Making Money Online

Virtualprof recently wrote to this blog asking where I intend to travel to on my next trip. I think that Eugene, OR is the next location from which I will teach my online classes. Eugene is a delightful change from New Orleans during the summer months because it sits in a valley. Eugene has very little humidity compared to the Big Easy, and the heat during July and August isn’t nearly as high as it is in the Deep South. I’ve seen tourists overcome by the combined heat and humidity in New Orleans.

I quite agree with virtualprof that one of the best benefits of online teaching is the ability to do it anywhere!

I also want to mention Academic Entrepreneur, a site dedicated to helping academics make more money by realizing their value to the general market. Dr. Larry Kutner understands that most academics have had the ability to navigate the capitalist landscape educated out of them on their way to earning a doctorate. Kutner understands the special issues faced by academic professionals as they try to cope with a lack of money. In particular, there is an article in Kutner’s “Free Resources” section titled “Things that hold you back” that specifically addressed the psychological hurtles faced by academics when it come to going out into the market to pick up extra income.

The Traveling Online Teacher wonders at times if educators at all levels are deliberately misled as to the economic possibilities available to them as intelligent, well educated people.

As you well know, I own Online Teaching Search. I have tried to encourage underemployed and unemployed academics to take advantage of the huge number of online courses now available in almost every educational institution.

For example, a retired academic I helped acquire just two online courses puts $500 in her pocket—cash!—every week for about 12 hours of teaching off of a laptop. When I point out this success story to other academics making so little money they can’t afford to resole their shoes, I’m met with such retorts as “That’s certainly not something I was trained to do!”

Well, of course you weren’t trained to teach online! You went to school before there were such things as distance education. However, you can learn to teach online. Still, they turn their genteel noses up at the prospect of earning more money and continue to lose ground in the face of inflation and a rocky economy. It’s sad to see, but, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water….

If you are an academic in need of extra income, and I know there are a lot of you out there, I urge you to take a look at Academic Entrepreneur and Online Teaching Search for ideas about how you can improve your lot in life.

But enough about money and such! I had a great time at Mardi Gras this year. The weather was simply wonderful. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.