5 Amazing Channels to Convert Your Skills to Dollars Today
When you spend several hours learning a digital skill, the goal is to use that knowledge to make cool money, right? Admitting this does not make you greedy or materialistic. Not at all! The main point of learning a skill is to use the knowledge and expertise to offer real solutions and then get paid cool money for your value. You deserve that!
You didn’t painstakingly learn skills like programming, design, writing, SEO, or data analysis only to add certificates to your name or for scholarly satisfaction. (Who does that?).
In today’s reality, many young people — especially university undergraduates (who are stuck under the frustrating ASUU strike) and recent graduates (who are trying to figure out a lucrative career path) — are often advised to learn a digital skill. The admonition is drummed into their ears so many times that they throw themselves into rigorous online programs, courses, and boot camps.
This is an impressive feat in itself. But beyond that, what is next? How does the skill get converted into something helpful in the long run?
If you find yourself in a situation like this, I bring you good news. Your digital skills do not have to end as dormant certifications.
Here are five channels to convert your skills to dollars, right from where you are:
- Start a freelancing career.
Freelancing is a business model that has gotten increasingly popular among digital skill professionals.
It is a model where you offer your skills to multiple clients as a skilled professional. This is a great channel to earn well with your skills because it allows you to earn from as many clients as possible.
Once you have acquired a skill, and as long as you can deliver on your tasks, freelancing allows you to determine how much work you do and how much you earn.
Also, you don’t have to worry about on-site work or fixed hours because freelancing allows you to work flexibly and remotely. In fact, you can offer your services to clients in any part of the world and earn in foreign currency. As long as you have a functional device and constant power and internet supply, then you can start on the freelancing path right away.
To start a freelancing career, the first thing you must have acquired is a valuable digital skill. Once this is in place, you must position yourself attractively in the market. This is possible via creating a profile on a freelancing platform and social media.
Because the freelancing market is highly competitive and saturated with other skilled pros like you, you need to optimize your profile and apply for the gigs that are suited to your skills. You must know how to apply for the right jobs to get your first freelancing offer.
To find out all you need to know about earning in dollars from freelancing, click here to check our article that guides you step by step.
- Share your knowledge with others for a fee.
As many more young people are getting more interested in acquiring digital skills, what you know makes you a real hot cake. To convert your skills to dollars, you can explore teaching online. To go this way, you must have a deep understanding of your skill’s theories and practical aspects.
You must also break down complex ideas into simpler descriptions so that your audience can easily grasp the knowledge you provide. If you have a high-value skill and can expressly communicate intricate details, then people will pay good money for that.
Fortunately, you can do all of this online in today’s digital world. Through social media, you can announce your services, build a community of learners from anywhere in the world and impart your knowledge. Besides, depending on your forte, you can impart your knowledge through textual, audio, video, or audio-visual mediums.
To earn money by teaching your skill, ensure a good feedback system whereby learners can interact with you about their challenges, needs, and expectations. This will help you hone your skill and continuously offer them a wide range of value. In return, they pay you for your knowledge.
- Create a high-value digital product for sale (writing an e-book, creating an online course)
If you would rather not interface all the time with learners personally, you can also create a high-value digital product that can be put up for sale.
This is a great passive income channel you can implement once you have learned a digital skill. For instance, with a digital skill like SEO writing, you can create an e-book or create an online course. By placing your digital product on global selling platforms like Amazon, then you can expect some cool dollars to roll in for you.
- Leverage your skills in e-commerce (using digital skills to sell physical products.)
Today, trading and commerce have gone far beyond the confines of physical stores and single locations. E-commerce is now the real deal.
Better still, if you have a physical product to sell, you can implement your newly acquired digital skill to make your trade even more profitable. This gives you an edge in marketing, sales, and even the payment structure for your business. Digital skills you can leverage range from:
- Content writing/ copywriting to create awareness and drive sales for your product
- Creating a website, app, or online store to market your products to the wider global market
- Using your graphics-design skills to create unique, attractive content for your product/services on social media.
- Integrating a smart payment system into your business to receive payment from global customers.
- Become a content creator for a specific, technical niche (by growing to become a quality content creator for a specific niche, you grow into being an authority and can offer consultancy services.)
Do you know that the more valuable your skill is, the greater your chances of success are?
Yes, there are digital skills such as content and copywriting, graphics design/ UI and UX design, web design, full-stack programming, etc. But even within these skills, there are specializations that are targeted toward specific markets. Some of these niches are more technical and high-value niches, and as such, they are less saturated.
When you have the skills of a technical niche, your knowledge becomes even more invaluable. With your knowledge, you can offer bespoke services to high-paying clients while spotlighting your skills as rare in the industry.
Final Thoughts
If you have acquired a digital skill or are in the process of acquiring one, then you should waste no time monetizing it. This is essential. By monetizing your skill, you get to finetune your knowledge and make it applicable to real-life issues. The more you do this, the more money you can rake in.
Do you need further assistance in monetizing your digital skill? Then reach out to us here or join our community of digital skill pros like you.
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