Learning a new skill at any age can be daunting, but when you have worked in a specific niche for a long period it can seem impossible. I spent 20 years working as a para-educator and receptionist at a public school. With my work experience, I thought that it would be easy for me to find another satisfying job. Wrong! Everything that I applied for turned out to be a no-go. I was either “too qualified” or “not qualified enough”, and that’s even if I got a follow-up email at all.

From Dream to Reality

When I first left my job, I felt myself getting more and more depressed. I kept trying new ideas that always seemed to end the same, a dead end. Blogging had been in the back of my mind for a while. I knew absolutely nothing about how to go about building a website, or how to conduct any of the other “backdoor ” operations that take place when running a blog. My husband surprised me with a blog site. His gentle push made my dream a reality.

The reality of having a blog site is very different than what I thought it would be. It isn’t just about sitting down and writing a post. There is so much to consider, starting with the name you choose for your fledgling blog. Then there is learning how to use the tools provided by the website builder/host, using a graphic design platform, teaching yourself affiliate marketing, and understanding legal issues related to blogging. I will be the first to admit that I knew none of those. I am learning as I go.

Plan of Action: Free Online Courses

I love learning new skills, but trying to learn too much at once leads to a lot of mistakes and extra work. Finding educational sites where I could learn without all the trial and error was a must.

I started digging for resources. I spent a minimum of two hours a day doing online research looking for free or low-cost education sources. Eventually, I found Alison, and then searched google for “more sites like Alison”.

List of Courses

The list of courses that I am sharing is comprised of the courses that I intend to take. It is geared to teaching skills in effective blogging and social media marketing.

Tailoring Your Curriculum to Your Needs

Although I have provided the list of the free online courses that I intend to take, I know that your needs will most likely differ from mine. That is okay. You should be able to use the sites that I listed as a starting place for building your list, or at least get you started on finding resources that you can use.

Other sites that you may want to visit include Grow With Google, Skill Share, and Udemy. Not all of these sites offer free courses, but they offer a wide variety of topics that you may find beneficial.

Your Blog-Your Interests

There are classes on Alison for teaching yourself photography, IT for beginners, personal development, and in subjects such as caregiving, and teaching.

Any of those areas could be the subject of a blog. So, if you are skilled in those areas, you just need to find your target audience and start writing. Not ready to start your blog, but that’s okay. Maybe at first, your writing could be generating a list of blog post topics and references that you find along the way, or maybe you can jot down recurring topics at your workplace.

Ready, Set, Goal!

Below is a free printable goal-planning worksheet to help you plan your adventure. I created it at canva.com. If you haven’t used Canva you are in for a treat.

Canva is my graphic-design platform of choice. They offer outstanding tools for creating headers and pintables. You will want to familiarize yourself with this, or a similar site, as it gives you the tools to create more professional blog sites and social media posts.

Free Downloads

Learning Plan: 24 Free CoursesDownload

Ready-Set-Goal-WorksheetDownload

Visit My Pinterest Board

If you are interested in checking out all of the resources that I have found, check out my board on Pinterest. There you will find pins for all of the sites and sources that I have found so far.

I intend to keep updating my boards as I find new and interesting links that offer courses and opportunities. I can’t promise that you will find what you are looking for, but hopefully, it will get you started along the way to feel that you are setting and accomplishing goals.

If you have found this post helpful, please feel free to subscribe to my blog and my Pinterest site, and share this page. I would love to hear from you. Please let me know if you have found this information useful, or if you have tips that will help others.

Learning a new skill is not easy, but you can do it!

Thank you for stopping by, and Good Luck!!

Vikki

Disclosure: Some of the sites may be affiliates to this blog.

The post 24 Free Online Courses That Teach Blogging and Social Media Marketing appeared first on BeeVee Arts and Crafts.