What is monetization?

Skill Monetizing is transforming your knowledge, skills and abilities into money in a simple, clear and orderly way. It is building a profitable business backed by a community of customers who value you and who pay on a recurring basis for the service you provide them. 

The ways to create a digital business start from designing a website, an online store, a blog or a directory, and turning social networks into showcases of your venture. In all of them, strategies to increase and build traffic loyalty are used to convert visitors into loyal buyers.

Some people think that the start of a business is having a great idea where you bring together your personal passions and get many followers on social networks and then figure out how to obtain income from that dream.

Establishing an online business model from that premise is a likely way to failure. On the contrary, if you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, you must be very clear about the business model from the beginning and know how to locate the sources of income.

Entertaining ourselves and focusing on our tastes and passions does not mean that they will be monetizable.

In the case of the Internet, the sources of income are usually:

Advertising. In the style of the traditional advertising and marketing system, companies pay to host their ads on your website and take advantage of the traffic you have achieved. The income through this means is constant as long as your page gets visits, but there are limits on the profits and in general terms they tend to be quite modest.

The affiliation. Sell ​​or market third-party products online for a commission. This option’s profits also depend on external factors.

Marketing of own creations. This is where the online route surpasses the reach of a traditional commercial establishment since your physical product (clothes, books…) or digital product (infoproduct) can be viewed and purchased by customers anywhere in the world.

The sale of services.

The last two sources of income are the most interesting since when selling a service or an info product, what is offered is related to the entrepreneur’s own talent and knowledge.

Application of talent and knowledge in the digital age

We know that talent is everything that you master and can do without difficulty. It is the ability to solve something, through the skills, knowledge and experiences that you have acquired throughout your life.

Therefore, talent is related to aspects such as creativity, intelligence, attitude, motivation, self-perception and knowledge.

Knowledge, for its part, is the wisdom obtained about a certain subject, either through academic studies or through personal interests and empirical practices. It is what you know, but it is also the information you have and can put into practice. 

Your knowledge comes from:

• Academic studies.
• Labor and professional practice.
• The information acquired thanks to your interests, hobbies, tastes and passions.
• Wisdom from life experiences.

The importance of all this knowledge has two aspects. The ethical, consisting of using it and sharing it with whoever needs it (your family, friends, acquaintances), and the economy, by turning it into a way to earn money.

In short, we all know things, we can transmit information, solve problems and help others. And we can also earn money by selling what we know and know how to communicate. Missing? Learn to manage that knowledge.

 Knowledge Monetization

Managing knowledge means doing something with it so that it produces benefits for us. It is the way you can earn money with what you do with your knowledge. For example:

Delivering that knowledge to third parties through paid work. This mode is what most people go for, despite its disadvantages. Thus they are not only handing over their knowledge, but also their energy and time, for a limited amount of money, to a boss who will profit from that added value.

Use it to start your own business.

That is, use your knowledge for your economic benefit.

You can create products and services based on your knowledge and sell them to third parties. But remember that people do not buy things, but instead seek to solve their problems or experience well-being or improvement in their quality of life through that purchase.

In the case of creating a service based on what you know, this can be of two types: the exercise of your profession or trade (such as a lawyer, electrician…) or the communication of your knowledge through teaching. In the digital world there are digital platforms for virtual classes, consultancies, online workshops, remote coach services…).

Use it to conceive tangible products or infoproducts.

Infoproducts are the simplest and most lucrative way to use your knowledge to increase your wealth in the digital age. These are essentially products (in digital format) that you create based on your knowledge to teach people interested in that subject.

The formats and supports are diverse: PDF texts, ebooks, podcasts, videos, tutorials, courses, guides or templates, among many others, that offer a solution to a problem, explain how to do something, offer an informative compilation on a topic, or show how to improve existing skills.

Another advantage of designing an info product is that it produces passive income. Passive income is one that continues to generate constant profits from something already created in which no further investment is required, or only a minimal investment. Obviously, it requires an initial effort and it will likely take some time before producing results, but it is the most convenient way to increase wealth and achieve financial freedom.

Knowledge Monetization Blueprint

Finally, we offer you the steps to create a winning knowledge management strategy:

• Identify the knowledge you have : As mentioned above, it is not just about formal studies, but about all those acquired during your life experience and that add the extra value that your potential clients are looking for.
• Select the most convenient knowledge to monetize: Remember that the joint exercise to define your venture will help you select not only the knowledge that motivates you the most, but also that in which you have more experience and whose potential for commercialization is greater.
• Choose the medium in which you want to market your knowledge: If it is an info product, think about whether it is easier for you to speak to record your voice in a podcast, write the texts for your guides or ebooks or you prefer to act in front of a camera in a video.Set up the sales platform: Depending on your computer skills, you can establish your own platform or sell through third-party platforms by paying a commission (Amazon, Esty, Tutellus…).
• Create a marketing plan: Certainly, not all people know the rich world of digital marketing, so you should probably train in the area. However, learning to make your brand, product or service known is a guarantee of success in a space as competitive as the digital one.

Finally, remember that there are no excuses not to conceive and sell your ideas. The knowledge is there, you just have to manage and market it for your benefit and that of your clients.