37 Best Skills To Learn To Make Money in 2024
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Are you looking to open yourself up to opportunities that advance your career? Or perhaps you want to diversify your income and supplement your day job?
You’ve come to the right place. This article explores 37 high-demand skills you can learn to make money.
Mastering these skills gives you a competitive edge, which you can leverage to get a pay rise, a higher-paying job, or start a side hustle.
Some side hustles like blogging and running an ecommerce store can easily be turned into full-time ventures that generate revenue in the millions.
What if you have a tight budget and can’t pay for online courses? There are numerous free online resources you can utilize regardless of your field.
Explore this list to discover a skill that aligns with your goals, and start learning today!
The Best Skills To Learn To Make Money
Whether you’re a recent graduate seeking a way to kickstart your career or a college student interested in side hustle ideas that generate consistent income, you’ll find this list helpful.
Many options exist, but when selecting a skill, you must consider your interests, passions, costs, and time commitment.
Also, remember to choose skills that align with your financial and professional goals. For instance, if you want to be self-employed, start an ecommerce store or a blog.
Alternatively, tech skills will look good on your resume if you want to advance your career while in employment.
Now that you know what to look for, here’s a comprehensive list of high income skills this year.
1. Proofreading
The demand for proofreading is rising continually as more people consume written content. You can work with authors, bloggers, magazine publishers, or students as a professional proofreader.
If you often cringe when people make grammatical mistakes, this might be the best job for you, and you’re halfway there if you’re good at English or another language.
A significant perk of proofreading is that you can work from anywhere at your favorite cafe or the beach. It allows you to work as a freelancer and work on your terms.
If you’re not sure if proofreading is the best skill to learn, this free ebook will point you in the right direction.
2. Blogging
Blogging is one of my favorite side hustles because of its high-income potential. If you’re an avid reader or writer, you might enjoy working as a blogger.
With blogging, you can venture into any niche you’re passionate about, from travel to personal finance and fitness.
Once you choose a niche, identify your target audience and how your writing skills can meet their needs.
From there, choose a reliable hosting platform like Hostinger and start your blog. Growing traffic is the most challenging part of blogging, but once you have a substantial amount, you can monetize your blog through the following ways:
- Running ads
- Paid reviews
- Sponsored posts
- Affiliate marketing
- Selling merchandise
How much you make depends on your niche, traffic, and marketing strategies. You can learn all these for free on YouTube or enroll in a beginner blogging course on Udemy or Coursera.
Start your blog with Hostinger and get a free domain name on the annual plan.
3. Transcription
Transcription is another high-demand skill in 2024 that adds a feather to your cap. It involves converting audio and videos into written or typed text.
Learning this skill will allow you to freelance and choose your working schedule and rate card. The average hourly pay is $17-$22, but you can make more as you hone the skill.
The best part about learning transcription is you can do it for free online. Also, the startup is low. You only need a good computer,
Alternatively, get this free ebook for in-depth and guided learning on Transcription.
4. Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistance is an excellent option if you’re looking for a remote job that lets you work from anywhere with stable internet access.
According to Indeed, you can earn between $16.56 and $41.82 hourly as a virtual assistant.
The best part of being a VA is that you only need to monetize the skills you already have.
And if you’re unsure if this is the right path for you, this free VA ebook will point you in the right direction.
5. Printable Design
Everyone is downloading printables for home workout routines, meal plans, to-do lists, and budgeting. It’s a highly profitable skill worth learning if you’re passionate about design.
Platforms like Canva already have pre-made templates from which you can draw inspiration as a beginner. You can also sell Canva templates for passive income.
Pinterest also crawls with numerous printable designs you can use as inspos and DIY videos you can follow to learn printable design from scratch.
Alternatively, you can this free ebook that shares everything you need to start making money selling printables.
6. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is worth learning if you have an audience, such as a blog, an email list, or a social media following.
It involves earning a commission to promote products for companies, brands, and individuals. Commission rates usually range from 2%-30%, but you can earn up to 50% in some programs.
The best part about affiliate marketing is you don’t have to worry about keeping inventory or manufacturing products.
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing offers a course that equips you with the affiliate marketing skills you need to start earning.
7. Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization involves manipulating relevant keywords to improve a site or product’s ranking on search engines like Google.
Gaining proficiency in SEO opens you up to opportunities in digital marketing. You can work with brands, bloggers, and companies to increase their traffic and boost sales.
Once you hone your SEO skills, you can find gigs on freelance sites like Guru and PeoplePerHour. Alternatively, you can pitch your ideas to brands through cold calling and emailing.
Semrush Academy offers a comprehensive SEO course for free. After the course, you’ll also receive free certification.
8. Data Science
Prominent companies like Google, Uber, and Netflix utilize data science to optimize performance and efficiency.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Data science is among the most in-demand high-paying skills. Your role as a data scientist is to analyze and pick up trends from extensive data collection.
You’d then use this data to generate innovative solutions to problems in different fields, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Some of the best places to learn data science include Coursera, Kaggle, and DataCamp.
9. Language Skills
Are you proficient in English, French, or Spanish? If so, you can learn a second language to diversify your income.
There’s a massive market in translation in law courts, schools, and hospitals. You can also use your language skills to interact with international clients.
With a second language in your portfolio, you can work for international companies in industries like business and travel. You can also work in customer service and call center jobs.
Babbel offers language courses for as low as $8.45 monthly. They also provide lifetime access to all languages.
10. Email Marketing
Businesses and brands always seek more ways to market their products and increase sales. One such method is email marketing, which you can easily learn from home.
Email marketing involves using incentives to gain subscribers to your email lists. Once your following grows, you then start marketing products through promotional emails.
It may sound simple, but if it were, everyone would do it, and email marketers wouldn’t be needed.
However, email marketing involves more than just sending emails to subscribers. It involves a detailed analysis of the target audience so that every email you send is relevant to them.
Simplilearn offers a free, certified email marketing course.
11. Driving
Are you a hands-on person seeking to learn a skill you can monetize on the go? If so, then driving is the best option.
Driving is in high demand and among the requirements of most jobs. A driving license gives you a competitive edge in specific fields, including babysitting and pet sitting.
Another way to get paid as a driver is through food delivery gigs like DoorDash and Instacart.
Alternatively, consider rideshare driving with sites like Uber and Lyft.
Combine your driving skills with good communication and customer service skills to earn more in tips.
12. Social Media Management
People make millions annually on social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
However, not everyone understands how to leverage social media’s popularity to drive traffic to their sites and boost sales.
Others understand how it works but delegate the duty to social media managers to relieve some of the burden on their plates.
Learn about social media and how to leverage trends and hashtags in digital marketing before becoming a social media manager.
Your duties include creating captivating posts, developing marketing campaigns, and engaging with the audience. You may need to combine your social media management skills with communication skills.
13. Content Creation
Social media has a high-income potential that you can strive to reach by mastering content creation skills.
Content creation is about leveraging creative story-telling skills to deliver content to your audience.
Once you grow a substantial following, you can monetize your accounts through sponsored posts and affiliate marketing. Some platforms, like YouTube and Facebook, pay creators for views.
To hone your skills, consider enrolling in LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and Coursera content creation courses.
14. Fitness Training
If you’re passionate about health and wellness, consider learning fitness training skills on YouTube.
You’ll learn to combine different workouts to create a routine and personalize it to your client’s needs.
From there, you can offer training in your local gym or make house calls. Alternatively, you can create at-home workout videos and sell them on social media.
15. Digital Marketing
Digital marketing incorporates strategies like SEO, email marketing, pay-per-click, and social media.
Proficiency in digital marketing increases your career opportunities, especially in this digital age. You can leverage your skills to grow your brand and sell your products and services.
Alternatively, you can work with brands, companies, and businesses to improve their online presence and sales.
Some of the best places to learn digital marketing include:
- Udemy
- HubSpot Academy
- Google Digital Garage
16. Bookkeeping
You can learn bookkeeping skills if you’re passionate about data entry and finance.
Your role as a bookkeeper would involve managing financial books for companies and businesses, including:
- Preparing invoices
- Processing payrolls
- Budgeting
- Financial reporting
BookkeeperLaunch Offers a free workshop that points you in the right career path.
17. Public Speaking
Another skill you can learn if you enjoy working with people.
Once you hone the skills, you can offer public speaking coaching services to businesses and individuals.
The average salary of public speakers in the U.S. is $61,263 annually.
18. Personal Financial Management
You can work with individuals to manage their finances in line with their goals and prepare a secure financial safety net for their future.
Many people lack financial literacy. Your work as a personal finance manager would involve helping them create savings, budgeting, and investment plans that fit their needs.
19. Web Development
Web development is a highly sought-after skill by business people, brands, and companies who need to develop websites and landing pages that align with their needs.
You can freelance as a front or back-end developer on sites like Upwork or offer consultancy services to your clients.
Some excellent places to learn web development include:
20. Event Planning
Equipping yourself with event planning skills lets you organize weddings, baby showers, birthdays, and retirement parties.
You can also work with companies to plan corporate events like seminars, retreats, product launches, and networking events.
21. Tech Skills
Technological advancements have increased the demand for tech skills such as:
- Machine learning
- Cloud computing
- Parallel computing
- IT automation
- Prompt engineering
If you’re passionate about tech, consider signing up on Codeacademy or Alison to access relevant courses.
22. Online Tutoring
Online tutoring skills enable you to share your knowledge across different platforms with learners worldwide.
Creating online courses may seem challenging, but they’re a lucrative source of passive income since you can sell them repeatedly without recreating them.
You can supplement online courses with video and audio content and sell your subscriptions on Udemy, Teachable, and Skillshare. You can also develop your teaching skills on these platforms.
23. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is about protecting networks, data, and systems from unauthorized access. Many individuals and companies hire professionals to ensure their data is safe from hackers.
The surge in cyber threats has made cybersecurity one of the top-rated skills worldwide. Having it in your portfolio gives you a competitive edge in the market.
24. Bartending
Here’s another option if you’d rather be on your feet than work from home. You can work at restaurants, bars, or parties with bartending skills.
Interested in learning how to bartend without spending a dime? Sign up on Typsy to get started .
Laws governing bartending vary from state to state. Therefore, reviewing your state’s guidance to avoid legal implications is essential.
25. Real Estate
There are numerous career paths you can explore with knowledge of real estate. You can work as a:
- Broker
- Real estate agent
- Developer
- Appraiser
- Manager
There are plenty of employment opportunities in the industry, but if you prefer being your own boss, you can start your own property management business.
26. Crafting Skills
Crafting is an underrated skill that earns people millions annually. It’s a fantastic way to make money doing something you love.
From knitting to woodworking and painting, there are many skills you can acquire, depending on your passions.
The best part is that you can use online resources to learn any crafting skill for free. Simply search beginner lessons on YouTube to start a crafty side hustle.
27. Graphic Design
Graphic design is excellent if you’re still wondering which skill to learn and monetize. The job involves combining visual elements to pass a particular message.
As a graphic designer, you can work with businesses that offer freelance services on Guru, Fiverr, and Upwork.
Some excellent learning resources include Skillshare, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Canva.
28. Video Editing
You can work with brands and companies as a video editor to market their products and services.
You can find online programs, workshops, certificate programs, and degree programs on the New York Film Academy’s website.
29. Voiceover Acting
Do you wish you could voice your favorite Disney character? Or perhaps people always compliment your voice.
Whichever the case, learning voiceover acting opens up opportunities to work in the film and gaming industries.
You can also do commercials, radio dramas, corporate videos, and e-learning content.
30. Interior Design
As an interior designer, you can make an average of $82,380 annually by creating indoor spaces that reflect your client’s preferences and tastes.
You must combine attention to detail with creativity and knowledge of software like AutoCAD to enhance your interior design skills and land clients.
31. Podcasting
Podcasting is a skill you can learn if you have excellent story-telling skills but are uncomfortable in front of cameras.
Others also create video episodes of their podcast content on YouTube to maximize their income. You can use your podcasting skills to connect with your target audience and grow your brand.
The following resources are worth considering if you’re interested in podcasting:
32. Mobile App Development
The average American spends most of their time on their phone, so it makes sense to have mobile applications for anything.
You can easily make money coding if you’re interested in mobile app development. Consider signing up on Codeacademy or Skillshare to start your learning journey.
33. Photography
Learning photography lets you explore your creative side using a camera. As a professional photographer, you can land gigs in studios or work with brands in marketing.
You can also leverage your photography skills independently at local events like weddings, birthday parties, and corporate events.
34. Life Coaching
Life coaching involves helping people improve their lives and achieve their goals. You may need to help your clients develop strategies for their overall well-being.
Working as a life coach can earn you over $3,000 monthly. Some of the best places to learn this skill include iPEC and the Certified Life Coach Institute.
35. Freelance Writing
If you enjoy writing but want to work without the constant pressure of blogging, freelance writing is an excellent alternative.
Acquiring this skill lets you work on your own terms, and gigs are numerous on sites like Upwork, FlexJobs, and Fiverr. You can enroll in freelance writing courses on Udemy and Alison.
36. Copywriting
Copywriting is a marketing skill that uses text to persuade a buyer to purchase a product or service. It’s one of the most powerful skills to learn this year.
Once you hone your copywriting skills, you can work as a freelancer or offer consultancy services on your website or social media.
37. Project Management
Having project management skills enables you to advance your career across different industries. It involves appropriately assessing prevailing conditions to determine the best project execution.
You’ll also need top-notch problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills to succeed as a project manager.
Project management courses are available on edX, Coursera, and Simplilearn.
Final Thoughts
The numerous options of skills you can monetize shouldn’t confuse you. Identify your passions, interests, and goals before settling on one skill.
It’s also wise to consider the time frame you’ll require to learn a skill because some can take months and years to master, while others can take up to a few weeks.
Another factor worth considering is your financial capabilities. You can pay for online courses or search for free options.
If you’re passionate and consistent enough, you can learn these skills independently and start monetizing them in no time.
Happy uspskilling!
