I was born in 1973 and graduated before modern technology has come to its peak. In fact, I still had typing lessons included in our course during college days. Basic computer lessons were also included in the curriculum but learning MS-DOS program was really exhausting. Admittedly, I haven’t learned anything from that class except turning on and off the computer. Learning a variety of skills is somehow complicated unless otherwise, you would try to learn and finish different courses.

I learned about computer programs specifically Microsoft Program (Word and Excel) through self-studies in 2004 when I was still working in an appliance store. I was compelled to learn this program because I need it for my job. Apparently, I learned on my own through the help of a book in basic of using Excel and the trial-and-error method.

While my friends and colleagues were going crazy over Facebook, I was busy with my work in a Cooperative and has no intention of being active in any online site. My officemate offered to open a Facebook account for me because she could no longer take it that people were saying that I don’t have a Facebook account. I never thought I would be interested in any online activity until the year 2010.

I am a kind of person that won’t get involved with anything where I won’t be getting any benefit. When I opened my Facebook account created by my friend and colleague, one thing was playing inside my mind. If the people behind this program are not getting anything from it, then they won’t spend too much time creating those games and other applications. That particular thought had prompted me to dig deeper into online activities.

That day, slowly changed the way I think about the internet and online activities in general.

Skills I Learned Online

The main process, for me, was vague and unorganized. Admittedly, I didn’t know where to start. All I know was there is something precious about this online thing that I need to discover. I didn’t understand how the search engines work during that time which caused me to land on several scam sites. As the day passed, I slowly learned both soft and hard skills which contributed in one way or another to where I am now. Here they are:

1. Communication Skills

Just like with our offline activities, communication is imperative in order to have a smooth relationship with other people. It is a way of expressing what we have in mind through different media such as social media, forums, and blogs. Conveying our ideas and opinions can create a lasting impression if we did it with care and in a friendly manner.

Writing is the often used way of communicating online. I learned how to clearly express myself when I discovered some Forum sites such as myLot which happened to be my first forum site. Until now, I am still active in forums like Forum Coin.

2. Time Management

Having a full-time job is one of the reasons why I have a limited time to be devoted to my online activities. Nevertheless, I don’t consider this situation as a hindrance rather as a challenge which I need to face in order to reach my goals. It was difficult at first not only because aside from having a day job, is the fact that I need to travel for almost 4 hours every day in order to go to work and back home. With this daily routine, my free time becomes even shorter.

Despite these facts, I did not give up and instead I learned how to manage my time. I wake up early and start working during wee hours of the day just to accomplish something during weekdays. Having a few hours in a day gave me some additional accomplishments. These may be smaller in value but helped me a lot in terms of finances.

3. Problem Solving Skills

I gained new and relevant knowledge from my exposure to different groups and communities which helped me in one way or another. Some experts who are also a member of a particular group would usually share their ideas in order to address a certain issue. With this additional information, I learned new things every day.

Being in a group having people with different knowledge as members can help me whenever I face certain issues with my online and even with my offline work.

4. Patience

I am aware that I already have this characteristic even when I was just starting. However, my experience online has helped me to develop patience even more. With all the failures and difficulties I had been, I wouldn’t reach this far had I not enough patience in me.

Patience for me is not simply waiting but doing the right thing while waiting for the perfect time.

Apart from the people skills which I developed and enhanced during my entire time working online, I also learned technical skills which I am using every day. Here they are:

5. Writing Skills

I learned writing way back in my high school days. I oftentimes joined contests in essay writing and editorial writing and I won several times. This skill helped me to be easily accepted in any writing site that I decided to become part of. I frequently receive invitations for paid blogging but my time wasn’t enough to accept a lot of commitments.

My activities with Bitlanders helped me gained more knowledge in terms of writing. This is the only site where my blogging skills have been honed. They are implementing strict evaluation of content before accepting and publishing those to their platform. I keep that advice and always use those for my blog posts.

6. Designing Skill

I have a foundation in basic design when I was still in school. But my online activities helped to make use of this skill in the proper time and avenue. I learned how to make use of some online app like Canva, Pic Monkey and Crello in order to create awesome blog graphics for my blogs.

7. Marketing Skill

One proof that I am doing well in marketing are the hundreds of referrals that I have with different sites. But I am fully aware that I have yet to learn more about this skill so as I may be able to harness the full potential of marketing activities.

8. SEO

One of the most important skills we need to learn if we are looking forward to achieving our blogging goals. Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the skill we need in order to help us gain more traffic into our site. Traffic is the lifeblood of any blog.

I am still in the process of learning more about SEO especially the on-page and off-page SEO.

9. Social Media Skills

Social Media is where most people stay especially Facebook which currently has 2.23 billion, monthly active users. Observing how people behave in social media sites and how we could benefit from their activities is another thing that we must consider in order to bring more traffic to our blogs.

10. Website Development

The most complicated skill that I learned online is website development. I do everything from purchasing the domain, hosting and setting up the site. It was a long and complex process, especially that I don’t have the basic foundation in Information Technology. Thanks to the internet! Everything we need is just right at the tip of our fingers.

I learned the hard way, and it took me a long time in order to learn the necessary skills I that I need. Today’s generation is fortunate because of the presence of online sites where they can enroll in order to learn the basic to advance skills they might be needing. Here are some sites where you can enroll and learn more about some technical skills which you may be needing in your work.

11. Blogging Skills

If there is one special about this skill is the fact that blogging covers all the other skills I mentioned above. Blogging is not just about writing. Blogging is the presence of all the necessary skills needed in order to share timely, relevant and helpful information to the right audience.

On the final thought

I acquired most of the skills I presented herein through experience and the help of other people within my online circle. Schools and books are not the only sources of knowledge. We can learn skills from various sources. We learn in mysterious ways. It’s a continuous process. A few things learned every day can be such a great help for us to grow and develop to become a better person than we used to be.