Having access to the internet provides many possibilities for self-improvement. The are many websites that offer various courses for free, where you can study and start building the career you’ve always wanted. The best thing is that all of the courses are just a click away, accessible during any period of the day. You don’t need to acquire high-tech equipment nor signup for very expensive courses.
All you need is an internet connection and the will to learn. Searching the web, you can easily stumble upon many useful tips and guides. Here are some ideas that can both help you develop yourself professionally and be useful, since they are in high demand.
1. Teaching English online
Yes, you already have this skill, and being a native English speaker gives you an advantage. You can earn money giving online lessons to people living in Asia. Lately this practice has been very popular among European youth. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be native speaker to teach English to people from East Asian countries. If you have good conversational skills, you are good to go. Of course, you can always improve your speaking skills by following a few tips. All you need is a PC, internet access and a Skype account and you are set to become an English tutor.
2. Learn how to code
There’s never been a better time to learn to code because the demand for these skills is very high and you can become a master from the comfort of your home. If you are totally new to programming and all things related to it, don’t despair, there are ways to learn programming by playing games. After overcoming the basic principles of programming like variables, conditions, loops etc., you can sign up for a course on a specific programming language that interests you.
Before you make a decision, you can check which skills are in high demand. A good place where you can learn programming skills is Codecademy. They teach you how to code interactively and are very helpful during the learning process. You can also check Coursera and Udemy; they are also free learning platforms with courses and video lessons.
3. Web design
The career in web design brings many challenges and having fun overcoming them is what makes this line of work interesting and exciting. Web design is a creative job and leaves many possibilities for your imagination. Learning WordPress is a very good way to go. It’s easy to manage and an incredibly powerful blogging and content management system.
There are many guides and interesting tips that can help you learn WordPress. With many themes that control the way your desired content is presented and many plugins that add and extend some functionality of the website, WordPress is certainly one of the most potent systems out there. You can learn how to create your own theme and how to implement plugins.
4. Graphic design
A great way to communicate with people is by creating images, it’s no coincidence that graphic design is also known as communication design. By creating your own images, you can express ideas and experiences with visual and textual content. There many free online tutorials to help you learn graphic design.
One of the many interesting developments in this field is the infographic, a graphic visual representation of information intended to present information quickly and clearly. Easel.ly is free, web-based tool where you can create all sorts of interesting infographics. If you don’t have a clue how you would like to pass the information to the community, you can always check out some cool ideas on how to create infographics.
Every big industry needs to present data in an effective manner, so by learning how to design and create an infographic you will be able to earn cash while staying creative. Since the infographic market is quite saturated, you can apply some tips that can make your infographic special: keep it simple and focused, if resizing your graphic make sure you don’t lose readability, create a catchy headline, make sure that you add white spaces to enhance other elements etc.
When you get to know basics of graphic design you can use those skills to create memes and instructional photos of life hacks. There are alos some very interesting tips on how to create engaging memes. Since life hacks are very popular, using your skills to create instructions based on an actual life hack can help you become recognized in the online community. Some of your popular designs can become a good reference in your portfolio.
By creating an interesting and instructional life hack meme you also help people by showing them uncommon solution to a common problem, providing both simple and practical advice.
5. Video Blogging
Making a video on an interesting topic with your opinion and point of view and posting it on YouTube is a good way to start earning money, and it can also have some other benefits. It may take some time until you build up your viewers, but it all depends on what you choose to video blog about. Advantage of vlog is that it is much more entertaining than plain text and it can be designed around many topics. Recent research has shown that video material is far more engaging than images and text. Applying some tips to your video blogging can help you become more successful. You can bring your game further if you gain some video editing skills.
The internet is flooded with tips and guides that can help you improve professionally. Don’t get discouraged by the number of people already doing something that you are just starting to learn. Adding your personal touch to anything you try to do can make a big difference. The internet has made age difference insignificant, so don’t let your age hold you down and prevent you from advancing and learning new things.
It’s never too late to add some useful skills to your portfolio and make yourself more competitive on the market. There are many people who started learning skills just as hobbies and ended up earning money by utilizing them.
Featured photo credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/o6Y9E-DdG6w/ via pexels.com
