Top 10 Free Courses to Help You Make More Money Online & in Your Career

Just starting out and don’t have $100+ to shell out on a more extensive course created by an expert in the field?

These top 10 free online money making courses can help you learn the fundamental basics to take control of your financial future.

As a Private Financial Advisor, I’ve included some of my favorite recommendations for beginners that are easy to get started with and will ease you into the core money making skills you need to secure your financial future.

Free Courses to Learn How to Make More Money Online & in Your Career

1) The Fundamentals to Personal Finance

Understanding the basics of personal finance is essential for building a solid foundation for wealth creation.

Coursera offers an excellent free course titled “The Fundamentals to Personal Finance” by SoFi, an American banking platform.

This course covers basic concepts such as budgeting, saving, investing, and managing debt, providing you with the knowledge and skills needed to make informed financial decisions. 

How Long it Will Take:

• The only downside to this course is the number of hours you need to dedicate to it – roughly 60 hours in total over 2 months.
• Having taken it myself, it’s a little repetitive and wordy in places so could have dialled down to just 40 hours in my opinion.

2) Introduction to Entrepreneurship

For aspiring entrepreneurs, understanding the fundamentals of entrepreneurship is crucial for launching and scaling successful ventures.

Udemy offers a course titled “Introduction to Entrepreneurship” by Guy Kawasaki, providing insights into ideation, business models, marketing strategies, and growth tactics.

Whilst Udemy itself isn’t free, they do offer a ‘personal trial plan’ which means you can access the course for free for 30 days.

Take the course in this time and then cancel your subscription to prevent renewal fees hitting your account.

Bonus, this plan also gives you access to a ton of other courses too so if you see something you like, enrol in it!

Whether you’re starting a small business or pursuing a start-up venture, this course equips you with the essential knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the competitive business landscape.

How Long Will it Take:

• Only 4 hours in total which is great! 

3) Digital Marketing Fundamentals

The Google Digital Marketing and E-Commerce Professional Certificate is free for the first seven days.

There is a monthly charge thereafter, so please check out the link below for more detail.

It is it’s incredibly extensive, and you get a real recognised qualification from it, ‘a Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate’.

Not only is it designed to help you understand key concepts such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, and analytics, but it also could help land you a job in these roles:

• Marketing Coordinator
• E-commerce Associate
• Paid Search Specialist (all of which start at roughly the $70k/year mark)

By mastering these digital marketing techniques, you can attract customers, drive traffic, and monetize your online presence effectively.

How Long it Will Take:

• This is a professional certification.
• You will need to dedicate 10 hours a week for 6 months to it – according to Google’s Digital Garage website.

4) Freelancing Essentials

Aspiring freelancer? This course is for you!

With the rise of the gig economy, freelancing has become a popular avenue for earning income on your own terms (in many cases topping the 6 or even multi 6 figure income bracket!).

LinkedIn Learning offers a free course on “Freelancing Foundations,” covering essential topics such as finding clients, setting rates, managing projects, and building a successful freelancing career.

Again, like Udemy though you’ll need to take advantage of their free 30 day trial period to access the course, and just cancel before the renewal pops up. 

How Long Will it Take:

• 5-8 hours depending on your learning style.

5) Stock Market Investing

Investing in the stock market can be a lucrative way to grow your wealth over time, but it requires knowledge and expertise to navigate successfully.

Udemy offers a truly free 45 minute intro course to ‘Stock Investing for Beginners’ covering the basics of stock market investing, including terminology, strategies, and what it means to ‘do risk management’.

Whilst this course isn’t designed to give you all the info under the sun, with it, you can begin to recognise which stocks are and aren’t right for your financial situation and make more informed decisions to hit your financial goals.

How Long Will it Take:

• 45 minutes.

6) Coding and Web Development

If you’ve always wanted to learn to code, this is a great way to start.

Codecademy offers free courses on programming languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and Ruby, allowing you to acquire valuable coding skills at your own pace.

Whether you’re interested in building websites, developing software, or launching tech start-ups, learning to code is an invaluable asset in the digital economy.

How Long Will it Take:

• Self-paced.

7) YouTube Content Creation and Monetization

YouTube Creator Academy offers a free course on “YouTube Success,” covering key topics such as content strategy, audience engagement, channel optimization, and monetization strategies.

Whether you’re a vlogger, educator, or entertainer, this course provides valuable insights and tactics for growing your audience and generating revenue from your content.

How Long Will it Take:

• The first time I took this, it only lasted 1-2 hours.
• It looks like they’ve added more content, so allow 3-4 hours just in case.

Related: How to Start a YouTube Channel to Replace Your Full Time Income

8) E-commerce and Dropshipping

Look, this is one I’m always careful with what I’m recommending.

E-commerce is a legitimate way to make serious money – the courses that often surround it however, are not.

That’s why I would only ever turn to the experts in this field: Shopify.

Shopify offers a free course on “Dropshipping 101: How to Build Your First Online Store,” guiding you through the process of setting up an online store, sourcing products, marketing strategies, and customer acquisition tactics.

Shopify will teach you how to master the essentials of ecommerce and dropshipping.

This includes how to launch a successful online business with minimal upfront investment and overhead costs.

How Long Will it Take:

• 2 Hours.

9) Real Estate Investing

Real estate investing is a time-tested wealth-building strategy that offers numerous benefits, including passive income, tax advantages, and potential for appreciation.

BUT you’ve obviously got to know what you’re doing to prevent what I call ‘beginner’s losses’.

Udemy offers a detailed course on “Learning the Fundamentals of Analyzing Real Estate Investments,” by Symon He, covering topics such as property valuation, financing options, rental property management, and investment analysis.

It’s not technically free, but you can get it free by opting for Udemy’s personal plan and then cancelling before your free 30 day trial finishes.

How Long Will it Take:

• 18 Hours.

10) Mindset and Motivation

Last but not least, cultivating the right mindset and motivation is essential for achieving success in any money-making endeavor.

TED Talks offers a goldmine of inspiring and thought-provoking talks on topics such as success, motivation, resilience, and personal growth.

Trust me when I say mindset is everything when it comes to wealth generation – be it in your career or in a business.

These talks ‘6 ways to improve your relationship with money’, ‘the psychology of positivity’, and ‘finding motivation, passion and energy in our work’ by Deirdre O’Shea are just a few of my favorites.

How Long it Will Take:

• 10-30 minutes, depending on which ones you watch.