How You Can Use the Internet to Build Skills for Free

Access to Education Like Never Before

Can any school, book or training center compete with the vast array of free education like the internet? Currently, YouTube receives over a billion active viewers every month. You may not be able to earn a doctorate on it, but online tutorials that teach how to change your oil or decorate a cake are valuable to millions of users and 100% free.

Help From the Pros

The full impact of free education on the internet doesn't just start and stop with YouTube. Many people are turning to their computers for free courses in their career fields like writing, public speaking or photography. Many of these courses are taught by people using their craft successfully. They often launch a blog or vlog to regularly educate their subscribers at no cost. They earn income from any different sources like coaching, advertisements on their website or video, becoming an affiliate or launching more advanced online tutorials and courses for an enrollment fee.

Gary Vaynerchuk, social media guru and online entrepreneur advocate, calls it the "Thank You Economy". In his book by that name, he talks about the future of online marketing and how it is a far cry from the days of impersonal cold calls or door-to-door selling. Today, people take to the keys, giving away free resources like their books, their knowledge, their time or their courses, all in the effort of building a community of similar minded people within their niche. Sounds a lot like school doesn't it?

One Cannot Replace the Other

There will always be a place for traditional education. Not everything needs to be free, and there is great value in having a physical network of teachers, classmates, directors, labs and other standard resources that helped people thrive long before the "Dot Com Era". But the thousands, if not millions, or free resources, online tutorials and YouTube videos that are available to teach life and career skills are not to be overlooked. Are all free courses equally beneficial? Certainly not. But many of them are created by people earnestly trying to teach their craft in a way that is effective to you, their student.