Why Charging for Access to Knowledge & Community Will Create Positive Social Impact
As creators, there is a common hesitation to ask for money from your community. Primarily because we believe accessibility to education is a human right, especially, when it comes to environmental and social impact topics.
And it absolutely is. It’s very natural for us to be concerned about who can afford to learn and who can’t. However, in the very essence of sustainability, producing free content is not sustainable either.
We have lived through an era of incredible cultural change driven by the Internet, and specifically social media. Platforms have created a culture where people expect content to be free and only the super-famous can make money. But it’s not free. It takes time, work and a lot of effort.
“Free” social platforms are subsidised by advertising. Our data is taken, amalgamated to create a digital profile of each and every one of us, and then sold to the highest bidder. As a creator, you have to fight an algorithm daily and you don’t even get paid by the advertisers who piggyback your content to target your audience and make money for themselves.
We must create a new world of sustainable content creation.
Here’s how you can think about it — and you don’t need 1000’s of followers to achieve it 🙏
There are three key economic, social and ecological shifts in the way our civilisations function. They’re of epic proportion and they’re fundamentally changing the way we work and live.
To save you from the details, I’ll cut to the chase (and stay very top level):
- Automation is going to diminish manual labour jobs and force people to become knowledge workers
- Therefore, more of us require constant access to knowledge and networks but traditional education can’t manage — it’s now too slow for a fast changing world and too expensive to acquire
- Additionally, ecological and social factors are forcing us to develop emotionally and intellectually to combat a future we cannot predict in a way that humans have never collaborated before.
Pretty heavy stuff right?!
Kinda’ but let’s relate all this back to you.
As a creator with experience, knowledge and compassion, you are an ‘educator’ of the future. You’ll help people upskill, make progress and keep the world moving forwards.
Not to discredit teachers who provide a critical service to our society. But they cannot solve this problem — a post k-12 experience, where no one knows it all and no one ever knows enough.
So why should this matter to you?
Quite simply, there’s money being spent on the things you offer.
The Elearning Market is set to exceed USD $375 billion by 2026, according to a research report by Global Market Insights.
The lifelong learning market as a whole is set to reach $800bn by 2030 and there will be 1 billion more learners in the world than there is now.
That’s a lot of people looking for knowledge and connection. People who can apply that information to create a better world and help solve our global challenges.
Your subscriptions, membership models, workshops, podcasts, blogs, research, talks, book clubs and live chats are all sources of knowledge and experiences that the workforce need to succeed. These people are going to generate trillions of $£€ in world economies and there are trillions $£€ being spent on learning, right now.
Money that can support the great work you do, which you can allocate to social good projects — a truly circular model ♾
Some people who need what you know 👇
- Knowledge workers — who want access to in-the-moment know-how
- Employees & Professionals — who want to upskill and progress
- Organisations & Employers — who want their employees constantly in the know
- Activists — who don’t have time to take long courses
- Conscious citizens — who care and have the cash
- Students / Universities — who find you more economical to learn from
- Patrons / Sponsors / Partners — who love what you do and support you
The world is shaping up to create a greener workforce towards a greener economy, which demands greener thinking. Not just in sustainability but development across hundreds of topics for emotional, social and intellectual development.
The future of work is micro-learning: A just-in-time experience. And that future can be shaped by you.
The question is, what can you offer your community of learners that they’ll find valuable and will help them achieve goals?
📗Read: How to choose your business model (4min)
📗Read: 25 ideas you can use to launch premium experiences today (3min)
Want even more social impact?
With the money you’re making, create a side-pot so that every paying member can contribute to a fund that supports those who are hard-of-access. Win-Win-Win 👇
- Learners get access to upskill and knowledge ✅
- You, as a creator, get paid ✅
- Together, you can provide free access to education for others and create real-world impact through social mobility ✅
The Economic Research (If you’re interested)
If you want to see for yourself, check some recent research on the changing tide of the world of work.
This is just a drop in the proverbial ocean 🌊
The Future of Work requires a future that’s sustainable
Highlighted by the ILO with their research into the future of work based on the changing natural environment:
“Environmental trends affect the world of work directly, just as the world of work affects the environment. The future of work cannot be conceived as independent of its effects on the environment nor independent from trends in the natural environment. As the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook 2018: Greening with jobs explains, on the one hand, environmental degradation destroys work opportunities and worsens working conditions. On the other hand, any efforts to achieve sustainability will entail a structural transformation. Crucially, this transformation can result in more and better jobs.”
Cash Injection of £166.5M to create 60K+ jobs
The green technology required to help the UK meet its world-leading climate targets has been given a £166.5 million cash injection, just 6 months on from the publication of the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.
“This aims to accelerate the delivery of game-changing technologies needed to drive Britain’s climate change ambitions, while creating over 60,000 jobs across the UK.”
£350M cash injection to industry to tackle climate change
On July 22, 2020, the British government announced a GBP 350 million budget to fund the decarbonisation of heavy industry and the construction, transportation, and aviation sectors.
Low carbon and renewable energy sectors worth £46.2bn
In total there were around 96,500 low carbon and renewable energy businesses in the UK in 2014, equivalent to 4.4 per cent of non-financial businesses in the country. These businesses generated a total annual turnover of £46.2 billion.
The Sustainable Economy could reach $90 trillion
FTSE Russell found that if the sustainable economy maintained its current course, it could represent 7% of the global market capitalisation by 2030, even reaching 10% with $90 trillion in green investment
24 Million more jobs to be created by 2030 — United Nations
Globally, 1.2 billion jobs depend on a stable and healthy environment. Industries like agriculture, fisheries and forestry, as well as tourism and pharmaceuticals, depend on natural environmental processes.
Renewable Energy jobs alone continue to grow to 11.5M
The seventh edition of Renewable Energy and Jobs — Annual Review shows that jobs in the sector reached 11.5 million globally last year, led by solar PV with some 3.8 million jobs, or a third of the total.
2 billion more learners in the next 2 decades
There will be 2 billion more learners in the world by 2050. To what extent will traditional models of education be able to service these needs at the speed and at the scale required?
We’re building WONDR to support the impact-driven creators of the world. The future educators and the community builders who want to create a positive change for people and planet 🌎🤘
If you’d like to apply to the Creator Network of Communities — visit here.
My team and I are on hand every step of the way:
- Direct Message me on WONDR here
- Hop on a 15min call in with me here
