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THE CONFIDENT
ELT FREELANCER COLLECTIVE
Community and practical business and mindset support
for ELT Freelance Professionals and Business Owners
Do you often feel really on your own trying to work out everything you need to run your business by yourself?
Being a freelancer or owning your own business can be great. When it works, you have so much more flexibility about how you spend your time, and can choose the kind of work you do, how much you charge, and even who you work with.
That’s the dream…..
But the reality isn’t always quite like that, is it? Maybe you’ve found yourself…
🛑 earning terrible hourly rates once you’ve taken all the extra work and expenses into account.
🛑 working long and unsociable hours to please a client or to earn enough to pay the bills.
🛑 confused and anxious about tax, finances, and legal stuff.
🛑 overwhelmed by all the tech involved in running and marketing your business.
🛑 totally unsure about how to price your services.
🛑 with no real strategy for marketing on social media.
🛑 spending too much time looking at what everyone else is doing and wondering what’s the point in trying to compete.
🛑 feeling lonely in your business, and wondering if you should try and get a job again.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
I’ve been in the English Language Teaching world since 1989, and a freelance business owner since 2008.
Over that time, I’ve met some amazing people, and, unfortunately, time and again, I’ve seen freelancers and business owners underselling what they do, being exploited, working themselves into the ground..
That’s why I’m on a mission to support and help other ELT Freelance professionals and business owners, so they can gain confidence, focus their efforts in the right direction, charge good rates, and generally work less, earn more and live more fully!
I already offer an incredible (if I do say so myself) group programme, Flourishing Foundations, which will give you everything you need to develop a really clear vision for your business, and all the strategies you need to make it grow and develop.
But I’m very much aware that not everyone needs or is ready for this kind of root and branch approach. So, I’ve created a membership just for ELT freelance professionals and business owners, The Confident ELT Freelancer Collective.
It’s a collective because it’s about all of us raising each other up through a vibrant and super helpful community. I want to give ELT freelancers more confidence, more know-how, more power, more autonomy…more money!
Together we’re stronger, and we can really have a massive positive impact on the industry as a whole.
What will you gain by becoming a member?
Confidence
I’m an expert at helping people to empower themselves. Together we’ll work on those mindset monkeys holding you back, and learn how to overcome them. Let’s share our trials, tribulations..and our wins.
More money
I’m going to help you earn more money, through shifting your mindset, and helping you to price more effectively and confidently.
Peace of mind
Together with invited guest experts, we’ll look at the financial and legal aspects of your business, so there aren’t any more dark corners you’re trying to avoid thinking about.
Systems that work
I’ll help you develop systems to manage your time and energy, and to make sure that every aspect of your business is running smoothly.
We’ll set goals together, and I and the group will help to keep you accountable and moving ahead in your business.
Tech know-how
I invite in guest experts to help you learn about your options for things like setting up a website, an online calendar, a social media scheduler, and get tips on using different tools such as Canva or Slack.
Marketing tips
Not sure what platforms to use, or how to make the most of your chosen platforms?
Looking for tips on how to write a great social media post?
I offer training from me and other guest experts and regular marketing related events and challenges.
Community
Be part of a lively and supportive community and ask all those questions that you never know who to ask about… there’s even an anonymous option, if something is sensitive.
You don’t have to be lonely in your business any more.
What my clients think
Freelancing can be lonely and it helps me to be a part of a freelancing community to keep in touch with others in the industry and know what’s trending around the traps. But more importantly, to share the highs and lows of being a human trying to build something, making your mark in your own little corner of the world.
After the Festival of Freelancing, which helped me a lot to organise my ideas about my plans for starting my own business, I felt I needed more support and input as well as exchanging ideas with the group. I found that and much more in the Freelancers Collective.
The Monday lives have been a real motivator, and somehow hit the nail on the head every time. I think the accountability threads are really useful, not just for the accountability, but as a thinking exercise so that I can get more realistic about what I can achieve in a given time.
What’s included?
Expert training
1 invited expert Zoom training session each month, for help with with tech, finances, mindset, systems, marketing, and more.
In adition (and new for 2023), I’ll also be personally offering a monthly training session on marketing, selling, mindset and more.
All sessions are recorded (see the current library below)
Motivational Mini-lives
Recently rated one of the most popular features, I go live every Monday in the Facebook group (replay available) with useful and motivational tips and strategies to help keep you inspired and on track.
Accountability
Weekly threads for you to post your MITs (most important tasks) for the week, and check back in on Friday with your wins and learnings. A simple but powerful habit that will help keep your focused, and feeling supported by the group.
Plus the ‘pods’: hand-picked small groups of colleagues within the membership, with similar backgrounds and aims, the accountability pods will give you support and encouragement to achieve your goals.
Directory
Easily find other members with similar interests, business and challenges so that you can share experiences and ideas, or even set up joint projects, or find a business partner.
Coffee chats
Freelancing can get lonely. Sometimes we just want to spend an hour with like-minded people having a social chat.
Join in on Zoom for a super-relaxed chance to get to know other freelancers, swap stories about our experiences, or just chat about your upcoming holiday plans.
Co-working
Finding it hard to motivate yourself to really get down to something?
Join us for 2 x 50 mins of focused working, cameras on, mics off, and be amazed how much you get done.
With time for a little chat during the break too.
Group coaching and challenges
New for 2023: I’m introducing even more support. Every month we will have a group coaching session, or a hotseat live Q&A , or a mini marketing challenge.
If you joined in my recent LinkedIn Visibility Challenge, you know how impactful such a challenge can be.
Ask any questions, any time
Want to know what app to use to add subtitles, or whether an offer you’ve received is reasonable, or support and feedback on your IATEFL proposal?
I run a regular AMA (ask me anything) thread, and the group is awash with experts in all these fields. Community really is the backbone of the membership.
COMING UP NEXT MONTH
1000 SUBSCRIBERS IN 2 DAYS- STARTING A LINKEDIN NEWSLETTER
A few months ago I started a LinkedIn newsletter, and gained 1000 subscribers within two days (it’s now at nearly 3000)
In this session, I’ll tell you about why I decided to start it, and the pros and cons as I see it, and walk you through exactly what you need to do to set your own newsletter up and maximise the chances of getting plenty of engaged subscribers.
Thursday 16th February 4pm UK time (available later as a recording)
SMALL STEPS TO GROW YOUR LEADS AND SALES CHALLENGE
Some of you probably took part in my recent LinkedIn Visibility Challenge? It was a lot of fun, and really helped people to move their business up a notch.
This month we’ll have a challenge just within the membership. Every day I’ll give you one small action to do (you’ll need 10-20 minutes) that will help to up your leads and sales game.
These will be posted in the group daily, and you can find them by searching for #challenge. If you’re not in the Facebook group or you prefer to spend longer once a week instead, I’ll email out the five for that week on Wednesdays.
February 1st – 28th
-WORKING
To help you get stuff done, our twice monthly co-working session.
We’ll start by writing in the chat box what we plan to do with the time and then turn off mikes, but keep cameras on (unless you prefer to have the camera off) and work solidly for 50 minutes. Then we’ll take a 10 minute break, and check in with each other, before doing another 50 minutes.
You might surprise yourself with how much you get done!
Next sessions:
Wednesday 8th February 9.30-11.30 am UK time
Monday 27th February 4.00-6.00pm UK time
COFFEE CHATS
A chance to chat with other group members in small groups, about work related stuff, or anything else you like! Times and days are:
Wednesday 1st February 4.00-5.00pm UK time
Thursday 23rd February 9.00-10.00 UK time
LIVES
Every Monday at 12.30pm UK time, I go live for about 10 minutes with a kind of ‘pep’ talk for the week, to give you more motivation, encouragement and inspiration. If you can be there live, that’s brilliant, and please say hi and ask any questions. But. if not, the replay will be available straight afterwards.
ACCOUNTABILITY THREAD
Every Monday I post a thread where you can write down your MITs (most important tasks) for the week. On Friday we check back in and you can tell us how you got on.
It’s a simple but very effective way of providing some focus and motivation and getting support and encouragement from me and the group.
THE TRAINING LIBRARY
HOW TO GET PLENARIES AND KEYNOTES- DOROTHY ZEMACH
PERFECTIONISM VS FINDING YOUR FLOW STATE- ORLA KIRBY
HOW TO ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT AND SAY NO WHEN YOU NEED TO-RACHAEL ROBERTS
WHY YOUR MONEY MINDSET MATTERS-RACHAEL ROBERTS
USING THE PROFIT FIRST SYSTEM – CLAIRE SWEET
MONEY DOES GROW ON TREES- WHY YOU NEED TO LEARN TO INVEST- NICOLA PRENTIS
PRODUCTIVITY TIPS AND STRATEGIES-RACHAEL ROBERTS
SUCCESS HABITS FOR ELT FREELANCERS
SETTING UP RIGHT FOR YOU ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS- HEATHER JOHNSTON
HOW TO USE WHATSAPP FOR MORE VISIBILITY AND BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE- GINA RODRIGUEZ
WHY YOU NEED A VIDEO VOICE IN YOUR BUSINESS- JOANNE GAKONGA
SAVING TEACHERS’ LIVES ONE WEBSITE AT A TIME-CHARLIE’S LESSONS
ADVANCED ZOOM SETTINGS- JOSE DOMINGO CRUZ
CREATING A 5 STAR CLIENT EXPERIENCE- JENNI SCHANSCHIEFF
STARTING A PODCAST-BILLIE JAGO
CREATING A SHOWSTOPPING WEBSITE-LINZ CREATES
ALIGN YOUR WEBSITE WITH YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR CLIENTS-TERESA FIDGE
HOW TO GET THE LEGAL STUFF SORTED- KRISTINA RUTHERFORD
THINGS ABOUT COPYRIGHT AND IP THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR BUSINESS-RACHAEL ROBERTS
WHY I LINKIN AND YOU SHOULD TOO-JENNIFER MURRAY
BRANDING-AMY MANNING
USING PINTEREST TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS-SHARON LOOSE
ALL ABOUT HASHTAGS-RACHAEL ROBERTS
TEACHER TO COACH- GABRIELLA KOVACS
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the membership for?
It’s for you if you consider yourself to be freelance, a business owner, an entrepreneur, or self-employed within ELT. You might be an online teacher, or own a bricks and mortar school, or write for publishers, or publish your own materials or training courses, and more. You’ll all benefit from regular training and coaching, a supportive community, somewhere you can ask any questions you like, and an opportunity to learn all those things that no-one tells you about freelancing.
Will you help me with developing a niche, creating a business model or marketing my business?
Yes! Having run this membership since March 2022, I’ve realised that it IS possible to help you along the path towards achieving these things within this group. I’ll still be recommending my group programme, Flourishing Foundations for a more in-depth and personalised service, which will save you a lot of time and wrong turnings, but you’ll still get some useful pointers in this group if you want to take more of a DIY approach (at least for now)
Equally, if you’re on the fence about working more closely with me, you can come and get a taste of what it’s like by joining the membership. And when you’re ready to step up and really get stuck in, I’ll give you your membership free while you’re working with me.
How does it work?
The heart of the membership will be our Facebook group, where you can get to know other freelancers doing similar (and different) things, ask questions, share advice, and just generally network and socialise.
I’ll also be setting up accountability partners or pods (3-4 people) for those who want them, and creating an (optional) handy directory of members, so you can find people with things in common.
Training sessions will either be on Zoom, or live in the group, and will be recorded. Group coaching sessions will be run twice in a month, so that you can attend from different time zones. I will changes the times and days each month, so that you have the best chance of being able to attend at least some stuff live.
There is also a membership library where you can find recordings of past training sessions, and other resources.
How much of my time will it take?
We’re all busy people, so you won’t be overwhelmed with loads of things to wade through. I’ll create a clear pathway through the training library, so you can easily find information on the topic you’re looking for, and you can dip in and out of the Facebook group as you please.
While you’re very welcome to come to everything on offer live, there’s no expectation that you should do so.
Will I get my money's worth?
The community, support and opportunity to ask questions alone has to be worth the money. Think about what else you might spend £6.00 a week on- a drink, a book you may not even get around to reading? But although the community is so valuable, that’s not all you get. You’ll also have regular training sessions on all the aspects of your business listed above, and access to all the past sessions through the membership site, as well as other resources, templates and handouts.
Some of the training sessions I offer will also be made accessible to the public, and I will be charging them more than your monthly membership just for this.
What happens if I decide it's not for me?
You can cancel at any time, so feel free to come and try it for a month, and see how you get on. To cancel you just have to click a button on the site. No awkward conversations. Bear in mind though that I can’t guarantee you’ll keep the same rate if you leave and come back later.
I don’t think I realised how isolated and out of the loop I was in my freelance endeavours until I joined the collective. It’s been a fantastic addition to my work life. Gaining insight into how others are navigating life as a freelancer is so valuable..
It is really rewarding to be part of a group with similar challenges, spear-headed by someone who genuinely cares AND knows her stuff, and to know you’re not alone!
What strikes me most about Rachael Roberts is that every time I listen to her coaching someone in our group, I can always find something relevant to my situation, as if she was talking to me too. Even more so when I watch her weekly lives in our Confident ELT Freelancers Facebook group. I can’t possibly fathom out how she does that. She seems to be keeping in mind all of her clients’ needs and knows how to help everyone offering pertinent advice, suggestions, ideas very generously. 😍
I know that money can be tight, and maybe you don’t feel ready to invest in 1-2-1 or small group coaching for your business just yet….
So I’m offering all this at an affordable price of £30.00 a month.
If it turns out it’s not for you, cancel at the click of a button any time.