From Self-Isolation to Self-Improvement
This period of self-isolation has brought about mixed feelings. While the world struggles, those of us at home can only pray for the well-being of others and show gratitude for our own. Still, staying at home is a challenge in itself. Remaining confined to one space is not easy, and it is imperative to find some way to cope or some way to be productive.
Although it's not a necessity to be productive during your time at home, I chose to write this article for those of you who feel antsy, a little stir crazy, and may need a little guidance. Covid-19 has shown us how fragile our lives—social, work, and otherwise—really are. It's also reinforced the importance of passive income—when times get this hard having the resources you need to keep going is imperative.
If you agree, and are looking for a productive (and potentially profitable!) self-improvement opportunity, here are three things you can get started doing online.
Teach Online Courses
This is perhaps the easiest option to undertake. Do you have a great skill—baking, painting, woodworking, language, math? That's good news, because millions of people out there want to learn. And right now, they have tons of time to do it!
Keep in mind, though, that developing a course that's worth paying for is no easy task. The good news is that you can create a course about almost anything under the sun, and the digital tools are available to make it a spectacular experience.
To get started, identify your expertise, confirm that there’s an audience, and start designing your course. While sometimes tedious, the process of developing a course can be made easier with specialized "authoring tools." Similarly, when it comes to distributing training content to new students, managing their progress, and making sure your learners are treated to a delightful learning experience, there is an enabling technology called a learning management system (LMS) that can help.
These tools enable you to quickly and efficiently create interactive online courses, add multimedia, and use management systems that give you and your future learners a great platform for learning and even, yes, fun.
Personal Mentorship
If you think your skills can't be taught with a course, think about offering private mentorship.
Coaching and mentorship is a fast growing industry, with tons of opportunities to practice it online. Right now, a lot of people are feeling lost and if you believe you can show them a direction or help them develop a skill, you can either volunteer or get paid to coach.
The best part is that with video conferencing technology, you can provide mentorship without ever having to leave your home. Most online conferencing tools, like Microsoft Teams, offer whiteboards, chat features, and allow you to record your calls. All these features can come in handy when you're trying to teach someone.
Moreover, by recording and storing your one-on-one sessions, your students can access them anytime. Naturally, if you market it right and provide a popular service, you can charge a premium for mentorship services. And who knows you may even change someone's life!
Create Online Tools
This one is for those coders and coding enthusiasts that don’t have the patience to teach.
Think you've got what it takes? Then use your coding skills to develop a tool that solves a common problem. Depending on your skill level, you can get started with simple tools that solve small problems, or you can collaborate with others to create more complex tools. Keep in mind that simply creating and selling the tool isn’t enough—you have to think of a way to handle queries.
Selling online products is perhaps one of the only ways to generate an income during this time. With that said, eCommerce is not easy or quick. However, if done right, selling a product there can turn out to be a rewarding experience.
So what’s stopping you from creating and selling your own digital product? Share your apprehensions with me on Twitter @TopRightPartner and I'll help you out!
If you're looking for more productive and potentially profitable self-improvement opportunities, sign up for the TopRight blog! And if you still want more marketing insight, think about picking up a copy of one of these books: Strategic Analytics and Marketing, Interrupted.