My first job in the US was passing out flyers.
I was about to become a homeless within a week and pretty much without any money.
Because I had to go for an Interview in some fancy coffee shop, I invested my last money on some clothes and a haircut.
When entering the hair salon the hairdresser asked me if he could try something out on me and that I would have the haircut for free.
When he was finish with his work he looked very satisfied and asked me if I could pass out flier for him, two hours a day 5,50 US$ an hour.
I agreed and started passing out fliers. As I walked my every day route a guy came out of his shop and asked me if I could take his fliers as well. He offered me 6,00 US$ an hour.
Another week passed by and a restaurant owner wanted me to pass out fliers also. So I made 17,50 an hour passing out fliers. A week later I was hired in that fancy coffee shop.
But still, I perceive anyone passing out fliers on the street as someone who is either trying to end a life on the street or someone close to becoming a homeless.
My point is when a school advertises their English program and claim to have the best teachers, what are these teachers doing on the street passing out flyers then?
Wouldn’t they have something more important to do?
And if a school asks you to pass out fliers, do you deny to do so? I passed out fliers in Taiwan twice and each time with a bad feeling and bad results.
[quote=“Hamletintaiwan”]My first job in the US was passing out flyers.
I was about to become a homeless within a week and pretty much without any money.
Because I had to go for an Interview in some fancy coffee shop, I invested my last money on some close and a haircut.
When entering the hair salon the hairdresser asked me if he could try something out on me and that I would have the haircut for free.
When he was finish with his work he looked very satisfied and asked me if I could pass out flier for him, two hours a day 5,50 US$ an hour.
I agreed and started passing out fliers. As I walked my every day rout a guy came out of his shop and asked me if I could take his fliers as well. He offered me 6,00 US$ an hour.
Another week passed by and a restaurant owner wanted me to pass out fliers also. So I made 17,50 an hour passing out fliers. A week later I was hired in that fancy coffee shop.
But still, I perceive anyone passing out fliers on the street as someone who is either trying to end a life on the street or someone close to becoming a homeless.
My point is when a school advertises their English program and claim to have the best teachers, what are these teachers doing on the street passing out flyers then?
Wouldn’t they have something more important to do?
And if a school asks you to pass out fliers, do you deny to do so? I passed out fliers in Taiwan twice and each time with a bad feeling and bad results.[/quote]
I believe it is also illegal for a foreign English teacher to be handing out flyers? However, not a fuck would I do it.
Perfectly acceptable. I do it frequently for my own school. ‘Dm’s’ as they are called here. Illegal? No idea about that, but I don’t think it is of any concern. Why it would be illegal for a foreigner to pass out promos for the company they work for? If it is illegal, it’s right up there with jaywalking.
I think I read on this forum somewhere that if you have an arc from your school, you are
1 only allowed to teach.
2 at the address specified on your arc.
Passing out flyers does not meet there requirements.
I agree there is a minute chance of you getting into trouble. Just be aware.
[quote]I think I read on this forum somewhere that if you have an arc from your school, you are
1 only allowed to teach.
2 at the address specified on your arc.[/quote]
It is the way they want to promote their cram school.
By using teachers to hand out fliers, potential customers can really believe these 'teachers are of the highest quality.
It is the same as David’s English Center asking teachers to call students to see why they are not attending class, and if they want to extend their courses.
Always sounds better coming from a teacher rather than the cram school receptionist.
If you have a look at David’s English Center website, you can see they sort of forced their teachers to discuss their teaching philosophy and make videos to promote their school.
Getting back on topic, I’d have to say that it is good advertising. I did this for the school I worked for when I arrived in Taiwan. I hated every second of it but four or five foreigners together handing out flyers for a school was good publicity. I think people realize the foreigners are actually teachers(though they may not be) at the school and not some homeless people doing a last resort job.
I did this again when I opened my own small school a few years later. Again, I hated every second of it (and this time I was essentially jobless as I had no students yet) but it was effective in getting the word out and establishing first contact with the parents at the neighborhood schools.
[quote=“Hamletintaiwan”]My first job in the US was passing out flyers.
I was about to become a homeless within a week and pretty much without any money.
Because I had to go for an Interview in some fancy coffee shop, I invested my last money on some clothes and a haircut.
When entering the hair salon the hairdresser asked me if he could try something out on me and that I would have the haircut for free.
When he was finish with his work he looked very satisfied and asked me if I could pass out flier for him, two hours a day 5,50 US$ an hour.
I agreed and started passing out fliers. As I walked my every day route a guy came out of his shop and asked me if I could take his fliers as well. He offered me 6,00 US$ an hour.
Another week passed by and a restaurant owner wanted me to pass out fliers also. So I made 17,50 an hour passing out fliers. A week later I was hired in that fancy coffee shop.
But still, I perceive anyone passing out fliers on the street as someone who is either trying to end a life on the street or someone close to becoming a homeless.
My point is when a school advertises their English program and claim to have the best teachers, what are these teachers doing on the street passing out flyers then?
Wouldn’t they have something more important to do?
And if a school asks you to pass out fliers, do you deny to do so? I passed out fliers in Taiwan twice and each time with a bad feeling and bad results.[/quote]
In Taiwan many businesses NEED to pass out DMs (fliers) because if they don’t run promos they will lose business. You gotta stay on everyone’s mind, that is the idea.
My school has asked me to hand out DMs at a couple of occasions. I don’t mind it. If it brings business, I get to keep working. They also print business cards for me, which I put in my wallet. When I’m out and about in the school’s neighborhood with or without the kids, I can have an opportunity to give the occasional parent my card. This has generated more interest than the DMs have.
My problem with this stuff is when schools want us to do it just because some other school has made their workers do it. I really wish they would find other ways to promote themselves. Perhaps by providing quality English instruction? Word of mouth goes a long way…
[quote=“canucktyuktuk”]My school has asked me to hand out DMs at a couple of occasions. I don’t mind it. If it brings business, I get to keep working. They also print business cards for me, which I put in my wallet. When I’m out and about in the school’s neighborhood with or without the kids, I can have an opportunity to give the occasional parent my card. This has generated more interest than the DMs have.
[/quote]
It’s always surprised me that so few schools incentivise western teachers to attract students. It wouldn’t be difficult to organise. Shane used to do it, not sure if they still do. If I remember correctly it was 500NTD for each new student who paid a term’s tuition after mentioning the teacher’s name, which was quite an incentive.
Bad advertising. If a school is so cheap that they force their teachers to do unpaid labor passing out leaflets on the street, imagine how they cut corners inside the school.
There are foreign English teachers (white people) dressed in school shirts with their school’s logo on them passing out flyers for their illegal kindy schools in Taipei.
I would pass out fliers once a year if there was an incentive. I wouldn’t be happy doing it but more students = more classes and a bigger bonus (at my school).
Passing out of flyers should not be illegal. I cringe in the county when I see the same box on the ground 40 times for a house for sale or the same flyers on the electric posts in a walk to the MRT. But to date I have not seen the handing out of flyers by the foreign teachers yet. If you are asked to hand out flyers that is a red flag - the school has a bad reputation and desperate for some new students.
As for how do the large corporate schools get their students? TV adverts right before semester sign up. I get the “Joy to the world” song stuck in my head every semester start or “In my dream I was Harry Potter” speech.
? Hmmm, I think we should start a new thread to debate the issue. Should end up at around 30 pages of fascinating discussion.