Follow the Safety Guidelines
With Ask A Question, TakeLessons Partners can communicate with potential students without the risk of displaying their contact information online. Since messages sent through Ask A Question are between you and students who haven't purchased lessons yet, all Partners using the service are required to abide by the following safety guidelines, to help prevent spam and fraud.
1. Don’t share 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 |
2. Don’t send URLs or links, except your public profile link
Spammers and cyber-criminals sometimes link to dubious content. 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.
Messages with links to YouTube, your personal website, or other URLs will be flagged as spam and won't be delivered.
3. Don’t arrange to meet students before they book lessons
For your safety, we don’t allow in-person meetings with a student until they have signed up and purchased lessons with you. This ensures that you are not putting yourself at risk by meeting up with a stranger before we have had the chance to confirm that they are a legitimate student.
Keep in mind that this includes sending usernames to video-chat platforms to “meet” online.
4. 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?)
5. 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.