Ever since I started working from home, whenever I come across some of the acquaintances or relatives, they would begin to the small talk about how working from home treats me. While some of them had that question only for the sake of small talk, some of them would genuinely ask me how to do it.
Looking back, there are many things that I've taught myself only to find their benefits when I applied it to my blog and business these days. I'm not a teacher by nature, so I've always lost in words whenever I encountered someone who genuinely wanted to know how I did it.
I know some people who would recommend some of the online courses that benefit them, but I barely joined any specific course that I find beneficial in my career, so I usually don't know what to say.
So in this post, I'm going to compile some of the beneficial things that I've taught myself. Because I figure if I can do it, then why can't you?
The Benefits of Being Autodidact for Your Online-Based Business and Career
If you ask me the most important thing to have when planning to launch your blog or business, my answer would probably be your eagerness to learn. When you decide to go digital, you need to know that you should be ready for a fast-paced system.
The mantra to “adapt, improvise, and overcome” really takes its toll when you decide to either start working online or just begin your digital business.
You rely on yourself for your growth. Unlike your boss at the office who could micromanage you anytime, you often have to be the one that makes sure that everything goes well and smoothly.
When a problem arises, working online will give you some kind of urgency to solve it o your own. It forces you to be proactive. And if there's anything I know about people, being proactive sometimes isn't for everybody.
So if you think you can be proactive, then bear with me because I'm going to share some of the useful things that I could do by teaching myself. Remember, adapt, improvise, and overcome!
Some Things that I've Learned on My Own for My Blog and Business
These days, I always tell people that everything that I do, I mostly do things out of love. And honestly, anything that I do these days, I do it because of my love of learning things.
I could be so intense when I find something that I personally think interesting. I could learn about that particular thing from A to Z. While there are times when I failed, I often got my lesson in the other way.
What are the things that I've learned by autodidact, which still benefit me so far?
1. Copywriting
I'm not a good writer, but I write anyway. I kept a diary when I was younger, and these days I turned my journal into a blog. It's that simple.
In the world of everything becoming so formal and complicated, I try to make my writing piece as simple as possible. I write to tell stories, not guide you, or pursue you to do the same things as I did. That's more like my style.
I can't teach you how to write, because what I know is that I started writing as soon as I got to know the alphabet. The best thing to teach yourself how to write is to read and write. The more you read, the richer the stock of your vocabularies you get. I tell you what, that's how I've learned English.
If you want to practice your writing skills, starting a blog can be beneficial for you. And you don't even have to start investing in domain or hosting, you can simply just have a platform to pour out your thoughts and feelings through writing.
Some free blogging platforms like Blogspot, Tumblr, or WordPress.com can do the work if you just started. I had been blogging on Tumblr for years before deciding to start The BeauTraveler.
Source: Unsplash.
2. Social Media Management
Social media has always been my jam ever since I joined Friendster in the early 2000s. One of the regrets I have when it comes to social media is deleting my old Twitter account in 2009. Otherwise, I might have been a celeb tweet.
I tried almost every social media management tool there is, even long before earning money from social media. I remember I downloaded software like Tweetdeck and Echofon simply because I was curious about the experience of using the platforms.
What makes all the experiences different is when I found a way to have social media as a platform for me to learn things. Facebook isn't just there to connect with some high school friends that you no longer want to talk; it's also there to meet new people and gain new knowledge.
Use the relevant keywords of the things you want to learn about, chances are you'll find some Facebook groups about it. That's how I've learned things about blogging. I never joined any blogging course, simply because I've discovered some legit resources through Facebook groups.
3. Basic Graphic Design
You see, I've never been good at anything related to graphic design. I suck at Photoshop, and I don't know much about photo editing either. From all the things required for blogging, graphic design has never been my strength.
However, designing graphics has never been more comfortable these days with so many free and paid software that could help us. I usually use free stock photos like Unsplash or Pexels when I require some aesthetic images to support my blog posts.
Graphic design has never been easier with some available design bundles that you could get online.
Whether your business needs some affordable graphics like mama bear svg or consider creating holiday season merchandise. Because you bet, free christmas svg is only one click away to add on your personalized souvenirs.
The learning curve is there, but it's still possible to learn about things for sure!
Source: Unsplash.
4. Invoicing and Bookkeeping
In my early days of being self-employed, I barely did any income or expense tracking. I didn't know how much I made monthly simply because I didn't do any bookkeeping myself.
It was only when I started hiring people that I decided to track my earning and spending. No matter how much I think I'm bad at bookkeeping, I need it to avoid unpaid bills or to spend money without knowing where it goes.
Being a virtual assistant myself, I'm quite familiar with some of the paid CRM software like Dubsado or Honeybook. Those platforms are quite useful if you want to include easy invoicing and bookkeeping for your business.
But since I can't spare more money for it yet, I do everything manually by creating a spreadsheet for my income and expenses. I made everything on my own, but I've got some help from one of my assistants when it comes to updating it.
In addition to that, I also installed Money Manager to track my financial flow from time to time.
As for Invoicing, since I tried to move on from Paypal these days, I also use Invoicehome to create a customized invoice to be sent to clients. The platform also helps me track the due date for any invoice that is past the due date.
Source: Unsplash.
5. Marketing
Professional-wise, I think I'm better at selling than marketing. I've spent a little over 2 years working as a salesperson. But one thing that I know for sure is that I suck at hard selling.
It took me a while until I realized that I'm more comfortable thinking of marketing strategy than actually selling. I do digital marketing through my blog, and I also help clients do digital marketing through their social media accounts. It almost feels natural for me.
Beyond just selling things, I enjoy the idea of adding something to emphasize the values of the items that I sell or use. And with social media and other platforms to do it, there are more things to explore about marketing itself.
It doesn't matter which platform you're more comfortable with. Whether it's Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or even e-mail marketing, you can go along with it as long as you put yourself out there.
I personally don't like marketing my blog posts on my personal account. Twitter is practically the only platform where I post my blog on my personal account, other than that… Not so much. You'll be surprised by how many strangers appreciate my work than those people I know in real life.
Source: Unsplash.
6. How everything can be found on Google.
No kidding. Almost every problem you face, most of its answers is just one click away. Honestly, this is also the reason why I am hesitant to join any online course… More often than not, the outline of the lesson plans can be found on Google for free.
I recently had some time to kill, and I decided to join the SEO course by Neil Patel since I thought it would be beneficial for me to start applying more things on my blog's SEO.
Most of the things outlined in the course I already know from back when I just started my blog are not going to lie. I'm not saying that it's not useful at all, but I guess it would be more beneficial for anyone who wants to learn about a specific thing in one place?
As for me, I like to learn about things from a few resources to see what each resource offers differently. That way, I could try to combine everything so that I can see the best way that works for me. Honestly, research is the key.
So, those are the things that I've taught myself and found beneficial now that I'm self-employed. Believe me, the resources to learn are out there, you just need to find one that suits you best.
Well, have you taught yourself something that you eventually excel at? What is it? Share in the comment below, and cheerio! 😉
