You CAN do this! Getting your kids through college debt-free is achievable!

You can achieve this great goal—you just need someone to guide you.

It takes a lot of internal fortitude to stay with the process of getting your kids through college debt-free.

Which ladder would you rather climb?

Getting your kid through college debt-free is just like any other endeavor in life—you get to that goal by moving forward, one step at a time.

You got through that last part, didn’t you?

Then you are getting through.

This holiday season, don’t forget to have some empathy and kindness for yourself.

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.

Can’t make one or more sessions?

Hear me giving the keynote presentation at this conference.

Get a sample of my speaking—along with reviews from parents and students—at JeannieBurlowski.com/SPEAKING.

Space is limited. See the schedule and register now at: CollegePlanningUntangled.com

You’d love to see the kids you love get through college debt-free. It’s easier than you think—especially if you can start early.

Register instantly below—for free, courtesy of Thrivent Financial.

Choose one, or attend all three of these free online events:

1. April 1st, 2021 How to Win More College Scholarships—Starting in 8th Grade (1 hour)

What’s one powerful thing any kid can do to become a top contender for college scholarships—even with lower grades and test scores? Learn this—along with a strategy for writing one scholarship application essay that can be used over and over again to apply for more than 100 different scholarships. For students ages 12–26 and their parents and grandparents, and for the professionals who serve them.

Thursday, April 1st, 2021 7:00 pm CDT | 5:00 pm PDT | 8:00 pm EDT

FREE Register here.

(Note: your link to get into the webinar will come to you from Thrivent Financial. Check all your email folders for “Thrivent.”)

2. April 8th, 2021 How Grandparents Are Lighting the Way to Debt-Free College For the Kids They Love (1 hour)

Learn an innovative, practical way that grandparents can 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 the grandparents are right now. For parents and grandparents of students ages 12–26, and the professionals who serve them.

Thursday, April 8th, 2021 7:00 pm CDT | 5:00 pm PDT | 8:00 pm EDT

FREE Register here.

(Note: your link to get into the webinar will come to you from Thrivent Financial. Check all your email folders for “Thrivent.”)

3. April 15th, 2021 How to Convince Kids They Don’t Need Student Loans (1 hour)

Learn 3 surprising strategies that help students ages 12-18 to develop professional confidence early on, increase potential to graduate college debt-free, and feel poised and ready to step directly into satisfying career after college. (Even if they don’t get a single scholarship.) For students ages 12–18, their parents and grandparents, and the professionals who serve them. 

Thursday, April 15th, 2021 7:00 pm CDT | 5:00 pm PDT | 8:00 pm EDT

FREE Register here.

(Note: your link to get into the webinar will come to you from Thrivent Financial. Check all your email folders for “Thrivent.”)

* These webinars are brought to the community at no charge, thanks to the generosity of Thrivent Financial. Nothing is sold in these webinars. These webinars are available at these times only and will not be replayed. Connect with a caring Thrivent professional at Thrivent.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 could fill 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 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 April 20th, 2021, and you’ll get top-notch, expert guidance that walks you through each step of writing your book, from initial idea to finished manuscript.

Listen to my 2020 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.

As for me—I’d love to live a virtuous life. A rich life.

I got great help from this diagram—in just about 30 seconds!

I love it.

A virtuous life is one of balance between deficiency and excess.

Interesting.

This is thought-provoking—and worthy of putting up on the bulletin board, I think!