Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.  Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness. Because this virus is highly contagious, people needs to isolate at home. Some, no work no pay. If you are one of those people affected by this tragedy and is looking for new ways to earn money, please read on.

The world has been warned. Confirmed cases of the virus infection is still rising worldwide. Hence a total lock-down for almost every country. No doubt jobs of all types of industries are affected as people are required to stay at home.

Because of the lock-down, thousands have lost their jobs, many companies shut down, and for those lucky ones, forced to work from home. The pandemic has made working from home a new normal. But for those who lost their jobs, the virus is not the real threat – the food is.

Adapting the real
pandemic (not the coronavirus)

Since thousands of companies have shut their operations down because people are forced to stay at home for quarantine, the viral pandemic is not the real threat especially for the low-wage earners.

Luckily if you’re someone who is stuck at home and is finding a new way to sustain your expenses while being quarantined, I’m hoping this post can help you. I’ll be sharing easy-to-follow actionable ways on how to become productive when you’re stuck at home locked-down. All you need is just an internet connection and a computer or a laptop. Please follow the specific guide below.

Disclaimer: Acabo CC is not in any way related/affiliated to the links provided in this posts. If for instance, some links suggested herein offer purchase/s, Acabo CC won’t earn any commission, whatsoever. Links provided are for reference and educational purpose only.

5 Actionable Ways on How To Become Productive During Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic Lock-down

1. Create an Upwork profile

Upwork is one of the world’s best leading freelancing platforms. It’s free and easy to join. Thousands of jobs are posted on Upwork from almost all types of industries around the globe.

How to create an effective Upwork profile:

• #1. Complete your profile
  with all the necessary information about you and your professional background. Include a professional looking profile photo, preferably a clear colored frontal headshot. Please don’t use selfie. Employees don’t hire people with no personalities attached on their profiles. Like hey, who wants to talk with ta ghost?

• #2. Showcase you special skill.
  Upwork has a feature where you can create a special page on your profile that showcases your best skillset. Example: Graphic Design. In this page you can write compelling paragraphs that highlight what sets you apart from other job seekers about Graphic Design jobs. You can also specify an amount you charge per job done.

• #3. Verify your Upwork profile.
  Earn that magic “blue tick” next to your name. When your a verified Upwork freelancer, companies will not hesitate to contact you and ask for proposals. Sometimes a verified profile saves you a lot of ‘connects.’ Connects are virtual tokens on Upwork used by freelancers to submit proposals. To verify your profile just follow the instructions under settings. Upwork will asks you personal documents that prove your identity. Then a one-on-one video call from one of Upwork’s representative.

• #4. Upload a compelling portfolio.
  But, I tell you, if you’re worried because you are just starting out and you don’t have a portfolio yet, don’t be sad. You are not required to create one. Just be honest on your profile. Tell the world why you don’t have a portfolio.

2. Join free training and workshops by Google

Jumpstart you career by getting certified at Google. If you’re someone looking to expand or learn more about earning a sweet spot in digital world, Google offers free training and workshop for those people who are interested not just about digital marketing but a wide range of digital courses – the Learn with Google program by Google.

To join is easy and courses are offered in modules. So you have the freewill to choose your convenient time. Good thing is, after completion you’ll get a certificate from a monster tech company – Google.

What are the free courses offered by Google:

• Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Basic to Advanced E-commerce
• Understanding the basic of Machine Learning
• Improving online business security
• Effective networking
• Intro to digital well-being
• Public speaking
• Social psychology
• Learning Google cloud technology
• Online advertising
• Elements of Artificial Intelligence
• Customer segmentation and prospecting
• Fundamentals of Graphic Design
• Business writing
• Introduction to Cybersecurity
• and many more…

Please note that some of these courses are offered for free but certificates are paid. To check paid certificate courses, please visit here. For courses with free certificates, please redirect here.

A certification is a great way to make your CV shine. It shows you’ve got genuine digital skills, and that you are motivated to learn: two essential qualities in today’s business world.

3. Start an E-commerce store on Shopify
(dropshipping business)

You might have heard about dropshipping, right? Coronavirus does not infect dropshippers. (Kidding). And maybe, you think it’s hard and it needs a lot of money to start with. If you think that way, you are wrong. You don’t need to have a lot of money to start a dropshipping business online. All you need is just an internet and heart for your business. Money is important, but you don’t need a lot. 100 – 150$ is enough.

Easy steps to start a dropshipping business on Shopify:

• #1. Find winning products
  It’s important to choose products that are highly salable online. Products that people are mostly interested with. Products that people can’t easily find in local stores, especially now that most of the stores are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. To do that, I recommend checking Amazon’s best seller page. This way, you’ll be able to understand what products people are usually buying online.
  
  Other platforms to check what products are highly sold online are: Alibaba, AliExpress, Wish, and Ecomhunt. Choose at least five or more products. After choosing products, check if that product you chose is trending online. Check it by typing keywords related to that product on Google Trends. This way, you’ll know which products people are searching online. Choose products are reserve this for later.

• #2. Choose a unique name for your store
  Choosing a name for your store is crucial as it affects your marketing in the future. Store names that are name appropriately can make a long way for your e-commerce success. Choose a name for your store that relates to the product you are selling. It should be unique and easy to remember.
  
  Example, if you are selling kitchen gadgets, create a name that when people read it, they’ll know what you are selling even if they don’t see your products – say, KitchenKits or simply Kitchen Gadgets. Remember that your store name will also be the your website address if you choose to have an own domain. Let’s say kitchenkits.com.

• #3. Create a Shopify account
  Creating a Shopify account is basic as elementary. Just go to Shopify website and create your account. From there, get familiarize how to configure your store and start creating. There hundreds of helpful videos on Youtube for you to go with.

• #4. Import your products from AliExpress
  Now, take the product list that you’ve done in step 1. Go to Apps on Shopify and install Oberlo. From Oberlo, go to AliExpress and search your products. This part is tricky as you have to choose products from good suppliers. Tip: Select products that have high numbers of order. You can see it under product description on AliExpress.
  
  After choosing your products, start importing it to your Shopify store. On Shopify store, configure your design. Don’t worry Shopify is very easy to design. You don’t need an experience in web design and development here as long as you know how to read.

• #5. Launch your store and start selling!
  After you finished choosing and importing your products to your Shopify store, it’s now time to buy your domain name. This time, you need money for the domain and hosting for using the Shopify platform. Domain registration on Shopify is only 16$. For hosting they offer a minimum fee of 29$ per month. As of now, due to Covid19 pandemic, you can use Shopify platform FREE for 3 months.

Related Readings: 7 Practical Reasons Why You Need a Website for Your Business Today

As you can see, there are hundreds of ways on how to be productive during coronavirus lock-down. Don’t get this pandemic fool you. It’s just a virus and you are human. You have the internet and you are stuck there ranting nonsense.

Feels so overwhelmed
with too much information?

At this very moment, you might be feeling so overloaded with what you have just read. I got you. Starting an online business or looking for opportunities online is not an easy step to take. It needs a lot of thinking and it’s not as easy as 1-2-3. For that reason why I am writing this is I want to help you get started.

Do you want to find jobs online and work at home?

Are you planning to start an e-commerce business?

Do you have an online business but it’s not really taking off?

Hopefully, this coronavirus lockdown will soon be over. Whatever you have, a business, a plan to work at home, I’m willing to help you figure out how and where you can start. If you have Facebook, just message me on our page, Acabo CC, and there we will talk. Or, you can fill-in this simple form and just tick the “General Consultation” button so I know you’re this super excited person who wants to take a leap in life. Or! And, you can also drop a comment below. Let’s see how far we can go. See you there, and let’s get this rock on!