Improving yourself and diversifying your skill set has never been easier thanks to online courses, webinars, video tutorials and guides that are readily available on the internet.
Whether you’re building your own business or looking to get hired by your dream company,
adding these skills to your resume will help you stand out like a unicorn in a sea of donkeys — and best of all, you can learn them online.
1. Chatbot Development
Facebook Messenger marketing is huge — it’s driving 80% average open rates and 20% click-through rates.
If you have the skills to build and operate a Facebook Messenger chatbot, you’ll prove invaluable to any marketing department.
I’m so invested in the future of Facebook Messenger marketing, I went all-in with my own free chatbot building software company MobileMonkey.
MobileMonkey has tons of helpful how-to articles and video tutorials for building, using and optimizing chatbots — all without writing a single line of code.
2. Coding
Even if you are not aiming to become a full-time programmer, having fundamental knowledge of coding is a major asset.
Whether you’re launching an app, working on AI, optimizing a site for search, creating content, etc., basic coding skills can go a long way.
You can get started through Codeacademy, which is great for both beginners and coders looking to learn more and improve.
3. Advanced Excel Skills
Spreadsheets are a staple of any business process, and learning how to use formulas and other features to organize and process data in Excel can help save tons of time.
4. New Language
Becoming fluent in a new language can open new doors and broaden horizons for just about anyone in any industry.
Language learning platforms like Livemocha help greatly with excellent instruction and a community for other users to help each other out.
5. Photography
Good-quality photographs can enhance any blog post or social media post, making them more digestible.
Platforms like Udemy have tons of photography courses, from beginner lessons to in-depth instructionals on its various facets.
6. Photoshop
Knowing how to edit images can let you do things from making memes to designing graphics for websites, brand logos, and marketing materials.
Adobe offers its expert tutorials that are more than enough for introducing Photoshop fundamentals to beginners, as well as advanced courses for experienced Photoshop users.
7. Writing
This is perhaps the most ubiquitous skill in this list, as well as the most fundamental.
No matter what field you work in, being able to write well is always an asset.
You can brush up on your writing through SkillShare and even learn new writing skills along the way.
8. SEO
There is literally no business in the world that can’t benefit from more web traffic.
It has updated information on how to make your website easier to find on the search engine.
9. Social Media Marketing
Marketing on social media is an ever-changing field, so staying on top of it is important.
Want to learn to take control, inspire others, and lead teams to success?
Mindtools has high-quality courses to help you develop your leadership skills.
11. Budgeting
Managing one’s money seems rather basic, but it’s surprising how many people get it wrong.
Budgeting is one of those skills that gets used everyday, both on a professional and personal level.
12. Graphic Design
Having the ability to your own graphics can be a boon for your business.
You can make your own logo, images to go with your social media posts, and so on.
Lynda.com for LinkedIn offers a course on graphic design where you can get a solid foundation in typography, color, layout and more, while practicing with InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.
13. Project Management
Management skills which can help you apply leadership in an organized and productive manner.
Being able to manage every aspect of a project to completion is challenging — you must know how to keep everyone organized, productive, engaged and motivated.
Try a project management course from Edx.
14. Public Speaking
As it’s often said, one of most people’s greatest fears is public speaking.
It’s a skill that takes a lot of practice to perfect, and doing so can pay dividends.
Being able to speak to a crowd with confidence is invaluable, wherever you may go.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.