You're tuned into the Grant
Business Show with Rodney Walker.
Well, hello, and welcome to The Grant Business Show.
I'm your host, Rodney Walker.
I'm happy that you're here.
I've got a great show for you today.
In this episode, I'm gonna be sharing with you
information about my hopes for you and this show.
I'm also going to be sharing with you
what you can expect from the show.
And I'm going to be sharing with you
a little bit more information about some of
the things that are coming down the pipeline.
So as we think about this whole grant
writing thing, this whole grant business, our focus
is on the business side of things.
And maybe you are a current business owner of a
grant business, or maybe you are hoping to do a
grant business in the future and you're maybe tuning in
just to kind of get your feet wet to see
if this is something you really want to do.
Well, welcome because you're in the right place.
And this show is especially designed to help you to figure
that out and then to take some of the information I'm
going to be sharing with you and to utilize it for
your advantage so that you can grow a successful. Yes!
A successful grant business.
Now, I started doing my first
grant business back in 2006.
Now, I know it said my first as if I had
many, but I have different aspects of a grant business.
And I'll tell you a little bit more
about that as time continues and as we
go through some of the various episodes.
But I started back in 2006 at the recommendation
of one of my professors who saw that I
had a knack for this whole grant thing.
And I wasn't thinking about doing a business.
I was just trying to get my nonprofit some money.
And here I am years later doing this.
Now I do this because I love it.
Yes, I actually love it.
I love getting a chance to come alongside
of people and helping them to get funded.
And that's one of the reasons why I decided
to go in and do this as a business.
There was another reason it was also out of necessity.
Now, I'll tell you that story
sometime in the future as well.
But I want you to know that this
is a wonderful industry to be in.
And one of the reasons why this show has
been created is because I've seen it done well.
And I've seen it not done well.
I've actually done it well.
And I've also not done it well.
And there was a lot of things I was trying to
figure out that I just didn't know on the early onset.
And so I'm hoping that as you listen to the show,
that some of those pitfalls and some of those mistakes that
I made early on that you don't have to make those.
So that's one of my hopes for the show
is that you will not make some of the
same mistakes that I made early on.
Now, what were some of those mistakes?
Let me tell you, because there's a long list.
Some of the mistakes that I made early on
was not knowing how to properly price myself.
So I underpriced myself in some cases.
Also, another big mistake was I
didn't know how to handle clients.
I was doing all the things that I should not
have been doing and trying to work with a client.
In fact, early on, when I first started out, the clients
had me almost as if I were a glorified worker.
Yes.
And I had to change that because a
lot of grant professionals are doing that.
Still to this day, they are treated as if
they are just a glorified contracted staff member.
Yes, I said it.
A glorified contracted grant member.
So we don't want to be a staff member,
quasi staff member, because that's not where we are.
We are grant professionals that help
to bring in the money.
We are the money people, and we've got to carry ourselves
and treat ourselves as such and not lower our value and
our worth of what we bring to the table.
And I'm hoping that as we do the show, that you
will hear that truth come from me and that it will
hopefully nudge you in the right direction so that you won't
just carry yourself in some of those ways that I was
carrying myself early on so that you cannot make that mistake.
Now there are some other mistakes.
I won't even get into the whole marketing mistakes.
Oh, my God.
Not doing how to market.
That's something that a lot of grant professionals don't
know how to do well, in fact, they fear,
and it's just something that they suck at now.
They know how to do the grant writing.
They know how to do the
research, but marketing their services clueless.
And so you've got to learn that.
And I don't want you to make that mistake.
So you can expect me to be
talking about marketing on the show.
This show will be discussing marketing.
And let me share with you another colossal mistake.
Another colossal mistake.
Not knowing how to close the
deal, not knowing how to sell.
In fact, here's a question for you, Mr.
Grant professional or Mrs.
Grant professional?
When was the last time you took a sales training?
Yes, if you never just rolled off your lips.
Don't feel alone, because I was in that
same boat when I first started out.
And most grant professionals are as well.
They know all the stuff about writing the
grant, researching the grant, researching the funder.
Yeah, those things are quite important.
But if you are grant business owner and you don't
know how to market and you don't know how to
close the deal, you don't know how to sell, you
go hungry, and I don't want you hungry. My friend.
So this show my hopes is
that you will learn those things.
I'm going to point them out to you.
I'm going to point out resources
that you can go and read. I'm going to be sharing
some information first hand myself.
I'm going to be sharing with you some case
studies of others and hopefully you will grow from
those experiences and become the better because of it.
So the hope that I have for you at this
show is that you will be able to turn things
around and each and every week when we come together
that one thing will be said that will spur you,
nudge you and push you in the right direction.
Another thing you can expect is for
me to be honest with you.
I'm not going to sugarcut it, coat it.
I'm going to come with it and
share with you the real deal.
So if that sounds like something that you're game for
I want to encourage you to subscribe yeah, just go
ahead and subscribe right now and if you haven't know
that we have other shows that address different things.
So if you're more into learning about the grant writing
thing we have a show for that as well.
Go over to grantwritingtoday.com and you'll get a chance
to hear funders and interviews and other things but
this show is especially for those of you who
are trying to do business and so if you're
interested in that, go ahead and subscribe and I
look forward to connecting with you you real soon.
And until then, my friend remember be brave,
be bold, be brilliant and take charge.
I'll see you next time, my friend.
