Herk_Man
Contributor
Being a professional means holding yourself to a significant set of standards.
Being professional means having a mastery of your subject material. It means being on time and organized, and having thought through what you are going to do before you do it. It means maintaining a pleasant and disciplined demeanor even when you are frustrated or irritated, unless changing that demeanor is what you deem best to motivate or inspire the student. It means having the self-confidence to admit when you don't know something, and making the effort to find the answer for the student if it can be found. It means disciplining yourself to demonstrate the behaviors you want the students to learn (buddy checks, anybody?) and that also includes communicating to the students that your OWN education is never-ending. It means taking responsibility for anything that goes wrong, even if it wasn't through your own actions, because the class is ostensibly under your control. It means soliciting feedback from your students and then seriously considering that feedback and making appropriate changes as a result of it. It means making the effort to improve yourself in any area where you don't feel you are the best role model.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with how much you charge, or even if you charge.
But just to be clear (and not insinuating that you meant otherwise) there is nothing wrong with doing something professionally with the goal of making money from it. To be clear, the best "professional" instructors are those that take pride in their work and don't base the quality of their instruction on the amount being paid, but it's still very ok to do something you enjoy in order to make a living or improve your life.
But as my Dad always said, "The key to happiness is not money, love, or things. It's doing the things you love and getting money for it."