Leadership Apprentice Week 6

Leadership Apprentice Week 6: Launch Your Sales Campaign, Automate Your Business Savings

In this final week I got the impression that the most important things I could teach you right now with the remaining time we have is to learn how to launch a campaign and get started with automating your savings for the future. In the upcoming video trainings I'll teach you more about why campaigns are so important and how automating your savings can put you on a path to help liberate you financially and help you be more self-reliant.

First CLICK HERE to make a copy of the document I talk about in the upcoming videos so you can fill it out. Or you're welcome to simply document your results, thoughts, ideas, feelings directly in your journal and not use this document. But it's here to give you a guide at least.

Action Step 1: Watch this Video and Document in your Journal Your Big WHY's of Building a Business

Action Step 2: Watch and Implement this Video Training on Launching Your 1st Facebook Video Campaign

Action Step 3: Watch this Video and Learn How to Read the Statistics of Your Facebook Video Campaign

Action Step 4: Watch This Video and Document in Your Journal Your Commitment, Thoughts & Feelings About Being a Wise Steward With the Earnings and Management of the Money You Earn In Your Life

Action Step 5: Watch This Video and Learn and Implement the Steps of Automating the Savings for Your Future Goals Using Acorns.com

Click HERE to go to acorns to set up your account.

Leadership Journeyman Week 6

 

Leadership Journeyman Week 6! LAST WEEK!

I have enjoyed exploring topics related to improving our communication skills over this 6 week course. Being a great communicator -- someone who listens, is clear and concise, empathetic and engaging and asks questions -- is an important skill you will use for the rest of your life. 

Study/Learn

This week you're going to choose one specific communication skill that we haven't yet discussed in class and learn about it in more detail. You're going to research and read at least 3 different articles about your topic. Take notes in your commonplace book!

CLICK HERE to sign up for a topic.

Know/Do

Prepare a presentation that is 1-3 minutes long about your communication skill. Teach it to us and give us concrete examples so we can understand how to apply this skill in our own life. You are teaching us so we can do an activity in class that will require a knowledge of your communication skill, so come prepared to teach not just entertain ;) 

Finally, those of you that gave me your article, you should receive it back from me no later than Monday. Take the edits I've given you and make the changes to your article.

Once you've done that, click HERE and click on "Submit Your Work" (on the left hand side if you're on a computer, in the dropdown menu if you're on a phone) to follow the instructions to submit your article online! I would LOVE to see one of you get an email during this school year that your article has been accepted! That will be pretty cool so make sure to share if it happens :) 

IF YOU DID NOT come to journeyman last week, then instead of editing and submitting your article you need to go to the same link and instead enter your answer for the magazines question of the month. Here is the info for that:

What Do You Think?
“How do I keep my hopes up when I didn’t get the blessings I was hoping for?”

Go to ftsoy.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and click “Submit Your Work.” Sign in with your Church Account and then select “For the Strength of Youth” under “Choose Magazine.” Click “Add File” to select your file and photos, and then click “Submit” to upload and send us your file.
Responses may be edited for length or clarity.

That's it! See you on Thursday :)  

Here is a handy checklist so you know you have done ALL of the assignment in order to come to class! 

▢ Read through the entire blog post

▢Sign up for a communication skill to teach

▢Read at least three different articles about your communication skill

▢Take notes in your commonplace book as you read the articles

▢Prepare a presentation to teach about your skill. Presentations are 1-3 minutes.

▢Make edits to your article from the feedback Marcie gave you

▢ Submit your article online

▢IF YOU DIDN'T attend journeyman last week: Write and submit the answer to the question of the month.

Leadership Masters Week 6

 Leadership Masters Week 6! That's right, this is our LAST book for leadership! This week we will be reading a piece of children's literature called "Sweep: A Story of a Girl and Her Monster," by Jonathan Auxier. 

Before you read the book, read this interview with the author (it does contain spoilers but I think it also adds interesting perspective from the author about his book. If you canNOT handle spoilers then read this after finishing the book). 

This story contains Jewish folklore in the form of the magical Golem that gives this book the genre of fantasy fiction. You'll encounter ideas about love, literacy, anti-semitism, sacrifice and child labor laws. I hope you enjoy this children's book-- children's literature is my very favorite genre to read!

Your TICKET TO CLASS is to text or email me a thought that you think sums up the message of this book. It can be a quote from the book or in your own words :) 

**Also, I want to remind us all that in order to come to Masters class you do need to make it to journeyman. If you feel there is a deserving exception to be made in your case then you can reach out to me BEFORE class on Thursday to ask if you could have permission to come to Masters without having come to journeyman. There must be a reason though and I can't guarantee I'll make the exception :D **

Leadership Apprentice Week 5

Leadership Apprentice Week 5: Knowing Your Target Market and Creating Your Video Intro Ad

Before You Begin: If you did not complete the assignment from Week 4 (emailing me a link to the website that presents your business offer) then you do need to go back and complete that before moving on to this assignment. If you don't I will chuck squishy bananas at you in our next class J/K. But seriously make sure to get your offer over to me asap okay. Our activities each week build on the last weeks activity so I need to receive an emailed link from Sam, Evelyn, Alex, Gail and Sammy in order for you move on to the assignment for Week 5. Thanks guys!

As a side note before you start this week's assignments, you can check out the video below to see the inside info on the bowl someone just bought on my Etsy account. It works!

How many of you know what supply and demand means? Understanding these two things will help you make more sense of how to lead and grow a small business. So check out the short video below. I'll quiz you on this when we meet next.

Action Step 1: Watch this video:

Next, this video training following will help you get clear about what a target audience is and how to know who your target audience is for the offer you have created. We briefly talked about this in our last class but now is your chance to go in more depth. After watching this video training you should be able to clearly communicate who your ideal buyer is and have documented as much information as possible about that person who we call your ideal buyer avatar. 

First CLICK HERE to access the Ideal Customer Worksheet to use for this exercise. Be sure to click on "File" at the top left and then click on "Make a Copy" to make a copy for you.

Action Step 2: Watch This Video to Learn How to Document Your Ideal Customer for Your Target Audience

Click HERE to access the Facebook Audience Insight tool I refer to in the video training above. Remember that to access that tool you'll need to create a Facebook Ads account which I discuss in the video above.

Leadership Journeyman Week 5

  We are almost through our Leadership lens! We've made it to our final writing project that we've been gearing up for by practicing our summarizing skills, learning how to tell an engaging story and finally, by becoming critical analyzers of our own word choice so we can present a polished piece for possible publication! (that was awesome alliteration and it wasn't even on purpose)

Study/Learn

In order to write for publication you need to be very familiar with the publication you will be writing for. In January the church switched over from The New Era to For the Strength of The Youth Magazine. They unfortunately haven't switched over their writers guidelines -- that's a sheet they put out for potential writers to see the types of articles they accept. I've scoured the old writers guidelines and went through every For the Strength of the Youth Magazine published this year to find an accurate representation of what they accept from youth writers. 

To prepare to write your own personal story you need to read these articles, written by other youth that have been published in the last 9 months:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ftsoy/2021/09/07_i-didnt-make-the-dance-team?lang=eng
(500 words)

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ftsoy/2021/08/11_scriptures-for-spiritual-emergencies?lang=eng

(299 words)

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ftsoy/2021/07/12_prayers-about-swim-goggles?lang=eng

(244 words)

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ftsoy/2021/04/09_seeing-the-goodness-of-god?lang=eng
(285 words)

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ftsoy/2021/01/mushroom-scholarship?lang=eng
(418 words)

From the writers guidelines this is what they are looking for:

"Personal Experience Stories: We are looking for material that shows the gospel of Jesus Christ at work in the lives of young Latter-day Saints. We welcome stories about personal experiences, such as missionary work, conversion; family relationships; healthy, nurturing friendships; and maintaining standards.

How I Know Stories: A short account (200-500 words) of how you gained your testimony or discovered the benefits of living a gospel principle. What led up tot he event? What was the experience like? How has it affected you?

Scripture Lifeline: A short (200-500 word) account of how you faced a trial and found peace or a resolution by applying a particular scripture"

Notice above, I put the word count next to the link for each published article, NONE of them went over 500 words. Writers guidelines are not just a suggestion, they are a standard and if you don't follow that standard it's easy for them to disregard your article without even reading it.

Know/Understand

Now we are going to write our own personal experiences! First, I want you to get down on your knees and pray about what you can write about. One of the roles of the Spirit is to bring all things to our remembrance and He will help you to recall experiences that you can write about. 

Your idea might not come right away, but be patient, talk with family and keep it on the back of your mind, the idea will come, you can trust in that :D 

Once you have your idea, write a 200-500 word article that fits the guidelines above. Use your summarizing and storytelling skills to keep it concise and interesting. I would like your article to be TYPED so it will be easier for me to proof read. 

Once you have written your article have one parent proof read it and give it back to you to make any changes they suggest. 

Bring your proof-read, edited article to class on Thursday :) 

Leadership Masters Week 5

 This week we will be reading Leadership and Self Deception by The Arbinger Institute. This book is life-changing (sounds dramatic which is so unlike me, but it's true). 

Do you have someone in your life that you struggle to get along with? A sibling that annoys you all the time, a parent who doesn't understand you, someone at work who you wish you never shared a shift with??? Then you NEED this book :D 

This book is even better enjoyed when others you love (and get annoyed by) read the book too! So encourage your siblings to make it to masters, challenge your parents to read the book so you can all have these same tools for "getting out of the box" together.

As you'll read you'll notice the scenarios presented in the book are about co-workers, a wife and a child. Don't let that fool you, this book is for teenagers. I want you to read the book with a person(s) in mind. As you read think of the person I mentioned above that you just don't get along with very well and see how the process of getting out of the box applies to you in your situation.

You'll have aha moments, I promise. In order to come to masters you need to text or email me the quote/saying/phrase that you think should go on the sticker! See you at masters :D

Leadership Apprentice Week 4

This week is all about presenting your dazzling, beautiful offer online for the world to see!

The videos below will guide you through the steps to list your offer online. Be sure to copy the website link-URL of your final offer online and email that link to me before we meet next week. Email your offer website link to me at tjessee @ gmail.com

Once you do that I will review your offer and give you feedback so you can come prepared to our next vanguard meeting to present your polished offer to the leaders and group.

Study & Learn

If you have an offer to present publicly on Fiverr.com please watch this video:

NOTE: Once the W-9 Form on Fiverr is reviewed and approved your offer on Fiverr will show live! I wasn't able to cover that in the video above. 

Leadership Journeyman Week 4

 This week we will be learning all about:

Words matter! We don't want to sound like a 4th grader if we're writing a college application essay and we don't want to sound unprofessional if we're putting a cover letter on a resume. If you love creative writing then this assignment will also help you improve your writing skills and avoid cliches, colloquialisms and banal expressions. 

Remember, all of these journeyman class skills are building on each other to help us craft an effective, interesting and well-written article to submit to the magazine for the youth. This particular assignment will heighten your awareness of the boring words and phrases we often use without being conscious of them and how we can replace them to make our writing more interesting.

For this assignment I want you to go through each of the three following slides. As you go through the slides you will notice that some of them prompt you to take action. One slide will ask you to identify the cliche/colloquialism/etc in the sentence. You can do this in your head -- don't skip to the next slide until you think you've identified the part of the sentence you want to get rid of. The next slide will correctly identify the word. Finally, a slide will ask you to reword the sentence: DO THIS in your commonplace book. Rewrite the sentence replacing the common words/phrases with better vocabulary choices.

What if you can't think of a better word choice? Ask an adult, consult a thesaurus or a dictionary. Ask google! The point of this assignment isn't to see what vocabulary words you already know (though this assignment will be easy if you have a large or mature vocabulary), this assignment is to help you identify poor or boring word choices or phrases and to learn how to replace them. 

By the time you are done you should have 11 rewritten sentences or passages written out in your commonplace book. 

Slide Links: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11ZEwO3iw8xGRCgiYM3WbK0IP-ttCTXpN/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106036051217046911036&rtpof=true&sd=true

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Bneq9ZJah3HKWFW7WIiJq07SunAXuzMk/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106036051217046911036&rtpof=true&sd=true

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vNradNANHsK3WVIcyeOwYAvjSrZAIFJi/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106036051217046911036&rtpof=true&sd=true

We'll be doing fun word choice games and activities in class! I hope to see you there :) 

Leadership Masters Class Week 4

 This week we will be reading The Sword of the Spirit by Joyce McPherson

This is a book about the most important translator of the Bible into English in history -- he wasn't the first (John Wyclif preceded him), but Tyndale's translation has had the most lasting impact. The King James version of the bible that you read everyday is largely a revision from Tyndale's translation.

This particular book is a biography written for kids, it is very readable and interesting and we get to study the life of a man who has impacted your own life and your family history in a major way.

What character traits would you use to describe Tyndale? What challenges did he have to overcome? Why does his story matter to you?

Think about these questions and send me a text or email with the thought/quote or idea that you think should be on our sticker for masters! This is how I'll know you're coming to class :) If I choose your thought for the sticker you get vanbucks $$$

Leadership Apprentice Week 3

At this point you should be much clearer or aware of your Top 10 Best Habits and your Unique Ability Statement. Remember you can change or clarify your unique ability at any time.

In our last class in-person, we briefly went through the exercise of brainstorming a list of activities you do at home and work. From there I had you categorize each of your activities into 4 areas, but I think there was some confusion (my fault) in explaining how to categorize your activities better. 

I created a video training below for you to watch that will guide you through in more detail. 

Please take the time now to complete the Activity Inventory properly before moving on. Doing so will help you achieve better results as we move forward.

First, watch this video below so you know how to create/clone a copy of the spreadsheet I use in the upcoming video trainings. If you cannot see the video below click here to watch it directly on YouTube:

Click Here to Access a Copy of this Google Sheet to consider using for your homework this week.

Click Here to Access a Copy of this Google Sheet to consider using for your homework this week.

Leadership Journeyman, Week 3

 

This week we will be learning about STORYTELLING. I adore a good story -- I think we all do, wether we are conscious of it or not. Stories are told all around us, ALL THE TIME.

Study/Learn

Storytelling goes way back, like we studied last year in history, oral stories were the way histories and traditions were passed down for hundreds of years! During the era of history we are studying this year storytelling continued to play a great role, the storytellers were entertainers! Today we have so much easy access to stories on TV, thousands of books at our fingertips, youtube videos and on and on. Back then a troupe of actors who were skilled at telling stories in entertaining ways would band together in traveling groups and share their stories. This was a trade of the era, though it was a hard one as you were always traveling from town to town to earn your keep. 

Today people still make a living telling stories, and one of those ways is in line with your entrepreneurship class -- marketers are storytellers! They tell stories about their brand, they tell stories about themselves, they tell stories to connect people to whatever they are selling and when it's done well, it's the most powerful marketing strategy out there.

One experiment called the Significant Objects experiment had two men studying the power of story in marketing and sales. They bought 100 cheap, junky items from thrift stores and garage sales -- anything from a porcelain angel with a broken wing to a box made out of popsicle sticks -- and asked professional writers to give each item a story. The stories were as varied as the writers and the objects and the two men posted the items on ebay, but this time with the story attached in the description of the product.

Those items that were purchased for a total of $128 sold for $3,612 just by giving them a story! (if you find this fascinating or want to read some stories and see some of the junk, you can click here: https://significantobjects.com/)

So, we are going to do an intro to storytelling course this week and pick up some storytelling skills.

We're going to start by brushing up on our storytelling knowledge. I would like you to:

• Create an outline in your commonplace book about "How to Tell a Great Story" and read the following articles, adding what you learn from them onto your outline. Showing me your outline/notes will be your ticket into class. 

• Read this article on storytelling:
  https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-become-a-great-storyteller#6-tips-for-becoming-a-great-storyteller

• Read this article on what to avoid when storytelling:    https://www.fastcompany.com/40567260/want-to-be-a-great-storyteller-first-break-these-habits

Know/Understand

We are now going to craft a story that you will tell to the whole group during journeyman. Here are the action steps to take:

• Choose what kind of story you will tell. A family history story? A personal story? A funny story, anecdote or story of overcoming a challenge? You can retell a scripture story or a children's story. You could google myths, fables, folklore, fairytales or legends and use those as your stories as well. You can definitely use a story that we are familiar with (such as a bible story or fable) but note that this will require putting it into your own words AND really focusing on how to make it interesting because we will already be familiar with the story.
• Write out your story in your own words, I would like it to be between 450-600 words, NO MORE. We mentioned a story mountain in class and if you're not familiar with that then know it is a basic format for a story. I'll include an image here if it's helpful, note that this is just ONE type of structure for storytelling.

• Finally, now that your story is written, you need to practice TELLING your story. The most well-written story can still be a bore to listen to if it's not told with energy, pauses and voice inflection. I would like you to tell your story to three different adults, three different times and get feedback each time. Ask them what you can do to improve your story and your presentation.

Once you have done all that you are prepared for journeyman! Come ready to participate in our storytelling festival as we share our stories together as a class :) 

Leadership Masters, Week 3

 I have had an amazing time at our book discussions these past two weeks. I'm so grateful for your diligence in making it all the way to masters class and I think you will enjoy the next book we have to read. 

This week we will be reading Atomic Habits

I hope you'll find it as fascinating as I do to learn about the science behind habits, what works and what doesn't and get some inspiration on how you can successfully integrate new, positive habits into your life!

Along with reading the book I would like you to set a habit streak (as mentioned in last week's book, Living in Your True Identity). How many days would you like to do a certain thing? As you read the book come up with a specific plan for how you will set into motion this new habit and what tips from the book will be helping you keep this habit in motion. 

If you're willing to share your habit success plan at our discussion on Thursday then I would love to  hear about it and the plan you put in place for accomplishing it!

Text me by Wednesday when you know you are coming, it helps me plan if we will be doing an activity or going somewhere :D 435-709-5525