Planning the escape from teaching.

I have really enjoyed my teaching career.  When everything falls into place, and the lessons go as planned, what could be better?  After all, isn’t this why we went into teaching in the first place?

However, the older I get the more difficult it becomes to maintain the momentum.  I’m now the head of a large science department in a large comprehensive school, and my enthusiasm has just ebbed away.  There is just so much admin to cope with, and my teaching has really suffered.

So for the past five years I’ve been planning the ‘escape’.  I don’t want to be forced out of the job I love because of ill health or unsatisfactory performance management, so I’ve been investigating all options.  Because of financial obligations I can’t just walk away, so the search is on for the replacement.

I don’t want to fall into the ‘grass is greener’ syndrome, nor do I want to end up stacking shelves in Waitrose.  Over the years I have developed many skills, and my aim is to utilise those skills to develop a new career pathway that is both enjoyable and profitable.

I’ve developed a passion for multiple income pathways, or MIPs.  I coined this phrase as it encapsulates everything I want to do.  So far I have investigated four pathways – property, FOREX trading, small business, internet marketing – and I want to briefly describe here my progress to date.

1. Property About five years ago my wife and I took the plunge and cashed in all our endowment savings (they weren’t performing very well!).  We ended up buying four properties in the north of England.  Our timing wasn’t too good as the crash followed, and we’re now left with negative equity.  However, property should be seen as a long term investment, so we’re looking to be making a profit in perhaps 15 years.

2.  FOREX trading

Being a scientist I love the challenge of FOREX!  Analysing the charts is always very exciting.  The only problem with FOREX is the time element, and although I have profited from FOREX I’ve had to put my trading on hold as I just cannot be in front of the screens during the best trading hours.

Trading is great fun, but without necessary training and commitment you can get seriously scorched and lose everything – so beware!

3.  Small business

Another MIP element was the small business.  I chose to develop a business that played to my strengths, so I opened a tuition centre in my local town.  We offer tuition, essentially in English and Maths, to any primary and secondary school-age students.  We have now been open for three years.

4.  Internet marketing

I have made profits from property, FOREX trading and small business, but my real excitement is reserved for internet marketing.  This is where I believe true profits are to be found.  A word of warning however – avoid the scammers and the bright shiny projects – they just don’t work and have a 100% failure rate!

The basic internet marketing model is simple.  Produce a product or find a good affiliate.  Build a simple website or have a blog.  Attract traffic to the site.  Sell your product, and repeat the process.

How straightforward is that!  However, let’s get real here.  It will take a lot of effort, and consume a lot of your time.  Don’t expect overnight success (whatever the ‘experts’ tell you), and do expect to seek out good training and an established mentor.  There are just too many potential slip-ups for the uninitiated to endure without a guiding hand.

It can be done, and if you’re really serious about escaping the classroom then why not give it a go?  All it takes is commitment, determination, and a little accountability!

Dream those big dreams!

Graham

If you really want to get started with internet marketing, or if you have any questions about multiple income pathways, then why not visit my site at www.easierinternetmarketing.com where you can tap into a wealth of free resources!