Is advice still free? Everywhere I turn, advice is monetized. E-courses that talk about ways to increase audience, page views, and 10 tips to do X and X. Ebooks that are a “crazy deal” and promise to give the low down on how to get going on with your business. The creative world has been going through an advice monetization era.
I know that obviously advice is still free. There are super helpful blog posts being written, gracious people give out wisdom on social media, and relevant Facebook mastermind groups full of advice with a variety of perspectives.
However, the monetization of advice has been growing more abundant. Everyone wants to be an authority figure. Cranking out ebooks, e-courses, filling their content with several sponsored posts, and churning out repeated advice.
What happened to starting out and just creating? You know, setting out to do something, experimenting, failing, and experimenting some more.
The creative world’s advice problem is people who are spouting out advice without experience behind it and action in it.
I thought, at first, the issue was solely with bloggers. For the past year or two, the business blogger selling their advice has become a popular thing. Bloggers aren’t the only ones after all. Many of the ebooks, e-courses, and workshops churned out are valuable. Even still, the amount of non-stop selling, vague statements, and courses about mindset rather than actual strategy have been increasing.
A teacher I had back in middle school said a quote that sticks with me to this day: Nothing is ever truly free, everything has a price tag.
Does everything really have a price tag? There is lots of free good and bad content out on the internet. Aside from paying for an internet connection, you don’t have to pay for the actual content you reading.
Unless it’s a post meant to convert, which consequently happening a lot more. You read an article that promises a free download (checklist, cheatsheet, resources guide,etc) and the only way to get it is to provide your email.
Then, provide your email and then you’re added to a list in which you can start being sold to. There’s nothing bad about this. Everyone has their ways and is trying to make a living. Problems happen when all the emails end up being sales pitches. One after the other. Over and over. People are tired of being sold to.
The creative world’s advice problem isn’t tied just to bloggers as I thought, it’s going on throughout the industry. Advice is churned out over and over. Now more than ever, people must be intentional with their content consumption.
With seemingly every other person taking their slice of the pie and selling their advice, it’s important for people to be intentional and understand their behavior towards spending before they go and buy another information product.
There is still great advice out there. Even great advice that doesn’t require your email address :). Many times, an online course or ebook isn’t the only way to get the information. Cue the old grandpa voice saying there weren’t many e-courses back in my day (let’s say 2010). I had to look up the information all by myself!
There’s a good possibility that free alternatives are out there.
Being an authority leader isn’t the be all version of success in the creative world. Advice should be something given without the constant thought of monetization and making an income off it.
Do you think the creative world has an advice problem?
Delivering sandwiches all across town was one of the many jobs I had while in college. I worked at Schlotzsky’s (lotz better, right?) and made the amazing hourly wage of $7.75. Frequently, the job required doing delivery orders. Since my position fell in a middle ground between server and retail salesperson, I had a lot of awkward situations with customers who did and didn’t tip.
Maybe my delivery person job wasn’t considered a “tipped profession”. Servers, bartenders, and other common hospitality professions are the most recognized tipped professions. Tattoo artists, nail and hair salons, and valet drivers are some others.
My job delivering sandwiches usually entailed interacting with customers who didn’t give me a tip. Most of the clientele were businesses who I was delivering sandwich and cookie platters to for a group of people. After handing the stuff over, the head person would just give a gentle nod, forced smile and thank me.
While hanging out at a hostel in Thailand a few months ago, the topic of restaurant dining came up. A woman from England, who had learned I was American, immediately blurted out several questions. The top one was:
“Why is the U.S. so crazy about tips?”
She followed up with a story about a trip to Australia she had taken. She was at the restaurant with several other people from various countries, including a girl from the U.S.. When it came time for the bill, everyone paid their share without much thought and started to get ready to leave. Tipping isn’t a common practice in Australian restaurants.
The girl from the U.S. had a shocked expression on her face. She angrily asked why everyone at the table wasn’t leaving a tip. When the server came to collect the bill, she smacked down several bills and stated the tip was from her, while glaring at the rest of the table.
Fun story, isn’t it? Granted, this is only one tale about an American clutching onto their norms. It does make me wonder, why is the U.S. tip crazed?
While I did make a crappy wage at my sandwich delivery job, I did make slightly above the federal minimum wage. Many servers don’t. The hourly wage for servers in Texas (where I live) is $2.13 per hour.
Often times I didn’t get a tip when making deliveries because customers already had to pay a $10 delivery charge on most of the delivery orders. I had to use my own car for orders and didn’t get any sort of per mile payment. Whether I did a delivery for a $35 check or for a $280 check, I still got the same $10 amount for delivering orders. Judging by the lack of tips I got, delivery customers (and my boss) thought this was satisfactory.
An earlier job I had involved being a server/floor attendant at a BBQ restaurant. Since customers got in line and ordered the food from a counter themselves, the management believed the floor attendants didn’t need tips, so they banned it.
The job required me refilling cracker boxes, the soda machine, cleaning up tables, and getting customers anything else they needed. Basically a waiter minus the ordering part. Yet I was never allowed to get any sort of tips.
Why is the U.S. so tip crazed with certain amounts? If you read any article on tipping/no tipping, arguments over the “correct” amount are bound to break out in the comments. Is 15% gratuity enough? Is 20% the standard? Maybe the change in percentages has to do with wait staff pay being stagnant for for over 20 years.
Why not just pay servers and other “tipping professions” a living wage? (I’m sure my broke college self would have liked that 🙂 ). While restaurant establishments have experimented with no tipping policies, the actualoutcomes haven’t been stellar.
I’m mixed when it comes to tipping. On one hand, I hate the idea of tipping. There are things that a servers tip is dependent on (food quality, wait time, even A/C temperature) that are out of their control. Tipping is discriminatory a lot of times.
On the other hand, tipping can be a way to ensure a server provides good service and have a more scalable income.
At the end of the day, as I travel and meet more people, the big thought is why the U.S. is so tip crazed. I mean, if much of Europe and other places can get by without being so tip crazed, why can’t the U.S.?
Comfort zones. You usually hear about them from some motivational TED talk or those inspiration junk food posts on Instagram. They’re most often used to help people toss their fears and worries and try new things.
Could stepping out of your comfort zone force you to get better with your money and see what type of expenses matter? I think so. Actually, scratch that, I know so.
It’s possible to have money realizations through comfort zones. It’s even more likely when you step out of them.
Before I stepped into the world of personal finance, I always thought I was good with money. I didn’t have credit card debt, didn’t have a car payment, put money into savings every month, and my student loans were manageable.
Well I wasn’t so good at money. I didn’t have credit cards so I wasn’t actively help build my credit as much as I could. I saved money but never considered combing through my expenses to see where I could cut back. And small purchases that added up were what killed my bank account every month. Things weren’t so good after all. Wha oh.
In a change of pace, I moved to Thailand for a new job and everything suddenly became different. I’m sure you’ve read the typical internet story of someone going out of their comfort zone and ~*~realizing their true potential~*~. Well this one is about how my view on money and monthly expenses changed.
When compared to western standards, Thailand has a low cost of living. Moving here caused me to get out of my comfort zone money wise. As time passed on, the expenses I had in my previous situation didn’t seem so necessary.
My entertainment “fun” budget got drastically altered. I no longer had Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Spotify. Money spent on movie rentals and tickets were tossed. These were all individually small expenses that I justified under “having things that bring me entertainment and joy”.
My food budget changed. With a time consuming full time job and a long commute, I used to eat out a lot. Having food expenses that were out of whack made budgeting confusing. Constantly seeing the smiling Thailand street vendors and the act of intentionally eating better finally made my food expenses become more under control.
The biggest thing I got rid of was my auto insurance. I really don’t like driving cars. Good public transportation is a better fit. It’s what made me so resistant towards the common act of people my age financing new cars when they really shouldn’t.
Now my monthly expenses total less than what I was spending back in my previous situation in the U.S. Thailand is great but I know I’m not going to stay here for super long so returning to the U.S. (and having a higher standard of living) is a given. My mindset, however, is here to stay.
My perspective towards “need” expenses has changed a lot.
Being here, in this new place, caused me to question expenses I normally would have shrugged off.
Hulu subscription? Oh, well it’s only $8.65 a month and I get to keep up with my favorite shows! Spending $8 eating out? Oh, it’s not that much, plus I’m in a hurry! Paying more than I needed to for auto insurance (because it’s not like I could have negotiated it or anything).
I mention this because so often people say they can’t save much money because most of it goes to bills and expenses every month. For some people that may be the situation, so growing income would be a better focus to have. For most people, they can cut their expenses more.
We have to periodically remind ourselves of what is essential. Excess often lies in familiarity and comfort.
Has your mindset towards certain expenses changed? What things are worth and not-worth cutting out?
Whew! I’m nearly two months into my teaching job in Thailand (nearly three months in Thailand overall) and things have been great. I like my students, I like the lessons I get to teach, and it’s been an overall positive experience so far.
I wanted to give a review of ATI’s Special Thai Project. I took part in the April 2016 3-week 120 hour course provided by American TESOL Institute’s Special Thai Project. The course was so helpful and make me glad I decided to take an onsite course rather than doing it online.
REAL & WORTHWHILE
Those are the first two things I would say about ATI’s Special Thai Project. When I first starting looking into the program, I was concerned to the legitimacy of it. ATI has a dozen different websites and their social media profiles look like they’re run by a spam robot.
Despite initial concern, American TESOL Institute and it’s Special Thai Project program is real and legit.
COURSE & COSTS
The course I took was the 3-week 120 hour TESOL course in Bangkok. Accommodation was provided for at JL Bangkok Hotel. Class took place from 9am to 4:45pm with an hour for lunch and two 15 minute breaks. Teaching practice days (during 3rd week of course) had slightly different hours.
The cost for the program is frequently advertised as “1590 USD/1142 GBP – -1390 USD/998″ GBP. ATI usually offers a discount of $200 USD, so the course cost me $1190 USD.
A thing to keep in mind is you will not be getting your first paycheck until around two months after your arrival.
I arrived to Thailand on Thursday, March 31. I didn’t receive my first paycheck until May 31. I arrived on the 31st, did the course April 4-22, had a free week, then started my teaching job on May 2.
While ATI does provide accommodation during course, there are the other fees you have to think about. The costs below, in US dollars, include daily living costs, trips to Pataya, Krabi Town, Island touring, and Chiang Mai, and my deposit for my apartment once I got my placement (the school doesn’t cover this).
$515 | Flight (one-way, Texas>>>Thailand)
$1190 | ATI: Special Thai Project 3-week TESOL Bangkok course
$1400 | (2) Two months of expenses
$475 | Apartment deposit (I paid 16,500 baht for apartment deposit. 11,000 baht will be refunded to me upon moving out)
$650 | Flight home (one-way)(this is something I’m just over estimating but still planning for)
$4,230 | TOTAL
Yeah, seeing that number can be a tough to swallow, read on below to find out more about it. Course and experience so far has still been super worth it!
JOB PLACEMENT
One of the biggest benefits of taking the course is the guaranteed job placement. Upon completion of the course, you are guaranteed a job placement with 30,000 baht per month salary and free accommodation/monthly housing stipend.
It’s important to note: you do not become TESOL certified until you complete the course AND the one semester of teaching.
You don’t find out your job placement right away. It’s usually during the 2nd week of the 3-week course that you find out where you will be placed. This is usually due to ATI working out placement deals with schools based on number of students in course and finding schools to place you in.
The number of students in each course is usually around 25-30. My course had 11 students in it, a lower than normal amount. six of us got placed at a school near Bangkok, three got placed in Khon Kaen, one in Rayong, and one decided to opt out of placement and find a job himself.
The teaching jobs will be standard 40-ish hours a week and involve 20-25 hours of classroom teaching. Here’s what my schedule looks like:
weekly schedule as a Grade 1.3 teacherweekly schedule as a K3 English teacher
Job placements can include being placed in more urban areas (my placement) or more rural areas. Most of the people in my course were happy with their placements. Even if they weren’t immediately happy with their new living and job situation, the experience quickly grew on them.
What happens when you don’t like your placement or want to opt-out? A few options.
The first one is speaking with the person who is overseeing the placement process. For my case, it was Pak. She handled the placement process and getting us set up in our apartments and explaining the visa process. Talk with the person and see if there are any other areas you can be placed.
Another option, if you finish the course and don’t like where you are placed, you may opt-out of it, pay $500 to get your TESOL certification and work on finding a job on your own.
A third option is to opt-out of the placement, abandon your TESOL certification and either go back home or go about looking for a job yourself. You don’t need a TESOL/TEFL certification to teach English abroad, it just helps a lot in getting jobs and getting a better pay rate.
OVERALL
Participating in ATI’s Special Thai Project was worth the investment. I’m really glad I decided to do an onsite TESOL training course rather than an online one. A big positive to doing the course was the teaching practice and networking.
As part of the course, you get lesson planning and real in-classroom teaching practice. I was able to do four days of teaching practice: two days at an elementary school teaching Grade 5 and Grade 2, one day at a preschool teaching K2, and one day at a 7-11 college teaching 15-16 year old teenagers.
Our course’s teaching instructor, June, gave all of us feedback and advice after each day. Thai classrooms often have anywhere from 30-50 students in them. The teaching practice helped develop classroom management, confidence, resourcefulness, and ways of teaching different age groups.
It was so awesome getting to practice and learn before going and doing the real deal later on at my teaching job!
Networking and socializing with the other course participants was another plus. Discovering Thailand was easier and more fun when around other people starting out like you.
Having Pak from ATI, made apartment finding and signing easier as well. For my placement, I am provided with a monthly housing stipend instead of accommodation. Pak assisted me and the other five with finding apartments, talking to the landlords (who didn’t speak much English), and negotiating leases with the landlord based on our semester teaching contract.
The Special Thai Project offers classes two times per year. Check them out.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
I put together a list of frequently asked questions you may have. Feel free to reach out if you have any other others!
What are the requirements to teach English abroad?
bachelors degree (in any major, it doesn’t have to be education)
native english speaker
What’s difference between TEFL/TESOL/CELTA?
TEFL and TESOL are basically the same thing. Having either one of them will better help you for a job teaching English.
TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language
TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
CELTA: Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA is a more intensive and formal certification for people who are really planning some serious long-term teaching)
Why ATI and the Special Thai Project program?
A big benefit? Guaranteed job placement with a known monthly salary of 30,000 baht. Finding a job, especially for first-timers, is overwhelming. Researching, setting up countless interviews, and trying to see if the school is even real…
ATI takes some of the stress and confusion out of moving abroad to teach English. Getting to be around a group of fun and diverse people was great. The people who worked with ATI, the teaching instructor and placement coordinator were helpful in providing assistance with visa things, Thai culture, accommodation, and more.
Is this only for young people?
Despite many of the people who do ATI, and other programs, being in their twenties, there were many people of many ages who participated in the course. Three of the people in my ATI course were mid-career professionals in their 40’s/50’s!
In the school I work at, there are several teachers in the English program who are in their thirties or forties.
Remember, what’s important is you have a bachelors degree and are a native English speaker.
Is the monthly salary enough to live on?
Yes. Thailand has a relatively low cost of living. My monthly salary of 30,000 baht, which is around $850 USD, is enough to live on.
Now, this isn’t a perfectly set budget obviously. Keep in mind unexpected costs like visa expense and so forth. I did the course in April, started working in May, and now it’s June. In May I didn’t save any because I hadn’t gotten my first paycheck yet and the month had several unexpected expenses: visa expenses, cleaning and moving costs (buying sheets, towels, mats, and cleaning supplies, etc for apt), having to buy three shirts for school (my school requires we wear certain colors on certain days. Purple, yellow, blue, and gray).
What is it like in Thailand? Is it good? Is it safe?
Thailand is great and very safe. I love the beautiful landscapes and personality of Thailand. Remember patience is necessary. Patience is key
“Thai time” is a popular phrase used in Thailand. It’s a funny thing that can be taxing at times. When the people at the visa office were being unhelpful and slow, when people at the embassy were being unhelpful and slow, and so on. The key is to be patient. Understand that you are in a new place and there is an adjustment period.
Why choose to teach English in Thailand?
Since you’re researching teaching English in Thailand, I’m sure you’ve read about other places to teach English. South Korea is a popular one.
So why teach in Thailand? Thailand is a good place for first-time TEFL/TESOL English teachers. You are able to get experience in lesson planning, classroom management, and learning to teach to certain age groups in a small amount of time.
Thailand is a good place to “get you feet wet” in teaching English abroad. The contracts are only for a semester (4-5 months) rather than the typical 12-month year long contract you would find in other places (like South Korea).
How much money should I bring?
I would have around $4,500 USD saved up. Keep in mind this includes the course fee of $1190-1390 USD, see the cost breakdown in the above cost section of this post.
What type of visa did you get before coming to Thailand?
I got the single-entry tourist visa. It cost $40 USD to get from my local Thai consulate office. This is the type of visa ATI will probably suggest to you and it was the most common one when coming over for the majority of people in my course.
How is the accommodation during the course?
I can only speak for the course I did, which was the 3-week TESOL course in Bangkok. Accommodation was provided at JL Bangkok Hotel. The hotel was good and clean and decent free Wi-Fi internet was provided. No breakfast provided.
Many of the students in the course didn’t completely like the Ramkhamhaeng area where JL Bangkok was located because there wasn’t much to do. Not many bars/nightlife or general things to do. They were happy with accommodation, just yearned for more to do. We often had to take taxi’s to other parts of the city.
There is a mall, internet cafes, grocery stores, and lots of other places to keep you satisfied for day-to-day stuff.
After finishing the course do I start teaching right away?
It depends on your placement. For me (and the other five placed with me), we had a week break in between finishing the course and starting our teaching job. I traveled around to different islands in the south during the break.
One woman in our program finished the course on Friday and started teaching the following Monday. Other people in our program had as much as two or three weeks off break between finishing the course and starting their teaching jobs.
Accommodation is provided, right?
Yes, sort of.
Either accommodation will be provided or you will be given a monthly housing stipend. My school gives a monthly housing stipend. The housing stipend is 5,000 baht per month.
The cheapest apartment I could find that ATI showed me was 5,500 baht. So I have to pay 500 baht per month in rent (around $14.20 USD per month), nothing big but worth mentioning since ATI often touts free accommodation.
I have a one bedroom apartment I live in by myself. Some of the other ATI members share an apartment.
How does banking work?
You don’t need to switch to an internationally recognized bank before coming, although it certainly helps. Check with your bank and set up a travel plan so you are able to use your debit card to withdraw money at Thailand ATM’s.
So far, I have not, and don’t really need to, set up a bank account in Thailand. This may be different based on your placement and paycheck distribution method (my school just gives us cash every month on payday).
Traveling while in debt, is it sensible? When thinking about it from surface level, there appears to be only two options. The first is to be the aggressive saver and the second is to be the minimum payment payer.
When making debt repayment a priority involves the usual getting on a budget, tracking and cutting expenses, and looking for ways to make more money. Traveling and taking vacations is usually one of the big areas done away with.
However, your wanderlust vibe may not need to lay dormant while you finish paying off debt. When I started paying off my student loans, I originally thought travel would have to be put on the back burner. I soon realized it didn’t have to be that way.
While travel is usually costly quest to set out on, with planning and tenacity it can be a possibly while still in debt.
UNDERSTAND THE KIND OF DEBT YOU HAVE
If you have credit card debt, student loan debt, or auto debt, then paying it off in a timely manner is important. If you have high interest debt over 5%, consider a plan of action about how you will pay off more of it
The biggest thing to remember when you want to travel while still in debt is figuring out a way to stay on track with repayment. If you’re making aggressive debt payments every month and don’t have much money left over, the refocus on what type of travel you want to do.
Travel doesn’t have to be a big, expensive thing
You don’t need to stay in high-end hotels and go to popular tourist areas. If you live in the U.S., destinations like Canada, Mexico, and Belize are great options. Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand have hefty plane ticket prices but the costs once there are really inexpensive. Many people are able to travel in Vietnam and Thailand for $30-40 dollars a day. Awesome, right?
Cruises can be another option. I went on two in 2015, one to Mexico and the other to The Bahamas. Lots of free activities and food was provided.
Exploring National Parks and Canyons is something I’ve been wanting to do. I’m a diehard watcher of Parks and Recreation, so Ron Swanson’s love of National Parks rubbed off on me. I’m planning to go on a road trip through Arizona and Utah in the next year or two, visiting The Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Upper Antelope Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion!
Have a separate savings account for travel
Create a separate savings account specifically for your trip. Consider opening a high yield savings account with places like Ally or Synchrony Bank which offer around 1% APY. It’s better than the 0.01% you are getting at a regular bank.
Remember than every little bit counts. Using automation apps like Digit, which periodically pulls a few dollars from your checking account, is a great way to trick yourself into saving more.
Give yourself a timeline
When I started with my student loan repayment, I gave myself a rough timeline of when I wanted to have a specific amount of money set aside for a trip. I didn’t even know where I wanted to go yet, but I knew it was somewhere!
It took about 15 months of saving, stashing away small amounts of cash, and automating my savings. Eventually I was able to reach my goal and got to take the travel trip I wanted this past March.
While I have been traveling while still making solid progress on my student loan debt, I understand the challenges of wanting to travel while in debt. If money after debt repayment is tight, really try to consider locally exploring to parts of your state or nearby places. Monitor flight deals to see where you can travel to cheap.
With some savvy planning and commitment, you might not have to wait until after you’re debt free to take a trip.
