The BEST Skill to Learn to Make Money [Actually 17 of Them]

Want to know the best skill to learn to make money?

Well, in this article I'm sharing the best high-income skills for entrepreneurs, freelancers, or virtual assistants.

Learn any of these skills and you will have a prosperous career ahead of you.

I will also point you in the right direction to learn some of these skills, so that you can get started right away.

Let's dive in.

In a hurry?

It's probably not much of a surprise to say this in a blog about SEO and online business, but it's hard to think of a better skill to learn to make money than building niche sites.

It's more of a long-term investment, but the skillset you learn in the process translates to all kinds of tasks.

You'll learn web development, copywriting, SEO, email marketing, affiliate marketing, and more.

And the incredible thing is that you can learn all of this with The Affiliate Lab.

It's an online course that teaches you step-by-step how to build and grow an affiliate site.

Best Skill to Learn to Make MOney: 17 Top Choices

If you want to increase your salary or become your own boss, then these contenders for the best skill to learn to make money should help.

Learning any of these skills will get you on track to a higher earning potential.

1. Copywriting

Copywriting is the art of sales and persuasion using the written word. It's an essential component of any successful business.

This high-demand skill is required for businesses to communicate the value of their products and services.

Without it, selling can only be done verbally, which isn't ideal in today's economy.

Making money as a copywriter can be achieved in several ways.

• As a freelancer
• Within a marketing team for a company
• Or with your own business

The average copywriter's salary in the US is around $69,000 annually.

And freelancers can make anything from $15 to $160 per hour.

If you want to make money as a copywriter, first you'll need to learn the basics, which can be found on YouTube or through reading the best copywriting books.

You could also learn everything you need to know through an online course.

Udemy has some excellent courses on copywriting.

Then you'll want to offer your services to business owners and get some testimonials.

A good place to find work is Upwork or Fiverr, but you'll be starting with a blank profile, so start with lower prices and increase your rates as you gain experience.

2. Web Development and Web Design

Building websites for businesses is a common way for people to make money online.

It's also one of the easier skills to learn to start an online business. That's because technology has come a long way in this industry.

Many people get into this field by watching tutorials on YouTube, then building sites for their friends or relatives.

Other ways to make money as a web designer and developer are through freelancing sites such as Upwork or Fiverr.

Web developers can expect to make around $77,200 on average working within an agency.

And freelance web developers are making anywhere between $45 to $120+.

To get started in this field, watch some tutorials or take an online course. The best way to learn web design and development is through practice.

To become established as a web designer, build your own sites or build up a portfolio for local businesses.

3. Branding

Branding is the creative art of helping a business stand out from the crowd.

It involves anything from simple logo design to complete business identity, messaging, positioning, company values, and tone.

Successful brand specialists are experts at helping businesses connect with their audience on a deep level.

Depending on your level of experience or area of expertise, your income will vary if you pursue this best skill to learn to make money.

If you want to become a freelance branding specialist, Upwork users are charging around $50 to $175 per hour.

To get involved with this industry as a freelancer or entrepreneur, start by learning the fundamentals.

This Skillshare course is a good place to start.

4. Email Marketing

An email marketer is someone who helps businesses build and grow email subscribers and nurture leads.

They will create email campaigns, send newsletters, and work with marketing automation software.

Email marketing specialists make an average of $76,734 annually.

And freelancers are making anything from $45 to $125 per hour.

Want to become an email marketing specialist?

Many companies will prefer a Bachelor's degree, but experience and a deep understanding of the technology involved will go a long way.

There are tons of blogs and YouTube channels teaching this online marketing skill. If you want to study this best skill to learn to make money, check out Terry Dean's course of online classes.

Another great way to learn email marketing is to create your own affiliate marketing funnel. This type of business will give you firsthand experience in growing your own email list.

5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is one of the best digital marketing skills to learn to make money online.

Thanks to the nature of search engines, once a website is optimized well using blog content, traffic will grow organically.

Businesses recognize the value of optimizing content for search engines more than ever.

So, whether you're working within a marketing team, freelancing, or starting your own niche site, SEO is the best skill to learn to make money.

An SEO specialist has an average salary of $78,411.

And freelance SEO experts on Upwork are charging up to $150.

People can make money with SEO in several ways:

• A freelance specialist
• A consultant
• Part of a digital marketing team
• By starting your own blog

Learning about SEO isn't as hard as it might seem. The best SEO blogs will be a great starting point.

And if you're serious about taking your SEO skills to the next level, The Authority Site System course is one of the best courses available.

6. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is where a company pays affiliates a commission when they promote the company's products or services.

Anyone can become an affiliate marketer and start promoting products.

Another way of making money in this industry is by becoming an affiliate marketing manager.

This is where a person within a company manages the relationship between the company and their affiliates.

An affiliate marketing manager makes an average salary of $68,942, according to climbtheladder.com.

And these freelance affiliates on Upwork are making an average of $91 hourly.

Like other skills on this list, affiliate marketing can be learned online through blogs (like Niche Pursuits), YouTube tutorials, and courses.

Other than the Authority Site System I mentioned above, there are courses on Udemy that will teach you how to get started so you can start making your own commissions.

7. Content Marketing

The purpose of content marketing is to influence the market to buy a company's products or services through content.

Where ads ask people to take immediate action, content marketing has a more subtle approach.

A content marketing manager makes an average of $82,691 per year.

Most content marketers on Upwork are charging between $60 and $100 plus per hour.

If you wanted to make money through content marketing as an entrepreneur, the best thing to do is start your own blog.

Then, you'll want to learn how content marketing works. These content marketing blogs will be helpful and an online course will dive in deeper.

Here is an excellent content marketing course on Udemy. It has over 18,000 students and a 4.6 star rating.

8. Consulting and Coaching

A consultant helps professionals reach success in a particular area of their business, working with them to solve problems, and providing practical solutions (and we have a whole guide on how to start a consulting business if you're interested).

Coaches are similar, but have a more hands-off approach, asking questions that provoke an alternative perspective around their current situation.

Both are highly valuable skills to learn because most business owners struggle to see their own internal limitations.

From my research from multiple sources, I found the typical salary for a consultant within a consultancy firm was anything between $79,000 and $113,000.

And freelance consultants on Upwork are charging between $50 to $235 per hour.

How you earn as a consultant or coach will depend on a variety of factors, including industry, experience, and qualifications.

If you want to become a coach or consultant, there are online courses and training programs you can take that teach you everything you need to know in just a few weeks.

Or you could look into becoming certified with a degree if you want to work for a company.

9. Video Production and Editing

Businesses and entrepreneurs are using the power of video to engage their audiences more than ever before.

So the need for video production and editing will only keep rising in demand.

That also means that experts in video editing can earn good money either within a company or agency or for yourself as a freelancer.

The average salary for a video editor in the US is around $53,000.

Freelancers on Upwork are making between $20 and $50 per hour.

To become a video editor, you'll need to learn how to use software tools such as Adobe Premier Pro or Final Cut Pro on Macs.

Some editors also learn how to create special effects to make their creations really stand out.

Luckily, there are dozens of YouTubers teaching how to use these tools so that you can become an editor yourself.

To dive into this skill further, it's highly recommended to enroll in an online course where the instructor will guide you step by step.

10. Project Management

A project manager plans and manages the completion of projects inside a company.

They are skilled in pulling teams together and making use of each team member's strengths to drive the project to the end.

The average salary for a project manager is $93,041 annually, depending on their experience and qualifications.

Upwork freelancers are charging anywhere between $15 and $75 per hour.

There are many skills involved in project management.

• Methodologies such as Agile, Waterfall, or Scrum
• Knowledge of project management software
• Effective communication
• Negotiation
• Leadership
• Problem-solving
• And more

If you want to become a project manager, the fastest way to learn would be to work alongside a project manager as part of a team to gain on-the-job training.

You could also teach yourself project management skills if you want to stand out and take on more responsibility within a team.

11. App Development

Mobile app development (or software engineering) is a great candidate for the best skill to learn that makes money. It has only grown in demand since the evolution of mobile devices.

People in this role help companies develop apps for their users. Some apps supplement the company's products or services, whereas others are the product itself.

There are applications for almost everything and almost all businesses use them:

• Productivity apps (ToDoist)
• Meditation apps (Headspace)
• Social networking apps (Twitter)
• TV streaming services (Netflix)
• eCommerce platforms (Amazon)

The average salary for an Android Developer is $107,421, depending on your level of experience.

App developers on Upwork charge around $20 - $50 per hour.

If that sounds like you, then there are tons of free tutorials online and some very extensive online courses.

For instance, this iOS & Swift course has over 290,000 enrolled students and over 60 hours' worth of video content.

12. Machine Learning

A machine learning engineer is one of the highest-paying jobs in today's technology industry. If you want to know about the most profitable skills, you should really consider this one.

It involves researching and building algorithms, self-learning AI systems, and predictive models.

Machine learning engineers make an average annual salary of $145,296, depending on experience and qualifications.

Freelancers on Upwork are making around $50 to $200 per hour.

Skills and technologies required to become a machine learning engineer include:

• Python
• Machine Learning models
• Reinforcement Learning
• NLP and Deep Learning

If this sounds like your kind of thing, then you'll be glad to know there's a wealth of knowledge available online.

YouTube has tons of tutorials and there are courses that will teach you everything you need to know to get started.

13. Graphic Design

Graphics are needed for everything these days, including:

• Websites
• Social media
• Ads
• Products
• YouTube

And the list goes on.

Graphics help businesses present information, better connect with their audiences and sell more products.

So graphic designers will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future.

If you wanted to work for a graphic design agency as a graphic designer, you could expect to be paid an average of $51,424 as of June 28, 2022, according to Salary.com.

Or freelance graphic designers are fetching an hourly rate of up to $50.

The great thing about graphic design is how many choices you have to earn money with the skill.

Apart from working for an agency or as a freelancer, here are a few other ways:

• Create and sell templates
• Design and sell print-on-demand products, such as t-shirts or mugs
• Sell your own design packs on marketplace websites

There are also endless tutorials on the internet for you to learn graphic design.

And this graphic design course on Udemy has over 28.5 hours of course content and over 157,000 enrolled students.

14. Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants help digital-based business owners with everything and anything from fixing WordPress issues, data entry, and list building, to proofreading, coding, and social media posting.

Usually, on the lower end of earning potential, a virtual assistant is a candidate for the easiest high-income skill for beginners.

There are tons of places you can offer your services as a virtual assistant.

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• Freelancer
• oDesk
• And plenty of others.

Virtual assistants with in-demand skills on Upwork are making around $11 to $75 per hour.

If you want to make money as a virtual assistant, my recommendation would be to learn the basics of web development and marketing.

Start by getting familiar with WordPress, installing plugins, and setting up the most popular WordPress themes.

Then learn what you can about blogging and niche websites, SEO, and email marketing.

15. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is just one of many effective ways to market a business.

And lots of business owners don't have the time or the social media marketing skills to do it themselves, so they hire social media marketers to manage everything for them.

Tasks involved include:

• Posting valuable content on social channels
• Interacting with the audience and other accounts
• Defining and hitting engagement goals
• Running ads
• Social video marketing (check out video marketing tools)
• Driving traffic to a website, blog, or products

A social media marketing manager's salary pays an average of $71,177 in the US, according to BuiltIn.com.

And some freelancers on Upwork charge from $11 to $73 per hour.

This is one of those skills you can learn quickly by helping a business with their social media growth.

Then, you can leverage the experience to sell your services to other businesses.

Of course, you have to start somewhere to make money as a social media marketer and YouTube has a lot of useful free resources.

16. Writer

Being a writer in today's world has never provided so many opportunities.

From writing articles for a blog and creating copy for ads on social media to authoring a book and writing technical papers, there's something for everyone.

And businesses recognize writing as a valuable skill and will pay good money for it.

Overall, the average writer's salary in the US is $61,493.

And if you want to become a freelance writer, the standard rate is between $40 and $125 per hour.

More specific pay for more specialized writers is:

• Book writers = $65 per hour
• SEO writers = $40 per hour
• Technical writers = $57 per hour
• Copywriters = $60 per hour

The easiest way to start a writing career is to start your own blog and publish a batch of articles.

Find a small niche that solves a specific problem and then apply for some jobs on a jobs board, such as ProBlogger.

You can use your own blog as your portfolio. Even better, learn SEO basics.

You can learn a ton of best writing practices through freelance blogs, YouTube videos, and courses on Udemy.

Writing with Flair is one of the highest-rated on the platform.

17. Blockchain

A blockchain developer is a great option and one of the higher-income skills on our list.

Thanks to the popularity of crypto, businesses, and individuals are getting more involved in this form of technology.

It's like the way torrents work when downloading a file. Only parts of a file are transferred between computers and are linked using peer-to-peer technology.

Blockchain systems work in a similar way and don't store data in a centralized network, increasing its security.

Because of the complexity involved, a blockchain developer's annual salary is $97,886 on average.

Freelance blockchain developers are charging an hourly rate of $35 to $150.

If you wanted to become a blockchain developer, your role would be to create systems that record blockchain transactions securely and to prevent hacks.

Other tasks include:

• Developing application features
• Designing interfaces
• Maintaining client and server-side technologies

Thankfully, there are many ways to learn about blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

For a complete A - Z guide, this Udemy course has everything you need to get started.

There are also plenty of free tutorials and courses on YouTube.

Conclusion - What's The Best Skill to Learn to Make Money?

As you can see, there's no one best skill to learn to make money. Instead, there are many skills that could help improve your income.

Choosing which skill you learn will depend on what you're interested in, your level of technical knowledge, and formal training.

If you're starting completely from scratch and you have the confidence, then you could decide based on how much you can make.

Make sure you check out my other article on the best Udemy courses, because this might give you more ideas for increasing your earning potential.