Once upon a time I thought that I just could write great, useful posts, reply to people’s emails and give free courses and in return people would give me tips and donations. I thought I would make a lot of money online this way.
Only a few, countable people since then have given me a tip or free gift for my work. I was so happy to hear, “Hey, take this cash for the good work you’ve done.” Thank you guys so much.
Apart from the few people who sent me some “thank you” cash, I didn’t earn anything else.
This taught me one thing: For you to actually earn from your training, and remain motivated to keep going on and on, you need to create a paid course!
90% of my training is still free via my blog, email and social media groups.
However I created different trainings and eBooks to help people deeper and also keep putting some food on my table. And I must say that it has helped build many online professionals, as well as helped me earn a good buck!
Note that if we talk of a career trajectory, all freelancers should aim to one day create a training that will help other people to get to where they are. Yes, it can make you rich but the greatest joy from this is the fulfillment you get when your trainees start making it. Then they come back with their success stories.
Here is how you can make money training people.
Create eBooks
It is so easy to create an ebook.
Below is the procedure you can follow.
- Make sure you are an expert in the field you are going to write about. Whether it is online business or farming, make sure you really know your stuff.
- Write on MS Word or another good word processor.
- Get a graphic designer or head over to Fiverr and get someone to create for you a nice 2D and 3D ebook cover.
- Put the 2D ebook cover on the first page of your Word document.
- Brand your eBook: Put headers and footers with your site link, phone number, offer or anything else that would brand your asset (the eBook).
- Make sure you format and layout your eBook properly e.g. changing fonts, inserting links, creating a table of contents, adding any necessary graphics e.t.c.
- Let the last chapter/page talk about your other products/trainings.
- Save as PDF
- Price it any amount you’d like. In my experience eBooks sell more if they are priced at Sh. 500 and below.
Start marketing it heavily though guest blogs, other people’s mailing lists, social media, forums e.t.c.
Note that this post talks about normal PDF eBooks. You’d have to do more research if you want to do Kindle ebooks.
Email Based Trainings
In my experience, online trainings sell more, way more, than eBooks. And one of the ways of doing them is through automated, pre-set emails that go out automatically at pre-set intervals after a trainee subscribes.
Here is how you can do your email-based training:
- Decide on what you are going to train about. You have to practically be an expert in the field or get an expert to run it.
- Decide on how many days you want the training to run. For purposes of this blog post, we’ll assume it will run for 7 days, a lesson per day.
- Create lessons 1-7 on a normal Word document.
- Sign up to email marketing software that has an autoresponder feature. An autoresponder is a software that allows emails to be sent automatically at specified intervals. I personally use AWeber for my email marketing and autoresponder needs.
- Copy paste each lesson to an email corresponding to each day e.g. Lesson 1 to go out on first day, Lesson 2, on second and so forth.
- Create a good web form where people can sign up to the training
- Choose a price for your training. In my experience I have noticed that people love trainings that cost below Sh. 1,000. However, I have also seen online trainings going for even more than 2500 but people still buy.
- Market the course widely online.
Organize seminars
I was initially really shy and afraid of creating this but eventually I decided to get out of the closet and try it out.
It has been phenomenal.
So far the different seminars I have organized have been smashing successes.
Here is how you can create a seminar.
- Decide on the main topic to focus on. You still have to be a pro at it.
- Think of one or two more people who are also good in it
- Reach out to the different people you’d like to partner with and agree on the different topics to tackle
- Market the seminar widely online, especially on mailing lists and social media groups. Facebook event pages work wonders on such events. Make sure you create an event page.
- Get a graphics guy to do a great event graphic
- Choose a good venue and view it in advance to ensure it’s what you want
- Make noise about the seminar on and offline
- On the seminar date, be 2 hours early to make sure that all equipment works fine. Machines have a way of changing their minds last minute J
- Find a way of organizing all the event material properly. This can be in form of PowerPoint Presentations, PDF notes, handouts, video shoots, photos etc. This way you can sell the material to those who did not attend.
- After the seminar, make sure you make good use of the “waru moment”. This is the period after the seminar where those who missed really feel bad. That bad feeling in old sheng used to be called “kusikia waru”. While people are still in the “waru moment”, put a lot of photos, testimonials and even teaser clips of videos to make them really want to buy event materials.
- Keep organizing seminars every few months collaborating with different people in your niche.
Paid Consultations
“Just meet people for free!”
This is said a lot on social media when someone wants to meet and train people.
This is only until the person gets so many people to meet that they can’t do their own work. And eventually the bills come knocking. Then they realize that the next month they will not make the same mistake.
Paid consultations are simple, just decide on a fee that you will charge people when you meet. Charge per hour. This way, when you meet guys you still get compensated for the time you’d have spent doing paid jobs. For example, I charge Sh. 700 per hour for paid meetings.
Something else you didn’t know. When you charge someone for a meeting, they take you more seriously and will really put some thought before they call you. They realize some things are simply answered by Mr. Google.
Membership Sites
I am not a pro at this. But I have done some paid trainings through membership sites. These include AffiloBlueprint and Blog Post Promotion.
This involves creating sites where people can sign up and get all the content organized in a certain format, from the first to the last lesson or module. It is then up to them to follow that order and participate in any prescribed tasks.
There are also sites, such as SmartKenyan and Udemy, where you can host and sell your trainings.
Serious point to note
I have said this many times in this post and I will say it again. Make sure you are good at what you do, and have a heart of helping your trainee. I have seen people smashed online for offering shoddy trainings. In my experience, people prefer paying anything below 1k for online trainings, of course depending on the depth and period it will take. Below 1k may even be 999..he he he.
Conclusion
Once again, make sure that as much as possible of what you do is free e.g. blog posts, email and social media blasts.
However for really deep, time consuming stuff, you can create a professional online training that can really help people make it. The goal at the end of the day should be to see as many people as possible making it, not for you to get rich.
Have you ever made money training people on anything? How did you do it? What do you think about the methods above? Let’s hear it on the comments 🙂
This is excellent information. Thanks for sharing. I like the way you break down how one can have an email training.
Thanks Joy. Happy to help. Yes, my course was first email-based before I joined an online course platform.
Mind opening, very well thought out
Thanks Vincent.
Thank you Walter for sharing this, really mind opening
Thanks too Julius.
Hi Walter,
Thank you for your articles on making money online. I have just registered at freelancer.com and they are asking for a payment method. What is the best payment method to use?
Thanks in advance,
Leona
Hi Leona. Thanks for your feedback. My advise is you use Skrill. Thanks.
Hi walter
I am following your blog well, i’m hoping to give you some guest posts if that’s fine by you.
Hi Adeniyi. Thanks for following. Email me with details of what you want to post.
It will be a repetition of the comments below this if I said that your site has helped many people, but I said it anyway.
Something else though, I have been going through Google Trends of late and I can tell you that Kenyans are so much interested in freelance jobs. I guess it is because IT infrastructure has been growing fast, with cheap data bundles and fast 3G+ and fibre optic connections.
Among the top countries that searched for freelance jobs in 2014 are India, Pakistan and surprise surprise! …Kenya. So, when you talk about online training courses, you are referring to a gold mine. However, I like how you approach the whole thing. As much you are making money, you are helping those who haven’t taken off yet.
Thinking of becoming the next Udemy or Lynda might be intimidating though, but I am happy that many people here are already embracing the available opportunities as they have mentioned in the comments section.
Oh! and by the way, I found your free eBooks very useful, the 2 of them!. 🙂 All the best in your endeavours.
Mike hi :). Thanks a lot for your lovely comment. Good news about Google Trends. Yes, we are really growing fast as far as freelance jobs are concerned. Kenyans are very innovative and forward thinking. All the best to you too.
hi walter,
am permanently employeed but i would like you to introduce me to one of the site that i can perfectly work online during my free time. i have a lot of access to internet at my workplace ( we are not normally so busy being a public institution) and during weekends at home.
i don’t like academic writings but i can try any other else if given a suitable site
regards
Simon
Hi Simon
You can try join a general platform like Elance.com or Freelancer.com. Register and then try out the different kinds of jobs there to see what suits you.
I hope this helps.
Thanks.
Hi Walter,
I agree with you on most of the article but i believe if you offering a training, and am talking of a training that you know you providing the trainee with all the information he/she needs then i think you should charge more than 1k. My opinion is that i better target for the 2% who are willing to pay much more for a quality service than do a lot of work for 98% with lesser pay.
Earn what you deserve, but don’t overwork yourself. it is good to be fair to both of us.
Before you charge more just ensure that the training you offering is worth that much.
Hi Steve
Thanks for your kind feedback. Sure, pricing has its different dynamics and depends on a couple of factors. For example, there is an internet marketer who gives a thorough online training for free. And it would be worth quite a bit.
I appreciate your feedback and will definitely consider it for future trainings or when I upgrade my current one.
Hallo Walter,
I totally love your blog posts on FreelancerKenya and the ideas that you give out. Already working on implementing some of those ideas. Great work and keep it up.
Hi Winnie. I am flattered. Thanks a lot. Yes, kindly implement and come back here to let us know how things are going. All the best.
Before I say anything let me confess something… I love your writing style. I mean, it’s so natural and…and… do I say enticing.. God knows it’s better than that.
OH,, by the way welcome back. #whileyouwereaway we spent time re-reading the older posts hoping that you come back. Miraculously enough for a get-bored-quick dude like me they never seemed to loose value- at least I found myself here daily without knowing how I got here nor did I remember which browser I used….
I love the post. It’s enriching and quite of a kick on the pants. I love blogging-mom knows it and she doesn’t even know what the heck it is *wink*
Hi Steve. Thanks for your feedback. I am glad you love my style :). I’m humbled.
He he he…Cool. Glad you kept coming back here for info. I try keeping them timeless (but do I say).
I appreciate your welcome back. LoL..we all need a kick in the back sometimes 🙂
Tell your mom blogging is awesome, even though she has no idea what it is.
Hi Walter, good to hear from you! I love the idea about getting someone from Fiverr to make book covers. I’ve been ghost writing eBooks for awhile now and maybe its time to up my game! I’m certainly looking forward to what you have in store for us. Great work!
Thanks a lot Vicky. Yeah, you can get some good covers from Fiverr. Try writing and selling your own ebooks. It’s fun!
Hello there Walter,
I was wondering what happened to you. Glad you are back and promising loads of sweet pies going forward.
Becoming a consummate Virtual Assistant (online, off or both) is my ultimate goal. I envisioned this a while back – around May 2012. VA work is multifaceted and boy do I love the versatility involved. I think it is revitalizing and motivating.
I think this post kind of got me thinking about and re-evaluating my current progress. I’ve been trying to perfect my writing skills primarily at iWriter. Well, there’s nothing like a perfect writer but meticulous should just about do it. You’ll agree that online work involves tracks of written material including emails and articles, and working with native English speakers (who’ll pay top dollar for skilled partners).
You state that one needs to be good at a certain skill inorder to teach others; I totally agree. I’ve read paid how-to ebooks before, only to feel cheated off my heard earned mulla. You, on the other hand, are delivering enough punch for the investment. Plus, conducting seminars is a truly direct way to get the training through to us aspiring webpreneurs.
I’m currently learning the ropes and trying to learn online best practices for academic writing. Anyone here with valuable info, this is a humble invitation for mentoring. Walter, keep up and keep at it. Thanks man.
Hi Dennis
Yeah, back with a bang as always!
Go for your dreams. That seems like a noble profession.
Yeah, I feel you on the buying stuff and feeling cheated. Even the bible says that not everyone can be a teacher.
For academic writing, you can go to Facebook and contact a guy called Pat Rick. Here is the direct link https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1807753974
Thanks for your great response.
Happy new year Walter? I surely love everything you post on freelancerkenya. I just smiled when I saw your email first thing in the morning today, I obviously knew I am learning something new today and truely I did. What a breakfast!! Thanks again.
Frank. Thanks for making me smile :). Happy to hear that. More good stuff coming up so watch this space 🙂
Always in love with your passion for our success online. Thanks
Thanks Charles. I have deep passion for that. My dream is to have as many people as possible working online.
Great of you to mentor others, Walter. I’ve come to learn that using such an approach is afterall rewarding.
Ha ha ha..well, I also agree you should not wait up for tips for your good work when you can initiate this kind of paid trainings. Thanks man.
Thanks Dennis. Yes, very rewarding and keeps you afloat for a long time. He he he…I am glad the tips part sunk in 🙂
Invaluable and enlightening information packaged very well! For the longest time I have shied away from doing trainings; always thought they weren’t my thing and we’re very time-consuming. Now I know better. I’m even considering adding them to my New Year resolutions :). God bless you for all you do!
Hi Ndanu. I am happy to hear that. Yeah, try it out. I am sure you’ll do a great job!
Oops! Just noticed I used we’re instead of were (boring autocorrect!) But I know you get the gist :).
No problem. He he he…I understand 🙂
Hi Walter. Great stuff – as usual 🙂 I’m working on an online course and your guidelines seem to cover it all. I have some kindle books (not related to online work) but will soon release an ebook on online work. I usually get my 3D covers for free from www(dot)3d-pack(dot)com for free. 500/- for one-on-one sessions seems reasonable enough (I really thought it would be more). Once again, keep up the good work.
Hi John. Thanks loads. Good to hear you are working on an online course and also about the Kindle ebooks. I believe your online work ebook will perform well. Lol about the 500. So what did you think it would be? Thanks again 🙂
Hae Walter this i more than a blog post,thanks so much for the information,keep on the good job of educating people on how to make it on online business.however i think i can take my time to perfect my area since am a newbie.Thanks so much.
Hi James. I appreciate your compliment. You are most welcome. Yes, take your time, work hard, and soon you’ll be a veteran!
Hi Walter,
You ‘ve say what it makes all of us to realise success and goals that will help us foster the economic growth of this nation.
Am so greatful for such a lovely and awesome Ideas and thoughts that you guys share am too looking forward for such a great contribution in the near future as I look forward for greater things ever.
Be blessed Prof and everyone on this social platform.nice weekend
Thanks a lot Rutto. I appreciate your feedback.
Hi Walter. Happy New Year to you too! Great stuff from you as always. I’m a business startup coach and happily refer my clients to you when they need to create an online presence. I started from the high end of the spectrum with paid consultations and then created materials that are more affordable (eBooks, seminars and workshops). Your post has come at a time when I’m thinking of starting online courses so thank you very much. Patrick, I’ll check out your Kindle eBooks course.
Some tips that have worked for me:
– If you’re already blogging, then you can compile an eBook easily from some of your blog articles. I created a coaching program and wrote a physical book in this way.
– Transcribe your seminar recordings, create chapters, get someone to polish it up, and you have a ready book to sell.
Hi Caroline. I am so happy to read from you after a while! I appreciate your referrals. Thank you very much. Keep them coming. Great tips right there. Shows how much it is easy to get a course up and running.
Hey there Caroline,
I hear you.
If I may ask, what kind of training do you offer?
Hey Dennis. Most of my clients are people who want to start a business while still working. My program is called Create Your Dream Business and it runs for 16 weeks with one session per week. The book I wrote from blog articles is called “12 Weeks to Startup: How to Turn Your Dreams, Talents, Experiences and Education into a Successful Business”. It will be out in print by end of March and I’ll give Walter a shout to circulate the info.
Walter, something else about paid consultations…a lot of people don’t factor in the time spent commuting to and from the meeting place and charges for refreshments if any. So you may end up actually making a loss from the consultation. If you want to keep your charges minimal, then consider doing phone consultations for individuals or putting together groups of 4-10 people once or twice a week and doing a physical consultation with them. Of course your charges will also depend on your level of skill, how long you’ve been in the business, and the paying ability of the clients you work with.
Thanks Caroline,
Look forward to that.
Thanks Caroline for the tips.
I try have the people come close to where I am. I then spend minimally on refreshments. But most clients are courteous enough to take care of the bill.
Thanks for the tip and I’ll try do more group stuff.
I’m happy to read about your book coming out in print. Let me be the first to know so that I make noise about it.
Good job! Good stuff! .
I love this x3! It’s an, in your face article if I may say. About the e-books, those pointers are just what I needed. I too have an email based training and it has worked wonders for my business. 40-50% of my income is derived from it. If you’re a pro at something, by all means, create a training, charge a good price and enjoy the fruits. And yes, 999,997 is a good price. I love what you have said about ‘paid consultation’ I’ve been avoiding meeting people because it’s takes a lot of time. Commuting nayo? But, doing paid consultations? Now that makes economic sense. Thanks for this very informative article.
Thanks a lot Sheeroh. He he he…ati love it x3! Nice. I actually wrote this blog post in October but couldn’t post then because of a crisis. Good to see your email based training is doing great. Yes, charging for consultations really helps. I remember a day I went to town for a few hours talking to guys and came back home with a cool 5k or so, paid consultation that led to the guys buying other products from me.
5,000 k? Nice. Learning lots.
Yeah, it was really good. You feel like your time is valued. And you give the best to those consulting with you.
Hello and happy new year 2015. At least I have not given you cash but I have used it to liberate myself. I was way down below the poverty line before I got a real online opportunity from this site. Training and frequent learning create wealth.Someone I was working for in Yahoo sometimes back told me that people do not know the information they need to find opportunities. He also added that having a mobile job is even better nowadays.
Hello hello Dennis. Top commenter, FreelancerKenya. No worries about giving me money. Actually the point was that people will always pay for value. And getting that payment will keep you running, and help you to create even better content for your followers.
hi. Walter thanx alot for the information it is really helpful.
You are welcome Dianah.
I hear you loud and clear professor (you’re the top guru in Kenyan online work for sure). More and more am realizing that you’ve already tried out many of the things that I thought I had just come up with.
Thanks a lot Victor for your kind words. I do my best to post what I have tried and proven. Looking forward to seeing your great work online too.
Hi Walter,
Very well said. Every professional out there should consider of having some form of training, It makes for excellent side income and is one way of launching into self-practice.
Another avenue that you failed to mention is the use of online platforms such as Udemy, Coursera and Lynda. The platforms give you an opportunity to publish and sell your courses to an international market. However, a downside to using such platforms is that they mostly require your course to be in multimedia format (audio or visual).
To provide a solution to the local fellows who may not have the capabilities to provide multimedia training material, we have created a local platform that mirrors these international ones. You can publish your training and sell it through our platform. We even have a training on Kindle Publishing, which you mention on your article!
Thanks for your reply Patrick. I have actually mentioned Udemy up there. It’s just that I didn’t classify those on their own. I appreciate them and will try them and blog about them soon. I am glad you have such a system. Kindly tell us more about it.
You can check academy(dot)blogscheme(dot)com. I believe it is the same system that Smart Kenyan is trying to replicate.
This is tight. Nice. Excellent. In tandem with international standards. Good job Patrick. Proud of you!
When is your next training session I would love to join.
Very interested in learning the art of making money online
Hi Menge. I will announce but there should be at least one this February.