Top Tech Skills To Learn In 2023 As a Freelancer And Future Proof Your Career

Technology is constantly evolving and staying on top of the latest trends and skills is the best way to futureproof your career! 

As more people shift towards remote work, freelancing has become more and more popular. And tech skills are definitely among the most in-demand skills to learn if you want to freelance!

There's been a lot of changes in the tech world recently. You’ve probably heard about the big artificial intelligence boom with tools like ChatGPT and Jasper.

They seem to be taking over… 

And although it's exciting, it may also feel a little bit intimidating and threatening.

But what will happen to the tech jobs if AI really evolves to a point where it can do pretty much everything?

Well, the best thing to do is to embrace the change instead of fighting it. 

AI is most likely here to stay, so learn how to use it in your favor. 

But here's the deal: we may need to adapt, but tech jobs will NOT disappear. So let's talk about some high-paying freelancing skills! 

Future Proof Your Career With These In-Demand Tech Skills

SEO

If you work in the digital space, search engine optimization is an essential skill to have. 

And not only to get your content seen by the right people, but it's also a great service to offer.

What to learn:

• Keyword Research: Researching and analyzing relevant keywords that can be used to optimize a website for search engine rankings.

• On-Page Optimization: Optimizing individual webpages in order to increase their ranking in the search engine results page. This includes optimizing titles, headings, metatags, and other elements of the page.

• Content Creation: Optimizing the content to make it more search engine friendly.

• Link Building: Building links from other websites to your website in order to help increase your rankings in the search engine results page.

• Technical SEO: Optimizing the underlying code of a website and making sure that the website is optimized for search engines.This includes making sure the website is crawlable and that there are no broken links or other errors.

• Analytics and Reporting: Analyzing and tracking the performance of your website and providing reports on the results. This includes tracking website visits, keywords used to find the website, and other metrics to determine how effective your website is in reaching its target audience.

• Local SEO: Optimizing your website for local searches in addition to global searches. This includes optimizing titles, headings, and other elements of the page to ensure that you are found in local search results.

• Mobile SEO: Making sure that the website is optimized for speed, as mobile users are less likely to wait for a slow loading page. It’s also important to make sure that the website is easy to navigate on a mobile device.

UX/ UI

User experience and user interface design are really great skills to learn!

If you're not familiar with these terms, they're all about creating the best experience for your users.

But it's not all about aesthetics! Yes, design is important, but it also needs to be user friendly, functional and easy to navigate. 

What to learn:

• User Research: Learn the fundamentals of user research, such as how to conduct interviews, surveys, usability testing, and user experience reviews.

• Wireframing & Prototyping: Master wireframing and prototyping tools like Adobe XD, Figma, and InVision.

• Design Thinking: Understand the basics of design thinking and how it can be used to create successful products.

• Interaction Design: Understand the principles of interaction design and how to create engaging user experiences.

• Accessibility: Learn the basics of accessibility and how to incorporate it into UI/UX designs.

• Visual Design: Brush up on visual design principles and techniques, such as typography, color theory, and layout.

• User Testing: Learn how to conduct user testing and use the results to inform your designs.

• UX Writing: Understand the fundamentals of UX writing, such as how to craft clear, concise copy.

• Web Development: Have a basic understanding of web development so you can communicate more effectively with developers.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the future of data storage and computing. Knowing how to use the cloud to store and access data can be a great asset.

What to learn:

• Cloud Computing Basics: Understanding what cloud computing is, and how it works, is the first step in learning how to offer it as a service. This includes cloud deployment models, cloud service models, cloud architecture, and cloud security.

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): IaaS is an important part of cloud computing, and is the foundation of many cloud-based services. It involves the provisioning of virtualized computing resources over the Internet, such as servers, storage, and networking.

• Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS is a cloud computing service model that allows customers to rent access to a platform, such as an operating system, web servers, databases, and other tools.

• Software as a Service (SaaS): SaaS is a cloud computing model that provides customers with access to software applications over the Internet.

• Database as a Service (DBaaS): DBaaS is a cloud computing model that provides customers with access to databases over the Internet.

• Network as a Service (NaaS): NaaS is a cloud computing model that provides customers with access to networking services over the Internet.

Artificial Intelligence

You may be a bit unsure, but it's time to accept AI is here to stay. Instead of fighting it, learn how to use it to your advantage. 

And there are two routes you can take here:

You can learn more about technology development or master the best use cases. 

If used well, it can make your job much more efficient.

What to learn:

• Machine Learning: You will need to understand the fundamentals of supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning algorithms.

• Natural Language Processing (NLP): This will help you to interpret and understand spoken language, as well as develop algorithms that can interpret written text.

• Computer Vision: This will help you to build programs that can analyze images and videos.

• Optimisation Algorithms: You will need to understand how to use algorithms to maximize a given set of criteria.

• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: This will help you to store and process knowledge, and use it to make decisions.

• Data Mining: You will need to understand how to extract useful information from large datasets.

• Software Engineering: You will need to understand software engineering principles in order to build effective AI systems.

• Chat GPT: it can help you with anything, from content creation to writing more complex code.

Video and Photo Editing

These skills are useful in pretty much any industry. 

Creating and editing eye-catching and strategic content is a great addition to your skill set. 

You'll want to learn Adobe applications or alternatives like Affinity and Da Vinci. 

What to learn:

• Editing Software: Choose your preferred software and become familiar with it.

• Editing Skills: You should develop a strong understanding of color theory, composition, lighting, and audio editing. 

• Video and audio production: Such as camera and microphone setup and post-production techniques. 

• Industry Standards: Familiarize yourself with the most popular video and audio formats, as well as the various file types associated with video and audio editing.

Web Development

Every business needs a website. 

By offering this type of service, you open up your possibilities.

You can learn languages such as HTML, CSS, AST, JavaScript or Angular, and become a front-end developer.

Or go for PHP, Python, SQL and take the backend development route. 

What to learn:

• HTML/CSS: This is the foundation of web development and is necessary for creating the structure and styling of a website.

• JavaScript: JavaScript is used to make webpages interactive and dynamic, allowing users to interact with the website in a variety of ways.

• Server-side Programming: This skill is necessary to build the back-end of websites and applications, and includes languages such as PHP, Python, and Ruby.

• Database Management: Databases are used to store website data, and knowledge of database management systems such as MySQL is necessary to create and maintain websites.

• UX/UI Design: This skill is necessary for creating websites with a great user experience, ensuring that the website is easy to use and visually appealing.

• SEO: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential for making sure a website is visible and appears in search engine results.

Copywriting

Even though it requires some work from your creative side. Copyrighting is also a technical skill. 

There are formulas and strategies you can use to level up your copywriting game.

What to learn:

• Fundamentals of Copywriting: Learn how to write persuasive copy, how to craft compelling headlines, and the basics of effective SEO copywriting.

• Copywriting Formulas: Techniques used to write persuasive content and create effective calls to action.

• Build a Portfolio: Show potential clients that you have the skills and experience to handle their projects.

• Grammar and Punctuation: Being able to write correctly and accurately is essential for copywriting success.

• Conversion Optimization: Understand how to create copy that drives leads and sales.

• Different Types of copywriting: Copywriting can be used in a variety of contexts (e.g., website copy, email copy, etc.).

• Urgency & Scarcity Marketing: Creating a sense of urgency and scarcity around a product or service, which encourages customers to act quickly. Such as limited-time discounts, limited-quantity sales, and coupons with a specific expiration date.

Cybersecurity 

It's all about protecting network systems and programs from digital attacks. 

• Network Security: Understanding the basics of network security and how to secure networks from malicious activity.

• Cryptography: Learning the principles of cryptography and how to secure data with encryption.

• Intrusion Detection and Prevention: Knowing how to detect and prevent cyber-attacks.

• Risk Management: Knowing how to assess risk and implement security measures to reduce potential cyber threats.

• Firewall Administration: Learning how to configure and manage firewalls to protect networks and systems.

• Security Testing: Knowing how to test and evaluate the security of networks and systems.

• Cyber Incident Response: Understanding how to respond to security incidents and prevent future attacks.

• Compliance: Being familiar with industry regulations and standards, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR.

• Information Security Management: Understanding the basics of information security management and how to develop a security policy.

• Programming Languages: The most popular languages used for cybersecurity are Python, C++, Java, and PHP.

Community-Supported Skills Training

We are super excited to share with you an amazing opportunity!

 Here's your invite to join GeekPack for a 100% FREE Trial!

Not only can you learn any of those high-paying skills, but you'll also always have resources available to continue learning and growing your freelance career. 

As we all know, things in tech move pretty fast. 

And if you want to future-proof your career, it's important to keep up to date with those changes. 

Grow a profitable business with The GeekPack Collective - a monthly membership where you'll learn the secret to being a booked out Tech VA, Tech Strategist or Marketing Maven.

GeekPack partnered with Udemy to offer our students access to over 19,000 courses! 

On top of that, we offer an amazing community where you can find support and accountability! This is the best way we could find to help you actually get through the content. 

Our innovative approach to online learning integrates community support into the self-directed study process. 

This makes us ideal for efficient, long-lasting skill development.

In our live cohorts, you will find all the help and accountability you need! 

They exist to facilitate discussions about the material, help members put the skills to work in real life and transform the highly individualized process of online learning into a communal one.

In The GeekPack Collective, you can learn a new skill in under 20 minutes, every month!