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There’s an upheaval of freelancing work or “gig” over the years and it looks like it will be here to stay for years to come. A study by Forbes says that by 2027, the majority of the workforce will be freelancers. The Philippines alone, according to PayPal’s Global Freelancer Insights Report, has an estimated 1.5 million freelancers. Now you may ask,
How can I compete with these freelancers?
How can I keep my job secure?
The number one problem in freelancing economy is job stability according to reports. This is the reason some freelancers are hesitant to leave their corporate jobs. If you become dispensable, don’t you think it’s time to ante up your skills and level up with the best freelancers out there? Employers are continuously looking for value and you cannot provide it if you don’t improve your skill set.
With this in mind, we have curated 5 niches that will surely help you in levelling up the field.
Photoshop has become the staple of most, if not all, graphic designers and creatives. The workspace may be daunting, but there is a huge cache of tutorials you can get hold on to on the internet. Even if you have absolute zero knowledge in Photoshop, there’s definitely something that fits your level of skills. Put your back into these tutorials and let your inner “Picasso” shine through. The key to learning Photoshop is understanding how “layers” work. Tour the workspace. Inspect how each feature could turn, let’s say, for example, a mediocre wedding photo to a beautiful image worthy of a center stage in someone else’s living room.
Once you get familiarized with the interface, you’re on your way to greatness, well a bit over the top, but who knows? You may be the next one to create iconic logos such as McDonald’s & Coca Cola.
There is an alternative design tool for non-graphic designers and that is Canva. With its drag-and-drop format and easy functionality, you can easily create engaging content for your social media accounts and blog posts. Canva gives you access to thousands of photos, illustrations, fonts, templates, and graphic designs. There’s really a short learning curve in this app and the best thing is, it’s free!
Want to get started with digital marketing? Then you must be familiar with Facebook Ads. Facebook remains the world’s largest social platform, and it’s highly possible that your target audience is on Facebook. As a freelancer, you would want to add Facebook marketing to your skill set to take advantage of this gold mine. A warning though, it’s not for the faint-hearted. You need to have the grit and determination if you want to succeed in this niche.
There’s a plethora of paid FB Ads online courses you can take on, which would be the logical step to go if you’re really serious in this skill (we have that in the VA Bootcamp Complete Package as well). The main hurdle though is how to implement it. We must say, practice, practice and more practice is the way to go for FB Ads.
With the skyrocketing overhead costs, it’s no surprise that more people are migrating to online platforms rather than creating their brick and mortar stores. This is a fact that freelancers would want to leverage on to as this would mean many small businesses would need their services.
The largest e-commerce platform is Amazon, and is generally viewed as synonymous to online selling. It has millions of customers in its database, a mother lode that any online merchant would want to dip into. There are lots of opportunities in this platform alone. From product listing to optimization to customer service, you’ll definitely find your place in this niche market.
There are many online resources which you can avail for free to get you acquainted with the Amazon Marketplace. No experience? No problem! There are many clients out there who would take on newbies, as long as you have the right attitude and a strong will to learn. Learning by doing is the key here.
Honestly speaking, SEO or Search Engine Optimization could be too technical and could be a hard nut to crack for most freelancers wanting to branch out to this specialized skill. Whether you want to be a tech VA or not, you can use some SEO knowledge in freelancing platforms, social media, and more importantly, in acquiring/assisting more clients.
In its basic form, SEO makes sure that your blog posts, websites, pages or content rank on the first page in Google Search. Companies or individuals would pay premium to freelancers who offer this skill. Why? A highly optimized landing page, for example, would yield thousands or even millions in revenue.
So how to do it? Search engines, keywords, and targeting come into play whenever you encounter SEO. They may sound simple but are actually too technical for most Virtual Assistants to understand. Pinpointing what makes your audience tick would take a lot of intuition and analysis. There are a lot of tools and resources which are available online that would make your SEO “journey” a whole lot easier. The word “targeting” is already mind boggling on its own, but I assure you, it’s worth the hardships once you understand how SEO works.
Project Management seems a big word and may sound like hard to comprehend, but once you grasp the fundamentals coupled with analytical abilities, you’ll soon be able to manage a successful project or spearhead a series of tasks without breaking a sweat.
It is an application that an experienced Freelancer could not manage without. Ever wondered how most freelancers handle multiple clients in a breeze? Well, here’s the secret! Tools like Trello, Asana, Notion just to name a few - are necessary in keeping abreast with your projects and making sure that you’ll be able to produce deliverables without so much of a hiccup. From planning, to controlling, to implementing your project, project management will keep you in line and focused, and at the same time work seamlessly within a team.
Feeling overwhelmed? Could not pick the right niche for you? The online space has been barraged with online courses, it’s confusing more than ever how to choose your market and which skills you would want to apply.
Why not start with the VA Bootcamp? It has a list of comprehensive courses you can learn at your own pace. It also provides online coaching for its students aside from the support of like-minded people.
You can dabble on basic courses or you can dive into the nitty-gritty of the trade and get your hands dirty in the specialized courses. The VA Bootcamp has mapped it out for you so you’ll have the tool kit necessary in grabbing your first online client.
Freelancing is not easy, and it’s definitely not a quick scheme sort of thing. But as long as you step up and be “in” the game, trust that the process will work for you.
Not yet a freelancer? Sign up here to the FREE VIRTUAL ASSISTANT COURSE to get started.
