A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing the Right Online School

The desire to run a location independent business sometimes feels like a dream to most, but there are ways you can learn the skills needed to branch out on your own.

Decide what your passion is and begin your online learning adventure.

That’s right.

You can follow your passion and figure out how to monetize it. It doesn’t have to be a pipe dream. You can make a living doing what you love with just a laptop and a stable internet connection.

There are several popular online career paths in high demand that could be just what you’re looking for including graphic design, web design, and web development.

Let’s say you learn all three – you overachiever!

Now you have the potential to hand-pick your clients and handle their projects from start to finish, and that means – cha-ching! – more money in your pocket. Good things come to those that hustle.

Okay, you have a plan. Now you need to learn how to do the job you want to offer, but there are thousands of places online to choose from and they all vary in cost from free to thousands, so how do you choose?

Before investing in your education, be realistic about what you can afford. If you have a small budget, I suggest starting with my favorite learning platform for all things digital, Treehouse.

I have tried a handful of different platforms that were free and they were all decent, but you’ll only learn the essentials. Therefore, Treehouse is your ideal platform. You can get started for free until you get the hang of the basics and then upgrade to a monthly plan of only $25. In addition to that, there are more extensive programs available that offer degrees comparable to a traditional university, but depending on what you are after, it may not be necessary.

The variety of price and value that Treehouse offers will allow you to “test the waters,” so you can ensure you’re making the right decision for your desired entrepreneurial career and work towards your goal of living the laptop lifestyle.

Choosing the Right Track

You’ve decided you want that flexible lifestyle of the online entrepreneur that seems so elusive. So, you’ve taken the plunge to learn #allthethings to make it happen and signed up for Treehouse. However, if you’re only goal so far is to achieve the work-from-anywhere lifestyle, you may have hit a speed bump when presented with the option of which “track” to pursue.

You know the life you want, but where should you invest your time and potential money to get there? How do you decide?

It’s important to really take your time to learn what your options are, which one of those you’re most passionate about, and do a little research on what’s going on in that field and where it’s predicted to go from there.

Do you have an eye for design and love creating new things with pixels? You might want to dive into the design track.

Maybe you would rather take those designs and create stunning websites? The front-end developer track may be of more interest to you.

If you’re a bit more ambitious, then working behind the scenes to create the next big Facebook-esque website may be more appealing and can be done with a focus in PHP.

The possibilities of what you can do with a Treehouse education are nearly limitless. If you already know what you’re passionate about, then you shouldn’t have a problem piecing together the perfect learning plan to achieve your goals.

How Much Time to Invest

Only you know how much time you have per week to invest in education. Everyone’s family life, schedule, and responsibilities are different, but it’s important to be realistic about how much time you have. If you’re currently unemployed and have binge watched all the popular shows on Netflix, then you have the time to go full-force and knock out a whole track in a few weeks or months. You’ll be working solo and building your business in no time.

However, most people have other responsibilities such as people relying on them to put food on the table and keep the lights on. If that sounds more like your life, then you should try squeezing in an hour a day or maybe just a few days a week. Don’t try to take on more than you can handle and end up overwhelming yourself. It will take you longer to complete, but that’s okay. It’s not going anywhere. If anything, the demand will only increase as the internet becomes accessible in even the most remote locations.

What To Do When You Finish a Track

So, you’ve worked through a track on Treehouse, but you’re not sure where to go from there. A few of your options will be continuing to build your skillset, begin freelancing on your own, or start applying for positions based on your new skill. Better yet, dive into all three!

Have you finished learning a new digital skillset, but you still feel clueless what to do with it? Try out the business courses and start building a portfolio. Growing a professional portfolio of your work will help you be confident enough to reach out to higher paying clients and land more secure jobs.

One important thing to always remember is to never stop learning.

The internet is constantly changing, and you’ll want to make sure you stay on top of the newest trends and keep up with the latest technology. Checking in with the community on Treehouse is a great way to stay up-to-date. This will also be where you want to go for answers to any questions you have while you’re taking your courses and will remain available to you after you complete them for anything else that may come up.

Be active and get involved.

You can keep up with any new changes and how you can incorporate them into your projects to keep attracting raving clients.

What Are You Waiting For?

Now is your time!

Hop on over to Treehouse, sign up for a free trial, and get a feel of the platform. Start learning and begin your journey towards a laptop lifestyle.

Some other great info about learning a new skill with the help of Treehouse is that they are constantly adding new courses. Do you want to learn how to do something but don’t see it in the library yet? Make a suggestion. You’ll be surprised at how quickly they add it to the upcoming course list.

Also, you don’t even need to be a student to utilize their blog which is full of helpful information for creative entrepreneurs. You can see how others are using the skills they have learned to break away from the life-sucking 9-5s. If you prefer the 9-5 workflow, the skills you learn through Treehouse can help you get there as well.