It’s nice to know things; to have a touch of geekery when it comes to a specific subject. Being able to specialise your interests as an adult is hugely different to the knowledge you obtained when at school. Back then, you were stuck with what was deemed to be appropriate and what people should learn. Now that you’re in control, you can delve as deep as you want into a particular subject for no other reason than the love of knowledge.
Of course, that knowledge is good for the soul… but might it have another purpose? If you could turn your inner geek – and the amount of information you have amassed – into an income stream, then you win on two counts. You still get to love and learn about what you enjoy and you make money from it? That’s pretty much the jackpot right there.
So how can you turn your know-how into an income stream?
1) Blogging
Blogging is still a booming industry and it’s one where specialisation is rewarded. Sure, generic lifestyle cover-all-the-niches blogs can be successful, but that’s being a small fish in a big pond. If you specialise and keep your blog to a single topic, then you can become the biggest fish of them all within your field.
It helps to have a passion for writing, of course, as well as a basic understanding of how SEO works. Monetising a blog is a tricky learning curve, but if you build a follower base of fellow enthusiasts, opportunities for ads and sponsored posts could bring in a nice second income.
2) Be An Expert
There’s plenty of advice online, but it has a tendency to be quite generic. If you have specialist knowledge of something, people are quick to spot the inherent value in that – and they’re willing to pay for it. From services that connect you to querants through a website to apps that allow knowledge sharing, you’ll quickly find there’s a real value to all that information kicking around inside your brain.
3) Tutoring
Tutoring can now be done online and you don’t necessarily need a qualification to do it. Through Skype sessions, you can connect with students and share the things that you know, perhaps even helping them to become true enthusiasts as well.
You can also advertise offline in the conventional manner. Exam season is a good time to try, as nervous parents are looking for assistance in getting their children the grades they need.
4) Quiz Shows
There are some quiz shows where you compete for nothing but the value of competing – but what if you want the value to have a little more monetary return? Look for daytime shows with jackpots won for little effort, rather than high-brow quizzes. Avoid shows like The Chase also – you don’t want to have to split your prize money!
So while the knowledge you have garnered on a subject might just have been for the love of it, that doesn’t mean you can’t also make it part of your income. In fact, doing so might even inspire you to learn more and perhaps even ignite a new passion. What could be better than that?
