MEDIUM | SIDE-HUSTLE | ONLINE SKILLS | FREELANCING
How to Make Money in 2022 while Learning?
But you have to do some work too.
“OMG, but is that possible? I’ve been always doing the opposite all these years.”
Well, that’s true but now things have changed tremendously. Roles are reversing and the old rules are simply fading away.
What hasn’t changed is one thing: our need for constant learning and constant development. This will never change, but ways to achieve it will.
But before diving into the topic for today which is getting paid to learn (just reading these letters is pleasing, huh), we’re about to redefine learning first.
What Do We Understand with Learning?
If you asked me the same question three years ago, I would say that it’s the ability to memorize a large amount of information and recall it when asked.
This was before entering university. Then, my perspective on learning slowly started changing. Memorization was something I admired in others and I thought it equaled learning. But this wasn’t the case though. Learning meant more than simply strong memorization skills.
Today, I’d say that learning is attaining useful knowledge to solve problems.
For instance, learning to fix your laptop when it crashes.
Learning to craft a job application well enough to land interviews.
Learning to bike and commute to work 30-minutes faster.
Learning to create digital content and sell it to support yourself financially.
And the last point is where we are focusing on today. Getting paid to learn and learning to get paid more in the process.
Can You Get Paid to Learn?
Sorry if I got you confused. Let me put it simply:
You can work for low rates while you learn a skill that pays more as you get better. You work to perfect your skill, but you also get paid in the process.
Now that this is clear, we can get going with the rest of the article.
So, we were talking about getting paid to learn. There are a number of digital skills you can get paid to offer.
The list I’ll mention involves digital skills, but this isn’t the only way to get paid for learning. The same concept applies to offline skills as well.
You start by offering your greatest asset, time, in exchange for feedback and advice.
For instance, you want to become a skilled economist, and you accept to work for a senior economist or accounting agency for free, just to learn.
Now, this part is easily mistaken. Learning doesn't mean receiving a certification you can slip into those job applications praying it’ll help you get a job position you have no real skills for.
Learning means that you jump into a skill and devour each secret of it to use them to solve problems in the real world independently.
We’re talking about a phase when you don’t have any minimal skill to “qualify for a job position” in this field…AND still, get paid for learning.
How Is This Possible?
One word: Freelancing.
The sexiest trend of the skill economy that is slowly taking over the work ecosystem, and is giving people more than a reliable income. Is giving them skills they can use to feed themselves for the rest of their lives.
I’ve freelanced on sites like Upwork for a few years now and I confidently say that even if I lost all my digital assets, and even was restricted from using the internet, I’d be able to make a living pretty well.
Freelancing stands for more than simply remote work. It stands for a vast sea of possibilities to sharpen your skills without official certifications or having to work 8 hours per day. That’s because it’s based mostly on provable skills.
When you start selling a skill online, you don’t simply master that one skill like it happens in a regular office job. You:
- learn to find clients
- learn to research competitors
- learn to study trends
- learn to build self-discipline
- learn to be more thoughtful (freelancers are lone wolves sometimes)
- learn to adapt to industry changes
- learn to promote yourself
- learn to network
- learn multiple soft and hard skills unrelated to what you do, etc.
How Can I Get Started?
Offering your skills on freelance platforms is the best path to start learning unless you have the option to work for another expert. Upwork has proven the best platform for me with over 10,000 jobs posted daily and a low percentage of scams.
Upwork counts over 18 million freelancers so far with 12 main categories of services with their 170+ subfields. There’s a place for any digital skill you can offer. The main 12 categories are:
- Accounting and Consulting
- Admin Support
- Customer Service
- Data Science and Analysis
- Design and Creative
- Engineering and Architecture
- IT and Networking
- Legal
- Sales and Marketing
- Translation
- Web, Mobile, and Software Development
- Writing
Did you enjoy reading and writing ever since you were a child? Try writing.
Have you always liked drawing and painting all over your notebooks but then you decided to ditch that hobby because the fast-paced life put heavy responsibilities on your shoulders? Try Graphic Design.
There’s a marketplace for any type of skill you aim to develop as long as you are open to feedback, and constantly seek to become an expert in the chosen field. Being teachable is the most important detail to achieving success.
Tip: Overtime, I’ve learned that whether you get a response or not from paying clients depends heavily on your proposals. Read this article for tips.
Other platforms such as Fiverr and Freelancer offer similar options too. Honestly, I haven't had much experience working with them but I’ve personally met freelancers who have established themselves on Fiverr or Freelancer with hundreds of reviews and a constant stream of work.
(These platforms come with their own courses as well if you’d like to prepare yourself before jumping into the job market to practice and grow.) Not all platforms will be useful to you but you need only one. Once you discover which one gets you constant work, focus on that.
If you’re reading this article, it means you already have most of the tools required to get started: a laptop/smartphone and an internet connection. Give it a try and see how much you’ll grow (and get paid) in the process.
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