Free Courses That Will Lead to Paid Jobs

Free Courses That Will Lead to Paid Jobs

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Posted 2020-03-30 by Jade Jacksonfollow


Whether you've found yourself without a job, with more free time from self-isolation or perhaps you've been forced to work from home, it's the perfect opportunity to re-create your future career that allows you to work from anywhere.

In reality, any job that can be done on a computer, can also be done remotely whether at home or a beachside cafe, (once the restrictions are lifted of course).

The job of the future, is diverse, it allows you to utilise all your skills and most importantly, you won't be relying on one source of income, you'll have backups and passive income.

There's plenty of free online courses you can do, or instructional videos you can watch, that [u]will[/u] lead to paid work. Whether you're a technophile or a creative, easy remote tasks are available on sites like Airtasker, Freelancer, Upwork and Fiverr which can all be applied for, once you've added any of the following skills to your resume:

[U]Build Websites and Apps[/U]
Everyone uses the internet every day, but how many know how it works? Anyone can learn to code. Start with the basics like HTML which is the skeleton of every website, then move onto design or specialise in a coding language like Python or Apps creation.



According to #77b4bde67157 ">this Forbes article , Blockchain, the coding language behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is the most sought after skill right now. Master this and the world is yours.

There's regularly coding assistance and website creation jobs requested on Airtasker ranging from $50 for a simple task to over $2000 to build a new website.

The best free coding courses:
  • Free Code Camp
  • Apple Playgrounds (Suitable for kids and works on iPad Desktop)
  • Codecademy

  • to code YouTube has a number of coding lessons but Free Code Camp or Apple Playgrounds is more structured and will teach you step by step. Which is important to help you remember it all.

    If you want to jump into building a website, Wix , Weebly and Wordpress all offer free websites, that will allow you to put theory into practice, however they are designed for zero coding knowledge which is why I recommend Wordpress, as it has more customisation options and you'll use your coding knowledge.

    I taught myself to code, using Free Code Camp and Codecademy. I've since built multiple websites using Weebly and Wordpress and now have regular clients which I found through Airtasker.

    For those unfamiliar, Airtasker is a website where anyone can post tasks they need done and how much they're prepared to pay someone to do it.



    [U]Make Websites Easier to Find[/U]
    Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is the mystery behind why some websites appear on the first page of Google, thus attracting more clicks and why others fall into the 'oooogle' section.

    SEO is simple, yet complex. It changes often, it requires diligence and an eye for detail, but utilising the free tools available, can teach you enough to get started, then the rest you will learn by doing, which is why it's helpful to have a website you can test.

    Prospective clients will expect to search for sites you've completed SEO for and find them at the top of Google. SEO, Google Ads, and Analytics are all closely aligned.

    The best free SEO courses:

  • Google SEO Starter Guide
  • How Google Search Works
  • Google Analytics Academy
  • Google Ads Course
  • Free Udemy Course Search Engine Optimisation



  • [U]Get Paid to Post on Facebook[/U]
    Everyone uses Facebook, Instagram and TikTok , but did you know for some people, it's their job? In the competitive world of brands, a Social Media Marketer helps expand a brand's presence online, whether that be a cafe, a musician, a hair salon or a new fashion designer.

    Posting to social media to a clicks is a fine art. Most business owners barely have enough time to manage their business let alone social media.

    Thankfully Facebook offers free online courses to help you understand the world of advertising and generating useful brand exposure, thus helping to bring in future clients.

    The best free courses for social media marketing:

  • Facebook for Business Course
  • Instagram for Business
  • The Twitter Agency Playbook
  • [LINK=https://www.acadium.com]Acadium Social Media Marketing
  • [/LINK]

    Not a course but Headliner is a useful tool for any marketing assistant. I've seen jobs on Seek, Facebook Jobs and Airtasker for businesses requiring Social Media assistance.



    Having run Facebook ads for my own site, including a self-published book, it's not as easy as setting up an add and seeing the money roll in. You will need to experiment, generate content that isn't sales focussed and also interact with your audience, which is why it's so time-consuming for business owners.

    [U]Create Digital Music[/U]
    Garageband, Apple's free music creation software offers tutorials in learning to play piano, guitar, and drums whilst also creating snippets of music, known as loops (8-16 bars of music to add to a song).

    As Podcasting grows exponentially, the one problem many podcasters face is having a unique jingle (20-30 seconds) for their intro and outro, that doesn't break any copyright laws.



    The best free courses for audio creation:

  • Garageband (Apple Mac/iPad only)
  • Audacity (free audio recording and editing software)

  • Creating unique songs, and jingles for podcasts is an easy task I've seen on Airtasker that you can do from home.You could even make a batch of jingles and sell them on your own website.

    If you increase your technical skills, most of which is terminology, I've seen podcast editing tasks available. Anyone with knowledge of Garageband or Audacity can complete audio editing tasks.



    For professionals, Apple has just announced a free 90 day trial of their Logic Pro X (sound studio) and Final Cut Pro (movie editing). These are used by music producers and film studios to edit their productions into sellable products, and now you can too. They usually retail for over $300 each.

    [U]Design, Edit Photos and Publishing[/U]
    Affinity is offering a free 3 month trial of their powerful creative software trio, Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher.

    This software syncs seamlessly with each other and allows you to design logos, flyers, books, magazines, manipulate images, create comics - the list is virtually endless.

    For the novice, there's built-in video tutorials to teach you the basics like upload an image to Photo, remove objects, people and change colours, then export it to designer to create a cover design, then export it to publisher to create an e-book, publish it on Amazon, become the next blockbuster author.

    The best free Affinity Courses:

  • Affinity School
  • Affinity skills on YouTube

  • Company logos and Podcast artwork are elements that people often request as a paid job through Airtasker. As self-publishing grows every year, making book covers is another quick and easy task ranging from $100 - $500 for a single cover design.



    I use all three Affinity software and whilst it took some time to learn, once you know one, the others work much the same way in terms of layout, but if you do anything creative, they are useful skills to have.

    I also regularly see photo editing tasks on Airtasker starting from $20 per image up to $150 for a batch of images. Freelancer has a bunch of design jobs available at any given time.

    If you're serious, you can buy the Affinity software suite , currently at 50% off. Affinity is not subscription-based plus it has versions for Mac, PC and iPad.



    Illustrate Children's Books
    With the boom of self-published authors in recent years, many children's book authors are looking for illustrators - myself included.

    An illustrator needs to understand a brief, have a creative vision - not just enjoy doodling and be able to work to a deadline. With the rise of eBooks; having an understanding of digital drawing techniques is crucial and if you combine this with Affinity Designer, you can easily build up a portfolio you can display on Instagram or via your own website.

    If you can create animated drawings for eBooks, you can probably quit your day job already. There's only a handful of books I've seen utilising this technology, but the potential is enormous. Apple TV also has the Apple Books app, aimed at reading bedtime stories to kids.

    The best free drawing classes:

  • Kline Creative
  • Toad Hollow Studio
  • to illustrate a children%27s book Self Published authors reveal their techniques on YouTube



  • [U]Narrate an Audio Book[/U]
    You have a voice, use it and get paid! With the rise of Audiobooks, what was a niche market has now gone mainstream. Anyone can become a Narrator, though it's not as easy as reading a book. There's many considerations including breathing and unintentional mouth noises, keeping your recording within a decibel range and clarity of speech. However, ACX which is owned by Amazon, who is behind Audible, runs a free course plus also offers other resources to match up Authors and Narrators.

    The best free courses for Audiobook Narrators:

  • ACX Audiobook University
  • How to setup a home studio

  • Unfortunately, Amazon controls most of the market, however ACX marketplace links Authors and Narrators, and also Fiverr has regular VoiceOver and Narrating work available.



    [U]Write About Stuff You Do[/U]
    Becoming a Freelance Writer is easier than most people imagine. If you enjoy doing stuff, and you have a passion for writing, there's plenty of websites offering to pay for original and refreshing articles.

    Many websites you read content will have a 'write for us' section, though Freedom With Writing is a weekly newsletter of paid writing opportunities including magazines, short story competitions and niche blogs requesting regular content writers.

    If you have experience in finance, health or insurance, there's a lot of writing jobs offered on Airtasker.

    Best free courses for Freelance Writing
  • Writing for the web
  • Write what you know
  • Writing about food and culture

  • However, the easiest way to become a paid Freelance Writer is to Write For Weekend Notes .

    Readers are constantly looking for inspiring things to fill their weekends with, which in a time of lockdowns and isolation is especially challenging, however, it offers a huge opportunity for new Weekend Notes writers. More people at home, means more potential readers looking for things to occupy themselves.

    I interviewed the top WeekendNotes Writer for Sydney, Linda Moon in a podcast episode where she divulges hints and tips to become a successful Freelance Writer. You can listen to our chat, below:



    I've been writing for WeekendNotes for over 4 years and am regularly in the top #20 for Sydney writers. Apart from being paid for articles, I've also received invites and media passes for numerous events throughout Sydney, I've interviewed Hollywood celebrities, famous musicians and even received a free mattress to review.

    With any of these skills, it's surprisingly easy to set up a legitimate business from home, for less than $100 . So what are you waiting for?

    It's never too late to learn a new skill and change careers, use your free time wisely to create the future you've always dreamed of. When this COVID-19 saga is over, you can then take your online business and work from anywhere!

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