How To Find Your Niche As An eLearning Freelancer
While some might assume that finding an eLearning specialty is all a matter of profit potential, there are actually a variety of factors involved in choosing the eLearning niche that's just right for you. Deciding upon an eLearning niche that gives you the opportunity to capitalize on a trend may be tempting, but it typically will only lead to short term gains. As such, when you're trying to pinpoint your specialty, a number of important considerations should be taken in account to ensure long term success.
- Identify where your eLearning talents lie.
One of the most significant deciding factors when searching for your eLearning niche is figuring out where your talents and skill sets lie. Do a thorough analysis of your know-how and experience, such as which eLearning tools you're familiar with, which skill sets you've developed, and which areas of eLearning design and development you are truly interested in. This will allow you to narrow down your list of potential eLearning niches so that you can get a better sense of which specialty will give you the opportunity to capitalize on your eLearning abilities. Also, if you feel as though you excel in an area that most people would consider a weakness (or aren't familiar with) this may be an underutilized talent that you'll want to factor into the decision making process. - Identify your target audience.
When you are creating your eLearning courses or modules, even those that you'll be using as samples in your eLearning portfolio, who is your target audience? For example, are you creating eLearning courses for young students or corporate employees who need to learn about compliance issues? Would you prefer to create eLearning deliverables for the private education sector, or for corporate environments? Ask yourself this question: if there were absolutely no pre-existing specifications or guidelines for my eLearning audience, who would I be creating content for? Despite the fact that virtually every eLearning project you'll be taking on has a specific audience, figuring out who your ideal learners are, can help you to find an eLearning niche that involves projects geared toward that particular audience in the future. - Find your passion and pursue it.
What are you truly passionate about? What aspect of the eLearning industry motivates and excites you the most? If you could just work on one particular aspect of eLearning design or development, what would that be? Would you spend every day designing training videos or would you prefer to dedicate your time to the creation of K-12 eLearning modules? A tip that I always share with people who are asking me about tips for how to find their eLearning niche is to find your passion and pursue it! The key to becoming a successful eLearning freelancer is loving what you do and not looking at it as “job”, but as a rewarding and fulfilling eLearning career. - Be ready and willing to analyze your eLearning strengths and weaknesses.
In which areas do you excel, and what are your core weaknesses? Answering this question may take a great deal of introspection, but the effort will be well worth it. Take the time to assess your eLearning strengths and weaknesses, so that you can determine which niches are ideally suited for you and your strong points. I'd like to take this a step further and suggest that, once you do identify your weaknesses, work on turning them into untapped strengths. This will allow you to become even more successful in your eLearning niche, given that you will now have expanded your eLearning knowledge base and skill sets even further. - Assess where you fit within the eLearning market.
Are you willing to work on more complicated tasks that others just aren't willing to undertake? Do you prefer to work with smaller or non-profit organizations who are looking for individual eLearning freelancers, even when other eLearning professionals are going for the bigger jobs? Determine where you fit in the eLearning market and if there is a particular niche, or sub-niche, that you can take advantage of. For example, if there is an eLearning technology or task that others just aren't willing to master, why not learn all that you can about it and corner that area of the eLearning market? - Consider your long and short-term eLearning professional goals.
Where do you see yourself, professionally speaking, a year from now, and even five years from now? Taking your eLearning career goals into consideration when you're trying to identify your eLearning niche, can help you to figure out which particular specialty is going to serve your goals (or delay them). For instance, if you want to gain more experience in a particular area of the eLearning industry, such as the use of storytelling or multimedia elements, then you may need to think about choosing an eLearning niche that allows you to develop these facets of your eLearning portfolio. - Don't be afraid to reassess or expand upon your eLearning specialty.
The important thing to keep in mind about choosing your eLearning niche is that it isn't necessarily set-in-stone. If you feel as though you would like to dabble in a few different eLearning niches until you find the one that is an ideal match for you, then feel free to do so. Also, once you do settle upon an eLearning niche, it's perfectly acceptable to expand upon that eLearning niche, so that you can make the most of the current opportunities in the eLearning market. This will enable you to gather invaluable experience and skills that you wouldn't have developed otherwise, which will make you a more successful eLearning freelancer in the long run.
Once you've used this tips to find your eLearning niche, be ready to develop a solid business and marketing strategy that you can use to make your eLearning business a success. Also, learn all that you can about emerging technologies and current tools that can help you to provide the best possible eLearning courses to your learning audience.
Just starting your career as an eLearning Freelancer? In the article 5 Tips And Resources an eLearning Freelancer With No Experience Should Know you will find tips and resources that can help you to achieve success when starting out on your own as a new eLearning Freelancer.
Looking for advice on how to land more jobs as an eLearning Freelancer? The article, 7 Tips Every eLearning Freelancer Should Know to Land More Jobs gives you the valuable insight and advice you need to start building your brand image, perfecting your portfolio, and edging out the competition to get more eLearning projects!
Are you looking for techniques on how to market yourself as an eLearning professional? Read the article 5 Tips to Market Yourself as an eLearning Professional so that you can get the word out about your top-notch eLearning services and attract the clients and projects that you really want!
