Lana Teaches

Is it too early to pull out the chai tea?☕⁠
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A fun fact about me - I drink tea EVERY morning, even in the deathly heat of summer.🌞🌡️⁠
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Some people love the whole fall pumpkin season (yes, it has its own season!🎃), some people hate it, and some don’t care.⁠
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Which are you? ⁠
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(BTW - I went with the spiced pumpkin tea latte this morning. Thank you for this little cup of DAVIDsTEA ☕)⁠

This past weekend, I visited the most amazing little market . It was a perfect place to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Aside from the new necklace and six bracelets I brought home, something really stuck with me:

The vendors had the most passionate energy!

While chatting with some of them, I heard stories of how they had been working tirelessly in the evenings and on weekends to get their wares ready for the summer markets. Some had even left their 9-5 to pursue their small-business dreams.

All of them started with an idea, took action, and turned their excitement into a business.

Here’s what I’m wondering:

How did YOU know it was time to turn your passion into a full-time career?

Did something trigger an a-ha moment and you just knew you had to turn your passion into something bigger?

I need some inspiration today so share your passion story in the comments!

Who else needs this reminder? I know I sure do!🙋🏻‍♀️

I posted this quote for MYSELF. I’ll admit, sometimes I DO operate like an on-demand service, but that’s because I let myself act like one.

When you think you need to be available to everyone all the time, the frustration and burnout comes fast and everyone ends up feeling like they got the short end of the deal, yourself included.

As a parent, spouse, entrepreneur and an author with a new book coming out this fall, I’ve got a phone in my hand most of the time. It’s easy to feel like I should give everyone an immediate answer. I used to answer emails in the shower, take calls on the elliptical, and answer DMs until the moment I fell asleep. But not anymore.

This summer specifically, I started leaving my phone in a basket in the kitchen any time I was making coffee, eating lunch, talking with my kids, or trying to take a break between meetings. It’s helped me truly be present, instead of my usual half listening/half working mode I fall into when the phone is my hand. (I like to thank my ADHD for that one).

With this new “phone basket” rule, I still find it hard to manage texts. If I don’t respond immediately, I tend to forget to. And, a week later when I see that I didn’t - I feel like a jerk or I make up a ridiculous story that people are mad at me. I’m trying hard to give myself some grace around it. Nothing makes me happier than hearing from friends and connecting with people I love and respect. The hard part is not making myself wrong for taking a day or two to get back to them.
This isn’t easy for me. I’m learning through therapy that it’s likely stemming from childhood trauma and a tendency to believe that people are “mad” at me and I’m “in trouble.” It has been both confronting and liberating to untangle this knot inside of me.

There's a lot of learning you can do for FREE!

This is what I learned this week.

Sunshine, beach vacations, slushy drinks...it’s hard to keep your team motivated and focused when summer fun is calling them!👙🏖️🍹

Business doesn’t stop in the summer. In fact, summer is the busiest time of the year for some of you.

Let me tell you how to beat that summer lag in productivity.

Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it?!

Try this:

☀️Set deadlines early. If your team knows well in advance when they need to have tasks completed, they can plan their schedules.

☀️Offer flexible hours. Maybe you already do this, but loosening up during the summer months gives your team a little more freedom to enjoy summer activities while still getting work done.

☀️Schedule projects that are not urgent for later in the year. Prioritize what’s important now and use the summer to plan for the second half of the year.

☀️Recognize hard work and achievements. Reviewing what everyone has accomplished so far during the year makes your team feel appreciated. And when people feel appreciated, they are more motivated to hit future goals.

Summer can still be a productive time for you and your team!

Let me know in the comments if any of this could work for you.

This morning, my son had his wisdom teeth pulled. By 10:30, he was knocked out and had all 4 teeth yanked!🦷

If you’ve ever had teeth pulled, you know it’s not a fun experience.

He’s going to need some extra care in the next few days and as his mom, I win that job by default!🎉

Today, I’m reminded of what I’ve always known - I would never make a good nurse!

Honestly, it just grosses me out.😖

I have the highest respect for nurses and other healthcare professionals. Simply put, nurses are lifesavers. They are such assets to our communities, and some of the most amazing people I know are nurses.❣️

But while I’m good at a lot of things, I would be a terrible nurse!

Of course, I'll do what needs to be done to help my son. But I’m going to leave the full-time nursing duties to the real professionals (I’m hoping and praying he recovers fast!🤞🏼)

Share with me in the comments -

what’s a job that you’d be terrible at?🤔

Let’s get real for a minute.

You’re not superhuman.

You can do a lot. You know a lot.

You don’t have to do it alone.

Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness.

It’s actually one of the bravest and strongest things you can do for yourself and your business.

Asking for help shows that you can admit not knowing and have the courage to tap into someone else’s experience, resources or knowledge.

Don’t be too afraid, ashamed, or over-confident to ask for help.

If you’re ready to ask, click the button on my page to learn how I can help you.

So, you’ve decided to create an online course.🎉
Now what?🤔

You’ve got TONS of ideas, but you’re not sure which one to pick or how to act on it.

Here are 6 questions to help you clarify the direction you want to take with your course.

❓What do I love and know a lot about? What am I interested in and enjoy?

Rule #1 - you’ve got to love what you’re doing and know a thing or two about it to share with others.

❓Who are my learners/audience?

Knowing your audience will inform your whole design. In my experience, this can either make or break the success of your course. Know who your people are BEFORE you start!

❓What prior knowledge (if any) do my learners need before starting my course?

If your content is too difficult or complicated, your students won’t feel successful. They’re likely to get frustrated and quit. If it’s too easy or simple, you’ll lose their attention and they’ll get bored.

❓What do I want to change for my learners by the end of my course?

It’s critical that you know what knowledge your students need to gain to see the desired change. Think transformation!

❓How will I deliver my content to my learners?

Consider how you’ll connect with your students, what platform you’ll use, and what kind of instructional materials you’ll use.

❓How will I measure my success?

Define what success means to you. Is it the number of students enrolled? Money made? Course completion rate? Positive student feedback? Or simply helping your students become more confident with new skills?

Every time you think of a new idea for a course, come back to these questions.

The more you understand your course before you start creating it, the more successful you and your students will be.🏆

Save this post so you don't forget it!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…🎶

You probably aren’t here to listen to me sing, but I want to share some of my favourite things with you.

A few years ago, I took on a challenge to write down 100 things that I love or truly make me happy. 100 doesn’t sound like that many, but I struggled. I had to dig deep to think of enough things to fill up the list.

From then on, I swore that I would recognize the little things in my life that bring me joy.

It has really made a difference in how I see the world around me. There are so many awesome things that I didn’t recognize until I made a conscious effort to do so.

Here are 5 things that I love (in no particular order):

❤️a clean kitchen - no dishes in the sink, fingerprints on the microwave, or crumbs on the counter

❤️the sound of my students singing O Canada at school every morning (their versions are the best!)

❤️waking up on my own time, no alarm clock

❤️the sound of a fire burning - winter fireplace or summer bonfire, it doesn’t matter

❤️houseplants - some people collect coins, stamps, or trading cards; I collect anything green!

I have 95 other things on my list and it keeps growing. Once in a while, I read my list over, and it reminds me that I have a lot around me to love.

What are some things that you love or bring you joy?

Hey there, expert. 👋🏻⁠
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Yes, you!👉🏻⁠
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Everyone's an expert at something. You just might not realize it.⁠
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To share your knowledge, gain credibility and build your expert status, there’s no better way than to create an online course.⁠
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But where to start?⁠
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Here are 4 basic steps to take to turn your expertise and knowledge into a money-making, impactful business:⁠
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1️⃣ Choose a topic - choose something you LOVE. Think about where your passion lies. You’ll also want to consider what you KNOW and have EXPERIENCE in. Thinking about your skills, talents, and life experience will steer you in the right direction.⁠
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2️⃣ Build an audience - figure out WHO your target audience is, study the market, do your research, offer tons of value, promote yourself, and build a list of potential buyers. If people are going to give you their hard-earned money for your course, they want to KNOW you and need to TRUST you.
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3️⃣ Create your course - plan an outline, gather your course content, set up your online school, determine what modules/lessons you’ll teach, select a delivery method, and record your course. Keep in mind the TRANSFORMATION your students will have by the end of your course.
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4️⃣ Launch your course - you’ve done a lot of work so far, but it’s not over yet! This is where marketing comes into play - price your course, run promotions, ads, or bonuses, build sales pages and email sequences, and CONNECT with your audience.⁠
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See all those things I just listed?👆🏻
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I can help you with them! ⁠
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I work with course creators to move their course from idea to launch and money in the bank! 💰⁠
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Let’s work together to create an online course that shows you're passionate, you know what you’re talking about, and you’re great at what you do.⁠
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Don’t be shy - share with me in the comments what you’re an expert at.⁠
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(I’ll leave mine in the comments too and it might surprise you😎)

Did you know…

We can do hard things!💪🏼

This is one of my favourite sayings. I tell my littles this in my classroom on a daily basis.

In business, sometimes things are hard.

Learning something new can be hard.

Leading a team can be hard.

Organizing your business can be hard.

Producing high-quality content that stands out from the rest can be hard.

But guess what?

We can do it! 🌟

The important word here is “we”.

“We” means together. 👩🏾‍🦱👱🏻‍♀️👩🏻‍🦰👩🏽👩🏼‍🦳

When “we” do it, you’re not alone.

🖥️ Together, let’s organize that online course you’ve always wanted to create.

💭 Let’s join forces to lead your team with your business vision in mind.

💎Let’s get that content polished up so that it’s the best it can be.

I’m opening up spots for new clients so NOW is the time to work with me.

Together, we can do hard things!

Send me a DM so I can share with you how we can get started.

Lana Teaches updated their website address.

I'm baaaack!🙋🏻‍♀️

I've been pretty quiet here over the past couple of months.

I’m going to give it to you straight - this past school year was a tough one for me. There are only so many hours in a day and something had to give. That something was my social media account.

But I made it through 183 days of school, and I'm ready to get back to connecting with you!

Here’s what I’ve been up to since you last heard from me:

🔨My boys built a new fence around our yard, and I was the foreman of the crew

📚 I finished up the school year with my littles in Grade 1/2 - assessments, report cards, year-end cleaning

👩🏻‍🏫I made a BIG decision to switch positions for next year and will be moving to Student Support Teacher - this meant packing up over 25 years of stuff to clean out my classroom (I just may be a hoarder!)

🎓My youngest son graduated from Grade 12 and was able to celebrate with our family and friends - yay for relaxed Covid restrictions!

💉I got my second Covid vaccine - not fun but necessary

As we head into summer, you’re going to see a lot more of me.

Cheers to cold drinks on the deck, bonfires, and no alarm clock in the morning!🍹🔥⏰

🕶️What are you most looking forward to this summer?

Special delivery!! 💌

I’ve been waiting for this box to arrive for the past week, and it showed up on my doorstep yesterday.😃

I’ve been working on my growth mindset and focusing on the direction I want to move in my business (and my life!)🧠

I’m setting goals, and I’m aiming BIG!🎯

I’m changing habits that aren’t serving me well and creating thoughts, feelings and actions that move me in the direction I want to go.🧭

Any guesses on what’s inside this magical box?🤔

Here’s a very important question:

What are your favourite pens?

I’m a self-proclaimed writing-utensil j***y! I love pens, pencils, and markers. I can spend hours in Staples testing pens, and I have an extensive collection of pencils. 😍

My favourites are Paper Mate and Mr Sketch scented markers.

I’m always looking for something new so share your favourites with me in the comments.

One of the BEST feelings is being appreciated for what you do.

Enter Lizbeth

Lizbeth is the client that I’ve worked with the longest in my VA business. From day one, she has been appreciative of what I do for her.

She trusts my opinion but also isn’t afraid to give hers.

She asks how my life is going outside of our business talk and is genuinely interested.

She gives me grace when I make a mistake (nobody’s perfect).

She ends every email and voice message with “Thank you, Lana.” Every. Single. One.

When I raised my rates, I was worried about what my clients would think. Would they want to end our working relationship because I’m charging more? Would they see the value of paying a higher rate to continue to work with me?

When I told Lizbeth that I was raising my rate, her response was that of excitement, not disappointment or disgust.

“Good for you! Your business is growing and I’m happy for you. If I have to get a paper route to afford you, I will!” (no, my rates didn’t go up that high but it sure made me giggle!)

When you’re appreciated, you want to go the extra mile for people.

Lizbeth is that client who goes above and beyond for me. And I for her.

Tag someone in the comments who makes you feel appreciated!

What does a strong working relationship look like to you?

Three attributes of my ideal working relationship are:

💥Positivity

💥Open Communication

💥Trust

Here’s a great example:

On our first call, one of my clients, Veronica from , was so enthusiastic that I could feel it through the computer screen! Her positivity radiated from her! She was open to my suggestions and easily put her trust in me as an expert.

I knew that we’d be a great team!

Now that we’ve started creating her first course, she’s buzzing with ideas. She asks what I need from her and what things she can work on. She’s willing to put in the work and wants to do everything right. We’re not half-assing it (another reason that we work well together!😉)

We’ve established open communication, mutual respect and commitment to make her courses the best they can be, all while maintaining positive attitudes.

Even though we’re at the beginning of Veronica’s course creation adventure, we’ve got a solid foundation so we can work together to accomplish her goals.🏆

What’s important to you in your working relationships?

Not too long ago, I met Veronica. She owns Very Best Me Esthetics in Kelowna, BC.⁠
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Veronica is an esthetician who specializes in waxing and hair removal, and she LOVES what she does. She has an energy, passion and larger-than-life attitude that is contagious!😄⁠
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Along with running her successful business, Veronica trains other estheticians. When I met her, she was looking for someone to help her turn her in-person trainings into online courses. 🖥️⁠
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I knew we had to work together when Veronica said “Girl, I trust you and I’m ready to get to work! I’m going to do this!”🙌🏼⁠
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While she’s busy getting her course content together,⁠ I’ve been reworking her bio, setting up her school in the online course platform, and creating the sales page for her course. ⁠
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Soon I'll be building modules, uploading videos, handouts and resources to her lessons, and publishing her amazing course.⁠
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I’m so happy to be on this course creation journey with Veronica. It’s so satisfying watching a client take their passion and put it out into the world to share with others!😍⁠
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Do you have an idea for an online course? DM me and I’ll give you some tips on where to start!

Calling all course creators…⁠
what would you do with an extra hour every day?⁠
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Here are 15 different things I can do in one hour so that you don’t have to:⁠
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⭐Online research⁠
⭐Market research analysis⁠
⭐Proofread/edit Your Newsletter⁠
⭐Proofread/edit your course workbook or handouts⁠
⭐Add/update your branding (logos, colours, fonts, graphics) on your course content⁠
⭐Create a checklist for your course⁠
⭐Convert documents to different formats⁠
⭐Add images to slides or documents⁠
⭐Set up course structure on your course platform (course pages, module and lessons titles)⁠
⭐Create slide deck templates for your course content⁠
⭐Upload content to your course platform⁠
⭐Publish your current week's module (if dripping out content)⁠
⭐Create coupons for your course⁠
⭐Monitor comments or chat inside your course⁠
⭐Collect testimonials from your students⁠
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If you’re ready to claim that extra hour, send me a DM and let’s make it happen!⁠

One of the most common things I hear from the course creators and edupreneurs I work with is

“I have all these ideas in my head, but I don’t have the time or energy to do something with them.”

You might have all of these amazing (or crazy) ideas, but you’re struggling to organize them, make sense of them and bring them to life.

That’s where I come in!😃

As a VA, I can guide you through the process of turning those amazing ideas into profitable course content or lucrative resources.

I can help you:

💥clarify your big ideas and determine your purpose

💥focus your big ideas into smaller, manageable chunks of content

💥sequence and structure your ideas

💥research to validate your ideas

💥create meaningful content

Let me make sense of that chaos in your head to bring it to life!

What are some of your amazing, crazy ideas that I could help with?

Sometimes we get so caught up in looking after everyone else that we forget to take care of ourselves.

How are YOU?

Another week has come and gone, and you made it to Friday!

Drop me a heart to let me know:

💖All is great in my world!
💜Life’s pretty good.
💚I’m fine. Just fine.
💛The struggle is real.
💙I’m a wreck. Please send help!

No matter where you’re at, surround yourself with others who support you, encourage you and keep your mental health strong.

What are you doing this weekend to take care of you and your mental health?

If you want to be the BEST you can be in your business, I’ve got one word for you:

Feedback!💬

As teachers, we’re trained to give feedback, but getting feedback can be a scary thing.

When you accept the feedback you’re getting from your clients, business partners, and customers, you’ll see what changes you can make to be the best you can. Feedback can be a positive thing if you treat it that way. It’s not always an attack on you.

I’m kind of a weirdo in that I actually love getting feedback!

I want to be good at my job.

No.

I want to be AMAZING 🔥 at my job and feedback helps me get there.

I don’t really see it as criticism (or at least I try not to). In this business where people are paying me with their hard-earned money, I want to do a high-quality job.

I tell my clients that I welcome their feedback and that I treat their project as if it’s my own. If there’s something that I need to do differently or do better to suit my clients’ needs, I want to know. That’s just the way I operate.

I want to be proud of the work I do, and I want my clients to feel proud of what they’re selling. I wouldn't want to scroll through someone’s website or TpT store and see something that I helped create that I wouldn’t be proud to put my own name on!

I wasn’t always this comfortable receiving feedback from others. In my younger days, it was intimidating and felt critical. Once I realized that it could help me, I began to welcome it and it wasn’t so scary anymore.

The fact that I’ve grown a thick skin over the years doesn’t hurt either!😉

Start taking the feedback you’re getting and turn it into fuel to grow, learn and better yourself. Shift your perspective and I’ll bet you’ll see great gains.

How do you feel about feedback?

Here’s a little tidbit about me…⁠
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I’m a research nerd!🤓⁠
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I love doing research!😍⁠
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This doesn’t mean casually scrolling the internet or watching YouTube videos.⁠
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I truly enjoy reading case studies and reports to learn about the proof behind theories and ideas. I value the knowledge of others and believe in the research process. In my teaching and my business, I want to use best practices that give me the best results.⁠
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I think this has something to do with my true ESTJ personality (if you’ve never taken a Myers Briggs personality test, I suggest you try it this weekend!)⁠
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On a scale of 1-10, how much do you love research?🧐

If you asked me for one piece of advice on starting a business, I’d say…⁠
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take what you know and what you love and put them together!⁠
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For me, I know that I love what I’m doing in my business because after teaching my littles all day, I’m happy to fire up my computer when I get home. I work through meals, stay up way past my bedtime, and find myself losing track of time as I finish just one more task. ⁠
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My experience as a teacher paired with my love for developing curriculum, creating valuable educational resources, setting up and managing online courses, editing and proofreading, and researching has led me to where I am today.⁠
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What do you love in your business and how do you know you love it?⁠