Here are a couple of resources that you will find very useful:
Paul Cunningham’s Beginner’s Guide to Email Marketing – the ultimate guide to email marketing. A must for anyone wanting to learn how to use email as a marketing tool.
For those of you interested in writing an Ebook here is an excellent article by Sonia Simone: How to Write an Ebook
I have always had an issue with people that question how I can be an entrepreneur, because according to them I am nothing more than a “teacher.” After all, a teacher teaches; what does he know about running a business? I often go off on a rant about how similar the two are, which leaves them with a glazed-over look.
I finally found the response that will bowl them over and it is all thanks to Sir Richard Branson. For those of you who don’t know who he is, he founded the Virgin group of companies – Virgin Mobile, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, Virgin Galatic, etc. Not only is he an entrepreneur, he is an accomplished author (not bad for a guy who dropped out of high school because he is dyslexic).
During the Christmas holidays, I picked up a copy of his book, Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur. The most profound thing that he said in the book is that business is all about creating opportunities “…in people’s lives.”(p. 4). That got me thinking that what we teachers do is not so far removed from Sir Richard Branson’s definition of what entrepreneurs do. Teachers create opportunities that make a difference in many people’s lives. We have the skills that entrepreneurs have. Quite frankly, I would argue that we have a leg up over those that have never run a business because we know how to make a difference.
You see, teaching and entrepreneurship are not that different. The internet allows you to create opportunities that will make a difference in many more lives than you can by limiting what you have to offer to a classroom full of students. Go out and make a difference by creating something that you know will impact others’ lives!
Reference
Branson, R. (2008). Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur. London:Virgin Books.
I had promised you an article for Monday, January 10, which would explain the link between business and teaching – fear not you will get that article in your mailbox tomorrow – consider this article a bonus.
Many teachers have an identity crisis. When asked what they do for a living, most teachers will answer that they teach a certain grade level or a particular subject or a combination of the two. They fail to understand that they do more than teach (I’m not referring to the idea that some people have about teachers; they say that they did more than teach in the classroom – they are also social workers, nutritionists, police officers, etc.).
Teachers have transferable skills that they often fail to identify. My friend’s wife recently retired from teaching. My friend had been a teacher many years ago; he is now in upper management with a government agency. His wife asked him if there were any secretarial jobs that she could do at his place of employment. He got upset with her, because she didn’t seem to understand that she had more skills to offer to an employer than secretarial skills. Please don’t misunderstand me, secretaries are the backbone of many enterprises. My friend was trying to make his wife understand that she had to have a hard look at what skills she used in the classroom, because they are easily transferable to the business world.
The reason that I told you this story is to make you understand that you have a lot to offer. You are more than ‘just a teacher’. I want you to make a list of all the skills that you use in your teaching practice. How many are transferable to other areas or activities? How many of those skills can you use to create an online teaching enterprise? Take your time making your list, but as you write things down imagine the possibilities.
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