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Learning a new skill is a great idea for several reasons. It can help to keep your brain functioning optimally (more information on this here), it will help you to develop an open-minded ‘growth mindset’ and it may give you new avenues to explore in terms of your career.

Many employers are looking for specific skills and degrees are required for fewer jobs then 10+ years ago. For example, there is a huge demand for website-developers. Most employers won’t care whether or not you have a coding-related degree; they will just want to see evidence that you can do the job!

Skills that are in demand andalso rewarding to learn include the following…

Copywriting for Websites

Copywriting skills are in demand because they can make people/companies a lot of money. Copywriting for websites can be broken down into separate niches
- Copywriting for product pages
- Copywriting for email marketing
- Copywriting for blog content & articles
- Copywriting for general Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

Product pages, or eCommerce pages, are often very bland and very similar across websites. This is a mistake for several reasons. Google is less likely to rank a generic product page high in its results, especially if the content is not 100% unique. In addition, the copy should persuade visitors to make a purchase or inquire about a service. This relates to the art & science of CRO. Conversion Rate Optimization can be used across an entire website, not just on a product page. The homepage, for example, should be designed and have copy which maximizes the likelihood of a visitor making a purchase, navigating to a specific page, submitting a form or making a phone call.

Blogs are on most company websites these days and for good reason. Many digital marketing experts will tell you that “content is king” when it comes to influences your rankings on Google. Well written, informative and entertaining blog posts are a great starting point when it comes to ranking on the first page of Google. For this reason, many businesses are looking to hire skilful and experienced copywriters.

To get started look for a copywriting for eCommerce or for copywriting & CRO course. Choose one that includes lessons on human psychology that look at ‘social-proof’, the fear of missing out, etc.

Once you have done a course or two in copywriting, consider creating your own eCommerce website and practising your new skills, or offer your skills for free by contacting small business owners.

Coding for Websites & Software

Learning to code properly is quite a challenge, but if you are looking for a completely new skill set that can make you a lot of money, then consider doing a beginner’s course in coding for websites or software.

Where to start?W3schools is a well respected and well-recognised name in the world of web design and offers several courses for under $100. If you want to learn to create websites, then a good starting point would be their HTML course. After completing the HTML course (you could potentially do it in a week), consider the CSS and the Javascript courses. You should then have a good idea and a good basic knowledge of how to design the ‘frontend’ of a website.

Once you have the basics of markup and frontend development down, consider getting a little more specific. For example, a course which covers WordPress development would give you some skills that many employers are looking for. WordPress is the world’s most popular website platform, that is to say, the most common software used to create websites. You can build your own WordPress website for a few dollar/pounds per month and get some practical experience too.

Graphic Design

Thanks to the internet, websites and also Google’s ranking algorithms, graphic design is booming in terms of the work available. The most common software used in graphic design is Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Becoming proficient in both can provide you will a very valuable skill set. If you are not able to afford the Adobe software, there are free version available. For example, Inkscape is free and is very similar to Illustrator.

Graphic design is a huge industry and a skillset that encompasses many different forms of art, including logo design, infographic design, web design and much more!

Facebook Advertising

Another career and valuable skill that the internet can be thanked for is digital marketing. Virtually every business now has a digital marketing team or uses a digital marketing agency. You can use a digital marketing skillset to set up your businesses and/or find a high paying job.

A great place to start is to learn how to create Facebook Ad campaigns. This can easily be done with a course on a website like Udemy, or just watch and follow along with some tutorials. Combined with some basic graphic design skills and copywriting experience, you can make a lot of money with Facebook ads!

Start Your Own Business
One of the best ways to learn a new skill, is to put it into action and make use of it as you learn. By creating your own business you can develop and hone your digital marketing skills and build a portfolio that you could show employers.
For example, you could build your own Worpress website, add an online store to it using WooCommerce and advertise your products using Facebook and Google Shopping Ads. You can also gain experience with outsourcing by hiring a virtual assistant to handle email inquiries and a phone answering service like Moneypenny to take care of calls.
There are lots of great tutorials on Youtube to help you get started. This video by Tyler Moore provides a step by step guide on building your first Wordpress website. Good luck!

Author's Bio: 

Hannah is a professional writer who loves to make research on unique topics and express her thoughts by content writing.