On Sunday, October 4th, 2020, I was the keynote speaker at the online College Planning Untangled conference.
Below is a small segment of that keynote.
(If you’ve followed me for a while—can you guess what key principle I was speaking about here?)
I said:
“Here’s our third goal for tonight. Toward the end of our time together in this hour, I’m going to teach you one key principle that no one else you know is talking about.
One key principle that can untangle all the college confusion—and send your kid shooting like an arrow straight to a bullseye—without stress, pressure, or anxiety of any kind.
I’m going to give you a phrase to write down. Write this down now so you’ll be sure to catch it when I talk about it tonight:
You know you need some good solid direction to jumpstart the college planning process for your family—but guidance counselors are hard to reach, and most in-person college prep conferences have been cancelled.
Time to register for a college planning conference that’s all online.
No need to buy a plane ticket or book a hotel room.
All the inspiring info is packed into just two hours—each evening—for a week.
Bring the kids.
Can’t make one or more sessions?
That’s OK—recordings will be available for 30 days after the conference ends. Just use the 30-day all-access pass included in your conference fee.
Hear me giving the keynote presentation at this conference.
I’ll be opening the conference Sunday, October 4th with a keynote titled: How to Get Kids Through College Debt-Free—WITHOUT SCHOLARSHIPS!
This keynote is inspiring, and exciting—and may save you so much on college costs that you could pay admission to this conference 200 times over.
Later in the conference, attend my small group breakout session.
It’s titled How to Win More College Scholarships—Starting in 8th Grade.
(If I can teach your family non-scholarship strategies for getting college paid for, and then inspire your kids with scholarship strategies—your teen will be beautifully positioned to win at the college and career prep money game.)
Cost for this online conference:
$199.00 per family. (The value of this conference far exceeds this low, low price.)
FREERegister here. (Note: your link to get into the webinar will come to you from Thrivent Financial. Check all your email folders for “Thrivent.”)
Learn an innovative way for grandparents to build ongoing, loving connection with their grandchildren, leave a legacy that will last, and increase the probability that the grandkids will graduate college debt-free—all without spending one penny more than they are right now.
For parents and grandparents of students ages 12–26, and the professionals who serve them.
* This webinar is brought to the community at no charge, thanks to the generosity of Thrivent Financial. Nothing is sold in this webinar. This webinar is available at these times only and will not be replayed. Connect with a caring Thrivent professional atThrivent.com.
Today I’m sharing a bit about my own author journey—in hopes of saving you years of wasted effort.
When I started out to write a book, I had a message that I knew could change the world for students and parents. I’d already been a professional writer for over 25 years, so I already knew how to write sentences and paragraphs. I knew how to organize thought and communicate effectively. But writing a book?
What I didn’t know about writing a book couldfill a book.
The process of writing and publishing a book has so many moving pieces, so much unfamiliar vocabulary, and so many complex, interdependent steps.
I felt lost. I wondered, “How can I produce a creative, brilliant, and helpful book—when 75% of the book writing and publishing process is foreign to me?”
At first I thought that surely, a publishing contract would be the answer.
I thought that if I landed a publishing contract, that would be the easy route to getting my raw manuscript to finished product—and my book into readers’ hands. Let others do the work!
But after landing a publishing contract and realizing how little money I’d make from it and how at-risk I’d be for losing my rights to my work if my book went out of print—I turned that publishing contract down and decided I’d be my own publisher.
I used CreateSpace on Amazon (now called Kindle Direct Publishing) for my printing, and got professional help navigating all the other steps of the book publishing process.
I do really love Kindle Direct Publishing, and I’d do that again in a minute. But the most important, most life-changing help I got was from Stacy Ennis.
The moment I decided to be my own publisher, I was immediately on my way.
No more waiting around to be noticed. No more spending years traveling to writers’ conferences to try to get literary agents and acquisitions editors interested in me.
Being my own publisher rocketed me to my end goal of holding my own published book in my hands, of keeping all the profit from it, and of rapidly growing my business by leveraging off of an author credential.
Caution. If you’re going to write a book, you don’t want it to be a bad book.
If you slap together a poorly organized, poorly designed, amateurish, sub-par book and quickly put it up on Amazon so you can say that you’re an author, that’s going to backfire on you.
If your book doesn’t get reviews, or if the bulk of your reviews are negative, that will hurt your name, your brand, and your business.
I saved myself from this by getting help from Stacy Ennis.
Hiring Stacy was one of the best business investments I’ve ever made. She worked with me to engineer the structure of my book, to shape and polish it, and to navigate all the moving pieces I had to master to have an outstanding, well-reviewed result.
At this point parents are reading my book, libraries are stocking it, schools are putting it at their front desks for parents to read, and financial advisors are buying copies in bulk for handing out to clients.
I could have never achieved this without Stacy.
Until now, only a few lucky authors have been able to get Stacy’s help.
Stacy’s in such high demand that she’s able to accept only 1% of the projects offered to her. The wait to get on her client list can be months and even years long.
Now, you can get Stacy’s best help for a fraction of her regular price.
Join Stacy’s live, in-person book coaching program Nonfiction Book School by August 5th, 2020, and you’ll get top-notch, expert guidance that walks you through each step of writing your book, from initial idea to finished manuscript.
If you’re reading this on or before August 5th, 2020, join Stacy for a free webinar on how to increase your influence by writing a book. Register here.
Listen to my live interview with Stacy Ennis. It’s fun and fast-paced.
If you’re parenting a kid ages 12-18 and you’d like to hear what I, personally do for free to help parents get kids through college debt-free, zoom straight to minute 26:38.
When my book got rave reviews on Amazon, that was a game-changer for me.
It got me attention that literally changed my professional life.
Let Stacy give you the help she gave me.
I have no affiliate agreement with Stacy Ennis and have not been compensated in any way for writing this article.
Many of us have been repenting, in tears, of our own lack of action—lack of paying attention—when it comes to racial injustice. Now we wonder, “What can I do?”
One thing is—remain engaged. Not grow weary in well-doing.
We can’t let our fiery conviction that change MUST HAPPEN dissipate with the next news cycle because we’re getting tired.
I understand that the constant barrage of vitriol and negativity we’re hearing all around us is energy-draining. It saps the creativity we so need to think of empathetic, kind things we could do that could actually help bring about beautiful and long-lasting change.
If you’ve been feeling drained in this way, today might be a good day to listen to this funny, enlightening, high-energy 12-minute TED Talk by Dr. Shawn Achor, instructor for the most popular class ever in the history of Harvard and leader in the positive psychology movement.
Dr. Achor helps us understand how we can keep our brains wired for the energy, productivity, and creativity that will help us make a positive difference in the world.
Friends, I’m heartbroken over what is happening in Minneapolis and around the United States.
I’ve been fighting against income and education inequality as hard as I can for 10 years. Thank you to all who have helped me. I am redoubling my efforts—if I can just see past the tears in my eyes. I am wrecked.
I am also looking for hope—and I saw some today.
In Minnesota—a lot of us are Scandinavians who don’t know what to say when someone we care deeply about is overcome by grief and heartbreak.
And so what we do is, we bring food. That is happening today all over Minneapolis.
Hopes for healing and love and 5 loaves and 2 fishes in a sea of brown paper bags—after Minneapolis’ Sanford Middle School asked for 85 bags of groceries to feed students.
There are at least several thousand bags here! And traffic stacked in every direction, for blocks. (The extra will go to food shelves.) One man said he waited in line for over an hour to donate $500 worth of food and groceries.
What you can’t see in this photo is that heartfelt, heartbroken prayers—for healing and systemic change and for justice to roll down like a mighty river—are even more abundant than the bags on this sidewalk.
I believe that a good army is rising up. I believe that help is on the way.
Together, friends—let’s fight for what’s good, and beautiful, and right.
Love, Jeannie
Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26 and their parents and grandparents, and she is the author of the book LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Though College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free and move directlyinto careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, NerdWallet, and US News and World Report, and on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Twitter @JBurlowski.
On Memorial Day, 2020, we remember those who have risked their lives, and given their lives for us.
And we as adults pledge to make a difference.
We pledge to help build courage and character into the teens and 20-somethings we care about—so much so that they’re able to help bring about a more peaceful, more caring world.
If we’re able to do this, we can make every future day a Memorial Day.
I’m spending Memorial Day having as much fun as I possibly can—and I hope you are too.
Whenever I take time off like this, I like to point you to some of my most helpful recent articles that you may have missed. This gives you a chance to catch up—right on a week when you may have a little extra time yourself.
Hear Me Interviewed on the FamVestor Podcast
See me live in my living room in Minnesota! Lots of ideas for parents of littles and older kids too. Listen while you’re cooking dinner.
Financial advising professionals—my understanding is that you should be able to send this article on to clients without creating a compliance issue, as long as you’ve discussed this topic with the client beforehand, and, when you send it, you include the suggestion that you meet to discuss it further on a future date. Thanks for being a hero to these families!
If you’re currently paying down student loan debt—or if you’ve cosigned for someone else who is—I urge you—please click above and listen to the “Student Loan Lady,” Betsy Mayotte, being interviewed on the Death, Sex & Money podcast.
The interview takes just 25 minutes, and it’ll provide you the most current information on whether you do or do not have to pay on your particular student loans right now. (Betsy may keep you from making a mistake that could cost you thousands later.)
