Is This Book For You?

Are you contemplating retirement from the ‘nine to five’?

Are you thinking of reducing your working hours but worried about your cash flow?

Are re-thinking your future work path?

Do you want a work-life change?

Have you retired and are thinking, Now what?

This book is for you if you can say, ‘yes’ to any of these career, job, work and life questions:

Do you want a better work-life balance?

Are you looking to change your career because your first choice was not your own?

Would you like more free time to explore your true potential?

Do you feel trapped in the ‘nine to five’ and want a new way to work?

Are you interested in creating a side income or several streams of new revenue for you or your purpose?

Have you been affected by age discrimination at work?

Do you feel the need to secure your future?

Is your mental health suffering because of your nine to five job?

Is your retirement nest egg diminishing before your eyes?

Have you reached a career dead-end, but know you have much more to give?

Do you seek more profound career, work or job satisfaction?

Are the physical demands of your ‘nine to five’ too exhausting?

Do you need flexibility to care for your children, grandchildren or an elderly parent? Maybe you are juggling all three?

Would you like to create multiple income streams providing flexibility to work where, when and with whom you choose?

Do you want a sea-change or to relocate closer to family, but are uncertain whether you’ll find another job?

Are you tired of satisfying investors and corporate directors and now wish to focus on your needs?

Are you over office politics, deadlines, budgets and clients and need a new place to work? 

Do you wish to make a difference, yet you feel constrained by the nine to five grind?

You need this book if you:

Want to use your skills, knowledge, purpose, passion and expertise to be more, do more and give more.

Have a life experience or story to share.

·       Wish to become a trusted and respected authority in your area of work specialisation, life experience or purpose.

Would love to engage with people who share your passion.

Want to learn online strategies to find and engage with a global audience.

Can listen to your audience and genuinely want to understand their needs, dreams and aspirations.

Can provide solutions to people’s frustrations and challenges.

Does any of this sound familiar?

To create these opportunities for yourself, keep reading, because with this book you'll create a positive change in your working life much faster than you could ever imagine.

Let’s get started!

Introduction

A New Way to Live and Work

Online strategies are transforming the way we live and work. In every moment of the day, there are millions of people searching online for knowledge and answers to solve their problems and relieve their frustrations.[i] The great news is that with your existing skills, knowledge and expertise, you can help others to improve their lives and you can be well paid for sharing what you know. To make the shift to this new way of working, it all comes down to the expertise you can provide and the kind of life you want to live.

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions in the preceding, Is This Book For You? section, there is an alternative way for you to create a new working life and income based upon your expertise. In fact, doing more with your current skills could be the savviest career and personal development move of your life. Better still, you can start today; all you need is access to the internet and a willingness to learn.

If, like me, you are over 50, or have decades of life and work experience, there is a huge opportunity waiting for you. I believe anyone can use their existing skills to future-proof their careers and income. You can use your skills to develop value-based services and products for some of the four billion people searching the internet every day. People are constantly looking for online information to make their lives easier, their businesses more profitable, and to learn what you know. Plus, you can use your expertise in many different ways when you are online. As a result, savvy experts are creating new online income streams, growing new businesses and achieving work-life flexibility while focusing on what they enjoy.

And, if I can do it, you can do it too.

My Turning Point

The uncomfortable truth for me was that my shift to using my expert skills to create online income streams was initially not one I made by choice, but out of necessity. In fact, there were two occasions when I was genuinely scared for my financial future. These experiences pushed me to use my education and employment history to re-invent my working-life and fast track my career online.

I had already transitioned from the ‘nine to five’ when our boys were little, juggling my hours to maintain my six-figure corporate income as a consultant. There was no self-promotion or advertising in place, yet everything was sailing smoothly with my work. However, I did not foresee the challenges that lay ahead.

Unfortunately, a huge and reliable client of four years had a sudden change of CEO and with a new leader, the organisation’s priorities changed. The budget for external consultants stopped and my work with them plummeted to zero over the space of three months. As a result, my income quickly dried up.

In hindsight, this taught me not to put all my eggs in one basket and I learned to always ensure there were multiple streams of revenue coming in, rather than relying on one source or a single client. But at the time, it was a total wake up call.

Yet, there was more to my decision to make this change than just my personal feelings of vulnerability as a consultant.

In the 27 years prior to this event, I had chosen to leave a successful career as a clinician, researcher, manager and bureaucrat, to live on a farm in rural Victoria with my life partner. Leaving Sydney to live on the land, where the closest town had a population of just 450 people, was a big step for a city girl like myself. (For my US friends, I say, “We live on a ranch in the outback.”) Added to this, my partner and I had become parents late in life; I became a mother for the first time in my late 40s and then again in my early 50s. I reveled in this time with our two boys, working from home, but with the second income from my consulting gone, I had to consider my options and make some tough decisions.  

By this stage, I had dabbled with an online hobby business which provided a trickle of cash of around $1,000 per month, but this certainly wasn’t an amount to satisfy my contribution to family life. I also believe that life is about thriving and not just surviving and, as a seventh-generation Australian farming family, my income often made the difference in times of drought, low prices and rising costs of production. The cold, hard fact was that to thrive, I wanted a good income with fast, reliable cash flow. I decided it was time to find a job outside the home and return to the ‘nine to five’.

In my search for an income, I applied for 25 jobs and was invited to 19 interviews. From all this time and effort, I received a single offer of work – and that was for only one day a week. To make matters worse, this one day came with a 90-minute one-way commute, or a three-hour round trip, which was a shock.

I clearly remember the day I accepted the job and the realisations that came with it – our position was not good. Worse still, my prospects of securing a full-time, nine to five, job as an older worker were poor. I had always been successful in getting jobs in the past, yet here I was in my 50s without full-time work and feeling terrified for the future I had planned.

The thought of risking our lifestyle, our farm and our family’s future was not an option. Despite wanting to give up, I understood I needed a path to create a job and fast cash flow that no one could ever take from me again. Ever!

Online freelancing was my answer. It provided the cash flow to live, to learn and create income streams online.

I got to work and found people in the Australian and global marketplace who wanted to buy my expertise. To begin with, I used a skill we all have: searching the internet. Then, I worked out the skills people wanted to buy and discovered where to find work and great clients. Within three months, I went from an AU$1,000 per month hobby to an AU$9,000 per month income as a freelance writer, and thereafter began earning this amount consistently. Freelancing was my new cash cow. It gave me a six-figure income to rely on as I developed even more online strategies whilst working approximately 25 hours a week, and I was in control of when, where and how I worked. 

This was the birth of Savvy Experts Online, the brand name I chose for my business. It now provides me with multiple income streams using a variety of online strategies described in this book. You can choose to use one or more of these strategies, but what’s most important is that they are tailored to you and your expertise. Remember, I am here to help you every step of the way and can also point you to the best people online to further assist you with your journey, once you have decided on your path.

Making the transition online has transformed the way I work and earn. I didn’t think it possible, but it is! Even though I almost failed English at school, I started my online freelancing as a writer on a small scale and now have clients across the globe. Specialising as a freelance grant writer, I applied my expertise to jobs I would never have had the opportunity to explore in the nine to five workplace. Since starting this new path, I have brought in over AU$50+ million dollars for client projects in health, education, employment, events, tourism, the environment, start-ups, business development and large infrastructure investments for economic development, roads, migrant cultural centres, Indigenous communities, clinical and disability workforce development projects – the list of grants and areas in which I’ve provided my skills goes on. But it worked, and it worked fast for me and my family.

With my cash flow from freelancing replacing my corporate income in less hours, I spent my extra time researching, taking action, testing and pivoting until I was confident to move forward. I have invested in training and mentors, not to mention travel (often international) to reach the best masterminds and networks to learn the ropes. In fact, Fast Track Online is the book I wished I had access to when I was starting out.

This book is a reflection of my journey from working the ‘nine to five’ to an online business developer and adviser. I have successfully transitioned my nine to five skills online to create new income replacing my six-figure corporate salary and working half the hours. I now have more flexibility and time for me, and my family. I also enjoy teaching people how to transition their nine to five skills, knowledge and expertise into streams of online income. Freelancing was my answer to fast cash flow doing work I enjoyed. What’s more, freelancing is only one of the ten strategies I now use in my online business. Any one of these could be perfect for you and your situation.

What’s Your Situation?

You may be asking how you can apply Fast Track Online to you and your particular circumstances. Firstly, you don’t have to be a writer. There are hundreds of skills you can transfer from the ‘nine to five’ to be successful. You can share your voice, create information resources, create products, services and create online income from your current nine to five expertise attracting hundreds of followers.

Yes, you can have it all when you transition your expertise online. You can achieve an income doing something you value. You can work whenever and wherever you choose. Best of all, it is easier and less expensive than ever before to create a new business online. The internet allows you to start a business for as little as a few hundred dollars and with the reach and targeting of social media, you can find your customers faster than ever.

You can even do this without high-level Information Technology (IT) skills. Yes, there are basic IT skills to learn. However, as a mature professional, you can get started easily. Furthermore, if you struggle with these new skills, you can simply hire a freelancer to do the job or to help you master them. So, you will need to learn some new skills to transition your expertise online, yet I can assure you that if you follow the steps outlined in this book, the effort will be more than worthwhile.

Importantly, with your decades in the workforce and credentials, you will probably have many interests you enjoy and would like to focus upon. It may even be difficult for you to decide on a single topic to begin your online journey. Some professionals want to extend the reach of their nine to five work online, whilst others want a fresh start and go back to a passion or even build an online business from a hobby. Either way, you can identify your best skills, topic and online strategies to navigate your path. You can focus your mindset to manage any tendency to become overwhelmed to keep you moving forward. If you can search Google, send an email and use Word, Excel and PowerPoint, you can identify your best fit online strategies described in this book. Different strategies suit different topics and people. Finding the best fit for you, your topic and strategy is essential for the enjoyment and sustainability of your online transition.

Undoubtedly, there is a learning curve and the need to invest your time in learning and training. There will also be times when you will want to give up, but I encourage you to persevere and give your online transition time to develop. I am so pleased I didn’t give up. I dug deep and worked out which strategies produced the fastest cash flow. When I was starting out, this was my highest priority.

I also made many mistakes along the way and will share these with you as we progress, so you can avoid making the same errors. In essence, I wrote this book to help you avoid my mistakes and heartache. It will save you countless hours, much stress, effort and money as you will learn from my mistakes and benefit from the shortcuts I share to assist your online success. My goal is for you to be able to confidently apply the online strategies described in this book to your skills, knowledge, passions and interests and fast track online.

Who Can Become an Online Expert?

As a professional, maybe you are a teacher, an accountant, an attorney, a small business owner, a marketer, bookkeeper, a clinician, a musician, a counsellor or an artist. You have skills others have questions about. They want to learn just a little of what you know to make their life easier or to fulfill their aspirations. The truth is that people who have made a successful online transition are from a wide range of varied backgrounds, just like you. For example, administration clerks, woodworkers, bread makers, health or community workers, chefs, engineers, architects, executive assistants, office managers, retailers, nurses and event promoters (and countless other professions) have set themselves up as online experts.

What’s more, transitioning your skills and knowledge online provides you with more than authority, reach and income. You can add to your life’s purpose, give more and do more for others who need your expert knowledge. If you have left the workforce prematurely, online strategies can also allow you to earn more for you, your loved ones, or a cause you value. By using the Fast Track Online process you can extend yourself, do work you care about and make a difference.

In the online world, experience counts! Interestingly, mine is not the only book describing online strategies for income. It is, however, the only book I know of that focuses on experienced workers with professional expertise and decades of life experience. Experts like you, with years of skin in the game, are already ahead in the online business world. You have credibility gained from your work experience, university and college degrees. You have testimonials and recommendations from people you have helped, people whose lives you’ve changed, or even saved. You know their stories, aspirations, priorities and challenges. You have ideas and solutions to help others in their business, in their careers or with everyday problems. With Fast Track Online, you will discover proven online strategies to take your expertise and create services and products. You won’t be alone either. A study of 2.7 million startups found the ideal age to start a business is much older than many imagine. Being in your 40s or 50s is the perfect time to begin.[ii] Did you know Colonel Sanders launched the KFC franchise at 62 years of age?

Even with your skills and knowledge, you may feel uncertain about where to start; there may also be a fear of failure or of what others think. With Fast Track Online, you’ll identify your best fit and most profitable online topics, learn strategies tailored to you and your work-life goals. You'll join others sharing their journey and learning from their experiences including their fears, challenges and solutions. So, don’t let your fears and limiting beliefs stop you. We all have these, so you will not be on your own.

On the other hand, you may not realise that you are afraid and think you are just making excuses for not starting or putting in the effort. Did you know excuses and procrastination are often manifestations of fear? To succeed, you will need to overcome your doubts, and this is covered in Chapter 6, Embrace Your Mistakes.

Let’s look at your excuses head on.

Do I hear you asking, “What if I don’t have the technical skills needed?”

At the moment, you might not be able to build a website, but you can learn, as I did. Don’t let any fear of technology scare you off. For those of you, like me, who are over 55 years old, do you remember the distinctive smell of the Xerox machine at school? The first time you sent a fax? I still remember that day in my 30s, sending my first fax from Sydney to London. Where were you when you sent your first fax? Were you an early adopter using an Apple Mac with a screen size one quarter the size of a PC? If you were involved in science or psychology at university, there were foot-high piles of computer cards running through a huge computer, the size of a bathroom! Now our computers sit on our desks or in the palm of our hands, even on our wrists! We are the generation who have mastered new technology. There’s more to learn and it’s not difficult to pick up new skills when you have a clear reason to do so.

A few years ago, I would have thought my current level of online skills and work-life balance was out of my reach. I was determined not to become a prisoner to the ‘nine to five’, the long commute and the wasted hours sucking me away from family, study and leisure time. However, I have transformed from working nine to five to being an online entrepreneur, and you can too.

Your next excuse could be, “I’m too old.”

In fact, people over 50 years of age are the largest and most successful cohort of online entrepreneurs, so bring it on and be a part of this amazing journey! Think about all your personal assets and interests for your online transition. Could it be related to your credentials, work or another interest linked to volunteering, a sport, a challenge in life you have overcome or something you would like to teach? No matter what your choice, I can assure you that you are never too old to begin and your experience will be highly valued.

Do I hear you asking, “How do I know whether my idea will work?”

I can help with the step-by-step exercises and risk management strategies to test your idea, included in this book. Chapter 7 is devoted to minimising risk, validating your idea and understanding how to leverage and partner with people you perceive as competitors. In my business, I apply ten online strategies; and there are more. However, in my opinion these ten strategies are the best for people with expert knowledge and skills. You apply these strategies to your chosen skills, knowledge and experience. There is one particular strategy I use to show people how to create fast cash flow. It’s called ‘online freelancing’. I researched the type of services people were buying in the Australian and global freelancing market. Can you believe, I found over 200 popular skills? I’m certain you would have developed many of these during your professional career or working life.

Or perhaps, you are worrying, “What if there’s no space left in my chosen area and others already have a business topic like mine?” Could this be another excuse?

Firstly, remember there are over four billion people searching online 24/7 and you’ll never be short of customers if you plan and execute well. Secondly, in the online business world, there is reciprocity, the likes of which you may have never experienced. People help each other because there is a global audience, and no two experts are the same. If you can show and share your credentials, you are ahead of the game. You are the expert. Yes, you may find pretenders without credentials in your space – those who are driven more by money than regard for their clients and customers. This could make you mad and I hope even more determined to launch yourself online. People need your expert skills and wisdom, not the misinformation often peddled by the pretenders. So, there will always be enough space in your topic for a professional, experienced expert such as yourself.

Fast Track Online Shows You How

Most importantly, this book shows you how to get successfully started online with its practical, easy to follow content, literally jam-packed with tried and tested strategies, links, bonus checklists and templates. Here is what we’ll cover:

Find your niche – the topics best suited to your expertise, transferable skills and your work-life goals.

Find your online audience – the people who will be interested in your ideas, services and products and be prepared to pay for them.

How to test your idea with different approaches to ensure it will be sustainable, attract an audience and be profitable.

Discover the different types of products, services and information you can create.

How to monetise and create an income planner to suit your goals.

Choose the best fit social media platforms.

Identify audience and joint venture partners.

Do a ‘deep dive’ into the ten online strategies most suited to people with expert skills.

These strategies include:

o  Online Freelancing

o  Self-Publishing

o  Blogging

o  Webinars for E-Teaching

o  E-Teaching

o  Social Media Marketing

o  Affiliate Marketing

o  Email Marketing

o  E-Commerce

o  Membership Subscriptions

·       Demonstrate how these ten strategies fit together, leverage and connect you with more followers and to create multiple income streams.

The diagram below illustrates the steps we will progress through in the book.

Plus, you’ll receive access to these free bonus resources:

ü The Fast Track Online ‘Finding Clarity Workbook’ is designed to help you choose the best topic for you as it will give you the most job satisfaction and joy in your online work. Follow the link to www.savvyexpertsonline.com/bookfreeresources

ü The Fast Track Online ‘Business Plan Template’ will help you to identify everything you’ll need to know to get you online fast. Follow the link to www.savvyexpertsonline.com/bookfreeresources

ü The Passion Test – https://www.thepassiontest.com/automated-passion-test?ref=21679-Judy-Nicholsa simple system used in 64 countries by 1500 trained facilitators, including myself, is a direct and practical roadmap to discover your ‘Why’.[iii] You can do the test yourself; it will help you discover what’s most important to you, what can drive your online transition and the topic to focus upon. This test is described in more detail in Chapter 3. I also recommend picking up Simon Sinek’s book, Find Your Why.[iv] It will change how you live your life.

Ultimately, this approach and these resources will enable you to transition your skills, knowledge and even your business or not-for-profit organisation online. You will reach a local and global audience, learn about your audience and respond to their needs with your expertise. While you are helping others, you will create new income streams and a new flexible way to work and raise capital for a great way to live.

It’s all there waiting for you to dive in.

“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.”

Albert Einstein

End Notes

[i] Mohsin, Maryam. “10 Google Search Statistics Your Need to Know in 2020,” Oberlo 2020.  https://www.oberlo.com/blog/google-search-statistics

[ii] Haden, Jeff. “A study of 27 Million Start-Ups”, www.inc.com https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/a-study-of-27-million-startups-found-ideal-age-to-start-a-business-and-its-much-older-than-you-think.htmil

[iii] Bray, Janet and Chris Attwood. “The Passion Test – The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Life Purpose,” Plume. USA. 2008.

[iv] Sinek, Simon. “Find Your Why,” Portfolio USA. 2017