Being the smart person that you, you've invested allot of time, money and effort into gaining a fair or vast amount of knowledge in order to eventually make a living from all that knowledge right? Well then, in or order to get a rewarding return on your investment you need to understand that there are the three main ways in which to generate income for sharing the knowledge which you have learnt or skills which you have taught yourself. Most people fail at mastering at least one of these methods; while many lack an understanding of all three! Without a sound understanding of this all-important skills trifecta, you are likely to fail - over and over again at monetising your skills. In order to ensure you stay relevant today's knowledge economy we've decided to help you understand how and why Tutoring, Employment and Consulting are the three main methods you can use to monetise your knowledge. These three methods are all connected by one key consideration; how much you get paid over a period of time: either hourly, monthly or upon commencement or completion.
1. Tutoring - Get Paid Per Hour.
Tutoring is the easiest method to get paid for the knowledge and skills which you have.
Tutoring is where you get paid on an hourly basis in order to impart knowledge, a talent or subject to someone looking to learn a particular skill. What makes tutoring the easiest method to earn from is the fact that at any given there are people out there who are willing to pay you in order for you to assist them in attaining the the knowledge which you have gained. You just need to be able to show that you have acquired the knowledge which you intend to share - whether this is through qualifications, awards or work experience, the main purpose is to establish a trust relationship with your prospective learners, students or colleagues. Just simply having completed high school, a tertiary qualification or any form of certification puts you in the perfect position to begin earning for all your learning.
All you need to get started as a tutor is to create a 4uture Skillx Teacher Account and share a link to your profile with your potential clients.
The aspect that makes tutoring the ideal method to begin monetising your knowledge is the ease with which you are able to start up. You can start by simply letting your immediate contacts know that you are available specific times to tutor for a specific price per hour. Whether you decide to do this by creating a poster or simply just sharing your 4uture Skillx profile page on your social media your chances of find people willing to pay you for sharing your knowledge are high. Payscale shows that the average price for tutoring in South Africa is R100 per hour. This can be a good start, but if you have completed high school and tertiary you are able to earn much more.
Employment is without a doubt the most sort-after method of generating income in the world. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) collects the latest employment data and according to D. Clark 55.8 percent of the global working age population were employed. Yep, that’s right - only about half of people of in the world that are able to work as employees, actually do work. This shows that employment is not for everyone, but definitely is a great source of income and livelihood. Employment is defined as a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Employees carry out work for employers in return for wages, which can be paid on the basis of an hourly rate, by piecework or an annual salary paid to you either weekly or in most cases monthly. As this is the important aspect of employment we thought to unpack exactly how employment allows you to monetise your knowledge and skills.
The most important thing you need to realise is that, more often than not, you don’t get paid for your knowledge or capabilities - but rather you get paid for your time. A typical job description will always first indicate that you will be doing for an employer and then it indicates the experience or qualifications you need to secure the job. The reason why this is so is because the employer is looking for someone that will take the time to carry the duties they’ve listed in the job description - that is their primary goal. In order to make it quicker for you to begin with the duties ASAP they need you to prove that you have either done this before or at least undergone training that prepared you to do the work. That is the real function of your experience and qualifications - you may never ever get to share the knowledge or skills with anyone throughout your time of employment. You get paid for the time you spend doing the tasks which the employer has hired you for.
Understanding that you are employed to go spend 6, 8 or 12 hours at a time in order to carry certain duties and tasks should be your point of departure when considering employment. If you break down your monthly salary by looking at how many days you work in a month you can determine how much you get paid a day and how much you get paid an hour for carry out certain tasks. Once you have this understanding you may be well positioned to make the most of your employment by always seeking to increase the value which you get rewarded for as an employee.
Employment is fulfilling and can set you on a career pathway that allows you to meet all your needs to live the life you want. The average umber of years that wage and salary workers stay with employer 4.1 years in January 2020, little changed from 4.2 years in January 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Average amount of time that employees spend with a single employer as of 2021[Source: https://www.zippia.com/advice/career-change-statistics/]
This means that in a career a person can change jobs up to 15 times. With new trends such as Working From Home and other modes of remote work becoming popular due to the covid-19 pandemic, trends around employment are still expected to keep changing. This has now made one of the most secure ways guaranteed income become not-so guaranteed anymore. We shall wait and see what the future holds.
3. Consulting - Get Paid Based on a Client's Budget.
Consultants are appointed or brought in to suggest and recommend strategies and ways and means of improving the profitability of firms. To fully understand the role which consultants play in an organisation you’d have to recall Steve Jobs’ words when he said: "It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do, We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” As a consultant; you can expect to be paid according to the budget which the client has available to carry out a project. Based on the available budget you chargeable percentage as your consulting fee. Many careers are structured in such a way that upon gaining enough experience and professional accreditation you are able to pursue opportunities as an independent consultant. Though starting out may be daunting, there is enough information and there are enough people out there to help you begin earning an income as a consultant.
If the thought of consulting or becoming a consultant makes you think of the likes of companies such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group or Bain & Company then let's set the record straight! We are definitely not referring to management consulting! Think of an Engineer, a Dr, a Lawyer, Psychologist and many other professionals who earn a living from imparting their knowledge and expertise based on their individual skills. These are the skill exchangers we are referring to when we speak of consultants. In order to make it quick and easy for you to begin monetising your knowledge and expertise we suggest you pick up(and read) at least two of the books below:
