Opportunities And Hating Life

So I'm living in a country that has seen a huge drop in its GDP in the past couple of months.  The problem is, Spain relies on outside money coming in, tourists mainly, and right now there are simply not enough tourists to go around.  Even if they wanted to, they might not be allowed to travel as they wish.  As a language teacher, I don't have tourists as my base of funding, but when money slows down, it slows down for everybody.

During the last recession, I didn't suffer too much for work.  A lot of people wanted to improve their English and with that, their chances of employment, or so they thought.  Some of them were all set to leave the country, pinning their hopes on the US, the UK, or Scandinavia.  That's not how things are going to go this time.  Certainly, people will still dream of a study program or an internship abroad, but it's going to be tougher to get it.

One of the opportunities we have now is the greater connectivity around the world.  I was able to keep about half of my classes through online platforms when all unnecessary interaction was banned in March.  Online, you can meet with students anywhere, in their homes, in their offices, on the other side of the world if it comes to that.  And, people are getting more and more comfortable with those sorts of meetings and classes.

My problem is marketing.  Potential students can't choose you if they don't know you're there.  In the past, you could put an ad in a local magazine or newspaper, and the calls would come in.  Just like for a lot of businesses.  Recently, however, it hasn't been that simple to collect students with those ads.  People aren't sure that they want to spend money on classes when they can play games online (hey, I do it myself).  There are possibilities of international students, but you have to find those advertising outlets.

One thing that has been suggested to me, which I have really never wanted to do, is to make videos.  I could post short little things on Youtube and try to generate a following.  I would really prefer not to do that.  I have no interest in that kind of content creation.  It seems like it is a lot more work for a lot less reward than is acceptable to me.  Still, sometimes we have to shovel some shit to get something to grow.  I also have to be more proactive with telling people about things that exist.  Again, I do not like that.  But there doesn't seem to be any other choice.