Gogokid Bookings in 2021: How to Increase Your Bookings

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclaimer.

Gogokid is one of the many online ESL companies that allows teachers to teach English from the comfort of their homes. 

If you are not yet a Gogokid teacher but are interested in applying, check out my Gogokid review, which breaks down the pay, application process, and requirements for the job.

If you’ve already completed the application process and you are trying to receive more bookings, well, this is the post for you.

You may also be interested in: The Best English Teaching Companies in 2022.

Gogokid Bookings

Parents make bookings for their children on the Gogokid website. This means that Gogokid does not book classes for teachers.

Teachers may have to do a bit of groveling to get noticed, and it usually takes a month or two for the schedule to fill. Sometimes it can take even longer. 

Not to worry! With these steps, you will be able to at least 2x your booking rate to get many students and a better schedule.

There are three ways to solve an apparent lack of bookings:

1. Open more slots on your schedule
2. Improve your teaching profile
3. Be patient!!!

We will discuss these points in more detail below.

1. Open More Time Slots

• 7 pm – 8:30 pm peak hours
• 11 am – 1 pm students have their lunch break
• Unpopular hours
• Chinese Holidays

Gogokid is based in China, and there is a huge time difference between that and the US. China is thirteen hours ahead of Eastern Time. This means that teachers have to get up quite early for class.

Peak Hours

Teachers should open their peak time slots, which are the times that most students are looking for a class. 

The peak time slots are 7:00pm-8:30pm (BJT) which is 6am-7:30am (EST). This changes with Daylight Saving Time, so when you switch over to daylight saving time, that schedule will shift your peak times by an hour.

Unpopular Hours

If teachers can fill their schedule with more hours, they are much more likely to get booked. 

Teachers could try teaching at unpopular hours to accommodate a student for their first class, and if the student enjoys the class, they could sign up for more classes in the future. 

Teachers can communicate their preferred schedule to parents to make a booking at more reasonable hours. However, some parents are looking for teachers who can teach certain times.

Weekends

Another point to consider is opening slots at weekends. As most teachers take weekends off, there is less competition, and teachers are much more likely to receive bookings. There are also more teaching hours available.

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Lunch Breaks and Evening Hours for Younger Students

Teachers have even suggested opening timeslots between 11 am and 1 pm when students are on their lunch break and come home to study. Parents would be looking for consistency here, but if teachers can do it, they can get really loyal students between these hours.

While the primary school students have to work on, there is also a demand for younger children after these hours.

Chinese Holidays

Teachers can receive more bookings when there is a Chinese holiday, as they have more hours available. China has many holidays throughout the year, and teachers can keep up-to-date with notifications from Gogokid.

Open up as many hours as possible!

Open up as many hours as possible in the beginning so you can get students booking at all different times.

Try to keep a consistent schedule every week so they can continue to book you. If students like your classes, parents will keep track of your schedule and book you in the future.

When you have a good following, you can start honing your teaching schedule and teaching more hours you prefer. This may take some sleepless nights, but it is worth it in the end!

2. Your Teaching Profile

Your teaching profile is the most important thing for attracting students, so teachers will need to maintain an excellent standard.

Three things to include in your profile:

• Pictures
• Short intro video
• Teacher Bio

Pictures

Your profile picture is a tiny cropped picture, which is what the parents are going to see. Even though it’s small, your profile picture needs to stand out. Make sure it’s a centered and closeup, like a headshot.

Teachers also add “lifestyle photos,” which are some pictures featuring you. They show your personality.

Ways to make your pictures more appealing:

• Smile for each photo
• Take a high-quality image.
• Reduce background distractions
• Apply filters or cam effects for a ‘beautified’ version of yourself
• Wear something bright or colorful to stand out
• Good lighting

You can make your pictures look even nicer with filters and good lighting. 

A nice picture is much more likely to get the attention of students when there are so many teachers. 

It’s okay if it’s not a true-to-life photo because you are just looking to impress students and show the best side of yourself with an attractive photo. 

Lifestyle photos can be of just about anything, and they show your personality. Make sure they can see you clearly, and you are relatively close to the camera.

However, being a good teacher is what will really determine if the students stick with you and continue to book classes.

Short Intro Video

Show off your teaching personality in the short intro video. You have only 15-20 seconds of video time to make a good impression.

Use landscape mode to shoot your video in your teaching classroom. This is an excellent time to show the kids your enthusiasm to teach them. Use props, have high energy, and smile! You can introduce yourself and tell students what they can expect in the classroom.

Talk about what they will gain from the classes. For example, you could say:

In this class, I will help you with your pronunciation and correct your mistakes.

Teacher Bio

Use simple, straightforward language in your teacher bio so parents can read and understand the information. They can use a translator if they don’t understand, so make sure to keep your sentences short and translatable. 

Keep the essential information in your teacher bios, such as your education and experience. 

3. Be Patient

When you first join Gogokid, bookings can be slow because you are a new teacher and parents have yet to be acquainted with you.

When you have your profile perfected and your schedule open, all you can do is wait. Open your schedule as much as you can to get the influx of students.

Be patient as your schedule will fill up with time.

How to Get Fully Booked at Gogokid (According to Experienced Teachers)

Here is a video to help you succeed. Some of the things they mention include:

• Having a consistent schedule
• Giving helpful, personal evaluations
• Creating the perfect profile
• Open more slots
• Attending Gogokid workshops

Tried all this and still unsure?

Gogokid has a great Facebook support group called Gogokid for New and Prospective Teachers. Teachers often post their pictures and videos in this group for other teachers to critique and offer advice.

If all else fails, I suggest e-mailing Gogokid (support@teachers.gogokid.com) or messaging other teachers on the Facebook support group. 

Best of luck, and I wish you many happy teaching hours with Gogokid! 

Useful Links

• 12 Things Online Teachers Need
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• Accept Online Payments with Transferwise
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• How I use Manycam in my online classroom