(Photo : Sergey Zolkin via Unsplash)

Are people always asking to pick your brain about your area of expertise?  Or maybe you're a connoisseur about something and love sharing your knowledge with others. 

Whether you are a guru of gardening or a whiz at web design, you can turn your experience and wisdom into a commodity.  With surprisingly little startup investment mixed with your passion and expertise, in time, you can potentially make a great income by selling your knowledge online.

Why You Should Consider Selling What You Know Online

There are tons of advantages to becoming a freelancer as an online advisor, teacher or coach and selling your wisdom online.  Namely, you can be your own boss.  Working for yourself, on your own time, doing something you know about and love is the American dream. 

What's more, in today's unpredictable job market, long-term employment is no longer a guarantee.  In fact, currently, a record number of Americans are quitting their jobs and opting to work for themselves. The reasons are many, but the common denominator is that these are uncertain times in the workforce, and more people are seeking better opportunities on their own terms.

What You Need to Start

As mentioned, starting a teaching or consulting business online can be done relatively cheaply if you're smart about it. To start, you'll need to buy a URL (the domain name and address where your website will live), and build a website that is e-commerce friendly.

You can do this easily by setting up a WordPress site that utilizes WooCommerce hosting.  This option is the fastest and most user-friendly way to set up your website, especially if you're not familiar with building an e-commerce website.

Next, you'll need to start writing content about who you are, and what services you offer.  To do this, you will need to define your niche. For instance, if you thrive at tutoring kids in chemistry, then start publishing content on your website about that.

After you have around 50 articles up on your site, including your "about me" page and the services you offer, you'll start spreading the word about your services.  Utilize social networks such as Facebook or Instagram and share how you can help others with your expertise and knowledge.

Ways You Can Make Money

The beauty of selling your knowledge online is that the possibilities for monetizing are almost limitless. Here are a few ideas to make money with your expertise on the internet.

Provide Master Classes

For a fee, you can teach students or clients about your area of wisdom. You can do live tutoring sessions, or you can create teaching videos for sale. You might also give private, one-on-one lessons to people seeking your specialized experience.

Offer Teaching Aids

These are guides, tutorials, tips, or ebooks that can be digitally downloaded from your website. What's lovely about these digital teaching products is that they can roll in a ton of passive income.  That means once you have created these training aids and uploaded them for purchase, they can potentially make you ongoing money for as long as you have them online.  You can have these teaching aids for sale on your website, or you can enlist a third party such as Etsy or Amazon where you can sell your digital guides.

Provide Consultation Services

If you are an expert in a subject matter, odds are there is someone who needs your help.  When you feature yourself as the guru in a particular area, then people who need your wisdom will seek you out for your tips, advice, and suggestions as to how they can improve their lives.  Coaches, teachers, and professionals from almost any genre can experience success in charging for consultation services.

The Last Word on Making Your Knowledge Work for You

These are just a few examples of how you can put your wisdom to work for you.  Is it easy to freelance and work for yourself? No.  However, it can be extremely rewarding. What's more, being an expert puts you ahead of the game because you already know how to help others with your knowledge. With time, determination, and a willingness to succeed, there is no end to the amount of success you can achieve by selling your wisdom online.