Is there a teacher in you?

BY ELLEN ROHR
contributing writer

?Now and then, someone will sidle up to me in the back of the room after a seminar and ask, “How did you get started as a speaker?”

To which I respond, “Why do you ask? Are you a speaker?”

“No, I just think it might be fun to give it a try someday?”

Ahhh! This is what I believe: If you are asking, you are on the path. Not everyone wonders what it would be like to be a speaker, coach or consultant. If you are asking, listen to your intuition. There is a teacher in you!

“Leaders are teachers.” — Jack Welch

You can use the word coach or consultant. If you teach in front of a group, you are called a speaker. If you speak from the pages of a magazine, you are called a columnist or a contributor. They are all the same thing — teachers. Do you feel drawn to share what you have lived or learned with others? I wholeheartedly encourage you. You have a unique voice and a unique life experience. You can find an audience who can hear what you have to say — just because it’s you saying it.

My path…

I’ve been fortunate to learn at the feet of so many great mentors. My greatest business teacher, Frank Blau, helped my find my awesome career. Frank taught me business basics. Desperate to fix our broken business, I wrote him a letter; he gave me a call. He took me under his wing. Thanks, Frank, for helping me figure out my assets from my elbow and become a savvy businesswoman. My husband Hot Rod and I turned our business around. We got out of debt, and started to build assets. Money buys options. One of the options we created was that we could sell our business and move on to different careers.
We sold our company — to our employees — a friendly coup! At that point in my life, I had the freedom to ponder my next move. How could I serve? What do I have to offer? I realized that if a smart, educated gal like me didn’t know business basics, I bet lots of others didn’t either. So I hung up my shingle and started a consulting business. I’ve worked with our industry’s greatest groups and gurus. I had the opportunity to start a national franchise with the help of brilliant venture capitalists. I’ve made lots of mistakes, but there are lessons in the mistakes. Every day I learn from the wonderful folks I work with. It’s an honor to help others as I have been helped. Making money, building wealth, creating opportunities — I love business. And I get a total rush out of being on stage and sharing our Bare Bones Biz mission — good business expands peace, prosperity and freedom for all of us. I pinch myself that I get to do this every day.

Get going on your path.

Here are a few suggestions for developing your career as a teacher:

Be a good student

• Take classes to learn about what you are interested in, as well as how others deliver content.

• Work with consultants. If I don’t know something I want to know, I will gladly pay someone to teach me. A good teacher helps you discover your own answers. In addition to being my business partner, Al Levi is my consultant. He is the best systems man in the industry. We meet yearly to review my Biz Plan. Check him out at www.appleseedbusiness.com

• Go to seminars. Note the information, and watch how the speaker crafts his or her program. Pay attention to the use of stories and exercises. Not all teachers do well on stage. Here’s one who was born for it. www.kennychapman.net.

Consult yourself

• Fix your current business so you can leave it or sell it. If you haven’t yet, read “The E Myth” by Michael Gerber. If you have, reread it. Your business is your playground for your developing leadership and teaching skills.

• BEWARE! I know dozens of folks who jumped into their consulting businesses, or lined up for the presidency of trade associations, to the detriment of their own businesses. Build the foundation so that you can take the leap to the next career. Otherwise, it will suck you back in and you may have a mess to clean up.

• Take your own medicine. If you were to pay YOU to help you with your business, what would you tell yourself to do? Create some options — more time, more money. Freedom to do what you want to do. This is where your unique content comes from. Write it down. Create your language. Document your own systems. It doesn’t have to be fancy. One of my teachers told me, “The simpler you make it, the more powerful it becomes.”

Speak. Join Toastmasters. Or take a Dale Carnegie class. Or both. These groups are “old school” and just as relevant today as ever. Use them to learn classic speaking technology and practice your craft in a safe setting.

Write. Dan Holohan told me to write like you are talking to a friend. Reading is a private affair, a solo activity. Writing can help you connect, one to one, with millions of people. Dan is one of the best teachers on the planet and writes like a man on fire. Page back for his column and check out his rockin’ site www.HeatingHelp.com.

Build your teaching business. Everything you’ve learned about business will help develop your next business.

• Put a Biz Plan together. Create a Biz Plan Binder and put your Plan together. Ask and look for answers to the big questions: What are you going to teach? Why? For whom? How? When? How much? Start fleshing out the Plan and Procedures. Create your Operations Manuals. Business is business — apply the basics to your new venture. I’ve got some business planning tips for you here.

• Start saying YES. You don’t have to be all the way ready. Aim for 80% ready.

• Charge for your services. Raise your prices as often as you raise your self esteem. We give away a half hour of my time — but you have to jump through a few hoops. And, I am happy to give away 2.5 hours of my time each month to meet new folks. Sometimes I am a good fit for what they want and need. If so, we send them an agreement or steer them to one of our online Webinars. My on-site services are pricier than over the phone. I bet only a handful of people know what you know. And only one person can deliver it like you can. Price accordingly.

• Study other businesses. Check out the websites of your favorite teachers. Check out mine! Notice how we have lots of fun, free advice — and if you want more, you can find (and buy) more. I love Jeffrey Gitomer’s site, too. Check it out at www.buygitomer.com I was inspired by Ali Brown’s site, too. She charges up to a $100,000 to consult with her — in a small group setting! Check out this Internet queen at www.alibrown.com.

Be of service. Whatever you offer, teach it in the spirit of helping people. Mark Victor Hansen said that he teaches life enhancing information that makes everyone ?better off, no one worse off. Nice. Assume the mantle of a servant leader.

Let go of being perfect.

Be authentic. Be yourself.

And, when you build your FaceBook page, invite me to be your Fan. I will cheer you on as you develop the Teacher in YOU!

Xo$, Elle

Al Levi and I help you spend the least effort (and money) for the most success in your business and life. Join us for the Step by Step Success program. The power of one simple, focused action…one step at a time. Reach me at 417.753.1111 or contact@barebonesbiz.com.