May 7, 2010
Business on a Shoestring
Business on a Shoestring By Kelley Watt I run my own business and what I love about it is that it didn#146;t cost any money to start, I set my own schedule around my family and it pays well. This business allows you to make money by charging whatever fee you feel is appropriate for your time and research. And, it is both fulfilling andfun.. I do textbook reviews and speak to community groups and organizations about the content of the books their children are using. You#146;d be surprised at thenumber of errors and important facts missing. The textbooks I am referring to are the one's provided by your public schools to teach your children. I began this business quite by accident in the winter of 1991. I went to pick up my elementary school aged son and arrived a little early. I noticedin the hallway a stack of books and thought it was a book fair. So I began looking through them and then noticed that they were all math books. Tomake a long story short, the principal of the school approached me and told me that I was not allowed to look at the books (which were positioned outside the school cafeteria in the hallway). I asked why, what were they and he replied "They are books up for adoption by the school district. Mathbooks.#148; He left, and my curiosity got the best of me so I started reading them again. He came over and told me he would call the police if I did not stop looking at the books. Being threatened for arrest for looking at a bookthat my son would be using the following year really got my attention. I knew something was wrong with this picture so to speak. That incident was the beginning of my journey. I started going to the school district and asking to look at textbooks. I was particularly interested in seeing what reading books were being used. The school administrative services office gave me a stack of books to read which were currently being read by first graders (I figured I#146;d start off with first grade and go up from there) and was shockedat what I found. The constant theme was to reward the characters in the stories for disobeying authority, whether it be; parent, grandparent, teacher, etc. After reading the first grade texts (the children would go through 5 books in the course of the year) I was fascinated with what I was discovering and wanted to tell other parents. It didn't take long for me to become known as the local "expert" and was soon being called to speak aroundtown followed by national requests. It's been very rewarding because it alerted me to, if nothing else, the need to remove my children from public education and enroll them in a private school (one that did not receivestate or federal money). I have met people from around the country who have the same passion and interest as I do. Speaking fees range from $25.00 to $250 an hour, plus travel expenses, depending on the size of the crowd and who issponsoring my speaking engagement. Even if you do it as supplemental incomeit really adds up and since very few people in the US are doing textbook reviews you will definitely get speaking engagements. There was a group outof Longview, Texas called "The Gablers" who were the first group to do textbook reviews. You can send off for their reviews for a minimum fee and speak directly from that if that suits you better. For example, go to your school and ask for a geography book then write to the Gablers and see ifthey have done a review on that particular book, if they have, read it and speak out publicly. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com

Posted by Staff at 1:44 AM