A Tradesman's guide to getting work online

A tradesman is an individual who works exclusively in a craft or trade which requires very specific skills. In this profession, you may perform your job from the comfort of your home, away from it or on your clients' property. It wasn't always this way, but nowadays tradesman have the opportunity to find work online from a wide range of resources. By using the power of the Internet, a tradesman can get jobs from all over the country. But where to begin? Read on to discover more from our helpful tips.

Advertise your skills on dedicated websites

A tradesman can get some work online by advertising their skills on certain websites. There are some online locations where you can register an account and proceed to advertise your skills. Examples of these are peopleperhour.com, Freelancer.co.uk and freelanceparentsnetwork.com. On these websites, a tradesman can simply create their profile, indicate their skills and how much they charge per hour. After that, clients going through these websites can see their advertisement and hire them for some work. The best thing about these online locations is that it is totally free to register an account. Moreover, these dedicated sites market themselves to potential visitors. In this way, they market you indirectly too.

Consulting online

A tradesman can accumulate tremendous skill and experience over many years in their career. These skills are valuable to other people and many are willing to pay and get consulted on them. By offering a consulting service, a tradesman can get some work online. Through setting aside a few hours every day for consulting, a tradesman can teach their peers, students or generally anyone interested in their trade and get paid for it. Over time, this can become a reliable, secondary revenue source. You can do this through Ether, a web app that allows you to have a toll free number which directs people to your existing phone line for consulting services.

Perform in webinars

Webinars are simply seminars happening on the Internet. They are instances where you can demonstrate your expertise and people can watch you and learn. They can also admire your expertise and hire you. A tradesman can hold a paid webinar. This is where they charge people to get online and watch them talk about their expertise. These talks can be accompanied by demonstrations too. By hosting a webinar, you can give your clients and potential ones direct access to you. Tradesmen can utilise software products such as WebEx to stream their performances as they demonstrate their expertise. This software allows a tradesman to stream audio-visual content to almost 3,000 people. During the webinar, you can answer questions posed by your audience too. This is a sure way for a tradesman to market themselves to get jobs online.

Issue newsletters

A tradesman can send e-mail letters to inform random clients about their expertise. Known as newsletters, these are short, advertising letters which indicate your services, charges, discounts and valuable content which can attract the attention of potential clients and also keep your regular ones interested in you. A tradesman can begin by sending newsletters to their current clients. After that, they can expand their potential client base by extending their coverage to other people in the industry. There are some websites that help people to create newsletters which can help them to get some work online. Examples of these are letter.ly and TinyLetter. They allow you to create one time newsletters or even subscription-based ones. You can include your business contacts, certification details and even your customer testimonies in these newsletters. This goes a long way in convincing new clients to hire you and current ones to stay loyal to you.

Write and sell an e-book

E-books were one of the first methods of advertising on the Internet. People normally wrote books about their skills and what they have to offer. After that, they would post these books online for people to read, learn and contact them for jobs. For example, a tradesman can write an e-book about their skills and then post it online for people to read. This is a way to educate them and market yourself. The e-books are still as popular as they were initially. To use them, begin by writing down your skills and what you have to offer. After that, head to an online service such as DPD, Lulu or PayLoadz. These are websites which allow you to create e-books. After doing this, you can distribute the book to your clients, potential ones or even sell it online. E-books are a sure way to market your skills online and even generate some income from selling them.

Offer an online course

This is another sure way through which a tradesman can get some work online. There are applications such as WiZiQ, Litmos and Odijoo. These apps allow you to create and offer web-based courses for sale. In your course, you can demonstrate your expertise and people can pay to learn from you. They can also admire your work and hire you for jobs. The online courses allow you to include some multimedia in them. You can also suggest some extra reading material for example your e-book. In this way, you are able to gather money from two sources at the same time. In addition to that, you can issue some assessment tests to your students too.

Conclusion

The Internet has connected the world and transformed it into a global village. People from different countries can view advertisements posted by others across borders. Thus, it is the perfect place for a tradesman to search for some work. By using the methods indicated above, you can find some work and create an extra stream of income. Due to the millions of people online, a tradesman can find a steady flow of work and improve their career. Make sure you stay one step ahead of the competition!