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Abstract

//www.skillshare.com/classes/free">free courses</a> on topics related to writing such as SEO, graphic design, website design, drawing, and productivity. They also currently offer a 2-month free trial which is great for new users. Skillshare is a subscription based platform. I paid $9.95 a month for two years and used it to learn a host of skills including how to build a WordPress website using Elementor Page Builder (Darrell Wilson). The subscription price has increased to$ 19 monthly now, that’s still a great deal.</p><p id="0607">You’ll find veteran copywriter, Alan Sharpe, teaching copywriting on SkillShare in a multi-part series. If you want to learn the ins and outs of copywriting, including how to craft engaging headlines, Alan Sharpe is highly experienced both as a freelancer and as an in-house agency copywriter. His similar course is 29 monthly) to continue learning new skills. If you learn as much as you can in that first month or if you want to be able to learn a lot of different skills for one flat monthly fee, Lynda is a great option.</p><p id="8f01">Lynda is a great platform for learning marketing and business skills, especia

Options

lly those related to working with software programs such as Microsoft Office 365. They have an entire pathway of courses on Office 365 and you can even get a certificate when you have completed the series.</p><h1 id="2a73">5. Udemy</h1><p id="cc24"><a href="https://www.udemy.com/">Udemy</a> is an online learning platform offering over 65,000 classes. Many of these are free. Not only can you find courses on digital marketing, content creation, and writing, you’ll also find courses on everything from website design and development, programming, and even technical recruiting.</p><p id="f4cd">Udemy offers courses per Diem, which means you pay for each course you want to take. Most courses range from $49 to$ 300. They also frequently offer a variety of courses at a discount price of under $15, so before you pay full price, check back a couple times to see if the course you want goes on sale. This is a great option if you have just a few specific skills you need to learn and you can pay as you go.</p><p id="c6e0">Udemy also offers a wide range of free courses. Pay attention to how well free courses are rated to make sure you get courses that are more than just someone trying to up-sell an advanced course. With a little bit of trial and error, you can find some gems that are free if that’s what you need.</p><p id="6017">I took a more advanced SEO training course by Moz on Udemy back in early 2018 that was great.</p><h1 id="050e">Bonus Resource: Khan Academy</h1><p id="9af5">This learning platform is geared toward learning more academic skills. If you need to brush up on math, history, grammar, or even learn the art of storytelling, <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan academy</a> is great resource. Their courses are free.</p><p id="9f88">Khan Academy is primarily geared toward high school and college learners. However, it’s a great resource for adults too, especially freelance writers, who want to write about more technical subjects and need to learn the basics of topics like astrology, electrical engineering or physics.</p><p id="c920">They even offer a variety of courses spotlighting different careers, including freelance journalism, and a series of interviews with well-known entrepreneurs like Elon Musk (Tesla CEO), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn Founder), and Richard Branson (Virgin Mobile).</p><h1 id="cafc">How to Become More Valuable to Clients</h1><p id="1b9d">First identify the skills you want to learn and why you want to learn them. Perhaps you are just starting as a freelancer and need to focus on improving your writing skills. Or maybe you’ve been a freelance writer for several months or years and you want to raise your rates.</p><p id="7f2c">Learning new skills, such as on-page SEO, social media marketing, or copywriting, can give you an additional service to offer your clients. Keep in mind there will always be something you can learn that makes you a more valuable asset to your clients.</p><p id="6877">Take advantage of the free or low-cost resources above to add skills to your toolbox so you can get paid to write. The more you know, the more confident you will be and the better you can assist your clients. And isn’t that why you’re doing these gigs in the first place?</p><p id="c462">Ready to find more freelance writing jobs? Get my free <a href="https://www.getrevue.co/profile/writewizard">Market Mondays </a>newsletter every week. It’s chock full of links to writing jobs and other markets that pay writers and my best tips and tricks for freelance writers.</p><p id="e608"><i>Meg Stewart has been freelancing for nearly two decades. She’s a multi-passionate skill hoarder and the intersection of freelance writing, technology, and teaching is her sweet spot. <a href="https://medium.com/freelancefilter">Freelance Filter</a> was founded to help writers get paid and help solopreneurs do business better. Meg and her family, (along with two dogs, two cats, and two leopard geckos), live in Northeast Ohio.</i></p></article></body>

Where to Learn the Skills You Need to Become a Freelance Writer

And how to make yourself more valuable to clients

I’ve always been a skill hoarder. For as long as I can remember, I’ve taught myself how to do things I didn’t know how to do. In the brick and mortar world I learned skills just so I could teach someone else how to do something they needed to do.

In my early days as a freelance writer, I wrote about anything and everything, including parenting, maple syrup, wood burning stoves, patio lighting, juicing machines, and the ancient wonders of the world. I would learn as much as I could about a topic and then write about it. I even ghostwrote an e-book on marriage for a client in Australia, though I myself, had never been married.

Many of my early freelance writing clients wanted articles structured a specific way. They insisted on short sentences, specific word counts between subheadings, and use of specific words or phrases in certain places throughout the article.

I didn’t know why at first, I just gave them what they wanted. As it turned out, I was learning how to write on-page search engine optimized (SEO) content, I just didn’t know it then.

As soon I discovered the reason behind their strange content requirements, I wanted to learn all I could about SEO. But as a single parent and new freelancer, my budget was virtually nonexistent.

I turned to YouTube and found Moz Whiteboard Fridays. If you’re totally new to the concept of SEO, I recommend you start with SEO for Bloggers: How to Nail the Optimization Process for Your Posts.

It definitely helped me earn more as a freelance writer. I can now advise clients about keyword strategy and placement as well as content strategy and marketing. I’ve been paid well to write meta tags, alt text, and meta descriptions for clients (behind the scenes/off page SEO)

So if you want to be a freelance writer or increase your rate as a freelance writer, below are some skills you may want to consider learning:

Content Writing
Ghostwriting
Copywriting
Search Engine Optimization
Social Media Marketing
Internet Research
Email Marketing
Website Design
WordPress

Once you identify the skills you want to learn, where do you go to learn them?

You could go to a university, pay tuition, try to find something that fits around your other activities, and have to commute. Or you can sign up for online courses from a university which are a bit more flexible and don’t have a commute. If you need the credit toward a degree, this could be a good option.

For those who want to become a freelance writer today there are many more resources available online. Many of these online learning platforms have a free trial, offer a free version, or are at least available at low-cost.

However, lately it’s become clear these learning resources are a bit of a hidden secret. So, I’ve listed some of the most popular ones below with some of my insights about each of them.

1. Skillshare

Skillshare offers thousands of online courses for the aspiring freelancer. for the most part, whatever you need to learn as a freelance writer, you’ll find coursework you need here.

SkillShare offers a wide variety of free courses on topics related to writing such as SEO, graphic design, website design, drawing, and productivity. They also currently offer a 2-month free trial which is great for new users. Skillshare is a subscription based platform. I paid $9.95 a month for two years and used it to learn a host of skills including how to build a WordPress website using Elementor Page Builder (Darrell Wilson). The subscription price has increased to $19 monthly now, that’s still a great deal.

You’ll find veteran copywriter, Alan Sharpe, teaching copywriting on SkillShare in a multi-part series. If you want to learn the ins and outs of copywriting, including how to craft engaging headlines, Alan Sharpe is highly experienced both as a freelancer and as an in-house agency copywriter. His similar course is $49 on Udemy, so it’s more economical on SkillShare.

2. YouTube

Believe it or not, YouTube is an awesome platform where you can learn a ton of skills on a whole host of topics. It’s not a dedicated learning platform like the others. One of the best parts about YouTube is it’s free, if you’re willing to tolerate the ads here and there. Keep in mind when using YouTube, anyone can create a channel and make a video. Make sure you know the background and experience of the person who is teaching you. If something doesn’t seem right, confirm it through other sources as well.

The one series I highly recommend for learning SEO, is Moz Whiteboard Fridays. Rand Fishkin is the instructor for most of the videos. He knows his stuff. He talks a bit fast, however, the advantage of YouTube is that you can rewind and listen again to make sure you got it. Go back far enough in the series so you understand most of what he’s talking about and then go forward from there to reduce the confusion.

For those who want to learn about book marketing on Amazon, check out Derek Murphy. I highly recommend his series as well.

3. Coursera

For those who are looking for a more formal learning experience, or if you want to earn credit toward a degree, Coursera is the learning platform to consider. Coursera has partnered with major college universities around the world, such as Michigan University, University of London, HEC Paris, and Arizona University, to bring you a wide variety of course options.

This platform is definitely for those who have more time and money to invest in taking specific courses, with a goal of earning a certificate or even a degree. This learning platform is probably the closest you’ll find to a typical college level course. You can apply for financial aid for courses if you want the certificate or degree.

Coursera does offer an option to audit a course for free. You won’t be able to submit your assignments or receive feedback but you have access to read and view content associated with course. Check to see if the specific course you are interested in to see if the audit option is available.

4. Lynda

Connected to LinkedIn, the popular social media platform for professionals, Lynda offers over 15,000 business oriented courses. If you’re looking to learn business-related skills, this is the platform to consider. Lynda offers a 30 day free trial which is plenty of time to learn a few skills you need to get your freelancing off to a great start.

Once you’re free trial ends, you need to pay a subscription fee ($29 monthly) to continue learning new skills. If you learn as much as you can in that first month or if you want to be able to learn a lot of different skills for one flat monthly fee, Lynda is a great option.

Lynda is a great platform for learning marketing and business skills, especially those related to working with software programs such as Microsoft Office 365. They have an entire pathway of courses on Office 365 and you can even get a certificate when you have completed the series.

5. Udemy

Udemy is an online learning platform offering over 65,000 classes. Many of these are free. Not only can you find courses on digital marketing, content creation, and writing, you’ll also find courses on everything from website design and development, programming, and even technical recruiting.

Udemy offers courses per Diem, which means you pay for each course you want to take. Most courses range from $49 to $300. They also frequently offer a variety of courses at a discount price of under $15, so before you pay full price, check back a couple times to see if the course you want goes on sale. This is a great option if you have just a few specific skills you need to learn and you can pay as you go.

Udemy also offers a wide range of free courses. Pay attention to how well free courses are rated to make sure you get courses that are more than just someone trying to up-sell an advanced course. With a little bit of trial and error, you can find some gems that are free if that’s what you need.

I took a more advanced SEO training course by Moz on Udemy back in early 2018 that was great.

Bonus Resource: Khan Academy

This learning platform is geared toward learning more academic skills. If you need to brush up on math, history, grammar, or even learn the art of storytelling, Khan academy is great resource. Their courses are free.

Khan Academy is primarily geared toward high school and college learners. However, it’s a great resource for adults too, especially freelance writers, who want to write about more technical subjects and need to learn the basics of topics like astrology, electrical engineering or physics.

They even offer a variety of courses spotlighting different careers, including freelance journalism, and a series of interviews with well-known entrepreneurs like Elon Musk (Tesla CEO), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn Founder), and Richard Branson (Virgin Mobile).

How to Become More Valuable to Clients

First identify the skills you want to learn and why you want to learn them. Perhaps you are just starting as a freelancer and need to focus on improving your writing skills. Or maybe you’ve been a freelance writer for several months or years and you want to raise your rates.

Learning new skills, such as on-page SEO, social media marketing, or copywriting, can give you an additional service to offer your clients. Keep in mind there will always be something you can learn that makes you a more valuable asset to your clients.

Take advantage of the free or low-cost resources above to add skills to your toolbox so you can get paid to write. The more you know, the more confident you will be and the better you can assist your clients. And isn’t that why you’re doing these gigs in the first place?

Ready to find more freelance writing jobs? Get my free Market Mondays newsletter every week. It’s chock full of links to writing jobs and other markets that pay writers and my best tips and tricks for freelance writers.

Meg Stewart has been freelancing for nearly two decades. She’s a multi-passionate skill hoarder and the intersection of freelance writing, technology, and teaching is her sweet spot. Freelance Filter was founded to help writers get paid and help solopreneurs do business better. Meg and her family, (along with two dogs, two cats, and two leopard geckos), live in Northeast Ohio.