Today, I was on Alura Jenson’s (Elizabeth Marie Spraggins) Instagram, and she had a very comical—yet reasonable—rant about how much she hates computers.
Although it was quite humorous, her insight highlights a key
issue that many sex workers might be having, a lack of computer skills. This is
completely understandable as the need to even use a computer was never part of
her job as an Adult Entertainer.
There is nothing for her, or you, to be ashamed of.
Hello ladies! And once again, thank you for visiting my
website for your educational needs. I am going use this post to address an issue
that you might be having as retired Porn Stars or Sex Workers. I am going to
talk about computer skills, specifically, that you should focus on in order
to be successful in your entrepreneurial ventures.
Luckily, we are living in the third decade of the twenty
first century, and there are many tools for learning about computers, software,
hardware, and other skills that you might need to make the smooth transition between
sex work and entrepreneurship.
This post is meant to be a very basic overview on some key
terms and concepts that you should search on Google, so as to learn these key skills
that you need to survive in a world of entrepreneurship.
Let’s start with the first key skill that will be valuable to
you for the rest of your life.
TOUCH TYPING
In order to gain maximum effect of using a computer, it
would help if your typing skills were efficient. You should be able to type on the
keyboard WITHOUT looking down at your fingers. Further, you should be able to
type fluidly at a speed of roughly 60 words per minute. That is roughly one complete word per second.
At 60 words per minute, you should be able to type a 4-page
document in less than 20 minutes—assuming that you are fully organized with
your thoughts.
Typing expeditiously is a life skill that will serve you
through a majority of tasks that you will need to thrive as an entrepreneur—like
composing emails, writing business or marketing plans, and creating reports and
other forms of content.
And since the keyboard is the most direct interface with the
computer, that makes it that much more important to learn how to type.
You can find touch typing websites that allow you to use
their base-service for free. I like using this website. It’s called the Typing
Club.
They claim that after 2 or 3 weeks that you will be able to
type quickly and without looking at your hands. You will be able to achieve
this because you will be learning how to type using the HOME ROW KEYS, which
facilitates muscle memory.
Practice your touch typing for at least 45 minutes each day for a month. The pay off is worth so much more than the effort!
Let’s discuss the next skill that you should learn.
BE FAMILIAR WITH CHROME OR OTHER WEB BROWSERS
A web browser is simply a piece of software that allows you
to “browse” content on the Internet. I don’t want to assume, but you may
already be familiar with Google Chrome.
This browser is used by about 90% of the world’s population.
Ya! It’s popular. This is because the search browser uses a sophisticated algorithm
to “rank” and sort websites in a way that allows for the user to find relevant
websites with ease.
However, Google Chrome, as well as other browsers, allow you
to search for MORE than just other websites. You can use the browser to find specific
locations on maps. You can find images, reviews on services, and even other browsers—if
you don’t trust google.
Think of a web browser as your passport to the digital world!
Some of the more popular web browsers are:
- Google Chrome
- Bing
- Microsoft Edge
- Yahoo
- DuckDuckGo
- Amazon (for shopping and e-commerce)
There are some tasks that you should be able to do when
using or operating a web browser. You should:
- Be able to “bookmark” or “add favorites”
- Clear browsing history
- Disable/Enable pop-ups and disable/enable cookies
- Use filter options to refine and narrow down your search
results (Google has millions of websites to view, so this is useful to know)
Let’s discuss Microsoft Office.
MICROSOFT OFFICE: WORD PROCESSING, POWERPOINT, AND
SPREADSHEETS
Microsoft Word will be your main point of contact for
when you are typing your reports, email drafts, and pretty much anything that
requires text. It is an impressive piece of software that has been around for
years.
Although, it has a dizzying array of functions and tools,
there are some basic operations that you should focus on in order to create a
basic “Word” document. Some useful tasks include:
- Create, edit, and save a “document”
- Add tables and graphs (Microsoft Excel can do this too.
More on this soon.)
- Adjust corner margins, and line spacing (for example,
single spaced, or double spaced)
- Checking the character count and word count of the document
- Insert headers at the top and footers at the bottom of the
document
- Copying the document
- And emailing the document when and if needed
Microsoft Excel is smart spreadsheet that will allow
you to organize your data into tables. Like, Microsoft Word, it has a vast range
of functionality. It would go beyond the scope of this blog post to get into
all of them. But, you can find many tutorials on YouTube, which is a web
browser (search engine) that is dedicated to searching for video content.
You might do a YouTube search like this, “Microsoft Excel
Tutorial,” or “Microsoft Excel Basics.” Like Google, YouTube ranks video
content by relevance, so searching for a video near the top of the page is usually
adequate.
You can do this same strategy for learning how to use Microsoft
Word. YouTube is a great tool for learning, PERIOD!
Microsoft PowerPoint is the last tool you should focus
on in the Microsoft Office Suite. It is a tool that allows you to create
presentations so that you can show to your clients. PowerPoint can create professional
looking presentations that will make you look like a total pro!
Like the previous software—Word and Excel—there is a lot of
functionality, way too much to go over in this post. But there are so many
content creators on YouTube who have tutorials for you to learn PowerPoint. It
is well worth the hour you spend watching a well-articulated video if you can
learn a new skill.
Let’s move on to File Management and Organization.
FILE MANAGEMENT
As you begin and complete more projects for your clients,
you will need to have an organized computer in which you can find your project
files easily. Therefore, you should be able to:
- Create, rename, and delete “folders” to store your documents
in
- Add multiple “folders” to the main folder (For example,
you might have a main folder that says “Clients” and then you might have folders
within that folder that say, “High Profile Clients” and “Lower Profile Clients”)
- Extend the hard drive capabilities of your computer by
using external USB flash drives or wireless hard drives
- Use cloud storage services, like Drop Box, and Google
Drive.
These are just the basics. You might try a free computer
basics course on YouTube. The one I am referring to has nearly 40,000 views and
is nearly 12 hours long. It is called:
“Basic Computer Skills for the Workplace in 2021 – 12 Hoursof Free Tech Training”
Let’s briefly discuss Operating Systems.
WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM AND MAC
There are two very popular operating systems, and they are supplied by Apple (OS) and Microsoft (Windows). There is another operating system called Linux that is gaining popularity because of the ecosystem of free and open-source software that accompanies it.
However, you should strive to be comfortable
with Windows 11 and Mac OS, as they are the two most commonly used.
I will say this again, and again, and again, and again! Use YouTube
to learn how to obtain a high level of comfort for these systems, and ANYTHING
that you don’t know. If there is something that you don’t know, for any subject or concept, the chances are
very likely that someone has created educational content for that topic.
Let’s talk about Email Formalities.
EMAIL FORMALITIES
As an entrepreneur, you will be using email A LOT! So, you
should be able to use it effectively. Here are some quick tips that you can consider
when creating an email to a client:
- Your email should contain a Greetings or Salutations (like
Dear Sir So and So, or Greetings Miss So and So)
- Include your name and a brief, concise introduction of who
you are and why you are emailing them
- Emails should be short and to-the-point if you emailing to a stranger,
but can be longer when emailing someone who is familiar with you
- Use complete and well-thought-out sentences. This is NOT a
text message, so abbreviations are not allowed
- Be respectful ALWAYS
- Be able to attach documents to your email, like Word, Excel,
and Power Point
- Use a signing off phrase like “best regards,” or “sincerely.”
Then use the next line to put your name, and appropriate contact information
like your mobile, or email
- Google Gmail and Microsoft Outlook are the two
most popular email platforms
THANK YOU
I hope that this post can help you become more adept at using
computers, or at least give you the fodder for finding resources that will help
you with that. There was no talk about machine learning and data analytics in
this post, because I wanted to provide you all with a more practical post that
you can act on and implement immediately in your business.
Thank you so much for using my website as your source for
learning to become the best versions of yourselves. Transformation and cutting out
toxicity from your life is so difficult to do, and you have my respect and admiration! You are all HEROES!