Helping educators create and grow brands to promote a product or idea they want to share with others to better education. Tips, tricks, and resources for educators creating content and/or launching side hustles to share their passions.
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A simple, but powerful, exercise for you.
Published about 2 months ago • 7 min read
Hey Reader,
A while back, I was listening to a podcast. Actually, after I typed that, i went and checked - it was back in December 2022. So I guess "a while back" might not be the best description of the time period. But that's not the point.
The point is, I listened to it again today, because there was a specific piece that jumped out at me and I wanted to share it with you.
The discussion was between Pat Flynn and Jason Feifer on Pat's "Smart Passive Income" podcast. They were discussing how we tend to answer the question "what do you do?" by sharing the tasks we do, or the skills we use. In his example, he tells the story of how he always wanted to be a newspaper reporter. He eventually became a newspaper reporter, so when he got asked that question he would reply, "I'm a newspaper reporter" or "I write for the XYZ newspaper." The problem came when he lost that job and was trying to find a new job. Newspaper reporter jobs were becoming fewer and fewer, so he was likely not going to find another job as a reporter. So now the answer he had given for years, did not make sense. He was lost. That was his identity. He was a newspaper reporter. So what was he now if not that? He eventually became a writer for other publications, then an editor at various places, and he is now the editor-in-chief at Entrepreneur Magazine. He is also an author and does freelance writing for others. He goes on to share that he does not answer that question with "I'm the editor-in-chief for Entrepreneur Magazine." He doesn't even mention the magazine in his answer. Instead, he now answers with, "I tell stories in my own voice." This is true for what he does now, what he did back when he was a reporter, what he does as an author, and what he wants to do regardless of what title he holds, where he works, etc.
So, this week I want to challenge you to find that answer for yourself.
Here's the exercise. You're going to go through this scenario THREE times.
#1. Someone walks up to you and asks "what do you do?
So I might answer "I run a mastermind for educators who are trying to increase their impact with a side hustle or business." #2. Someone walks up to you and asks "what do you do?" BUT you can't say anything you said in the above scenario. You can't talk about the tasks you do.
Likely, you'll now talk about the closest things to your tasks, which are your skills. The things you are good at that enable you to complete those tasks. So I might say "I'm really good at asking questions to understand someone's business goals and then helping them put together the logistical pieces to pursue those goals." #3. Someone walks up to you and asks "what do you do?" BUT you can't say anything you said in #1 or #2 above. You cannot talk about your tasks and you cannot talk about the skills you use.
So what's left?
That's what I want you to find. Jason asks it this way: What is the thing that is so deep inside of you that it drove you to develop those skills that enable you to do those tasks? For me, everything I've ever done has been about helping other people chase their dreams.
When I started my record label it was to help other musicians chase their dream of playing music for a living.
When I started doing online marketing it was driven by my desire to help others grow their business.
When we started Teach Better, it was driven by my desire to not only help educators reach more students but also to help Chad pursue his goal of increasing his impact in education.
As we've grown Teach Better, so much of what I do is helping teachers realize the value they have to share, and helping them find their strengths and passions to go out and increase their impact, whether in their classroom or by sharing things beyond their district.
Even when I worked in food service, started a concert club, and helped open restaurants, the reason I loved all those things, and the reason I worked hard to develop the skills I needed in order to do the tasks I needed to complete, was because I wanted to help people chase their dreams.
Whether it was to grow a business, become a rockstar, be successful at their first job and grow into a stronger member of society, be a better teacher, or increase their impact on education with a side hustle, I have always been driven by my desire to help people pursue their goals and dreams.
So, as I worked through these scenarios, no matter where I started with #1 and #2, I always ended in the same place for #3:
I help others find their strengths, discover their passions, and chase their dreams. So now it's YOUR turn.
Grab some paper, your journal, iPad, or a new Google Doc.
Answer these three prompts - following the rules.
Share your answer with me by hitting 'reply' and letting me know. OR share it out on Twitter/X and tag me (@jeffgargas) or on Instagram (@_jeffgargas).
PROMPTS
Scenario #1. Someone walks up to you and asks "what do you do? (Insert your answer) Scenario#2. Someone walks up to you and asks "what do you do?" BUT you can't say anything you said in the above scenario. You can't talk about the tasks you do. (Insert your answer) #3. Someone walks up to you and asks "what do you do?" BUT you can't say anything you said in #1 or #2 above. You cannot talk about your tasks and you cannot talk about the skills you use.(Insert your answer)
SEO success depends on providing high-quality content to your audiences. The big question is: What exactly does “high quality” mean?
Content has many meanings. In digital marketing, it simply means the information a website displays to users.
But don’t forget: In a different context with a different emphasis on the word (content as opposed to content), content is a synonym for happy and satisfied. The meaning is different, but the letters are the same.
If you want to understand content quality online, keep these two different definitions in mind.
😎 Introducing Orion: Meta's First True Augmented Reality Glasses
This week, Meta unveiled Orion, previously codenamed "Project Nazare," which they say is the most advanced pair of AR glasses ever made.
Orion combines the look and feel of a regular pair of glasses with the immersive capabilities of augmented reality – and it’s the result of breakthrough inventions in virtually every field of modern computing.
Meta is giving employees and select external audiences access to Orion, so their team can learn, iterate, and build towards our consumer AR glasses product line.
Orion AR glasses prototype boasts a sub-100g weight, wide field of view displays, and advanced features like voice control and hand tracking, taking Meta over 10 years to build.
🤖 How Intuit plans to use agentic AI to automate complex business tasks
Intuit announced significant enhancements to its Generative AI Operating System (GenOS) platform today, including introducing agentic AI workflows to bolster its AI and data capabilities.
At VB Transform 2024, the company outlined some of the ways it is using generative AI to improve personalization.
To date, those efforts have included the company’s Intuit Assist, an AI assistant that is powered by the GenOS platform. Intuit is now taking the platform a step further announcing its plans and goals for agentic AI.
The GenOS framework is being expanded with enhanced security, usability and functions to enable the agentic AI workflows.
The EDUcreator Club+ Membership gives you access to a community of educators who create content, products, and services to help others increase their impact. The EDUcreator Club+ Membership was built to provide a space for learning, growing, and supporting each other.
Creating & building can get lonely sometimes. Don't do it alone.
What's included:
Private Community: An active community with hundreds of posts and conversations where educators come together to request feedback, collaborate on new ideas, and support each other as we all work to create and share content that provides value to others.
Exclusive Events: Join exclusive events, designed to provide you with relevant information and access to world-class content creators and creator economy experts.
Curated Content & Resources: We're curating the best tools, resources, and opportunities related to creating valuable content. Inside, you'll find community challenges, self-paced courses, discounted resources, and more, all easily accessible to you!
The EDUcreator Club Newsletter is made possible by our awesome partners. Please consider supporting them. Note: While we may receive a small affiliate fee for any purchases made via the below link, we will never recommend a product, service, or brand we do not believe in.
💡CONTENT CREATION IDEA
IDEAS FOR YOUR NEXT (or first) FREE ONLINE COURSE
Free online courses have been a great list-building tool for us for almost 10 years now. These do not need to be super in-depth. They should be short and sweet, but valuable.
Pick a topic, tool, process, etc, that you can break down into 5-10 videos of no more than 3 minutes each. You can use ChatGPT (or your preferred LLM) to outline or create a complete script for the video. Record them - don't get too crazy about editing, it can kill your efficiency, delay launching, and likely won't change how well it performs. The valuable content is the important part!
Put those videos all together in an online course platform, Vimeo, or even a hidden YouTube playlist.
Set up a simple form (likely built in to any course platform) where people provide their name and email for access to the course or link to the videos.
It's that simple.
NOTE: I said "simple" not "easy." It really is simple. The "not easy" part is getting started and following through. I have faith in you, though! You got this!
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Helping educators create and grow brands to promote a product or idea they want to share with others to better education. Tips, tricks, and resources for educators creating content and/or launching side hustles to share their passions.
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