3 New Year’s Resolutions for a Successful eLearning Career

While the New Year’s is a great time to set some personal resolutions, it’s also a good idea to add some professional resolutions to your list. Whether you’re looking for a new job, more clients, a promotion, or to simply become a better eLearning designer; in this post, I’ll share three resolutions you should consider adding to your list for a successful eLearning career in the new year.

1. Build or Update Your Online eLearning Portfolio

Successful eLearning Career, Tim Slade, custom eLearning development and design, eLearning workshops and training, eLearning consulting and coaching

When I first started in eLearning, way back in 2009, I used to think that you only needed an online portfolio if you were a serious eLearning freelancer. At the time, I figured I could get by with my resume alone. That was until a few years later when I applied for a new eLearning job and was asked to include a link to my online eLearning portfolio. It wasn’t until I was declined for that new job when I realize the importance a portfolio plays in having a successful eLearning career. Since then, every job I’ve ever applied for has asked me to include a link to my portfolio.

Whether or not you’re looking to make a job change in the new year, it’s always a good idea to have a solid and current portfolio of your work. You never know when a new job or client might pop up and want to see a sample of your work and what you can do.

The best part is that it’s now easier than ever to build your own website and online portfolio. Whether you want to use the easy-to-use website builders offered by GoDaddy or Squarespace, or build your own custom website with a tool like WordPress (the tool I used to build this website), you don’t need to know how to code to build an online eLearning portfolio!

If you already have a website and portfolio, perhaps you should set a resolution to update it! As I mentioned in this post, I just refreshed my entire website for the new year—it was a small investment of time, which has already started driving more traffic to my online eLearning portfolio.

2. Start an eLearning Blog

Successful eLearning Career, Tim Slade, custom eLearning development and design, eLearning workshops and training, eLearning consulting and coaching

After I built my first online eLearning portfolio back in 2012, I realized I wasn’t getting a lot of traffic to it. While I knew I could link to it when applying for jobs, I was really hoping for folks to find it organically and reach out to me directly with new work opportunities. After doing some research, I learned the importance of “search engine optimization,” or SEO for short. To make a long story short, I learned that I needed to make my website and online eLearning portfolio more “attractive” to Google by regularly publishing new and fresh content on all things related to eLearning.

So, to do this, I decided to start this eLearning blog in 2013. By creating a blog, I learned that I could regularly publish content that was searchable and shareable by my audience—and the more I published new content, the more traffic it would drive to my website. Since starting my blog back in 2013, I usually get a few thousand folks visiting TimSlade.com each week, which has resulted in many new clients and job opportunities over the years.

And as I say all of this, I know you’re thinking that you’re not qualified to start an eLearning blog. Well, I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong! The truth is, anyone can blog about eLearning design. My philosophy has always been that you don’t need to be an expert to share your experiences as an eLearning designer. If you have something to say or share, why not create a blog to share it with others?! I guarantee there are folks out there who would benefit from what you have to say.

Lastly, in addition to the SEO benefits of having an eLearning blog, it can also help establish and elevate your credibility within the industry and in the eyes of potential employers or clients. If what you’re sharing adds value and helps others, having a blog can result in instant credibility.

3. Speak at an eLearning Conference

Successful eLearning Career, Tim Slade, custom eLearning development and design, eLearning workshops and training, eLearning consulting and coaching

I attended my first eLearning conference back in 2010. It was the Learning Solutions Conference & Expo, held by The eLearning Guild. It was an amazing experience for me, and it’s where I realize that eLearning was a real career path that I could take seriously.

Since attending that first eLearning conference in 2010, I’ve spoken at well over 100 eLearning events and conferences all over the world. Attending these conferences has allowed me to expand my network, make new friends, and land several new clients.

Just like starting an eLearning blog, speaking at an eLearning conference also helps to establish and raise your credibility within the industry. It’s yet another opportunity to share your experiences with others and grow your following. And no, you don’t need to be an expert to speak at an eLearning conference. In fact, both The eLearning Guild and ATD reserve a number of speaking slots for first-time presenters, and so there’s literally no reason not to submit a proposal! Additionally, when you’re a speaker, you usually don’t have to pay to attend the conference—you just have to get yourself there! If you’re going to attend an eLearning conference, being a speaker is a great way to save a lot of money.

The Bottom Line

Finding success in the new year doesn’t have to be difficult. Whether it’s building or updating your online eLearning portfolio, starting an eLearning blog, or speaking at an eLearning conference; you should consider adding at least one of these goals to your list of resolutions for the new year.

What other resolutions can you share to help others achieve a successful eLearning career in the new year? Share them by commenting below!

Additional Resources

Tim Slade
Tim Slade is a speaker, author, and award-winning freelance eLearning designer. Having spent the last decade working to help others elevate their eLearning and visual communications content, Tim has been recognized and awarded within the eLearning industry multiple times for his creative and innovative design aesthetics. Tim is a regular speaker at international eLearning conferences, is a recognized Articulate Super Hero, author of The eLearning Designer’s Handbook and creator of The eLearning Designer's Academy.

4 Responses to “3 New Year’s Resolutions for a Successful eLearning Career

  • This post is so inspiring and came to me in a good time. I just started a blog about eLearning and this post confirms it was a good idea 🙂 Thanks for sharing all these good tips. I admire your work.

    • Hi Thias! I’m glad my post was able to inspire you! What’s the link to your blog? Feel free to share it here!

  • Priyanka
    5 years ago

    Great stuff Tim. Just what I needed at the beginning of this year 🙂

  • Thank you so much for the ideas Tim. We are also in the e-learning industry, we love creating e learning software for the future entrepreneurs in this domain.

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