Latest news with #onlinecourses
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Stroud trainer shares five ways to prevent emotional crisis before it starts
Column by Penny Newton-Hurley Mental Health A&Es: A step forward, but what about prevention? New mental health A&Es are set to open across England. It's an encouraging step, but it raises a crucial question: what are we doing to stop the crisis before it starts? We need mental health first aid, but we also need prevention. As a specialist in CommPassionate Communication, I believe many early warning signs of distress could be picked up if we knew how to listen. Here are five ways to build emotional safety at home, school, or work: 1. Make feelings normal. Saying "I'm sad today" or "I felt really anxious this morning" makes it okay for others to do the same. 2. Don't wait for a meltdown. Check in often. "How's your energy today?" is a good start. We don't ask because we're fine. We ask because we care. 3. Make space for needs. Needs like rest, belonging, autonomy, or fun aren't luxuries, they're psychological essentials. 4. Listen to the message behind the mood. Behaviour is communication. A withdrawn teen may be feeling hopeless. An irritable colleague might be overwhelmed. 5. Respond with presence, not panic. You don't need to "fix" someone's feelings. You just need to be with them. That's where healing begins. Empathy doesn't replace services, but it can reduce the need for them. About Penny Newton-Hurley. Oakridge-based communications expert Penny Newton-Hurley has launched a new series of online courses to help people navigate difficult conversations with clarity and care. Find out more at Penny trained under psychologist Dr Marshall Rosenberg in Nonviolent Communication. She has delivered training for central government, the NHS, and the Ministry of Defence. She lives in Stroud with her family.
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why Freelancers Need a Digital Product Revenue Stream
Every freelancer knows the challenges of growing and scaling their business. But many of us freelance alongside other jobs, or may have hit full client capacity. So how can we scale our business without continuing to exchange time for money? One way is to create a revenue stream that requires an initial time investment to set it up, but then continues to sell on autopilot. This revenue stream involves selling a digital product. Deloitte found that U.S. adults spend $120 to $130 monthly on digital goods and services. Freelancers have the golden opportunity to capitalize on this demand by creating their own digital goods such as templates, online courses, recorded webinars, eBooks, PDF guides, or even AI agents. Whether you freelance full-time or as a side-hustle, selling a digital product is a smart way to add revenue without significantly increasing your time commitments. Here's why: You're already an expert in what you do. How could you package up your knowledge or skills in a way that benefits more people, beyond your client roster? Let's say you're a graphic designer. You could create a set of social media templates that other businesses could plug-and-play, and sell these as a low-ticket offer to those not ready to invest in your design services. Think: what types of questions do you regularly receive from clients or your online audience? What topics or pain points do they ask to 'pick your brain' over? You could package up your unique knowledge on this topic into a PDF guide or eBook. Even though it takes some time to set up a digital product revenue stream including creating the actual product, setting up the system to sell it on (such as a Stan Store, Beacons, or Linktree page), and some ongoing marketing to promote it, it can be relatively 'hands-off' yet highly scalable. Here are two ways to scale your digital product revenue stream: Taking the time to create a digital product that offers more in-depth, comprehensive knowledge than your free public content (e.g. social media posts) helps to position you as a thought leader or expert in your field. If your digital product helps your audience solve a problem, this increases trust in your brand, which is imperative to business growth. According to Deloitte, 88% of customers who highly trust a brand would buy again, and 62% buy almost exclusively from that brand. High trust has the potential to turn into referrals, positive reviews, references, or citations in other content, and could even lead to speaking gigs or podcast appearances. All of which help build your brand. Creating and selling your own digital products is a smart business strategy for freelancers, especially in today's unpredictable economic landscape. It's a great way to grow your revenue without exhausting your time each week, so that you can focus on your hands-on client work.
Fast Company
19-05-2025
- Fast Company
Four free Coursera courses to jump-start your AI journey
Artificial intelligence: it's not just for tech experts anymore. Instead, a heaping helping of free online resources has emerged. These classes are specifically designed to welcome beginners into the world of AI, even if they possess little or no prior technical background. I selected these Coursera courses for their beginner-friendly approach, high ratings, and comprehensive coverage of foundational concepts and key AI domains. AI For Everyone If you're taking your very first steps into AI, ' AI For Everyone ' on Coursera is a great starting point. The course requires no prior experience in AI or programming, making it truly accessible to everyone, and it's got a reasonable completion time of around six hours. The curriculum is structured into four modules: What is AI?, Building AI Projects, Building AI in Your Company, and AI and Society. Google AI Essentials Another good starting point for your AI journey is the ' Google AI Essentials ' course. It offers a unique perspective on Google's AI philosophy and features hands-on activities and real-world scenarios. Similar to 'AI For Everyone' mentioned above, 'Google AI Essentials' is designed to be accessible to individuals of all skill levels. The six-hour course is structured into five modules: Introduction to AI, Maximize Productivity With AI Tools, Discover the Art of Prompting, Use AI Responsibly, and Stay Ahead of the AI Curve. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence For a slightly more structured and in-depth introduction to the foundational concepts of AI, the ' Introduction to Artificial Intelligence ' course offered by IBM on Coursera is an excellent option. This 12-hour course aims to equip beginners with a solid understanding of core AI concepts, and incorporates videos, readings, assignments, and even hands-on labs. The curriculum is divided into four modules that cover a range of essential topics: Introduction and Applications of AI; AI Concepts, Terminology, and Application Domains; Business and Career Transformation Through AI; and Issues, Concerns, and Ethical Considerations. Introduction to Generative AI Don't have 6–12 hours to get up to speed with the aforementioned courses? Skip right to the good stuff with the ' Introduction to Generative AI ' course, which offers an overview of . . . well, what most people are referring to when they mention AI nowadays (whether they realize it or not). The course defines generative AI, explains its underlying mechanisms, describes the different types of generative AI models, and discusses how the technology is used in the real world. It's worth noting that this course is part of a larger 'Introduction to Generative AI Learning Path Specialization,' so if you find the topic particularly engaging, you'll be able to keep the good times rolling with additional courses.
