What I discuss in today’s article – in my experience based opinion – afflicts adults in both paid and self-employment – especially the well schooled ones. They typically possess great knowledge, and competence, but often lack the know-how to MONETIZE what they know/can do.
The seeds for that problem are however sown in them long before they arrive adulthood.
Their teachers, in conventional schooling systems drill them relentlessly on the need to focus on schooling to the near exclusion of virtually everything else. They get told to “wait” until they “graduate” and get their certificates, diplomas etc.
The problem is even those telling them to wait, and drilling them on subjects being taught, do not know better themselves.
In this regard I recall something Robert Kiyosaki said in one of his books that I read several years ago.
He explained that we need to bring people from the real world who know what they are talking about, to teach in our schools. This is the only way to successfully use formal schooling to prepare people to succeed in the real world.
But this problem of ineffective teaching does not end with schools: Even vocational outfits/trainers are making the same mistakes these days.
This is actually the main reason I’m writing on this theme today.
We have all sorts of adult-learning or coaching events happening all around us these days. From people learning PC and Internet related skills to those learning to make handicrafts (like carvings) and household consumables (like soap, disinfectant, air freshener etc).
Those teaching these adults I have noticed keep using the same approach used by the school teachers
In other words, they focus almost exclusively on teaching the subject, and rarely give useful attention to showing learners how to go into the real world and successfully apply what they learn.
Indeed, what I have even noticed, which concerns me the more, is that many of the so called vocational trainers seem to make MORE of their income from TEACHING others to do it, that they do from actually DOING IT.
The worst part is that for some strange reasons, those who learn from them rarely take notice. And the few who do are given the lame argument by the “teachers” that “we love helping others”…even when it is glaring that THEY have yet to NOT need help themselves!.
I’ll give 3 examples:
1. Catfish Farmer Who Earns Bulk of His Income Running Teaching Others
The guy gets a plot of land and builds a few ponds, then sets up an operation that enables him produce fish at different stages of growth e.g from fingerlings, to juvenile and ultimately table sized catfish.
Once he succeeds in making some amount of sales from a few batches, he begins offering training services to aspiring start-ups. As part of the training, he will create videos, manuals or handbooks, and possibly offer pond construction etc services.
As more people attend his programmes, he stops (or drastically cuts down) commercial production – to begin using the farm more for demonstration.
For instance, if a training event is due on Saturday, he would – few days before – prepare needed brood stocks for use in demonstrating spawning (production of fertilized eggs for hatching) to the audience.
After that, the resulting fingerlings would be sold to interested attendees or past attendees of his training.
In essence, most times he would be doing little or no selling of his own products, except what the captive audience of learners buys from him. The rest of his income would come from doing training and more training.
2. Forex Trader Who Earns Bulk of His Income Teaching Others
The same scenario plays out with most of those offering Forex Training. Rarely will you find one who has already made it big doing it himself. Instead, even the person who just began trading several weeks ago, will readily offer to train you for a fee, if you show the slightest interest.
I saw enough of this over several years, while I was still based in Nigeria.
My exposure made it easy for me to see through what most of them were doing. So, none of them wasted much time on me – they quickly got the message that I simply would not bite.
But the uninitiated kept biting, and after paying hefty sums, based on the promise of what the magical automatic trading robot would earn for them, they were also caught in the web of deceit. And most would eventually revert to trying to pull the same stunt on others.
As a result, what you tend to see, if you look carefully enough is A WHOLE LOT of teachers, who only just stopped being students in forex trading seminars.
Very few had any proof of major earning success to show!
3. Maker of Disinfectants, Soaps etc Who Earns Bulk of His Income Teaching Others
I consider this the worst. Almost everywhere one turns now, graduates of these “training events” can be seen selling (or should I say trying to sell), their products.
Unfortunately, they are all producing basically the same range/type of products, using the same methods (which are far from world class) .
Few if any are applying their own creativity to the production process they’ve learnt.
As a result, the buyers are having a field day down pricing their products, and basically paying them peanuts.
Margins are close to being microscopic for some of them as a result!
In most cases, those raking the big bucks home seem to be the persons who preoccupy themselves with teaching others.
The reason why this is happening is that both teachers and learners do NOT know how to monetize what they know PROFITABLY.
I keep hammering on the need to make this distinction in my articles on entrepreneurship.
You CAN make money without making profits. It happens all the time – but it’s rarely funny. People who do that barely manage to break even. They are often able to keep going, but very rarely make enough to have anything left over.
Like I said earlier, it happens both in paid employment as well as self-employment.
For instance, when discussing your pay with a new employer the mentality of taking what you are given, developed via the drilling from your schooling, makes you accept to be underpaid.
I agree that sometimes you may have to take up a job as offered, to at least get your foot in the door.
However, what I have learnt is that by diligently developing yourself to deliver superlative workplace performances, you can make the employer gladly give you BIGGER pay, again and again.
Or you can creatively negotiate conditions that will earn you MORE pay for delivering superior results!
The mistake most people make is to simply focus on working and working and working on their salary jobs,. That’s why they end up aging fast, and not having much to show for it in terms of what they get paid.
You can change that from today. To find out how, get in touch with me (click here).
Now, for those persons outside salary jobs, I offer a similar message – but from a different perspective:
I’m talking here to those who know how to do “something”, but choose to make money by teaching IT, instead of doing IT.
I am also talking to those who learnt from those who TEACH how to do “something”, and are now struggling to make enough money DOING IT.
Both groups lack the same thing:
By this I mean they lack the know-how to successfully package, price, promote, and present their different products to the RIGHT buyers that will pay them enough to earn decent profits.
It’s the same mental attitude that prevents those in paid employment from THINKING up ways to make those they serve VALUE them enough to pay MORE, that’s hold these groups back.
Another good example of where this happens is FREELANCE WRITING.
I need not give examples. Just think about it, and you’ll agree with me. It’s why many writers accept poor pay to write for exploitative clients in job forums!
Simply put they do NOT know how to achieve Power Positioning (PP).
PP enables you achieve what is called Top Of Mind Awareness (TOMA) with those most likely to need what you offers.
Once that happens, you stand a much greater chance of not only SUCCESSFULLY requesting profitable payment from them, BUT also having them choose to go for YOU, over others – including those who offer lower prices.
This is what I do – and have done for years: If you’d like to learn how to do it, I can help you!
You can sell what you create (be it product or service) for MUCH MORE than you currently do.
In paid employment, you can successfully negotiate conditions that will make your employer positively disposed to paying you more, for adding superior value to the company.
If that appeals to you, get in touch with me (click here).
But just before you do, here’s a warning I need to you carefully consider:
If you are looking for overnight results or automatic, sleep-while-clients-bang-your-door-down-solutions, I do NOT offer them.
PLEASE do not contact me if you’re looking for a quick-fix.
What I offer works: That’s why you are reading THIS right now (It enables me relentlessly grow my profits, even as I serve fewer buyers)!
But you to have to WORK IT before you start seeing the results you want consistently.
In truth, you will succeed in relation to how hard you’re willing to diligently apply what you learn, with persistence.
