Be safe while answering student questions
We built Ask A Question to empower Partners like you to communicate with potential students without the risk of displaying your contact information online. With that said, we take safety very seriously, because the internet can be a scary place.
Since messages sent through Ask A Question are between you and students who haven't purchased lessons yet, there are precautions you should take to help prevent spam and fraud. For your safety, messages sent between you and your potential students are monitored for potential safety violations. To get the most out of Ask A Question, follow these guidelines:
Don’t share links
To protect teachers and students from internet threats, we don't allow any links to be shared through Ask A Question, except for URLs related to TakeLessons. This means that messages with links to YouTube, your personal website, or other URLs won't be delivered, but you can always link students to your profile, or anywhere else on TakeLessons.com. Please answer all questions as best you can, without linking to any other websites.
Keep your Address private
We know students may ask for your address if they're trying to get a sense of how easily they can travel to the place where you teach. However, to keep everyone safe, we don't allow anyone to share their full addresses until the student has purchased lessons with you. This is the least we can do to ensure you won't be surprised at home or work by someone you don't know.
To help students plan their transportation, we recommend you give cross streets near your studio location, or reference landmarks that can give them a sense where you are.
Don't Give out Personal Contact Information
Don’t share your contact information with a prospective student, or ask that they share their contact information with you, before they have booked lessons. This helps protect you from potential scammers who are phishing for your sensitive information.
| DON’T SHARE | DO SHARE |
|---|---|
| Personal phone numbers | TakeLessons’ phone number: (877) 231-8505 |
| Email addresses | Your public profile link |
| URLs to other websites | Links from our student support center |
| Physical addresses | Cross streets, or a nearby landmark |
| Social media handles | (On your profile) A video introducing yourself to students |
| Other means of contacting you or the student off-site | Ways to get in touch with TakeLessons for help |
| Your BookWithMe URL |
Don’t share your BookWithMe link through Ask A Question
BookWithMe is your personal booking profile, where you refer students you acquire through your own marketing efforts. Your public TakeLessons profile is where you will send students that we acquire through our marketing efforts. (See: How does my BookWithMe profile work?)
Don’t encourage students to Google you
Instead of asking a student to google you to find more information or examples of your work, add these things to your profile. For example, videos and pictures can be added to your media section.
Policy Violations will affect your profile visibility
If one of your replies is flagged for review due to a policy violation, your profile will be removed from our searches until we are able to clear up the confusion. Instructors who attempt to bypass the system and book students directly by sharing contact information or websites may permanently be removed from the site.