surrounding culture and language are good. There was a recent post about what to do if you don't have accented characters on your keyboard, and why those characters matter. It was useful, relevant and made a contribution.

But on the other hand, there is is a small subset of teachers who post the most inane questions that have taken absolutely NO thought or effort. What's your favourite flower? Is it sunny where you are? Do you like ice cream? Do you have a tattoo? I'm sure that they would claim that it's "to help people practice their language" (though I note that they never offer corrections to responders) but in my opinion the purpose is to just get their face into the community pages, so I regard it as one step to the left of spam. There was one a few months ago who posted about half a dozen of these inane pieces of fluff in a couple of minutes; bang, bang, bang, and there's an entire solid block of their face, all down the page.

There are some posters that it's always a pleasure to see because you know you'll get value from reading them and there are some... who aren't. If you can slot yourself into the first category it will do your prospects no harm.

Hi Guyomar,

Thank you for your input. Again, all was very useful. I'm actually getting to grips with the site now and finding it a very nice environment. It's really pleasant that we have this community feel here and that the other teachers are willing to help out a newbie such as myself. I was a little bit apprehensive about throwing that question out there to start off as I didnt want to ruffle anybodys feathers but I'm glad I did now. I hope it can be a useful to some of the other newcomers as it has been for me. 

I hear what you're saying regarding rates actually. I guess raising the rates later would involve you having to upset some of your existing clients and it seems as if there are more than enough students to supplements all level of teachers/rates.  I guess I'll keep them a little lower for now just for a few weeks until I'm settled in. I don't plan on raising them too much anyway as I really enjoy teaching and would rather have my time occupied with working rather than not. 

Anyway. Thanks again!  Its been a very nice introduction and I wish you all the best with your teaching. :)

Best,

Kimmy 

HI Peachy,

Thank you so much for the response. All was very useful and good to get an insight into the community from someone with more experience. I was finding things a little confusing to start with and wasn't sure that I was going to get anybody contact me about lessons since  I was bottom of the search list but I've just had my first student request a class :) 

Anybody else's input would be much appreciated. 

Thanks again. 

Kimmy