The freelancing economy is booming. But in 2023, freelancing looks a lot different than it did a few years ago — largely because the freelancing skills that are the most in-demand have shifted to meet emerging trends and clients’ evolving needs. 

Whether you’re in your first year or 21st year of freelancing, this vast field will always have a space for you and a space for growth. And when talking about in-demand skills to hone when freelancing in 2023, we’re not just focusing on the skills that could potentially bring in more money. More than that, we’re focusing on skills that are easy to transfer from one type of gig to perhaps a whole new different field of work. 

Let’s go over what exactly we mean when we say “freelancing skills” and dive into eight in-demand freelance skills to hone in 2023 and beyond.

What Are Freelancing Skills?

When we talk about freelance skills, it’s important to differentiate between soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are personal qualities or traits that help you do your job; hard skills are technical abilities that are specific to your role. 

For soft skills, the best freelancing skills to have to build a successful business include time management, excellent communication, negotiation, curiosity, and self-discipline, to name a few. Honing in on personality and behavior traits like these helps you better communicate and set boundaries with clients, secure more work, and create an optimal work schedule.

Hard skills are the ones you use to accomplish your specific line of work. If you’re a content writer, then your hard skills could include researching and editing. If you’re a web developer, one of your hard skills would be HTML/CSS. Whatever your area of freelancing is, there will always be a core set of skills that you need to be successful at what you do. 

But to keep up with evolving digital, tech, and business developments, your freelance skills should evolve, too. Every year, there are some freelancing skills that become more in demand than others. As a freelancer, it’s important to keep your skill set fresh and be open to exploring new services to keep your business relevant. Expanding your services to include in-demand freelance skills is a strategic move that can help grow your business by reaching new markets and clients.

If you want to increase your chances of landing new clients and relevant projects, let’s go over the most in-demand freelance skills in 2023.

8 In-Demand Freelance Skills in 2023

1. Content writing

One of the most in-demand skills you can hone is content writing. Content writing is when you produce written content for a company that is used to inform or educate an audience as a form of content marketing. Content writing is different from copywriting in that it’s usually focused on long-form content such as blog posts, whitepapers, ebooks, and thought leadership pieces.

Even if you write about technical topics for SaaS companies, your end goal is always to connect with the audience, not just throw information their way. If you want to focus on content writing as a freelancer, sharpen your storytelling, research, and interviewing skills.

2. Video production

From Instagram Reels and TikTok videos to promotional videos for a brand’s website, there’s no shortage of freelance video production opportunities.

According to research from Wyzowl, people watch an average of 17 hours of online video content per week. Additionally, 91% of people say they want to see more online videos from brands in 2023. Translation? As video continues to be a top channel for consumers and marketers alike, the demand for skilled video producers and editors will continue to rise.

If you want to develop or expand your video production skills to land more opportunities in this area, freshen up on video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Final Cut Pro. You also have a ton of opportunities project-wise since video can be found everywhere — social media, ads, company websites, and more.

3. AI-related skills

It’s no secret that AI is one of the most talked about developments over the last year or so. While freelancers could view AI as a threat, most entrepreneurial freelancers know that AI is a prime opportunity to develop new freelancing skills.

As people and companies discover new ways to integrate AI into their business, it’s up to you to investigate how they may need support. For instance, let’s say you are a freelance writer and editor and you’ve noticed more clients are starting to use AI to take care of their copywriting needs. Instead of seeing this as a missed opportunity, you can offer an AI editing service so that their content receives a human review that AI tools often need as a final step.

As AI continues to evolve and improve, freelancers would be wise to create services that work *with* AI instead of against it.

4. Graphic design

Graphic design is another creative skill that will always be in demand.

In a nutshell, graphic design is all about creating a visual concept. Think logos, social media posts, and banners — things that help a business tell its story, communicate a message, and promote its brand.

What’s great about graphic design is that it’s easy to start small if you’re expanding your freelance skills. Perhaps consider some simple logo-making projects or brand packaging for a small business. Going big is great but there’s nothing wrong with dipping your toes in the water with small-scale projects.

5. Low-code development

Low-code development is a development method that uses a visual approach rather than a text-based one. Most low-code platforms use drag-and-drop features, which makes development more accessible and easy to learn, even if you don’t have a technical coding background. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2026, non-IT developers will account for at least 80% of the user base for low-code development tools.

For freelancers without technical backgrounds, low-code platforms make it easy to improve this in-demand freelancing skill. Webflow is a great example of a platform that freelancers can focus on to hone low-code development skills.

As a bonus, if you focus on a specific platform like this, you can develop a freelance niche which can help you better position yourself and find clients that are the right fit for you.

6. Social media marketing

Social media has long been a priority for individuals and businesses that want to build their brands online. As different platforms arise and established ones evolve, there will always be a demand for freelance social media managers and strategists.

As a social media specialist, your main job is to ensure a brand’s social media strategy is on point. That they’re not just posting on social media, but their strategy will really help them achieve their business and marketing goals — be it an increase in sales or improvement in their online presence, or both.

There are a lot of social media-related courses you can take if you want to improve your social media expertise. Or, you can learn by doing. Perhaps take on small projects at first or freelance for an agency or another freelancer where you will be taught and guided. There’s no fast way to learn social media marketing, but once you do, it’s a skill that’ll make it easy for you to grow your freelance business.

7. Virtual assistance skills

As much of the world continues to operate in a global, remote environment, there are plenty of opportunities for those with organizational and administrative skills to offer virtual assistance skills. A virtual assistant, or VA, is someone who independently and remotely provides administrative support to a client or roster of clients.

Virtual assistance involves many different skills but its core remains the same — staying organized. If you’re good at staying organized, chances are you’d be a great virtual assistant.

Every business, and even individual freelancers, can benefit from having an assistant. You may choose to focus on a niche, as in a virtual assistant specifically for life coaches. Or you may choose to be a generalist who supports a variety of clients with a range of supportive services. No matter which route you choose, virtual assistants need to priortize their organization and time management skills above all else.

8. Consulting

Wrapping up our list is consulting. If you like the idea of sharing your expertise on a professional level, this is a skill you might want to develop. Freelance consultants work with companies to advise them on high-level efforts such as business concepts, marketing strategies, or growth strategies. For example, if you’re a marketing expert transitioning from 9-to-5 to freelancing, becoming a marketing consultant could be a good avenue for you.

These hard skills are only a few of the many that are in-demand in 2023. But more than the hard skills, soft skills like communication, time management, stress management, and critical thinking also play a vital role.

At the end of the day, it’s all about balancing these freelancing skills and using the right tools that really work for you. It’s all about understanding that honing a skill takes time, but with enough dedication and persistence, you will have something you can use throughout your freelance career — skills that won’t fail you no matter the shift in the freelance economy.

Ready to put your freelance skills to use? Get started with Wethos to help scale your business.