Teaching People What They Never Learned in University
Imagine going to University for say, about seven years. Imagine studying hard for more than 40 hours a week. Imagine trying to hold down a job while you do that just to make ends meet at the end of the month. Imagine fitting in friends, a social life family… You work hard, get exhausted, study long, crunch for exams and push to reach your goals.
It’s tough. You have to want it pretty bad.
Then the day finally comes. You walk out of the classroom for the last time. You’re on your own now. You take a deep breath of fresh, clean air and think, “I did it. I made it.”
You’re ready to open your doors and start building your business of dreams – and you don’t know a damned thing about how to do that.
Welcome to the world of lawyers.
These people (and other highly skilled professionals) go to school for many years and invest a great deal of their life (and their debt ratio!) into learning. Unfortunately, they often find themselves leaving school with a diploma, debt, and very little skills on how to build and manage a successful business.
They don’t know how to hire staff. They don’t know how to market their services. They don’t know much about customer service, let alone creating a client experience. They don’t know anything about accounting, or administration, or all the good stuff that goes with being a solo practitioner.
They have two options: Give it a shot and hope it works, or go work for someone else who already has a successful practice.
Both options have their downfalls. Who wants to learn on the fly and scrape their nose trying? Who wants to fail miserably and find themselves facing bankruptcy? Who wants to sign their dreams over to someone else and boost their success?
Now, these professionals don’t have to – because they’re waking up.
Around the world, change is happening. People are beginning to understand that business isn’t just for businesspeople. It’s for everyone. Gone are the days where we all depended on big firms, factories and companies for our future.
Today, we write our own future. We build our own companies and firms. We create our own destinies.
I believe that. This is why I said yes to be a member of faculty at Solo Practice University, a unique online university (and definitely one of its kind) empowering professionals with the vital business education their schools never taught them.
That’s right. As of today, Professor Chartrand it is. (Please, call me James.) I’ll be teaching branding and copywriting techniques at Solo Practice University to help legal professionals achieve better success.
I’ll be teaching alongside other distinguished faculty members like Brett Trout, author of Cyber Law: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business, and I’m very honored to have been asked to be part of such an amazing online University.
I’ll admit I’ve had moments when I think, “But I’m just James. I don’t have a fancy degree. I don’t belong here!” Then I realize that I may not have a University degree (yet), but I have many degrees’ worth of valuable skills, knowledge, and experience that I can share to create change.
And that’s the take-away message I want you to walk away with today. Not that I’m going to be a Professor or that I’m full of skills (and myself), but that all it takes to change someone’s world is the desire to learn and the willingness to share.
37 Responses to “Teaching People What They Never Learned in University”
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Hey, James? The link to what I assume is your faculty profile is password protected. We can’t get to it.
Despite that, congratulations! This sounds like it’s going to be a fantastic resource for lawyers, and a great opportunity for you.
Wow, congrats!
I guess we’ll all have to refer to you now as our esteemed colleague…
~Graham
Graham Strong´s last blog post…5 Steps To Better Brainstorming for the Intrepid Freelancer and Independent Business Owner
@ Allison – Try now. I switched the link and it should work perfectly. *coffee*
Congratulations James!
I really liked the photo on your profile page at Solo Practice University. It’s right in step with what you’ll be offering to your students at SPU. Please keep us updated from time to time on how things progress as I’m interested in the growing trend of online teaching universities.
James,
Congratulations! Wow, that sounds like an awesome new direction to stretch out in. And you have more wisdom in your pinky finger than any ol’ prof, so what are you worried about!
They’ll be eating out of your hand. Just like everybody else.
One qu.
Is Professor Chartrand a demotion from being Le Roi?
Could be a sticking point…
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly´s last blog post…Hello, My Name Is T.
@ Mark – It’s an interesting opportunity for sure – and I know the work that went into Solo Practice, so I definitely see it being a huge success.
@ Kelly – Not if I get to put ‘esteemed colleague’ in front of Le Roi
@ Graham – I’ll try not to let it go to my head, eh?
Congrats, James! That’s excellent news!
Michael Martine´s last blog post…How to Sell from Your Blog 5 – How I Do It
Congratulations, James. That’s really, really cool.
Writer Dad´s last blog post…February
James, we are thrilled to have you on board to teach lawyers how to write for their potential clients, not through legalese, but through practical everyday language which drives their points home. And you are going to do it JUST through your writing….period
Yes, SPU is a brave new venture for you, James!
Susan Cartier Liebel´s last blog post…Sneak a Peek
Sheesh, the lawyers have given you a permit to carry?!!! Lock and load, you’ll be fantastic.
Janice Cartier´s last blog post…Jason Wu and The Spotlight
James,
That’s awesome stuff. I’ve been a teacher in one form or another for years. Nothing is quite as rewarding!
Conflagrations, um consternations, I mean, er constipations, aw hell – Good job!
George
Tumblemoose´s last blog post…If writing content is king
Professor Chartrand–I like that. I can definitely see you doing that. It’s a good fit.
What’s up with the profile pic, though? We’ve seen your arm and now your hand…
Sticking to your guns with the air of mystery, huh?
Jesse Hines´s last blog post…I’ve Been Nominated for a SEMMY Award: The Year’s Best Posts in Search Engine Marketing
That’s good. How much is the tuition for online classes? Are there any classes for writers building a brand or business.
@ Jesse – Oh come on. You got a leg out of that too. Whiner.
@ Tumble – Thanks! I’m pretty psyched about it myself!
@ Janice – Never know when I might need a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
@ Susan – I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s going to be great. And kudos to you for all your hard work!
@ WriterDad – See, young chickling? You too, one day…
@ Michael – Thanks!
@ Omar – I believe that right now, the university is only open to law professionals, but Susan might have more info on that…
great stuff James!
AJ Kumar´s last blog post…Do You Practice What You Preach?
Hey James,
Your post rustled up in my mind a quote from Tony Robbins.
“I have a PHD in results.”
He actually started his career up there in Canada. One of his ways of generating leads for his business was to go on the radio and do interviews.
On those shows he would tell the audience he’d mastered the art of erasing peoples phobia’s in one session instead of years to never like traditional therapy was known for.
Of course this outraged any “PHD” listening and would lead to them calling up and saying he was a liar on the air. Tony responded by telling any therapist who challenged him to not believe what he said but to bring a patient of theirs who they believed was most troubled to his guest event and see for themselves what he could do.
He never failed publicly. Not even when The popular show “Dateline” was filming at one of his seminars. And the rest is history.
You, James are doing more for your country than most proffessors will. Within your new opportunity you’ll be showing people how to make a profit. Something most new business’s can’t do. The benefits of this will trickle down to all the future clients and employees these lawyers help and transform their lives.
To your journey’s success,
Note Taking Nerd #2
Note Taking Nerd #2´s last blog post…If I Could Hear The Questions You Ask Yourself Would I Think I Was In The Presence of a Leader Or a Victim?
@ Note – I’m so using that from now on (and cursing Robbins for thinking of it first). I have a PhD in results.
I had to have a good chuckle over the “doing for your country thing.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard that applied to Canada, lol
Congrats Prof – let us know how it goes
James,
I didn’t know I was in the company of greatness!
Well. Lahhh-dee-dah.
PERFESSOR Chartrand !!!
With a PhD in “Results”, no less!
Oh well…
…I guess just about ANY school can get acreditation nowadays!
Friar´s last blog post…Double-standards you shouldn’t even bother TRYING to argue against…
Hope you realize, I”m just being a smart-ass and pulling your leg, Perfessor.
I think the Solo Practice University and your E-books are great ideas, and I hope they do well.
(Actually I was almost a perfessor once..for real…but that’s another story!)
Friar´s last blog post…Double-standards you shouldn’t even bother TRYING to argue against…
@ Friar – I just about came over here to smack you around a bit… then I see the second comment. Redemption!
@ Kim – Well, they always do say you never notice the stars when they’re in their streetclothes acting normal…
@ Rachael – That I’ll do!
Seriously, thanks everyone. I’m looking forward to the opportunity and am a little humbled to have been selected. (Just a little, mind.) I promise to bring back the good stuff and share it with you all here as well.
Way to go.
> business isn’t just for businesspeople. It’s for everyone. Gone are the days where we all depended on big firms, factories and companies for our future.
You punctuated such an important point for today’s world.
The cycle of change for resource tech, used to be 60 years. Go school, get a job, maybe switch once, retire. Well, that same cycle is now less than 6 years last I heard. Now, your best bet is yourself. Invest wisely.
J.D. Meier´s last blog post…Avoid Mental Burnout
Given my lifetime of horrible experiences with lawyers, you would never catch me helping one of them with anything. Heck, I won’t even take them as clients anymore.
But good for you anyway. It’s a good thing to do and you should be proud of yourself.
Tony Lawrence´s last blog post…Seven RSS myths
congrats James. Altho im still too new about this concept and completely blur about this, im pretty sure that it will success.
Please post about your progress, I’ll be very interested in hearing how things go!
Professor James, this is so fabulous. I can see it leading to doctors and healthcare practitioners and real estate profs too. I predict you’re going to be very busy.
We had a group of lawyers in our workshop recently. All in their 40s and 50s, these people were struggling not only in their businesses, but struggling to know themselves. Wouldn’t it be lovely if a standard college education included a little values discovery and purpose work? Then maybe they wouldn’t land in their 40s and 50s completely rudderless.
Lisa Gates´s last blog post…Two Tips for Getting Your Life in Balance and Going All-In at the Same Time
Woot woot! Prof Chartrand! Is this the type of University you can get tenure at? Now that would be sweet…
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post…The choice of too much
That’s awesome, my friend. I know a lot of lawyers. They could use a James like you.
Amy Derby´s last blog post…Three Tips for New Law Bloggers
James- congratulations and welcome to the SPU faculty! I look forward to meeting you online through your course and mine. (I will be teaching Online Video for lawyers and New York medical malpractice law.)
James- congratulations on joining the SPU faculty. I look forward to meeting you online in our respective classes we’re teaching. I’m teaching Online Video for lawyers and New York Medical Malpractice law.
@ JD – The best bet is yourself – Yessir, you said it. Everything else is going to come and go in life, but the one sure thing you have is you.
@ Tony – Here in Canada, things are a little different with the legal system (and even more so in Quebec), so I can’t say I’ve ever had a bad experience – and I definitely plan to make the experience for people, lawyers and others, better for all.
@ Buzzlair – I’m aiming for the Midas touch!
@ BizLogos – You betcha!
@ Lisa – That’s my hope and I believe Solo Practice’s hope as well. Here’s to expansion and growth! As for the values and purpose work, I know very well that you see people wondering what the heck they’re doing in life – I’m glad to know you’re there to help them out.
@ Alex – If by tenure you mean lifelong riches, great fame and a tasty retirement fund… Well, here’s to hoping, eh?
@ Amy – I think everyone needs a little James in their life. Mmhm.
@ Gerry – Oh, very cool to meet you, and I’m sure we’ll be nicely complimenting each other in our courses – me with text, you with video… the legal world won’t know what hit it!
I just found this blog by following links and I’m not in the business – just a happy amateur interested in improving my skills.
The “business is for everyone” – I wish that more people realised that.
For example, an actor is definitely his own business – it’s not all just looking pretty on stage or screen.
And I wish I had learned more in school about setting goals and running my own life.