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Have you ever experienced a challenge that you've overcome? What about the skills you've learned in the process of mastering something in your business, or your personal life? Do the people around you ask questions about something that comes easily to you?

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If so, you'll definitely want to stick around as we dive into this final part of our recession-proofing your business miniseries. Today, we're talking about teaching what you know to others, and how it can quickly become a profit center in your business.

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Welcome to episode number 281 of the Amplify Your Awesome Podcast. I'm your host, Yong Pratt, also known as Dr. content, and I help you heal what ails your content. As a business owner, you're already creating a ton of content for your business in the form of social media posts, your website, brochures, and that's probably just the of what you're creating. Here at Amplify Your Awesome, we help you turn all of your awesome content into even more goodness so that you can reach more people and make the impact you desire.

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Over the past five episodes, we've been building up to today's lesson. We've been exploring ways to use what you already have to build a stronger business. While this series was created to inspire and give you tons of ways to diversify your business during the pandemic since so many of you had to do business differently, the ideas we've talked about are absolutely evergreen. You could easily take just one of the ideas we've talked about and incorporate it into your business so that you're not just relying on one singular product or one singular client to keep your business afloat. So far, we've covered print on demand, Facebook ads podcasts, audio books, and email.

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While each episode is a standalone idea, you'll get the most benefit by listening to them all. I'll be sure to link up all the episodes over on today's show notes at www.yongpratt.com/281.

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So what does teaching what you know really mean?

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Well, at its most basic teaching what you know, really means one of two things. The first is that you can turn a mess you've had in your life into your message, as my mentor Dean grazioso, he would say, let me give you an example.

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Back when I ran a brick and mortar performing arts school, parents will often come to me, in tears even, and share that their kids were having difficulties in the classroom. Sometimes the difficulties stemmed from doing poorly on standardized tests or getting quote unquote, "bad grades." Other times the difficulties came in the form of behavioral issues in the classroom, or even at home, usually during homework time. What these parents noticed was that when their kids attended our classes, they were different. They were happier. They were more joyful. They were more of themselves and they were comfortable in their own skin. And they wondered why this was happening and if I could help them help their kids be more happy and successful while at school. They even asked for ideas on how to talk to teachers and administration about their kids.

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During this time, my girls were having difficulties of their own at school. They weren't struggling with classes, but each had quote unquote, "deficiencies" pointed out by teachers in the realm of their social development. One was being labeled as not being social enough while the other one was too social. These teachers were focusing on weaknesses not strengths which so often happens in the traditional education setting. And I found myself having to advocate for my girls repeatedly, so that these weaknesses wouldn't be something that they were going to be labeled with, and that they would carry on with them throughout all of their education.

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The bottom line was that so many kids were getting told subtly or even overtly, that they weren't good enough or smart enough that they were somehow deficient, that they didn't meet some kind of standard to which schools hold our kids accountable, because they teach and test to only a small percentage of kids. So I decided to do something about it.

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I took what I had learned in graduate school about kids and how they learned, and the many different ways in which they learn along with their physical and mental development, and pair that with what was successful in our own classrooms and what we believed in the ways we were teaching their kids and I decided to publish a blog. Now these blogs became podcast episodes. And later I repurposed them again, into my first book called Raising a Superhero, which you can still get on Amazon today.

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My mess, and the messes of the other parents that confided in me and came to me for help was the message that I shouted from the rooftops and the message I still 100% believe in today. It's why I'm so passionate about empowering kids, and equipping them with real world skills so that they don't let the opinions of others define them or what they can become.

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So my friends, what mess could you turn into your message? Come on over to today's show notes at www.yongpratt.com/281 and share with me the messes you could take today and turn them into your message.

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Now the second way to teach what you know could mean sharing your knowledge, your skills, your gifts, or your passions with others in a way that resonates with you. In my 20 plus years as an entrepreneur, sharing my gifts has taken many forms. From teaching dance at our local college, to opening up my own dance school, and later in art-based preschool, all of these enabled me to pass along what I loved while instilling confidence and self worth in all of our students. Another of my unique gifts is seeing the gifts and talents in others, and helping to nurture those gifts, so THEY could then share them with others. And that specific gift led to discovering and nurturing dozens of teachers in my Performing Arts School which made it possible for us to impact the lives of thousands more students than I could do alone. Today it looks like nurturing busy business owners and helping them share their own gifts easily and in ways that feel good to them. It also looks like showing business owners the possibilities and opportunities available to impact more people by repurposing the content they've aleady created. Bottom line: Sharing my gifts with others and seeing them and you thrive is absolutely what drives me every single day.

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What about you? Is there some specialized knowledge that you have that you could share with someone today? Maybe it's a special gift. Maybe it's a talent, or even a hobby. It could even be something that comes easily to you that people ask you about all ready.

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Remember, this whole series has been based on the idea of using what you already have. Really taking stock. Leaning in and using the tools, the resources, the knowledge, the gifts and the talents you already have today.

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Each episode in this series has presented a way to use your gifts and apply them in ways, maybe you haven't even thought about before, so that you can recession-proof your business. This series hasn't been about adding more work to your already full plate. You have enough to do already.

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It's really been about taking a look inside to see what lights you up. It's been about shifting and seeing your business from a new perspective and new ways that you can serve other people with what you do. It's been about sharing what makes you awesome in a way that feels awesome for you. And then figuring out how to take all that makes you awesome and share it with others by talking about what we're doing today - teaching what you already know.

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So I want you to come on over to today's show notes at www.yongpratt.com/281 and share your unique gifts and talents. Let's have a conversation about what lights you up and what you could teach to others today. What's calling to you right now? What is it that you could take from inside of yourself and teach others to help them on their journeys?

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Now you know what teaching what you know means and how you can start doing it today, let's dive in to the monetary reasons why you might want to explore this idea. According to a May 2020 article in Forbes Magazine, the online learning market, also known as teaching what you know online, is expected to reach 350 billion - that's billion with a B by 2025. And that number was predicted before the pandemic. With so much more education moving online in the past several months, the actual number is likely much higher. The author of the article, Ilker Koksal stated, quote, "It's a fact that online learning is the future and will undoubtedly replace land based learning in the future."

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This means the opportunity for you to teach what you know online is absolutely huge. With so many people turning to online education, there will absolutely be more people out there searching for what you know, and what you could share. So it's time, my friend, to turn your mess into your message or to turn what you already know into an online educational experience that others can enjoy - that can serve them. That can help them on their journeys to getting to that next level. And I want you to know that I'm absolutely here for you if you need help in this arena.

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In the coming weeks, I'm going to be sharing something brand new that we've been working on that I know for a fact will help you to turn what you already know and turn your mess into a message quickly and easily, even if you're starting from scratch. Until then, come on over to today's show notes at www.yongpratt.com/281 and share what you're going to teach and how you're going to contribute to the growing online education industry. Plus, you'll learn more about our brand new Facebook community, Creators Landing, and I'm also going to share my favorite tool for making teaching what you know, super easy and something you can do today.

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Well, there you have it, my friends, the sixth and final part of our miniseries recession proofing your business by teaching what you know. I cannot wait to hear from you and support you in your efforts and becoming part of a $350 billion industry because teaching what you know, and serving others is the very best way to use your gifts and make the kind of impact you know you were meant to make on this planet. As we wrap up this episode, and this miniseries, I want to leave you with a quote from Nelson Mandela. He says, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Now go out there and change the world by teaching what you know. Cheers