Posting in Facebook groups for private tutors and therapists

Where your audience is

People looking for a private tutor or a therapist almost always look close to home, or for a recommendation from someone they know. So the groups that work are local and community groups, not huge national ones.

• Parent groups by town, neighbourhood or school.
• Neighbourhood and local community groups, where people ask "does anyone know...".
• Local recommendation groups for professionals.
• Groups by language or community, if you teach or practise in another language.
• Groups by subject, for example matriculation exam prep or early-years parenting.

Rules first, then the post

Many parent and community groups do not allow business posts at all, or allow them only on one day a week or in a fixed thread. The group admins decide. Read the pinned rules before your first post.

It also pays to join and be part of the group for a while before you post. Someone who only shows up to sell looks like an ad. Someone who answers questions and joins the conversation looks like a neighbour you can trust.

Ethics and tone: what not to write

In these fields trust is everything, and one exaggerated post can damage it. A few simple rules:

• No promised results. Not "guaranteed top marks" and not "everything will be solved within a month". Write what you do, not what will come out of it.
• No medical claims and no diagnoses. Do not write that you cure anything, and do not diagnose a child in a group comment.
• Complete privacy. No names, no photos, and no stories that identify a student or a client. In a small community, even a story without a name can expose someone.
• No pressure. No "last spot!" if it is not true, and no private messages to people who did not contact you.
• The rules of your profession come before any tip here. If you have a professional body or a code of ethics, check what you are allowed to publish.

What to write, with ready-to-copy examples

A good post answers five questions: who you are, who you are a good fit for, how it works, when you have time, and how to get in touch. Your training goes in one sentence, and only what is true and accurate.

An example for a private tutor:

Hi everyone, I'm Dana, a maths teacher for middle school and high school, with 8 years of teaching experience. I give private lessons at my home in the Ramot neighbourhood, or on Zoom. A lesson is 60 minutes, and we start with a short get-to-know-you session to understand where the student is. I have a few free hours on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. For details: send me a private message.

A short example for a therapist:

Hello, I'm Yoav, a clinical social worker, and I see adults for emotional therapy at a clinic in central Kfar Saba. If you are considering therapy and want to ask questions before you decide, you are welcome to send me a private message. I answer every enquiry personally.

Notice what the examples do not have: no promise, no case description, and no pressure.

Value first, then a specific offer

The posts that build the most trust are not offer posts. A short tip before exam season, a list of three things that help a child get organised for homework, or a careful professional answer to a parent's question in the group - all of these show that you know what you are doing, without selling.

Check that the group allows posts like these. And do not end every tip with an ad. It is enough that your name is there, and whoever needs you will get in touch.

When you do make an offer, a post that says what is free and when works well, because it answers a practical question. For example: "I have two free hours left on Tuesday afternoons, for grades 7 to 9". It is specific, and it helps a parent decide.

Only write what is true. Made-up availability is a form of pressure, and people can feel it.

How often to post

From our experience, and not an official number: in a parent or community group, an offer post once a week or twice a month per group is enough, if the rules allow it at all. More than that starts to look like flooding, and admins remove it.

There are seasons worth preparing for: the start of the school year, before exams and matriculation, and the start of a semester. For therapy there is no single strong season, so consistency matters more than timing. Each time, word the post differently. The same text repeated every week looks like an automated ad.

How to handle enquiries

• Reply fast. A parent who asked several people usually chooses whoever answered first and clearly.
• Move to a private conversation. Prices, details about the child, and certainly emotional or medical details - not in public comments.
• Do not diagnose in writing. Say you would be glad to talk, and ask your questions in the conversation.
• Keep a list of who contacted you and when, so no enquiry slips through the cracks.

How POSTEMA helps, and what it does not do

If you post in several groups every week, POSTEMA saves the manual repetition. You schedule a post as a recurring series, for example once a week, and the system posts to groups you are a member of, at a human pace and with different wording for each group. You can set days and hours when nothing is posted, and the link to your website or booking calendar can go up in the first comment, about 10 minutes after the post.

Anyone who writes "interested" or "details" in the comments is collected into a single list, with a direct link to their profile. That way you do not miss an enquiry written as a comment in one group out of ten.

What the tool does not do: it does not reply to people for you, and it should not. A conversation with a parent or a client is personal. It also does not promise that your account will not be restricted. Every automation carries some risk, and each group's rules still apply to you.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

• How to write a group post that does not get removed
• How to choose Facebook groups to post in
• Scheduling posts in Facebook groups