Five Skills to Focus on That Can Improve Your Freelance Revenue

One of the things I miss about being in a traditional work environment is having a budget for taking courses to learn new skills or being invited to presentations from third-party companies that show teams fresh ways to work smarter and incorporate new tech into our processes.

If you’re in a freelance slow season, it’s wise to take advantage of any downtime in your schedule and watch videos or take courses that teach you new skills.

Why? The more skills you can add to your CV, the more valuable you become to existing and potential clients.

It's one of the ways a freelancer can increase their hourly rates. (Contrary to popular belief, the answer isn’t just about how to write faster.)

Sometimes the solution is learning new skills, getting good at them and gaining new clients. 

By brushing up on some of your skills or learning new ones, you will increase the value of yourself as a freelancer.

How does it work?

Think about it. You know the ins and outs of your client’s customers and already write copy to address their needs.

By offering additional types of freelance writing to your clients, like video creation, social media writing, or newsletter writing, you’ll find it easier to get more work with the same client.

That frees up a ton of time you would spend looking for new clients and helps you earn a higher hourly rate with less effort.

Top Skills Freelancers Should Learn to Earn a Higher Freelance Salary

1. Editing

I learned editing skills in my first editorial role at WeightWatchers and when my company paid for me to take some courses on Mediabistro.com.

Editing is a crucial part of any writing. Looking out for grammar mistakes, spelling errors, and typos, among other things, will only benefit you in the long run. No client likes seeing these types of mistakes, and ensuring that your editing skills are sharp will ultimately help your business. 

It’s a learned skill, and there are courses you can take to learn different types of editing, but one way to learn editing is to note the changes your editor makes to your copy. Here are some easy editing tips from a recent LinkedIn post.

2. Copywriting

Copywriting is one of the types of writing that is usually used for commercial purposes. This can include text on a website page, product packages, ads, in-store copy, newsletters, pop-ups, social media copy, and many more things.

The goal of this copy is to motivate the potential customer to buy a product or service. A freelance copywriter needs to craft eye-popping headlines, be able to write concise copy and create compelling calls to action.

In order to excel at this, you need to focus on your writing skills, including SEO, research, top of funnel behavior, what bottom of funnel sales copy looks like, and understand how data and analytics play a role in your copywriting. 

Good writing takes time and practice. Read as much as possible (books by David Ogilvy, Robert W. Bly, to name a few), note where you see good copywriting examples (ads), practice copywriting and check out a website like CopyHackers for some examples and help.

3. Newsletter Writing

Another skill for freelancers to focus on is newsletter writing.

Why? 

It’s something every innovative brand is or should be focusing on. Yes, companies want your email address to sell you products. 

But they better learn to capture your attention through smart, clever newsletter copy that makes you drag their emails out of "Promotions" folders and into their "Important" folders. The aim is for them to want to open the company's emails.

Newsletters have become increasingly important for relationship building between businesses, customers, clients and even employees. 

Adding email newsletter writing to your freelance skillset could be quite lucrative. This FastCompany article says newsletters are “the hottest side hustles of 2023.”

It’s a service I offer clients (get in touch if you need help with that), and I’ve found that I can regularly earn over $100 an hour with email newsletter writing.

Many freelancers launch their own newsletters and may even charge a fee to view content that isn’t free on their blog, website, or social media channels. Substack’s motto is that “great writing is valuable,” and some writers earn tens of thousands of dollars a month, charging users to read their newsletter content.

By learning this skill, you can make more money freelancing. Whether you’re paid per word, per newsletter, or per project, this is an important skill to learn. Newsletters integrate copywriting skills, A/B testing, open rates, click-through rates, and analytics. Learning all of these components will give you the edge in the freelance competition and help you earn a higher rate. 

Be sure to check out my freelance writing newsletter for inspiration.

4. SEO Writing

One of the best skills freelancers can learn and improve quickly is SEO writing. Writing articles that rank high in search engines is something that any brand with a digital presence should focus on to gain new audiences. 

Learning SEO best practices for writing SEO articles isn’t as complicated as some freelancers may think, and usually, clients know what types of keywords or phrases they’d like incorporated. 

If a client provides the SEO, it makes a freelancer’s life a tad easier because you’re writing copy that includes these keywords.

Keep in mind that incorporating SEO long-tail keywords into copy without sounding like a robot and ensuring you’re answering questions readers often ask with helpful, consumer-friendly copy isn’t a walk in the park every day. 

This specialized skill will likely result in higher-paying freelance clients and repeat work if you do it well. I encourage freelance coaching clients to add this skill to their LinkedIn profiles and to stay on top of the latest SEO news and trends. (I’m brushing up with some LinkedIn SEO courses right now!)

Here, get the guide: 10 Tips for Making Money as a Writer on LinkedIn.

5. Video production and editing 

This freelance skill that can help you earn more money is in demand from brands and editorial outlets. With the rise of social media platforms that promote video, like Instagram and Facebook Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, video creation and editing are becoming more mainstream. 

And yes, while your preteen cousin is probably better at editing videos than you are, it’s wise to learn a few aspects of these freelance skills so you can add them to your resume.

Because, if you’re like me, those television production classes you took in college (hi, Rutgers University ) twenty years ago aren’t going to cut it anymore. 

Browse YouTube videos on how to learn social media video editing (yes, I understand how meta that sounds), and look for courses on how to use software like Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Cyberlink PowerDirector 365, DaVinci Resolve. When you let clients know that you can create polished, high-quality videos for their internal comms, customers, and social audiences, you’ll be a much more valuable freelancer to them.

What are some other freelance skills to master that can help you earn more money?

• Interviewing 
• Social media 
• Data analysis 
• Technical writing 
• Ghostwriting
• Thought leadership  

Learning these skills and being adept at them will make you more efficient, productive and can help you increase value to your clients, so you’re that much closer to earning a six-figure freelance goal.

Looking to improve your skills or learn new tips on how to improve your freelance writing?

Get freelance advice in one of my comprehensive, self-directed Freelance Writing e-Courses on Teachable.

Or, connect to learn how to get one-on-one help with your freelance career with my freelance coaching services.  

Share the freelance skill you've recently learned in the comments below! 👇

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Hi! I’m Diana.

I’m a New York-based freelance journalist, copywriter, editor, content marketing writer, and freelance coach.

I’m also a wife and a mom to two toddlers, a large dog, and quite a few dust bunnies.

I love covering topics that help people and their loved ones live healthier, happier, fuller lives, whether it’s through health, wellness, personal finance or pet topics.

I also want to help others learn how to become freelancers, improve productivity, and run their small businesses. I cover these topics and more on my blog and in my weekly newsletter.

You can learn more about me, my publishing background, and my nearly 20-year freelancing journey at DianaKelly.com. You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

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Thank you for reading!