The Skill You’ll Get Paid for Online… Isn’t Always the One You Think.
Here’s how to figure out what people will actually pay you for…
Something clicked for me this week.
It’s one of those quiet realizations that feels obvious after it hits you… but changes how you look at everything going forward.
If you’ve ever wondered which of your skills you should monetize online, this is for you.
Because here’s what I’m seeing, not just in my own business, but in every digital business that lasts.
The skill that ends up making you money online?
It’s rarely just the thing you studied.
It’s rarely just the thing you’re certified in.
It’s almost never only what you’ve learned in a classroom.
More often than not?
It’s the thing your audience won’t stop asking you about.
It’s not about looking inward. It’s about paying attention outward.
Most people start by asking themselves:
What do I know?
What am I qualified in?
What am I passionate about?
And listen, those are great questions. They matter.
But if you want to get paid online consistently, here’s an even better question to sit with:
What are people already asking for?
That’s your real clue.
That’s the gold.
And you can only uncover it when you’re out there in the field — creating, listening, testing, noticing.
It doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in motion.
And that means before the paid offers, before the fancy funnels, comes this underrated skill: paying attention.
Before you can get paid, you have to pay attention.
Making money online is really a game of attention before it's a game of offers.
Are you paying attention to:
What people comment on?
What questions are they asking?
What they say when they reply to your emails?
What they struggle with again and again?
Most people miss this because they’re too busy creating content for algorithms, instead of content for humans.
But when you pay attention long enough, patterns start to emerge.
And those patterns? That’s where your paid offer is hiding.
So where do you start if you don’t have an audience yet?
Simple.
→ You borrow someone else’s.
Not in a creepy way.
But in a “become an observer of the internet” way.
Go where your people already hang out online:
Substack chats and Post comments
Forums like Reddit & Quora
Facebook groups
Comments on niche YouTube videos
AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions.
Even Amazon reviews
Watch what people are struggling with.
Note what language they use.
Look for the same questions popping up over and over again.
This is free market research and it’s wildly underrated.
Real people are out there every day sharing what they’re struggling with in their own words.
And that’s where content starts.
Then what? Create generously. Experiment wildly.
The next step?
Get out there and create.
Not perfectly.
Not obsessively curated.
Not stuck in overthinking.
Create based on what you’re seeing people already care about.
Try different angles.
Talk about different parts of your skills.
Experiment with formats:
Tips
Stories
Mistakes
Behind-the-scenes
Hot takes
Tutorials
Rants
Lists
Templates
Watch what lands.
Watch what falls flat.
Because content is free testing.
It’s your lab.
Here’s where the magic happens:
Eventually, as you build your own audience, you can go even deeper.
Ask them directly:
What’s your biggest struggle with X?
What would you love to learn from me?
What would save you time or stress right now?
What do you wish existed?
When people start telling you…
- “Yes, I need this.”
- “Do you offer this as a service?”
That’s the signal
That’s the thing to build your offer around.
Not because you said so.
But because they told you.
And this is where most people overcomplicate things."
"Because when you stay in conversation long enough… the next step becomes clear."
"Your audience will start showing you exactly what to create next."
Clarity comes from staying in conversation longer than most people are willing to.
Slowly but surely… your offer suite begins to build itself.
As you stay in this posture of observing, creating, and serving generously… something beautiful starts to happen.
You begin to see your natural offer ecosystem forming — layer by layer.
→ Free content that creates trust
→ Low-ticket products solving small but pressing problems
→ Premium workshops or masterclasses going deeper
→ 1:1 services for those who want your eyes on their work
Every piece building on the next.
Every offer informed by what your audience has shown you they need.
Not by guessing or forcing.
But by listening and responding.
This is exactly why I love teaching through premium workshops.
Workshops are such an underrated way to test your ideas, serve deeply, and build assets that live far beyond the live delivery.
Here’s how it often looks in my world (and more importantly, how you can implement it too):
✅ I notice a common problem showing up in my audience conversations.
✅ I check in with them directly: “Would a workshop on this help you?”
✅ I create content around the topic, emails, posts, short reflections, to build awareness, invite conversation, and educate in a way that naturally creates demand
✅ I test for validation, sometimes it’s a keyword reply, a comment, or a quick survey.
Once I get enough responses? That’s my signal to go ahead.
Then I write it all down — simple, human-friendly copy:
What we’ll cover
Who it’s for
What problem it’ll solve
What’s the investment (free or paid)
How to sign up
And from there I promote it, deliver it, and just like that… another asset lives inside my offer suite.
You can do this too.
And here’s the best part…
Workshops are incredibly flexible.
If it’s free?
✅ It becomes a premium lead magnet, something that builds trust fast and warms up new subscribers beautifully.
You can also repurpose it into short videos or posts or emails.
Pull snippets for future content.
The opportunities are endless.
If it’s paid?
✅ It becomes an order bump, a tripwire, a mini-course, a bonus offer, a future digital product.
The heart of it is simple — problem-solving
The skill you’ll get paid for online… isn’t always the skill you thought would lead the way.
Sometimes it’s a surprising corner of your expertise.
Sometimes it’s the thing you do without even realizing it’s valuable.
Sometimes it’s the thing that feels too obvious to you.
But your audience will show you.
Don’t overthink your skill.
Don’t hide behind qualifications.
Don’t wait for perfect clarity before you begin.
Start by creating. Start by paying attention. Start by helping people in real, specific ways.
The market will show you where your magic lives.
And your most profitable skill might just surprise you.
So, what will you create next?
Your next offer is probably hiding in your last 10 conversations.
~ Esther