And it happened less than 48 hours after our coaching session! On Monday, I met with an educator who was working to get her services in front of schools. We talked about her outreach, what she was saying, how she was positioning her services, and what needed to change. She went back, made the adjustments, and started sending a fresh batch of emails at 8:00 AM this morning. At 8:14 AM, a school responded wanting to schedule a meeting! Y'all, she hadn't even finished working through the entire packet I gave her! 😂 Now, here's why I'm sharing this. Faith without works is dead. But WORK without STRATEGY can leave you just as stuck! You can send 100 emails, post on social media every day, create beautiful flyers, build a website, and spend hours researching school districts. And STILL not get a single conversation with a decision-maker. Not because your services aren't valuable. Not because schools don't need what you offer. But because you may be doing a whole lot of work that isn't moving you any closer to the outcome you want. Being busy and building a business are NOT the same thing! Most educators were never taught how to generate leads, position their expertise, communicate with buyers, or move a conversation toward a signed contract. So what do we do? We guess. We hope. We send emails and cross our fingers. We tell ourselves we'll try again next week. And sometimes we keep repeating the same activities, wondering why nothing is changing. That's where STRATEGY comes in. In our session, we didn't reinvent her business. We worked on how she was approaching the people who could actually buy her services. And less than 48 hours later, she has a potential buyer who wants to talk! Now, does that mean she has a contract? Not yet! Getting the meeting is one skill. Turning that meeting into a paying client is another. And that's exactly why we're preparing for her next conversation. Here's what I want you to think about: What if the problem isn't that you need to work harder? What if you need someone to help you see what you're missing?

DEADLINE REMINDER | Checked November 9, 2026 | First window closes TOMORROW, November 10, 2026, at 2 p.m. Central, per HCDE eBid. The November 3 question cutoff has passed. The official RFP separately lists April 6, 2027, at 2 p.m. Central for the second window. That is not an extension of November 10. The original three-weeks wording below is historical. Review live documents, Q&A, and any addenda before submitting; some documents require supplier login. Official updates: HCDE Procurement Services In the October Money workshop I told you summer gets bought in the fall. Here is the receipt, open today. Harris County Department of Education in Houston is taking proposals for out-of-school time vendors, afterschool and summer. RFP #27/002IA. It closes Tuesday, November 10, 2026 at 2:00 PM Central. WHAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY BUYING They are not funding your program. Read that twice, because it is where most people misread these. They are building a list of vendors who come into somebody else's out-of-school time program and teach. Summer camps, daycares, schools, parks programs, college campuses across Harris and the surrounding counties. In person or virtual. The only requirement on content is that you fold literacy or numeracy into whatever you already teach. So this is not a reading contract. It is a contract for your expertise, delivered in a way that also moves reading or math. What that looks like: Nurse or health educator: health careers for middle schoolers, with the reading and math built into the unit. Restorative practices: conflict and repair for a summer program, with the writing built in. Financial literacy: that is numeracy already. Arts, robotics, college readiness, career exploration: same structure. They serve K-12, youth up to age 19 with a documented disability, and family members. WHAT IT PAYS You set the number. The form asks for your hourly rate, your daily rate, a per event rate, and a lump sum option, plus a discount on any materials you sell alongside. Price is 25 of the 100 points. The other 75 are reputation, quality, and how closely what you do matches what they need.

Two weeks on people, money, margin, boundaries, fun, identity, and options. Now straight into the business. Score yourself 1 to 5 on each. Be honest, nobody is grading this but you. - IDEAL BUYER: I know exactly who I am selling to. - LEADS: I have a consistent way to get in front of them. - NURTURE: I stay connected without only showing up when I need a sale. - ASK: I know how to move a conversation toward a decision. - FOLLOW-UP: I have a process for after interest, silence, or a no. - PIPELINE: I know what opportunities are moving right now. Then the real question: Do you actually have a sales strategy, or are you running on content, referrals, and hope? There is no shame in the second one. Most of us started there. But you cannot fix what you will not name. Post your lowest-scoring category. Just the category, that is all.

We talk about revenue constantly. Today I want to make it personal. Not what you would buy. What would you stop putting up with? - A job you outgrew four years ago - No margin, ever - Always choosing the cheapest option - Not being able to help your mother the way you want to - A business that only works when you are working every minute of it This is why I keep saying money creates options. Options are the actual product. Finish this sentence: More income would give me the option to ________. Then tell me one more thing: what revenue source are you counting on right now to create that option? Be honest. If the answer is "I am not sure yet," say that. That is where a lot of us are.

Do not come to the August 29 workshop with a blank notebook and a vague idea. Bring something real: - a proposal you submitted - a proposal you are writing - an RFP you are considering - an AI-generated draft that still does not sound right We are going to test the work against a real school RFP, identify where the message is getting lost, and see what AI missed. What are you bringing: an RFP, a draft, or a submitted proposal? Registration: https://aiproposals.netlify.app/