Notes from Chris

Episode 1480

Amelia Dalphonse found her calling 17 years ago while she was teaching with Head Start, a program that provides early childhood education to low-income children and families. She’d worked with all kinds of kids over the years, but one, in particular, stood out. He was a four-year-old boy with frequent tantrums and very little verbal communication. Amelia and her fellow teacher wanted to help him, so they began researching the boy’s behavior and discovered that he might be autistic.

Wanting to learn more, Amelia then began studying Applied Behavior Analysis, a scientific approach that can be used to reduce challenging behavior and teach new skills in children with autism. Amelia liked Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA strategies because they’re easy for non-professionals to learn and can have lasting benefits for the child if they are used consistently.

Not too long after she started her research, she ended up switching jobs to work with children with autism. She wanted to understand more, so she decided to pursue a master's degree and become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), again specializing in working with children with autism.

And this is what brings us to the side hustle part of the story. Amelia started a blog called accessibleaba.com, hoping to share insights to help parents understand more about the field and their child. Soon afterwards, around Christmas 2018, her twin sister Dianna came for a visit. Dianna enjoys writing, so she offered to write some posts.

They started out blogging just for parents, but eventually expanded to have a separate blog for each of their target audiences: parents, teachers, and professionals. Together, their blogs get over 40,000 page views a month.

Amelia admits that as difficult as the pandemic has been, it’s also been the catalyst that has pushed them to work even harder. They’re bringing in around $1,500/month through a mix of book sales, membership fees, and supervision services. However, they have really just started to focus on monetization. For most of 2020, they focused solely on growing the blog and developing the courses.

They know that if they want to make more money, they need to come up with a better product or offer, improve their marketing, reach a new audience, or take some other action. One of those things—or perhaps all of them—is exactly what they plan to do.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about ABA, Amelia, and the resources she and her sister have created for families and educators at AccessibleABA.com.

SEE ALSO:

• Former Teacher Becomes Children’s Magazine Publisher: A teacher begins working part-time as a personal chef at children’s baking parties, then starts a magazine about healthy food. The project now brings in around $5,000/month in recurring income.
• Flight Attendant Gets Paid to Help Kids Learn About the World: After visiting 50 countries, a flight attendant and her pilot husband create an income-generating project to teach kids about the world.
• Educator Makes Cards to Teach Kids About Emotions: Don’t take a time-out … take a time-in! Recognizing the struggle parents have with teaching kids how to handle emotions, a mom and educator creates a game to solve the problem.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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