Home Blog Sharing Economy Monetization Series: How to Monetize Your Assets, Skills and Knowledge

Do you have a regular job that you don’t particularly like? Do you ever sit at your desk, dreaming about what life would be like if you would have the freedom to do what you love and make a living? If so, then this post is for you!

There has never been a time in which living the life of your dreams has been more within your reach then right now. Modern technology allows many of us to work remotely from any location. The internet provides opportunities for starting an online business in almost any niche. The sharing economy allows us to easily monetize our assets, skills and knowledge through platforms such as Airbnb, Uber, Wyzant, Takelessons and countless others.

In this post series I’m going to go through all the different ways that you can make money without depending on someone to employ you. I’m not going to cover starting businesses that require a large investment and will take years to become profitable, brick and mortar shops or businesses that sell physical products (such as web shops). I’m talking about the most accessible ways to start making some $$$ within a few months, either using an online presence that you currently have or starting from scratch.

Here’s how this is going to work. I will be posting an article about one specific way to make money every Saturday. Here’s an overview of what you can expect.

You possess three things that you can monetize: your assets, your skills and your knowledge.

1) Your assets

Assets are generally monetized by sharing them with others. Examples include renting out your house, a room or a car. A website or email subscriber list is another example of an asset that can be monetized.

Example: you have a spare room in your house that you start renting out on Airbnb for $40 a night.

2) Your skills

The quickest way to monetize your skills is to offer a service. There are several platforms available that help you find clients fast. These platforms will generally charge a % of the income you generate, but they save you from having to invest in marketing.

Other options to market your skills are through a website, paid adds, newspapers etc.

Example: you are really good at playing the piano. You create a profile on Takelessons and start teaching students at $50 per hour.

3) Your knowledge

Knowledge is typically monetized through selling a product. This could be an eBook, a video course, a membership site, a Facebook group or an off-line or online seminar. This could also include a service.

Example: you know a lot about how to train a dog. You write an eBook which you sell on Amazon for $9.97, a video course for $97 and a personal consultancy service for $297.

In the next few months I am going to dive into every single one of these options and provide you with

• My personal experience and knowledge
• Guest contributions on subjects that I’m not familiar with
• The best tools & resources that you can use to make things happen

So stay tuned and check back every Saturday for your weekly dose of monetization content!

Join the conversation! How do you monetize yourself? Comment below!