Freelancing is a balls to the wall, pride-swallowing siege and these days, it seems everyone is fighting it out for business. How do you make that business yours? One way is to solve the problems clients have (the ones they called you about) and then go even further by solving the ones they haven’t even thought about yet. That’s when you become an advisor clients can’t live without rather than a freelancer they can replace tomorrow.

Every freelancer should seek to be as hirable and desirable as possible in today’s competitive marketplace. Here are 5 of the most coveted skills as well as where you can hone them for free/next to free:

Network and Information Security

With hackers making headlines, it’s no surprise that people who can combat this threat increase their desirability. Whether you’re primarily a writer, video producer, website developer, or designer, being able to offer clients additional peace of mind is priceless. Especially for small businesses, who may not have a team dedicated specifically to security, your expertise adds value and makes you an essential team member. Coursera offers Information Security: Context and Introduction Coursera,  LinkedIn Learning offers IT Security Foundations: Network Security , and Udemy offers The Complete Cyber Security Course: Network Security .

Instagram API

There are a lot of ways to use Instagram’s API — from turning a website into a living museum to converting sales. Often, companies spend a lot of time creating and posting content, but fail to convert views into action. Add knowledge of Instagram API to your resume and you can become a conversion superhero. Learn more at Consuming the Instagram API  by LinkedIn Learning and Build a Photo Web App Using Instagram API (cape not included).

WordPress 

With 50,000 new WordPress sites  added daily, the Internet is basically one big WordPress matrix. Even if it’s not their core business, content creators who can build, update, or fix WordPress sites will keep businesses from having to hire additional people. Saving clients money is one surefire way to get in their good graces. Complete WordPress Training for Beginners is a free course that will absolutely give you a return on your time invested.

SEO 

The only thing as constant as change is change itself…and SEO. A clever behind-the-scenes glut of the right words doesn’t get results anymore. SEO has gotten much more sophisticated and tough to crack. The real key is increasing traffic organically. Having the tools to have an intelligent conversation on the subject and being able to point clients toward solutions makes you extra valuable. HubSpot offers a free course  and Udemy offers SEO Training Academy: Learn Search Engine Optimization .

Sales Funnels 

Sales funnels are a key to converting all that organic traffic into action. If you already have some knowledge of landing page design and content strategy, ClickFunnels (or something similar) is a great way to take your skills to the next level. You can learn enough about ClickFunnels (which seems to be the tool of the moment) to get you started with Udemy’s course here .

Bottom Line  

If you want to have an edge in the marketplace, it’s time for you to learn some of the most marketable skills of 2018 : This is how to make all the dolla dolla bills, y’all.

Note:  General Assembly’s course matching service  offers guidance on courses you may benefit from. Additionally, we used this article  (where you can find skills we didn’t mention) for many of the resources above.