Coronavirus Covid-19 and Working from Home

With the global pandemic of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) affecting nearly every facet of our lives, I have some ideas for you. This post is for you, the folks – more importantly you parents who are now forced to work from home due to state curfews, or company policies, etc.

For those of you that now need to work from home, because your employer’s office is closed, let me ask you,… do you have:

• a long commute?
• a hobby, or passion that you love to talk about?
• any special skills over and above your workplace talents?

Here are some thoughts (suggestions) for you:

• If your commute is long, take that time you now have to work on…
• …the hobby, or passion you have and apply your knowledge to…
• …start a blog, for example; or start providing a service

I’M NOT SAYING THAT IF YOU HAVE A JOB THAT YOU SHOULD QUIT – NO!

I am saying that you now might have some free time that you would have been using to go to, and come back from work. Make the most of your freed-up time. Use it to your advantage! How, you may ask? Well, read on…

If you have a hobby, or passion for gardening, for example – why not start up a blog and write about it? Write about topics like: soil pH; temperate zones; planting annual flowers, etc.

Are you a musician whose events and gigs have now been cancelled? Instead of playing, maybe you could now give lessons online.

Do you have a passion for cooking? Shoot some videos of you cooking your favorite dishes. Share your best recipes. Here is how…

Start a blog for free using services like Blogger, or WordPress (the free version). While these are a great entry point, they have some drawbacks. Because they are free to use, you are at their mercy when it comes to the control of your content.

I personally suggest using the self-hosted version of WordPress. If you decide to go this route, though, there are some investments you need to make. One, is a domain name. This is the website address that you will own. There are many domain name registrars, but the more well-known are: Domain, NameCheap and Dynadot.

The next investment is website hosting. I use a few different hosting companies (to mix up my IPs, etc.) One of the most well-know is HostGator. I use them as one of my website hosting companies. Another company that I am looking to host some of my (future) websites is TurnKey Internet. They have many hosting choices and options. Be sure to do your homework when researching website hosting.

If you want, you can also get hosting through both NameCheap and Dynadot as well! Sometimes, if you get hosting through a domain registrar, sometimes they throw in your domain name for free (for the first year)! In fact, both NameCheap AND Fast Domain are offering a FREE domain with the purchase of a hosting plan. Since I already have an account with NameCheap, I might just pick up a hosting plan through Fast Domain.

Now you have the groundwork to start educating and teaching people about your hobby and passion. What are the next steps you ask? Well, the next steps are for you to:

• Drive traffic to your new blog (I will cover in a different post).
• Start building your email list. Check out tomorrow’s challenge!
• Building you list? Great! Now set up your autoresponder.
• Tie all of these steps together and start to monetize your efforts!

“Monetize my efforts? How do I do that?”

I will cover that topic in the next post. Until then, sit down and see if you want to start your blog using your new, commute-free time.

Again – I am NOT suggesting that you quick your job. No! I’m just saying that you now have some time that you would have spent commuting to now work on that “side hustle” that you have always been passionate about. Just spend the thirty (30) min – three (3) hours a day that you would have been spending commuting and use that time to your advantage! Heck, you would not be home during your commute anyway, right?

See you in the next post!

***FTC Disclaimer: I am an affiliate with most of these services. For example: AWeber; the email List Building Challenge, etc. I may receive compensation (commission) for sales made.