(Disclosure: Some of the links present in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you click through the link and purchase a product, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.)
Want to know some extremely profitable skills that you can learn for free? Check these out!
The world is not the same as it used to be. If you wanted to learn a new skill in the old days, you’d have to go find a book on it or take a class.
With the advent of the internet all those years ago, however, it is easier than ever to learn new skills that can make YOU more money. Check them out below!
1. Programming/Coding
The level to which technology is integrated into daily life is astounding.
Think about it: How many different tasks did you complete today using your smart phone? I know that I used mine to check the weather, do some banking, browse social media, and play some mobile games.
See? As long as there are problems to solve or processes to improve, there is software to be created. This creates a huge demand for individuals with programming know-how.
In addition to the consistently high demand for programming skills, the income can be relatively passive! Once you create and sell the software, you don’t need to constantly create that same software from scratch! The only work you may have to do once it reaches the market is update it.
Don’t worry; you don’t have to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. If you have a problem that you feel can be solved by an app, chances are that a few thousand people out there have the same problem and would gladly fork over $2.99 for an app that solves that problem.
Note: Although being skilled at programming is extremely lucrative, learning the skill is hard work. You may have to sacrifice a few nights out on the town, but it will pay off down the road when you’re making a solid side income.
Another Note: You can learn this COMPLETELY online for FREE. One of the most well-renowned sites for learning to code for free is Codeacademy.
2. Writing
This is a bit broad of a category, but that doesn’t change the fact that writing well can fatten your wallet up.
Communicating through the written word is critical to success in essentially any career. If you can demonstrate fantastic writing skills in your current job, your boss and coworkers will appreciate you so much more.
However, writing can be used to create many different side income streams as well.
For example, if you enjoy researching topics and then writing about them, you could write articles and get paid for them on a site such as InfoBarrel.
Maybe you have a lot of knowledge about a particular topic. You could start a blog (kinda like this one) and share your knowledge with the world.
You could even write fiction books! The possibilities are endless.
One of the most highly paid forms of writing, however, is copywriting. Copywriting is simply selling via the written word. It pays so well because the ability to write good copy can be the difference between a company selling $1,000 or $100,000 worth of products or services. Whether you work for a company or freelance, copywriting skills will serve you well.
For those of you that have studied at a university or college, I’m sure you’ve had a peer editing session in at least one class. You also have definitely seen that one classmate that clearly has never had to write a paper in their life. Wasn’t it frustrating?
I’m saying this to show you that it’s a breath of fresh air when someone can write well. If you just put in a little bit of work and write well, you can easily make a side income by writing.
As always, the web is chock full of writing courses. Many are absolutely free, but there are paid ones as well if you have the money to spend.
3. Sales
Everything is sales. I’ll repeat that. EVERYTHING is sales.
Whether you’re attempting to persuade your way to a raise, you’re trying to write better copy to acquire more customers, or you’re making an effort to convince your professor to bump your 88.9% up to an A-, you’re selling something.
While learning sales won’t produce anything in and of itself, it underlies success when using any other technical skills you may have. You could be the greatest baker of cookies in the world; however, that means nothing if you can’t convince customers about why they should choose your cookies over the rival bakery down the road.
As society progresses into the future, sales will only become more important as various job markets become more competitive (or are even automated away…. *GASP*).
Sure, you can learn sales by taking paid courses, but there is enough information on the web to learn some basic sales and people skills. After that, it’s just practice, practice, practice.
4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
By now, you probably understand that technology and the internet grow more important every day. As more business occurs online, SEO will only continue to become more lucrative.
What is SEO, you ask?
The main goal of SEO is to get a website to rank as high as possible in a search engine such as Google. People and businesses with websites want to maximize the amount of organic (not paid), quality traffic to their sites because that means more sales.
Naturally, strong SEO skills will catch the eyes and ears of many businesses in the form of either potential employers or prospective clients.
For the freelancers and business owners out there, SEO can obviously be extremely helpful to you too. If you’ve got great SEO skills, then you’ll have the know-how to get your website ranked well on a search engine. That means growth for you business and more money in you pocket.
There are millions of blogs and free courses that teach SEO that are just waiting to be read All you must do is seek them out.
5. Another Language
The world is more interconnected than ever before.
Globalization means multinational business. On top of that, the internet allows us to communicate with each other all over the world. However, there are language barriers between many different countries.
This creates a huge market for those who know a language in addition to their native tongue.
On job boards, I’ve seen my fair share of jobs with a “ability to speak Mandarin required” or “bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish preferred”.
This is because massive corporations have operations in multiple countries across the world. Not only might their different languages be spoken by employees, but customers and clients may speak different languages too. Putting a second language on your resume can easily launch you into a higher-paying position.
Knowing another language creates freelance business opportunities as well. You could perform translator or interpreter services. You could tutor. You could write in another language. You could be a tour guide. I think you get the picture.
For those with businesses that are not language-related, learning another language can still help your business. If you learn another language, an abundance of doors will open.
Duolingo is a great free resource to start learning another language right now.
So There You Have It…
It should seem apparent by now that the internet is the way of the future, and the ability to do business will heavily depend on knowing how to use it. These skills can be not only learned from the internet for free, but they can be applied to make more money as well.
Upgrade your skill set and go make some money!
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” -Benjamin Franklin