Everyone loves to give advice, but not everyone gets paid to do so. Nowadays the evolution of technology has opened up the world in more ways than we could imagine. We're able to connect with others in more ways than before thanks to the advancement of mobile technology. And because of social media, we're also presented with the opportunity to connect with just about anyone and anywhere, so long as they have an active internet connection. Many startups have taken advantages of these technological advancements and created side hustles and ways for the average person to earn more money during their free time. Uber, Airbnb, and Postmates are a few examples of startups that have taken advantage of the gig economy blossoming.But the gig economy doesn't have the potential earning you're looking for. What if you're an expert in a special field and wants to get paid millions of dollars a year for your knowledge instead? Luckily for you, there's a proven path to get there. It's not an easy path, otherwise, everyone would've taken it. And it's certainly challenging. But if you have a specialized knowledge that you believe others would pay for, then follow these eight steps to getting paid for your knowledge.

1) Write A Book

The easiest and the best starting point is to write a book and have it published on Amazon. Amazon has an incredible program that lets just about anyone become an author without going the route of pitching to publishers. Being an author is a great starting point for getting paid for your knowledge because it establishes you as an expert in the industry first and foremost. You may or may not make a profit from book sales, however, the benefit of establishing credibility and trust early on has compounding interest for years to come.

2) Be A Guest Contributor

Although this would be trading your time for barely any pay, it builds a reputation as an author. You'll want to start guest contributing on small blogs, eventually working your way to local publications, and eventually pitch yourself to write in large national publications to gain notoriety and further reinforce yourself as an expert. Being a guest contributor won't exactly bring in the dough or help pay the bills, but combined with writing a book, you're establishing a strong portfolio when it comes time to selling and getting paid for your knowledge.

3) Build Your Brand

Now that you're a published author and a highly recognized expert in a specific field, it's time to build your brand. We suggest getting a professional website developed, getting a logo designed, and setting up your social presence in order to look appealing. This process might cost some money since you need to hire a professional designer to help you with all your design needs. But if you're on a budget, don't worry we've compiled a list of amazing free resources you can use with a few spare hours on the weekend.

Free resources to build your brand:

1. Canva: Design your logo and anything else graphic design related
2. Crello: Design cool flyers and animated social posts
3. Powtoons: If you want to make animated videos
4. Squarespace: Free (or really cheap) website builder
5. Trello: Great project management tools. Also can be used to manage your brand, content, leads, etc.

4) Develop A Mastermind Group

Make friends with other experts in your field whom you could also learn from. Develop a mastermind group of experts who share a common interest as you and expand your group. Having a mastermind group that meets regularly will further enhance your knowledge and broaden your horizon as you'll be making friends with the right people. To build your own mastermind group, first, you have to attend a lot of events in your area to find others with similar interests. Once you have a least a few people who share common interests with you, create your own event or group to gather and discuss specific topics related to your field of expertise. Encourage your members to also invite like-minded individuals to expand your mastermind group.

Be sure to stay connected with everyone and keep your relationships alive. You'll need your member's help later! 

5) Seek Speaking Free Engagements

As your reputation continues to grow and your group gains new members, you can begin seeking out speaking engagements. Start small at local networking events, schools, or local clubs that may want you as a free speaker. You might not make much from the free speaking engagements, but they will build confidence and hone your public speaking skills. And the ability to speak and present your ideas well will be crucial in getting paid for your knowledge.

 

6) Seek PAID Speaking Engagements

Don't be shy, you're definitely worth it. Now that you're an official speaker, author, well-published writer, and fully certified expert in your field, you can begin seeking paid speaking engagements. The amount is entirely up to you. It'll take a bit of hustling to get your name into the hat, but if you did a great job with the previous steps, people will be seeking you out instead at this stage to speak. You can also tap into your network of masterminds to explore other avenues to find speaking opportunities.

7) Offer Consulting Services

You can offer your consulting service much earlier if you so choose. We left it at this step because of the more experience and reputation you have, the more you can charge. If you're just starting out, you'll likely have to do a lot of free work to build your reputation. Meanwhile, if you follow the other six steps first, you'll already have built that reputation and following by this point. At this point, you're probably well known within a small community, have your own mastermind group, a small following on social media, and a lot of credibilities. You can now update your website to offer consulting services in your field of expertise.

8) Create Online Classes

Now that you've established yourself as a reputable person, you can start creating online courses all over the internet. Websites like Udemy and Coursera offer a free and easy way for prospective teachers to create an online course, upload it to the platform, and have millions of people buy into it. You'll get a cut of the sales once a student purchases the online course. And the material you'll be using can be directly from the book you've written or knowledge you've gathered throughout the course of establishing your brand. With a well created online class and a strong reputation to back it, students will flock to you in no time.

Try to create your class on multiple platforms to increase your stream of passive income. This is where you start to reap what you've sowed. Consulting may make a lot of money, but if your online class hits the top of the chart, you'll easily rake in six-digits per month from passive income. It might have taken a few steps to get here, but it's well worth it.

How to Get Started

Don't let these steps intimidate you. It takes time and commitment and has been repeated countless times with great success. With a little bit of perseverance, better work habits, and self-motivation, you'll be a published author in no time. And with a little more determination, you'll be able to generate passive income and finally getting paid for your knowledge.

No one wants to be around a coworker who intentionally wants to sabotage other people's work or even the company's progress. A work place is a place for growth, innovation, and forward thinking. But unfortunately that doesn't mean everyone's on the same page. And in the office environment, you can't simply just get avoid the person. At some point you will intersect, and at some point, you may be their next target. And that's why it's important to be able to learn the signs of a sabotaging coworker so you can spot them early on and navigate yourself (and possibly others around you) safely.

They Procrastinate On Important Deadlines

We can't all make deadlines 100% of the time. And there will be times where a coworker simply can't deliver on the dot, and that's acceptable to a certain point. Being late from time to time on delivering projects and deliverable is one thing. But a coworker who is consistently late only on important deadlines is a sure sign that this coworker intentionally wants to bring the team down. Their tardiness might not be accidental. It might be something they're intentionally doing in order to slow down a project or derail the team's efforts. This is one of the earliest signs of a sabotaging coworker that you need to be alert of.

Randomly Interested In Your Personal Life

Team bonding is a good thing in an office environment. After all, a healthy culture does promote conversations and coworkers getting to know each other well enough to grab celebrate together outside of work. But if a coworker that you're not close with, out of the blue becomes interested in your personal life, be on the lookout. That's not normal behavior, and can signal someone who's simply seeking information. In some cases, this can be harmless curiosity. However, if the signs are there with a few other on the list, it's a sure sign the coworker isn't a great team player and could be looking for ways to undermine your work.

They Spread Rumors

We all hate office rumors. And we especially hate it when it's about us. Anyone who goes around spreading rumors on a routine basis, is also likely to be a sabotaging coworker. If the rumor being spread is related to a coworker, that's a major red flag. Spreading rumors around the office is toxic, destructive for whoever that's being portrayed, and most important - just plain wrong. They're not just sabotaging an individual, they're potentially sabotaging the morale of the entire company by going around spreading rumors. You can easily spot these type of coworkers based on their language. You'll often hear them begin a rumor with something like..."I'm not suppose to tell you but...""You didn't hear this from me...""Just between us..."And my favorite. "I don't think this is true, but I heard..."

They Try Too Hard To Be Dominant

There's great leaders and bad leaders. And then there are those who aren't even leaders, but they demand you follow them. These are your typical office "alphas". They always try to "dominate" people or appear alpha in a group. You can easily spot them standing  with their legs wide open and their body language asserting dominance over someone else for no particular reason. You can often feel their aggressive energy just by being around them. And they tend to speak loudly to get your attention. They're also the type who demand respect instead of commanding it. And more often than not, they don't get what they want. And the result of them not getting the respect and appreciation they aggressively pursue, they'll lash out and try to sabotage those around them.

They Don't Celebrate Other Coworkers

Nothing lifts moral of an office more than a wonderful celebration of someone else's achievements. Your time will come and when it does, your coworkers will also celebrate your accomplishments. When another coworker reaches a sales goal or achieves something great, the saboteur will likely to be the first one to dip out. You can easily spot them based on facial expression. Next time there's a celebration, be on the lookout for the person that's looking miserable, despite everyone else cheering on a coworker's success. A healthy environment is one where coworkers celebrate each other's success instead of trying to find ways to undermine it.

They Give Backhanded Compliments

Giving compliments to show verbal appreciation of another person's work is a great exercise to build trust and camaraderie. A backhanded compliment, does the opposite. Backhanded compliments are already insulting on their own. But to receive them constantly from a coworker signals something much more sinister. This is usually congruent with the same coworker that's rarely happy for others in the office. If push comes to shove, they'll give you a compliment - a backhanded one. And you won't feel great getting being around them. It also helps to point out that the type who gives backhanded compliments are likely to show multiple other signs on this list.

Overly Negative 

They can put on a fake smile, but when they speak or voice an opinion, that's when you can spot their true negative attitude. They're rarely optimistic or supportive of ideas or other people. They're the first to find flaws in everything and fail to see the good in another person's ideas. There's inherent flaws in just about any idea proposed, and there's a healthy way to share them constructively. But this coworker's intention is to demoralize you and dissuade your idea, not provide constructive feedback to improve upon.

They Take Credit For Other People's Work

Not celebrating another coworker's accomplishments is one thing. But taking credit for their work is just another level of selfishness and greed. This is just a major no-no for anyone in the office. Taking credit that's not yours is a violate of a social contract we all agreed to in a professional working environment. Coworkers who have a habit of stealing credit to boost their own self worth to their superiors are toxic for the office. This is harmful if left unchecked because it both empowers the saboteur in the office, AND discredits and discourages the actual high performer. Why would someone try to perform and achieve their goals again if they're not appreciated, and their credit is stolen?

Disclaimer: Use With Caution

These are some of the more obvious signs of a coworker who's constantly trying to sabotage progress. Do take these signals with a grain of salt. Just because a coworker committed to one of the item on the list, one time, does not make them a bad person. We all have bad days. And we all have personal life challenges to deal with that our coworkers don't know about. Do try to give your coworkers the benefit of the doubt, and do try to see if the habit is consistent and in-fact intentional. Sometimes someone's just having a bad day. With the disclaimer out of the way, you're now equipped to spot the next saboteur in your company.