Last Updated on October 1, 2023 at 8:11 pm
Often, we do not need a calculator to tell us that we are not earning enough. Just the calendar is good enough for us. I often ask the audience in my corporate presentations, “When does your month-end?”. That is when you start looking forward to the next paycheque. Answers vary from 15th to 5th – yes five days after receiving salary! The solution to this cycle of month-start and month-end is an extra source of income. This is how you can plan and create an income stream that will last a lifetime.
First, we much appreciate the difference between getting extra income and building extra income. To getting some extra cash is not too hard for any with determination and time. We even have a nice term for it: the gig economy.
This refers to any kind of short-term engagement or freelancing. For example, freefincal engages a small team of trusted, qualified content writers. Who in exchange for a fee (Rs. 1000 for newbies, twice that with experience) create an 800-1000 word article that can be published with minimal editing. This is a “gig job”.
Today you can get such jobs – a small payment in exchange for short-term effort and time quite easily. You can be a content writer, website customizer, video editor, virtual assistant etc. The list is virtually endless.
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There is a catch, however. Pay per engagement will be small. The number of engagements one can take on will be limited by our time and energy. Thus while the gig economy is like a band-aid to our money problems, it is not a cure. With disciplined effort 10-20% extra income is doable but it would tire us out.
This is certainly suitable for those who need money quickly. However, just like credit card reward points, it is unlikely to change our life, unlikely to change our social status or social station. The question is, can build a secondary income stream that will change our life? Not immediately, but in a few years time. Can we build an income that will grow like this?
The black line is our regular income which will increase at some small rate and drop to zero when we retire. The red line is the side income by doing gigs. It can quickly grow but since we are exchanging time and effort, it can only grow so much and flatten (relative to our salary).
The ideal secondary source of income is that one takes years to sprout and then slowly starts growing and then suddenly becomes significant. This with passion can be made to last a lifetime and can make a huge difference when we retire.
The “How to get people to pay for your skills” course was designed with this key idea. I do not need to emphasise the importance of 5-10% of your salary as extra money comes in regularly without repeated mechanical effort.
Course Objective: A complete framework to build online visibility with your skills; Create a community of readers and viewers based on expertise and trust and generate an income that will gradually grow to become significant and last a lifetime.
- Find a skill that you love and others will find useful
- Get better at this skill, find out problems that the community has and solve them for free
- Build trust
- Soon they will ask you to help them for a fee
- That is when the income gates open
- You can create a bucket of active + passive products and services, interlink them and keep the income coming slowly, steadily and then strongly.
Naturally, those who need extra income immediately should become part of the gig economy and could only help them learn more skills that can be leveraged towards long term income.
The “How to get people to pay for your skills” course, aka “Earn from Skills” was launched on Sep 28th for a fee of just Rs. 5000. (one-time purchase; forever access;).
I am happy to announce at the time of writing, 600-plus members are now part of the exclusive Facebook group in which the course videos (10 units, 8+ hours of content upload so and more on the way!) are hosted. The fee is one-time and the access forever!
Join the course to start your journey!
Course Fee: Rs. 5000. The fee is deliberately kept low to enable young earners and college students to participate. Enter the course via this link: How to get people to pay for your skills: A guide to win the trust and build an income.
Your FB email need not be the same as purchase email! Just enter the purchase email in the question box of the group to join
This is for anyone looking to earn extra income (aka side hustle) or passive income; anyone who wants to start a blog or YouTube channel or build a social media following; for entrepreneurs; small business owners; anyone who would like to build a business by showcasing their expertise, for example, financial advisors, insurance advisors, software consultants, writers, just about any service that requires an online presence. Watch the first video for free below.
Course FAQ
- Is the fee one-time or recurring? It is one-time.
- Can I watch the videos any time I want? Yes. Access is forever. You will need a Facebook Account to access the course (the email used for Facebook and the email used to buy the course can be different)
- I would like to resell the course. Is this possible? Yes, you can.
- I am a professional, entrepreneur or small business owner. Will this course help? Yes! It will help you quickly set up your website and online profiles right and show you how you can leverage them for building a brand, a community that trusts you and would buy from you or hire you.
- I am salaried with some interests I want to develop. Will this course help? Yes! The course discusses how you can use online communities to understand problems and issues that you can address to increase visibility.
- I want to earn some extra income but I am not sure about the area. Will this course help? The core idea of online money making is to help others without expectations and the money will come. Tom Cruise said “everyone has a story. Similarly “everyone has something to offer”. Some way in which they can help others. It should not take long for you to list that. Even if you are not an expert in that area, you can learn while you create content. This is what I did and am doing with freefincal. Once you think of at least one way to help someone else, the course will help you get ideas and create content around that.
- Will this help me set up a website? Yes. A start to finish guide is included along with “how to write SEO optimised content”
- When can I start seeing results? This is not a get rich quick scheme. Results will depend on your circumstances and the topic. For example, a financial advisor may see faster results than a salaried person working on this as a side project. Simply because for the financial advisor, online visibility is bread and butter. Similarly, a person writing about politics may get more revenue than a person writing poems because of the community size interested in each area. Increasing visibility in the area we are good at is more productive than chasing after a “hot topic” we know nothing about.
About Me
Check out this video if you wish to know more about my experience and expertise?
Course Contents
(Each number will correspond to one video approximately)
1: Overview of objective and what will be covered. (This will be free for all). Watch this part below
2: Step Zero: What is your goal? How to define success and making money.
Step one: What will make you truly happy? Some members may already know what they want to do (eg sell mattresses or become a financial advisor) and some members may still be searching for what topic they would like to work on. We shall keep this mind as we discuss.
What is a ‘solution gap’? How this will decide your online presence, trust, following and income.
3: Steps two-four: Choosing a topic to work with. Choosing a format. How to find problems in a particular topic that you can address
4: Basics of setting up a website – why it is indispensable. Different ways to showcase your competence. Pros and cons of each method.
5: Overview of making money online. Pros and cons of each method
6: Deciding your game plan (whether you are sure about what to do or not!). Choosing a monetization strategy that is right for you.
7: Website site walk-through Part 1: From buying a domain, hosting to setting it up before you write your first blog post.
8: Website site walk-through Part 2. I have purchased a new domain – earnfromskills.com for this purpose. (screenshot below).
9: Social Media Account Set up. How to develop a following without trolling others
10: Why and how to develop an email list
11: Setting up a Google My Business Page and how to maintain it
12: Youtube: How to use it, how not to, how to get started and what to expect.
13: Automating tasks: Tips and Tools
14: How to always have ten ideas to create content with
15: How to let potential products and services evolve from content and community
16: Active vs Passive Income: What Should You use. What does passive really mean?
17: When to start selling products; How to ensure consistent sales?
18: How to launch a product? When to advertise and when not to! What to advertise and what not to!
19: How to stay updated on the latest developments in your area and online visibility. How to stay ahead of the curve by not being afraid to experiment.
20: How to exploit features specific to mobile to showcase our content to new audiences
21: A look at all the tools I use strategies
22: Plus other topics that you think would help. Send an email to pattu “at” freefincal.com if you have suggestions.
Features of the course
- The course will mention popular products/services you should not waste money on. The total cost of this alone will be 3-5 times the full price of the course.
- All products mentioned in the course are those I use. You can get to see the methods and plugins I use.
- Interested members can resell the course.
- If you are a professional consultant, even the full fee will be a fraction of what you charge from a single client.
- Essentially what I have learned over the last eight years will be part of the course.
- There is a lot of nonsense peddled around in the marketing and SEO worlds. The course will aim to dispel much of this.
Course Fee: Rs. 5000 only. The fee is deliberately kept low to enable young earners and college students to participate. Enter the course via this link: How to get people to pay for your skills: A guide to win the trust and build an income.
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About The Author
Dr M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over ten years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. Connect with him via Twitter(X), Linkedin, or YouTube. Pattabiraman has co-authored three print books: (1) You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) for DIY investors. (2) Gamechanger for young earners. (3) Chinchu Gets a Superpower! for kids. He has also written seven other free e-books on various money management topics. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation promoting unbiased, commission-free investment advice.Our flagship course! Learn to manage your portfolio like a pro to achieve your goals regardless of market conditions! ⇐ More than 3,000 investors and advisors are part of our exclusive community! Get clarity on how to plan for your goals and achieve the necessary corpus no matter the market condition is!! Watch the first lecture for free! One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos! Reduce fear, uncertainty and doubt while investing! Learn how to plan for your goals before and after retirement with confidence.
Our new course! Increase your income by getting people to pay for your skills! ⇐ More than 700 salaried employees, entrepreneurs and financial advisors are part of our exclusive community! Learn how to get people to pay for your skills! Whether you are a professional or small business owner who wants more clients via online visibility or a salaried person wanting a side income or passive income, we will show you how to achieve this by showcasing your skills and building a community that trusts and pays you! (watch 1st lecture for free). One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos!
Our new book for kids: “Chinchu Gets a Superpower!” is now available!
Must-read book even for adults! This is something that every parent should teach their kids right from their young age. The importance of money management and decision making based on their wants and needs. Very nicely written in simple terms. - Arun.Buy the book: Chinchu gets a superpower for your child!
How to profit from content writing: Our new ebook is for those interested in getting side income via content writing. It is available at a 50% discount for Rs. 500 only!
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