BURNING QUESTION 3: What will the Outside the Job Box Certification Program cost and how much can I expect to earn doing this kind of work?
I know a big concern for a lot of people is cost. But since the whole point is to train people how to think outside the box, let me come at this by first turning this around for a minute and asking you a question. Namely…
How do you determine the cost of freedom?
What would you be willing to invest – not just in terms of money, but also in terms of your time – to build a business that could lead to the ultimate freedom of becoming your own boss?
The reason I’m bringing up the time issue is because I just heard from a woman who is totally dreading going to back to her fall teaching job. She wanted to know if she could earn enough by September to be able to resign. I’m really glad she asked because it would have never occurred to me that someone would expect to start and build a profitable business in a few weeks.
So, let me be really clear. If anyone is looking at the Outside the Job Box Certification program as a fast, easy short cut to freedom, you should unsubscribe from this Priority Notification list right now.
Learning any new skill set takes time. Starting any new business takes time. Succeeding at a new business takes time. There are ways to go faster of course… which is the whole point of this Certification. But still, it does take time.
Some of you will take what you learn and run with it. Others will absorb it more slowly. The point is that the more you put into growing your business, the faster it will grow.
There’s something else you should know. Through the process of attending this Certification, a few of you may even discover that your primary passion actually lies elsewhere. I understand how the idea of taking a class on how to start one business could actually lead you down an entirely path might scare the heck out of you. It shouldn’t.
What you’ll discover is that all the tools and techniques you learn in the Certification program can easily apply to growing any income stream – and you’ll still have a new expertise you can use if and when you decide you want to bring in extra money.
For example, one of the 2006 trainees is using what she learned in last year’s program in her new role as part-time marketing director for a fiber arts studio. She’s also writing a grant on using weaving to teach kids about math and science.
Another graduate got the courage to resign from her teaching job, move to the mountains of North Carolina, and enroll in a 10-week intensive photography course in Maine. Her plan is to combine photography with career advising.
But I’m getting off the subject. So back to the question: How do you determine the cost of freedom?
Easy. When my own clients are figuring out how to price their new SAT tutorial business, what to charge for their walking tours in Rome, or their proof writing services, I tell them the same thing I’m going to tell you…
Do your homework. In part, this means making sure you compare “apples to apples.”
For example, there are lots of self-study courses out there averaging anywhere in price from $99 to $1,000. Most are worth every penny. But as a “self-study” course you get some written materials in a binder and maybe some CDs or DVDs.
Unless you are highly motivated, these courses often end up sitting on the shelf. All that money down the drain.
The Outside the Job Box Career Consulting Certification is NOT a self-study course. This is a highly interactive, live, hands-on training and mentoring program. It’s also set up to help you generate paying customers − fast.
Given the level of training and support you’ll be getting, this Certification Program could easily have been set up as a formal franchise. But making you do things “my way or no way” flies in the face of everything I believe about designing your business to fit your life − and not the other way around.
So while not a franchise, this program gives you the same – and in many cases – significantly more, training and support than you would if you bought into a traditional franchise.
So now that we’re comparing apples to apples − do your homework. Go to http://FranchiseGator.com and click on Home Based Businesses.
Here are just a few examples of what you’ll find:
START UP COSTS
~ All About Honeymoons Franchise- $9,000-$29,000
~ DVD now Franchise $17,995
~ Club Z In-Home Tutoring Franchise – $29,500 – $31,500
~ Barkbusters Home Dog Training Franchise $71,100
~ Gymboree Franchise – $141,000 – $246,000
The Outside the Job Box Consulting Certification won’t cost you anywhere near that much. In fact, once you see the full extent of training, tools and support that you’ll be receiving, I think you’ll agree the cost of freedom is actually pretty darn low.
Whether you seize this particular start-up opportunity or not, when it comes to changing course, this simple truth remains…
All change is scary – even positive change. Fear just comes with the change territory. Period. But the more you know, the less there is to be afraid of. So do your homework.
Last year I offered the Certification program at the introductory price of $2,979. A lot of people rushed to sign up because they knew in advance that this was an introductory price and that the 2007 program would cost a lot more.
Back then I predicted that the 2007 Certification would be at least a thousand dollars more. I’m kind of scrambling here to nail down what the final price will actually be… which is not as easy as you’d think.
We’ve run into a bit of a last minute snag with the people at my credit card processing company. It seems they have a new process for handling changes in credit card ceilings. I just faxed 40 pages of information to Tiffany at Online Data Corp and who promises to run it by the powers that be ASAP.
The bigger pricing challenge for me is that the people in this year’s Certification class are going to receive a lot more in form of printed materials and CD duplication, ongoing support from and with me, and even a marketing copywriter who is working on some creative ways to help you start generating paying clients faster.
At the same time, I’m trying to make this as affordable as possible to as many people as possible which is why I’m working on that 12-month installment plan.
So all I can tell you right now is that I’m working really hard to not go too far over the $4,000 mark. But right now some of the estimates are coming in a lot higher than I expected, so I’m trying to find a few less expensive vendors and consultants. But hopefully this gives you a general idea of what you’re looking at so you can start doing your home work.
The next logical question is, “How much can I make?”
You’re going to hear what I’m about to say again when the final program description is ready, but it never hurts to be thinking about it ahead of time…
What makes the “How much money can I make?” question tough one to answer is that when you work for yourself, the sky really is the limit.
Besides, even if legally I were allowed to speculate on your projected earnings (which I’m not), I wouldn’t pretend to know how much you will personally earn. There are just way too many variables and options involved in a business like this to speculate.
You might think being unable to nail down a specific dollar figure up front is a bad thing. Trust me, it’s not.
As someone who now earns close to four times my former corporate salary, let me tell you – having lots of options is a very good thing. Why? Because “options” equal “opportunities.”
Think about it… In a j-o-b, someone else decides how much you’re “worth”. No matter how hard you work, or how long your commute, or how many overtime hours you take from your life and give to your employer – your paycheck is exactly the same.
The beauty of working for yourself is that you are in control. In control of your time, in control of your schedule, and ultimately in control of your earnings…
You get to decide things like…
► How often do I want to work?
► How many clients would I like to see each week?
► Who would be my ideal client?
► How will I price myself? (Depending on your market, you can charge anywhere from $75 up to $300 or more for a single session and thousands for a multi-session package).
► What kind of information products or other services will I add in the future?
► Would I like to take summers off or spend the winter some place warm?
Don’t worry if you can’t answer these questions right now. When you sign on for the Outside the Job Box Career Consulting Certification program, you will receive all the tools you need to design the perfect business model for you.
As your own “changing course vision” starts to become clear, you’ll be able to answer the “How much can I earn?” question for yourself.
That’s because, as part to your certification, you’ll learn an easy way to project your own future earnings based on what you want your life – and your bank account – to look like.
We’re going to get into this in a lot more detail in class, but let me give you something to at least start with. Taking myself as an example…
Starting out five years ago, I charged $85 for a 90-minute session. My current fee is $195. These numbers are real. The scenario I’m about to lay out for you is one I created so you can get an idea of how to crunch numbers for yourself.
Let’s say I want to give myself eight weeks of vacation every year. And since I want to smell a few roses the rest of the year, I decide to take Fridays off.
So now I’ve got this 4-day work week. But I only want to do career consulting part-time. That way I can use the other time to work on various other income streams like creating eBooks, running workshops, or developing various passive income streams.
Now that I have an idea of how I want my life to look… if I set up my business to see one client in the morning and another one in the afternoon or maybe the evening that’s a total of eight clients a week. If you pull out a calculator you’ll see that comes out a weekly income of $1,560.
Keep in mind that I still want to give myself two months vacation each year and enjoy my three-day weekends. So if I multiply $1,560 x 44 weeks that comes to $68,640 a year.
Naturally, when I do these earnings projections for myself I also add in all the other ways I generate money (you’ll be learning more about how to create additional income streams in the Certification). But just on the consulting side of the business, do you see how to start estimating your own earnings?
If I decide to add a Saturday morning consulting slot (great for working clients) or to take only every other Friday off, I’ll make more. If I want to take three months vacation or only see one client a day, it still comes down to pulling out a calculator and doing the math.
Again, this example is based on my ideal lifestyle and my fee. In the beginning, I guarantee you will earn less – especially if you’re starting this business while you’re in the process of transitioning from your job-job. Depending on how much effort you want to put in, over time you could earn substantially more. But like any building project, you need to lay the foundation first.
In other words, what you need to understand here – and this is really important – is that when you’re self-employed, how much you earn is limited only by your own imagination. When you look at the million dollars that self-employment expert Ernie Zelinski’s creative mind has made for him, it’s clear why he considers it to be his “most valuable asset.”
I promise to be in touch as soon as we’re able to get everything ready for a smooth registration process. In the meantime, I’d LOVE to hear any comments or questions you have about this and/or my previous blog posts.
To your dreams,
Valerie Young
Dreamer in Residence
Changing Course
p.s. One of the themes that will come up over and over in the Certification program is that information is the key to freedom. To read more about how information can spring you from job jail, read my article: Trapped in a Job You Hate? Where to Search for Freedom”
