Should you try online teaching?
One of the biggest trends of our time is that a lot of individuals have started teaching online and they are making money from it. Last year, 56 creators made over 1 million dollars on Teachable and two creators made over 10 million dollars.
You might ask yourself, "Should I try it too?" But then you start destroying yourself. "What is the list of my core competencies? Is that really for me? But my nose is not exactly there… Oh! How about the equipment?"
OK! While teaching professionally is definitely not for everyone, in this post, I’m going to show you a new concept of teaching and how it can transform your career. So sit tight!
Two types of online teaching
I believe there are two forms of online and independent teaching:
A- You are great and skilled at what you want to teach
or
B- You are not competent enough, but very passionate about your subject.
Form A:
It’s not too much different from traditional teaching. You are competent in a particular field or subject, and you can teach it in any shape or style: webinar, workshop, or online cohort. This form is mostly related to technicals, technologicals, and knowledge-based areas.
Form B:
You are not yet good enough at your subject, but you are so passionate that you want to share it with others.
Think about it. At its core, teaching is “connecting” and “sharing”. You want that subject to be your connection point with the world. These types of “experiences” are more related to ideas, concepts, hacks, and philosophies (versus the first one, which is mainly based on crafts, skills, and knowledge).
You might not be competent, but since you are one or two steps ahead of your students, you can share with them what you have already discovered.
This is exactly what you see now on social media or online teaching platforms. People want to share what they love or present one of their passion projects! They are hacking new games and then they start teaching them. Subjects vary from NFTs and trading skills to even “how to teach online”!
A decentralised education
Are these new “teachers” any good? Most of them, no! But what they are doing is unique. They are connecting to the world through sharing their personal experiences. Although we are at the very beginning steps, this is totally revolutionary. This trend, which you can actually track down to older YouTube tutorials or blog posts, will continue to become bigger and bigger.
What you can expect from education in the future are more personal experiences, real stories, and more importantly a strong human touch.
When it comes to learning (at least in creative fields), we will look for more visionaries that we can TRUST, rather than institutions which can easily flip their teachers or courses.
Help others to help yourself
You might consider joining this movement at some point too! Here are some tips on how to look at this experience so it will become easier when you decide to try it.
First, don’t try to be a professional. There is no need to look like a pro teacher. There is no need to learn how to charge or use a proper platform. Get on your phone, open your social media, and talk to people. Keep it simple! Go live or make some short Reels or videos. If it’s going to be part of your career, you will figure the rest of it out later. For now, it’s just “a way of connection” for you.
What to teach? It’s easy! It should be either what you are insanely curious about, or what challenges you. Remember, something that you are dealing with on a very personal level is what other people are looking to learn from.
Teaching is one of the best ways of establishing your community. The process is slow, but you will find some of your best audience members and fans. Later, they will become the ones who will spread your message to others.
Find some affordable courses, or participate in cohorts in the area that you want to teach. What are those courses missing? What could YOU do better or differently? Now you have something to build upon.
Teaching feels great. I just finished an online workshop in Tehran with 22 creators about The Creator Economy. The next one is going to be in Sao Paulo, Brazil in November. It’s my way of creating an ambitious network around what I love and my company.
Talk soon,
-Reza
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