How to get paid for promoting your business

How can you gain credibility and exposure for you and your
business, reach a motivated audience, develop a far-flung
network, hone your presentation skills -- and get paid to
do it? Many writers, artists, speakers and entrepreneurs
have found an answer: they teach classes in adult education
programs.

Adult education is big business. In the new century,
"change" is a hot topic and learning is no longer confined
to traditional degree programs.

As people want to grow their careers and enrich their lives,
specialized programs have evolved to reach this market. Some
teaching venues require at least a master's degree. Others
allow you to share your unique skills, from designing
brochures to tarot reading. Temple University's continuing
education program has offered a half-day class taught by a
cleaning lady. The subject? Speed cleaning.

If a target market exists for your business or if you have
knowledge that people can use on the job, chances are a
target market exists for you in the world of adult
education. By entering this world, you can demonstrate your
skills to a receptive audience, meet some terrific people,
learn more than you expected and even have some fun.

Teaching requires more than a good speaking voice and a
knowledge-filled brain. Every minute you are in the
classroom, you are marketing yourself to your students. You
must keep students involved for up to eight hours.

Since the average adult attention span is about fifteen
minutes, you have to design exercises, activities and
questions. You have to deal with the unexpected. Students
will arrive late, ask off-the-wall questions and challenge
your expertise. Occasionally, students will be rude,
insulting or even abusive.

Most people who teach find themselves exhausted after even a
short class, yet also exhilarated. Teaching can be a high
when everything goes well. The secret of successful part-
time teaching is to identify your purpose in teaching and
fine-tune your skills for your target market.

You want to reach students who are also potential customers.
If a school features astrology and visualization, your
course on finding the lowest mortgage rate won't fit, unless
you suggest people consult the stars to meet their financial
goals.

People who have added teaching to their promotional toolkit
report finding success and fun along the way. One public
relations consultant gets forty percent of her clients from
adult education classes. A writer has developed a second
stream of income and a never-ending source of ideas. The
opportunities are available to almost anyone, anywhere.

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Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D,
http://www.movinglady.com/adult_education.html
Ezine: http://www.movinglady.com/currnews.html
Getting started in Adult Education:
http://www.dreamjobstogo.com/titles/djtg0052.html?10645
cathy@... 505-534-4294

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