Are you familiar with toad venom? 🐸 Here's how it can help you grow your business. The freelance teaching space lacks innovation. There are many, many talented, creative people in it, but so many are simply doing the same thing that exists inside a language school. We need to be different. Not: ❌ increase your confidence ❌ improve your grammar ❌ learn more vocabulary Better:Toad venom. 🐸 @Leonardo Gomes, @Michael Landry and I talked about it on our recent Teacher Talking Time podcast episode. Watch the excerpt below and let me know what you think 😎 My main takeaways are: → the more specific the niche, the more demand there is → don't create solutions to problems people don't care about → stop creating and listen to what people need, not necessarily what they want 👉 The full episode is out on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0AFuUuSMRA9SGVhWqvUDsL?si=a25dad370c4a4227 The video version will be released on our YouTube channel in early September. How can you use the concept of toad venom to carve out your own little corner of the internet?

Do you tip at Starbucks? I was chatting with a friend yesterday about this - help us settle something? I'm very interested in what my North American comrades say. I only added two options in the poll, but please drop your thought process in the comments. Very curious!

Have you gone through the 5 stages of precarity grief? 🐘 It's the elephant in the ELT room. In this excerpt from an upcoming #TeacherTalkingTime podcast episode, @Leonardo Gomes, @Michael Landry and I discuss precarity and some of the industry mindsets about it. ELT is by nature a precarious industry - one that's unlikely to see a big change. Many teachers we speak with even say they are leaving the profession completely. Others love it so much and want to find a way to make it work. Many of us go through the 5 stages of grief dealing with precarity: 👉 Denial 👉 Anger 👉 Bargaining 👉 Depression 👉 Acceptance Which do you feel you're on, if any? We concluded our conversation by saying that to remain in ELT, it's very difficult to rely on one stream of income. How do you view precarity where you are?

If you don't share your ideas, you're doing the world a disservice. 🤔 There are people who want to learn from you. Consider that if you haven't posted your ideas here lately. The idea of sharing ideas online is still one that's kind of new, oddly enough. Many people are hesitant to do it - perhaps you're one of them. It may be because many people are afraid of being accused of self-promotion. There are two ways to classify the sharing of information I've learned recently: 1. Self-promotion 2. Idea promotion Self-promotion can be: - narcissistic - bragging For many, they don't want to be in this category. Idea promotion is an act of generosity and creating a gift for others, hoping they receive it. I think this is a much better way of conceptualizing what ideas we post about, talk about, and share - and for what reason. Adam Grant says "we have a responsibility not to deprive the people around us from learning." I believe that. ❓So, here's a question for you: Where do you think your hidden potential lies? Let me know below. 👇 And then go idea promote that to someone about it this weekend.

Another helpful exercise. Thank you!