Whether you’re an established freelancer looking to expand your scope of expertise or you hold a nine to five and want to earn a bit more on the side, read on to find out more about the best skills to learn to be relevant in the freelance economy.

1: How to build websites

Before you can build a successful website, you need to equip yourself with the HTML, CSS and JavaScript skills. And with 55% of users spending less than 15 seconds on a website, if you can learn how to craft an enjoyable browsing experience, you’ll become a hot commodity for many businesses.

2: How to become an invaluable graphic designer

The average adult is exposed to 362 adverts a day, but only notes 153 of those. If you can learn how to produce aesthetically sound and memorable design work and handle Adobe Illustrator with confidence, you’ll be able to get freelance work from all corners of the world.

3: How to take photographs that will land you jobs

With 67 000 photos uploaded every minute to Instagram alone, there’s a great deal of visual noise to cut through, but digital photography skills and a sound knowledge of Photoshop can unlock the full potential of your camera to deliver professional and contextually relevant images with every shot.

4: How to manage inventory, oversee accounts and perform financial reporting

Any business that earns money needs financial management to be done, and to have it done right.

Saving clients money and time by managing their income, expenditure and inventory is invaluable. Mastering bookkeeping, accounting, tax administration, or financial management skills is a surefire way to use freelancing to increase your own income.

5: How to market through compelling written content

Consumers are bored of relentlessly being sold “stuff”, with 74% of Generation Z and Millennials tired of being social ad targets.

If you can learn how to generate and edit professional written content, you’ll find you can successfully market a brand or product without making people feel like they’re being marketed to.

6: How to maintain a healthy brand image

Do you excel at using your spare time to interact and engage with people online? If so, there’s a world of opportunity waiting for you in digital marketing and social media spheres.

71% of customers who have a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend that company to their peers.

Take your proficiency for online socialising to a professional level and learn how to maintain strong, customer-friendly social and online profiles for any business.

7: How to optimise a website to appear higher in search results

Almost nobody goes to the second page of Google’s search results – 91,5% of clicks come from the first page, and 32,5% of traffic goes to the first result.

The guarantee of increased exposure through getting listed higher in relevant search results is something every business owner needs.

By becoming an SEO guru, you’ll make yourself an important asset to any client.

8. How to provide expert legal advice to business owners

Organisations across all sectors need to stay on the right side of the law to stay in business. As a business grows in size their transactions, workforce and risk factors grow with them. All of these need to be handled in a legally compliant manner to lower the risk of litigation.

This gives you a great opportunity to become an invaluable legal advice specialist and help your clients avoid any non-compliant practices.

The demand for contract workers wielding these skills is out there – it’s up to you to decide if you want to answer the call.

This article was published in partnership with online education provider, GetSmarter, and is the third of a five-part career advice series, brought to you monthly.

Look out for next month’s piece to find out what could be holding you back from getting hired.

And in case you missed it, last month’s piece was about what the most sought-after jobs will be over the next 10 years.

Visit getsmarter.com to browse a diverse portfolio of over 60 university-approved continuing education online short courses.