I was asked the other day if a college degree was necessary to get freelance writing jobs. The comment reminded me so much my thought process when I first started trying to work from home.
“Nobody will hire me I don’t have a degree.”
“Everyone else has went to college. They must know more than I do.”
Those thoughts make me smile now. 😀
I probably have three semesters of community college under my belt. And the bulk of those classes were accounting.
I have no prior experience in writing. I don’t have a degree or a certification. The closest thing I have is a personal lines insurance license which hardly “qualifies” me to be a freelance writer or virtual assistant.
Yet, companies actually come to me asking me to write for them – offering me what equates to be around $50 an hour. When I quit my day job I was earning $11.50 an hour and working a whole lot more.
If you’re struggling to make ends meet or hate your job I want you to know that if I can do it, you can too.
And you know what?
You Don’t Need a Degree to Make Money Online – Nobody Asks if You Have One and Nobody Cares if You Have One
That’s the truth.
I have applied to a hundred or more freelance writing jobs (not an exaggeration) and I’ve never been asked whether or not I had a degree.
I know web designers who are self-taught, degreeless authors making a killing by self-publishing their books, freelance writers and virtual assistants who’ve learned as they went, and bloggers who are crushing it income-wise.
Don’t let not having a degree hold you back. I promise you it’s not important.
It’s All About the Hustle
Your education has nothing to do with your ability to make money online. All you need is some basic knowledge, the ability to learn as you go, and the willingness to work hard.
It takes time but you can make as much money as you want doing what you choose.
I could make a lot more than I’m making now but I’m pretty happy with what I’m earning for the amount of hours I’m working. I’m okay with slow and steady. But that’s just me.
What you earn is up to you.
If you want to make $10k per month online you can do it. You’ll have to work hard and be patient but there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll eventually get to where you want to be.
Don’t be Discouraged
I don’t want anyone to be discouraged just because they don’t have a degree. In the online world real life experience is a lot more important than a college education is.
If you need to earn extra money pick something and run with it. Learn as you go. That is how you make money online.
A degree definitely does not matter when it comes to working online. I have three degrees and it has never once even come up!
Thanks for sharing Michelle. I think that will inspire a lot of people especially with the amount of income you bring in 🙂
You’re so right- a degree is necessary for some fields of work, but I think we’ve all become obsessed with them over the past decade. I have nothing against education (I’m actually a part time student), but I think it almost becomes an excuse to not do things- if you can convince yourself that you can’t do something because you ‘must’ have a degree for it, it’s easier to admit defeat.
Maybe I’m just cynical!
Right. I’m definitely not trying to put anyone down for further education it’s just that for those of us who don’t have a degree or who live in small towns where there are no good jobs there are still other options. A lot of vocations require degrees but to make money online – the possibilities are literally endless (and so is the income!)
I am a clear example that, if you put time and energy, you can make it online. I am a successful graphic and web designer and I don’t have any ‘proper’ schooling in this. I just learned myself and worked A LOT. Let’s say that for 10 years I’d work/learn at least 4-6 hours/day. There are people in my business who have a degree and some are successful, while others struggle. Getting a diploma is cool, but you need to learn on your own, too.
Thank you soooo much for sharing! I’m definitely not knocking a degree but it just goes to show that if there’s a will there’s a way – college education or not.
Thanks for the reminder of the importance of the hustle. If you can hustle, I think self employment is great. It’s not always rewarded in a corporate setting.
This was a great post and will hopefully help get anyone who’s afraid to try the motivation to dive in!
This is so great, and so true! While I still maintain my day job (I love it) on-line money is opening up a whole new avenue for those without a college degree. And you’ve got 0 debt to go along with that $50/hour job, I’m guessing. You’re an inspiration, Alexa!
I have free ebooks that should help anyone to get a nice boost for their careers in online marketing,
You can get them from simpledollar.com.au
Very encouraging!
Seems to me that one prerequisite I see over and over again for success online is that a lot of people, yourself included, were either in a rock bottom predicament (such as Pat Flynn) or wanted change so badly that they were willing to do whatever it took to get there (like you). I think I’ve finally reached the place of wanting that change bad enough!
In my case, I do plan to make use of the RN behind my name with freelance writing. In some arenas, it will add credibility. But as you’ve pointed out, not having it would not cause me to be unsuccessful either. I figure I might as well use it if I earned it! 😉
Great post Alexa.
It’s so true that education really doesn’t count for much at all when it comes to making money online. In fact, I actually think it can harm you in some ways, as you can become quite set in your ways as you go through the education system and working online isn’t as structured as a traditional 9 to 5 job.
The other thing I thought was worth contributing is that a great deal of my online income can be directly attributed to who I know online. Simply making those contacts and forming good relationships has been critical to me actually starting to make decent money online.
This post is very useful for me. I hope you will share such type of impressive idea again with us so that we can utilize it and get more advantage. Thank you for sharing with us,
I would love to make money online be don’t know where to start. It’s me and my mom and I have to do most of the work around the house because I’m the man in the house. I have no money and just the internet I’ve been looking online for the last 3 weeks and can’t seem to find a start. I love books, pdf’s, other forms of information but i must find my way. HELP