Contact me!
The Well Traveled Teacher
  • Blog
  • About
  • Resources
    • The Basics
    • Recruiting Travelers
    • Recruitment Meeting
    • Fundraising
    • Before Departure
    • Departure Day
    • On Tour
    • After Tour
  • Contact

Think outside the classroom:  how to recruit new travelers, when you can't advertise at school.

10/25/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
All Group Leaders exist on (what I like to call) a recruitment spectrum.  At one end of the spectrum, you have Group Leaders who are leading tours that are school sponsored, or have the full blessing of their school/district.  One the opposite end of the spectrum, are Group Leaders who teach in schools/districts that have a strict ban on advertising and recruiting for an educational tour.  How do you recruit in a school or district where you are not allowed to advertise your tour?  Know that you are not alone!  Many Group Leaders share the same challenge:  building a travel program in a school that doesn't allow it.

While I am lucky enough to exist somewhere in the middle of the recruitment spectrum, I work with many group leaders who are not.  I have a few ideas that I would like to share with you to think outside the classroom, and fill your bus full of travelers, in-spite of the challenges that you face being restricted to advertising outside of school.

First and foremost, follow the rules!  Don't take any risks that might put your job in jeopardy.  It is possible to spread the word about your tour outside of the classroom.  There are many successful Group Leaders who cannot advertise at school.  I would encourage you to know the rules. Find out exactly where the line is when it comes to advertising your tour.  Ask these questions:
  • Where can I put up posters?  (Just inside my classroom?  Not at all?)
  • What are the boundaries on talking about the tour in my classroom?  (Can I mention it, but not pass out printed information?  Can I use a power point?  Is there a strict restriction on mentioning it at all?)
  • Am I allowed to send out emails to parents, as long as I am clear it is not school sponsored?

Wherever you exist on the spectrum, consider using some of these tips:

Word of Mouth.  One of the best ways to advertise for your tour is by word of mouth.  Can you...
  • Attend school extra curricular events, and talk to the parents about your upcoming tour?
  • Spread the word with community organizations?  Parents are the members of those organizations, and are usually excited to hear about travel opportunities.
  • Post on a neighborhood posting site, or a community announcement board?  This will really get people talking!
​I created some small business cards that advertised my next recruitment meeting.  I keep the cards in my purse and/or pockets when I go to school events.  When I strike up a conversation with a parent about my tour, I give them one of the small cards so that they can remember the date and location of the meeting.

Student Ambassadors.  Ask some students to be "ambassadors" for your travel program.  Ask them to share trip information on their social media, and create incentives for spreading the word to all of their friends!  I used this strategy a few years back, and I ordered some t-shirts for the students and armed with with fliers, and pre-made social media posts to share with everyone they knew.  My advice would be to only ask students that you know really well, and feel comfortable explaining the role of ambassador to their parents.

Use Social Media.  In today's world, it seems as though EVERYONE is connected through social media.  Beef up your social media presence and put it to work for you.  Here are some ways to use your social media to recruit new travelers:
  • Create an account or "page" dedicated to your travel program.  Use your own personal social media account to "share" the travel related page with all of your friends and followers.  For example, I have a Facebook page solely dedicated to my travel program.  I use my personal account to share the travel page to my Facebook timeline to spread the word about my upcoming tour.  I also created a Twitter account for my travel program (@RaiderWorldTraveler), and I promote my upcoming tour, share pictures, reminders, etc.
  • Include the link or handle to your social media pages in your email signature or other correspondence that your students and their families might come into contact with.  ​

​Advertisements.  Can you take out a small add in the local paper?  Advertise in a community or neighborhood newsletter? Post a flier on the bulletin board of the local community center, recreation center or indoor pool?  Although print advertisements may seem outdated, they still get noticed. 

Don't lose heart!  You can still let people know about about your tour, even though advertising in the classroom is off limits.  Lots of group leaders do it, and you can too! 

I would love to hear your ideas about recruiting outside the classroom.  Please put them in the comments below!
0 Comments

Nomination Letters...one and done!

9/20/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Are you struggling with recruitment?  Did you have a meeting and very few people showed up?  Still hoping and praying for more people to sign up for your tour?  Been there, and done that.
 
With all the other things on our plate, we teachers don't have time to plan multiple meetings each year to recruit for our tours.  I am going to share a secret with you, that--if done correctly--will increase the number of people who enroll on your tour.

So what's the secret?  NOMINATION LETTERS


What are nomination letters, you might ask?  The answer is quite simple:  Nomination Letters are sent out to your students, letting them know that they have been nominated to travel on an EF Educational Tour.

What exactly does a nomination letter say?  Click here to see a sample nomination letter.  Go ahead.  Take a look, and steal away!  You can copy and paste it if you like!

How do I get started? I like to start by asking the teachers at my school to make a list of students who they feel would be good candidates to travel with me on an EF Tour.  I take those lists, and send letters to the students that they nominated.  

Why is this important?  In the letter, I like to tell them about my upcoming tour and I also include the date and time of my upcoming recruitment meeting.  This letter is essentially an invitation to my recruitment meeting.

What else should I know?  At the bottom of the letter, I include a tear-off portion that serves as an RSVP. It is good to have a head count, and get an idea of how many people will attend the meeting.

Why does this work?  By sending the letter home to the parents, it will actually make it out of the back pack, and the parents will get a chance to read the letter.  Often times the students forget the letter at school, or are afraid to ask their parents for a trip because of the cost involved.  If you can get the word directly to parents, you will have more attendees at your meeting.

My story
I used this method to recruit for my Summer 2018 tour.  I sent out about 100 letters, and had over 50 people come to the recruitment meeting.  When the parents looked around and saw how many people were interested, they knew that space would be limited.  The tour filled up in January 2017, a whole 17 months before departure!  Thanks to this method, I only need to have one recruitment meeting last year.  One and done!

The nomination letters are a great way to spread the word about your tour, and invite parents to the meeting.  Try it out!  I want to hear about how this method worked for you!

Picture
0 Comments
    Picture

    Author

    Hi!  I'm Jessica, and I  have traveled the world with my students on seventeen EF Tours.  I am a teacher and group leader, just like you!  I hope that you find some resources on my site to help you with your next EF Tour. Safe Travels!

    Archives

    October 2019
    November 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All
    Advertising Your Tour
    Before Departure
    Breaking The Ice
    Chaperones
    Communication
    Departure Day
    Follow Up
    Fundraising
    Gearing Up For 2016
    Google Forms
    Group Leader
    Group Leader Took Kit
    Lucky Girl
    My 2015 Tour
    Nomination Letters
    Packing
    Pairs-n-Squares
    Passport
    Post Recruitment Meeting
    Pre-Departure Meetings
    Pre-Tour Presentation
    Recruit Meeting
    Recruitment
    Restricted At School
    Safety
    Setting Expectations
    Staying In Touch With Your Group
    Tech Tools
    Tipping
    Tour Consultant
    Traveler Info Form

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.