Introduction: What's Your Thing?

If you've picked up this book, then you're in some fashion an educator who is interested in bringing in some extra income for whatever reason (because that's your business) and you might be looking for some guidance on where to start. Well, over the past 10 years, we have found ourselves in a unique situation where not only have we found multiple ways to earn extra income while in and out of the classroom, but we also have grown a huge network of educators that we now call friends from all over the country (world, even) who have done the same thing in their own way! We've been amazed at some of the ways that educators have found fresh and innovative ways to share their expertise.and we hope to highlight some of those here. And here's what we love about writing this book: the primary focus (for us) isn't just about making money.but rather finding ways to use your gifts, knowledge, passions, and expertise to share with the world in a way that makes you feel fulfilled.and how that can also bring in extra money!

We are hoping that if you're the kind of educator we think you are, we can speak to you with the assumption that you have an idea or you are at least open to discovering your idea. This means that we won't continually include caveats for educators who aren't looking to share their ideas with others and make extra income.

But we have a lot to share before we dig in.

First, EDUCATORS SHOULD BE PAID MORE. Speaking as teachers who spent plenty of years struggling to confidently pay bills, save, and invest-we know that there are systemic issues at hand. We have joined and continue to join the fight to change legislation that affects funding and get the right people in power who can bring the change we need to see in public education. We know that the way many educators are compensated is outrageous considering how important it is to prepare students for their futures. We can go on about this but, honestly, one fact remains: these bills are due. Period. These bills are due, and if you've got kids, then you know that those kids have the nerve to want to participate in every (expensive) sport under the sun, and oh, yeah, student loans are a thing for many of us. It's an awful position for us to have to be in, we know. And multiple things can be true at the same time. We can be disappointed with how educators are paid and grateful for the option to be able to launch a business venture and bring in much-needed income. We suppose it depends on you and how you want to look at it.

While we are on the topic of money, we do want to take a minute to qualify some phrases that we'll use around the idea of money. We may say things like extra cash or income, and while they have very different connotations, we mean money on varied levels. To us, extra cash incites some ideas of having money for your coffee habit or Target spree, whereas income feels like a larger, more substantial amount of money that can supplement or even replace income. We mean it all. Whatever your goals are, that's what we mean with those terms!

Also, THIS BOOK IS JUST A STARTING POINT. This book will not be an exhaustive list of every way to make some extra cash or exactly how to do so. This book is going to be full of our own stories and some examples from other people we know.

We're guessing that we are going to have two types of people reading this book. First are those of you with your shiny, new, exciting venture that is probably already brewing in the back of your mind. Are we right about that? Surely you've dreamed at some point about starting your own business. Maybe you've peeled out of the parking lot after school and thought about how proud you felt of that one lesson that you slay every year and wished you could bottle it up and share it with others. There's bound to be something like that that you've been mentally flirting with for a while, right? Okay, so that! That is what this book is for. We want to help you grow that idea that's been swimming around in your head by showing you tons of options for ways you can share your passions with the world.

And for those who may be sitting here reading this and thinking, "What are they talking about? I don't have anything like that swimming around in my head.yet," well, we wrote this book for you too!

We will ask you a few questions, and you can jot them down in a notebook or literally right here in the book. Pretend that we are out for a coffee date and we are asking you about yourself.

• What is your "thing"?
• What are your coworkers constantly coming to your classroom for?
• What is something that you see (a book, a lesson, a strategy) and you think to yourself, "I could totally do that better"?

So, let's take the first question: "What is your thing? Personal, professional, random. Doesn't matter. What's your thing?"

Why does this matter? Because a lot of times, your "thing" is connected to a passion. Passions, if you would like them to, can be turned into ventures that can bring in income. What if we told you that the teacher who loved pets created an entire resource for educators who were interested in having a class pet? A guide with tips and concerns to think through when deciding on which pet to have, schedules for caring for the pets, and more. This educator had the knowledge and the passion.all they did was find a way to package it up and share it!

EXAMPLES

A teacher at my old school was next-level obsessed with pets. She had pets all over her classroom. Everyone knew that this teacher loved pets.

A school counselor at an old school of ours was known for his style. Came dressed to the nines daily. If "look good, feel good" was a person, that would be him.

A principal whom we knew absolutely loved to go all out for everything. Holidays, teacher appreciation week, you name it.it was themed, no details left unattended, and fabulous.

Similarly, consider the school counselor with style who snaps an amazing photo of his daily looks. But these aren't just selfies-that person is actually teaching others how to style looks for their body type-which might make them feel more confident. There are brands that love to work with people who have a natural knack for style, and they are willing to pay.

Finally, the principal who loves a theme. What if we told you that that passion for making people feel special became a blog that began with her sharing a few photos here and there-but turned into a platform where hundreds of people went to download fun, thematic printables that they could use in their own buildings?

Those are just a few examples of the kinds of ventures that are possible-and we can't wait to dig into more.

1. What are your coworkers constantly coming to your classroom for?
2. What is something that you see (a book, a lesson, a strategy) and you think to yourself, "I could totally do that better"?

OUR JOURNEYS

So, this is where we'd like to share an overview of our journeys. In this book, we dig deeper into a few of these ideas that we mention, but the point is that we've been able to gain financial freedom through some creative ventures.

LaNesha's Journey

I began this journey in 2011. Like so many educators, I had figured out that there were teachers who had begun sharing their classroom happenings on a blog. I had a handful of bloggers whom I followed religiously! I would teach all day, come home, and hope that Babbling Abby (aka Abby Mullins-a good friend of ours and the first teacher I ever followed) had posted something new from her classroom. Seemingly overnight, but probably more like over the next two years, teacher blogs exploded. Seriously-they were popping up everywhere. Eventually, we started to see amazing lessons being showcased, but then toward the end of the post, you would see a little button that said "Click here to purchase!" Now, understand: the things that I would see that were available for purchase were not things that I needed. No. I was given everything I needed in order to do my job. If I hadn't purchased a single thing from another educator, I would have been just fine. This was a personal purchase for something that I wanted. I make that distinction because I'm aware of the fact that many people believe that the concept of other educators selling lessons or resources is wrong and that we should all share things for free. I hear that, but for me personally, I didn't mind because the resources that I wanted weren't critical to the success of my students. I'm talking about an adorable "first day of school" activity or a fresh take on how to teach a spelling pattern. Did I absolutely have to have those things? Nope. Did I choose to buy them because I thought I would enjoy it? Yep! That's the difference for me. I firmly believe that educators shouldn't have to spend a single cent of their own money to do their job. But, listen-if you are the kind of educator that would rather swap your latte money for a printable bulletin board set created by another teacher.then that is YOUR business! I digress. Back to the blogger boom-the point is, all of a sudden we had thousands of teachers who were setting out to share their ideas on the internet.and...