I've toyed with the idea of teaching a coupon class for a the last couple years, but it wasn't until recently that I finally decided to take the plunge and start getting the ball rolling. The thought behind this blog post, and the ones that will follow, is to outline the process and how well it does. If you think about it I bet there's something that your friends and family are always coming to you to ask questions about. Or there's something you can do that they constantly ask you do for them, like change their oil or knit them a hat. If you can't think of something, because it's often harder for us to think of what we're good at, than ask your friends and family. The answer may surprise you, but once you have it, start to think about how you could make that into a "class" you could teach.
I already have that step covered, I know my skill that everyone wants, it's coupons and how to use them. It's not that surprising really, any skill that helps people save money is huge at the moment. So if your skill has money saving potential then be sure to highlight that! The next step is to start brainstorming your class, what do you need to teach? What are the steps they should follow? Will you have handouts, examples, etc.? Here is where you just let your brain mull things over and spit random information and thoughts at you and you write them down, or type them, whatever you like to do. Get it all down, don't worry about order, or if it "goes", just free flow it. Again, I've already done this step. I kept my notebook next to me for a day and everytime I thought of something I just wrote it down and went on.
Then you should take all those random thoughts and make a nice tidy outline of your class with them. This is where you put items and steps in the right order. Weed out the information that is irrelevant, decide what handouts and such you want to use. Below is a handy link to an article about Outlines, it's an English article, but I've found outlines to be useful in much more than the english classroom. There's really nothing better for organizing your thoughts, it's a short article so take a second and check it out.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/2/
Why should you bother with an outline? Well, as mentioned above they are one of the best ways to organize your thoughts into something that makes sense. It also provides you wiith something you can take to class with you and use as a reference as you teach. Make sure to save it too, when you are done with your class you can just pull it out every time you want to teach the class again. This can make this a recurring income, which is my end goal with this class, to teach it a couple times a year for a small income boost. Especially during holiday and birthday time it would be a very nice little bit of extra cash!
Currently I need to work on my outline. I have all my random thoughts and such down, now I just need to get them in order and move on. Here I'm also going to suggest doing a little bit of extra research. The reason for suggesting you research something you already know is because sometimes when we KNOW how to do something we forget how to explain it to other people. We miss those obvious and newbie questions that people have. Ever read a ____ For Dummies book? They literally include every. little. tiny. step! But there is a reason they are such well sold books, and they're attention to detail is part of it. In fact, if you can find a For Dummies book on your topic I suggest checking it out of your local library and giving it a quick scan. Likely you'll find a few things that you do automatically and wouldn't have thought of including in your class. If you don't have a for dummies book to read, just google (insert your thing) for beginners and read through the results. You're looking for all those FAQs that newbies ask so that you can include them in your class.
From there is nothing to do but make out your class. Really a well done outline should be all that you need to teach. You just need something to remind you of the highlights and steps of what you are covering, the rest of the information is in your brain. Make your supporting materials and have it all ready. Now comes finding a place to teach your class.
Every area is going to be different as to what they have to offer, so you'll have to do a little research. Ask around, make some phone calls, talk to friends and neighbors. Chances are good you'll find out some places you could hold your class. You may have to pay to "rent" the space for the duration of your class, so keep that in mind when looking into your options. Personally I know I can get the community building, senior center, and I think I can hold a class at our local library. I just need to research some prices and whether or not I can at the library. Personally I feel that the library would be the best place as it lends a certain credibility to me just because of where it is. That's me though.
Once you have the class made, decided on a place to have it you need to set a date and time to have it.You should also decide how much are you going to charge for the class. Take into consideration how much time you spent making the class, materials used, money spent on the venue and advertising and go from there. Once you have the date and time, you've rented your class space, and all your materials are ready (and so are you) start advertising. There's facebook buy/sell/trade groups for your area you can advertise on (for free), craigslist (for free), word of mouth of course is always free, and you can invest in a small ad in your local paper if you want to, and can afford to, as well.
Then nothing to do but teach it when the time comes. It may be small the first time, but just push through and learn from it. Have a Q&A at the end, get an idea for questions that you didn't already answer in your class and mark them. Ask the people that attended if you did well, what suggestions for improvement they may have, etc. A quick and small survey for them to fill out at the end of class would fulfill this function well. Then just take what you learned, tweak your class accordingly, rinse and repeat.
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