Highest Paying Freelance Skills For 2023

Freelance skills are high in demand. Due to this, employees are under pressure to match the growth of these high-paying skills.

Digital transformation is redefining how we do business. Employees and freelancers get affected by these rapid technological advances. 

They aim to stay ahead of the curve, finding ways to study and gain new knowledge, update resumes, and add skills to remain competitive, knowing that a learned skill has a half-life of five years.

While freelancing is the modern career choice, it is essential to know that most In-demand freelance skills are changing. From technology and programming to marketing and product management, you have to keep up with the pace of these freelance skills.

We’ve highlighted the most demanded and high-paid freelance skills for 2023 in this guide.

High Paying Freelance Skills To Learn In 2023

The list of the most in-demand freelance skills to learn is provided below to assist you in determining which freelance skills are ideal for you and your needs:

1. Blockchain and cryptocurrency programming

Blockchain is a programming language for managing and storing cryptocurrency transaction information.

It does make each entry difficult for external modification, unlike other coding languages. This means that, while each online transaction is transparent, no one can tamper with it. 

Blockchain has established itself as the most popular data management method.

Spending on blockchain solutions is predicted to grow by 19 billion dollars by 2024. Due to its unbreakable transaction security.

For freelancers, blockchain is a niche field, as there aren’t enough experts with the necessary skills to code and maintain it.

As a result, if you have the expertise to prove, you’re likely to find several clients.

Average hourly wage: $150

You can choose a variety of online courses that best suit your needs based on your understanding of coding and Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrency And Blockchain Courses on Coursera are fantastic for beginners to expert users that will teach the fundamentals of blockchain and how it works.

2. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Development

AWS is the world’s largest cloud storage provider, with Netflix, Airbnb, Pinterest, and Slack among its customers.

According to The Verge, if you blocked all the stuff hosted on AWS, you’d only be left with 60% of the internet.

Unfortunately, the cloud storage system is vulnerable to hacks and system failures, and it appears every time it goes down.

As an AWS Architect, you can choose between two pathways. 

1. You’ll either work  with Amazon to ensure that systems are up and running as soon as possible, or
2. You’ll provide cloud management services to many businesses that use Amazon’s online storage. 

Average hourly wage: $74

The AWS website offers a variety of online courses that will take you from total beginner to expert. 

Finally, you will need to pass Amazon Certification exam, which will result in official certification. Fortunately, there are various online platforms available to help you in preparing for this exam.

3. Mobile App Development

The need for Android and iOS app developers is increasing.

According to App Annie’s report, app stores reported over 204 billion downloads in just one year, with users spending a total of $120 billion on applications and in-app purchases. 

Businesses are focusing their efforts on promoting their services through mobile apps, given that people spend an average of 4-6 hours every day on their phones.

Companies are always on the lookout for fresh freelancers to help them design, create and test their mobile apps.

This demand isn’t going away anytime soon.

Thus, you’ll be able to make a career for as long as phones are a necessity in daily life.

Average Hourly Wage: $61-$80

Mobile app development necessitates a high level of coding expertise; most apps are in Swift or in Java or C++. Knowing this, you can choose to master one language or both to become a mobile operating system specialist in both. 

If you’re not sure which language is right for you, take the edx course.

It covers all areas of app, python development, and then see what you like most.

4. Robotics

Robotics is another hot tech subject that entails the design, development, and usage of machines (robots) to accomplish tasks that were previously performed by humans.

Either replacing human actions or offering tools to make operations easier. “Robotics and artificial intelligence models make humans’ life and work more effective. They work accurately due to high-quality training data created by annotation tools

The field of robotics encompasses not only physical robots but also robotic process automation (RPA). RPA, in its most basic form, allows for the duplication of repetitive processes such as data entry. 

Average Hourly Salary: $45 – $100

Robotics engineers should have a strong foundation in math and science. They should have knowledge of programming languages such as Python, Java, and C++. 

As well as experience with complicated AI and machine language (ML) algorithms, problem-solving, and creative thinking. 

You can learn from Coursera, which includes courses on Robotics Engineer, Robotics, Aerial Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and many others.

5. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a method of simulating human intellect in robots that train to think and act in human-like ways. 

AI has only begun to impact how humans live and conduct business.

It’s expected to impact major industries such as healthcare, E-commerce, entertainment, banking, financial services, transportation, and manufacturing. 

Essentials skills for AI developers :

• Knowledge of programming languages such as Python, Java, R, and C++ is needed. 
• A thorough understanding of statistics, probability, mathematical principles, applied mathematics, algorithms, and distributed computing.

Average Hourly wage: $40 to $135 

Simplilearn offers a variety of courses to help you get started with AI, but don’t stop there. 

AI is constantly evolving and you need to stay on top of all the latest news and technology to maintain clients.

6. Data Analytics

Data analytics is one of the fastest expanding job categories, but its rapid expansion has created a worker demand that can’t be met.

As per the Conbi estimate, by the end of 2023, there will be a

73% increase in data analyst roles.

Businesses will compete for skilled data analysts, increasing the chances of getting enough clients to establish themselves as data analytics freelancers.

Average hourly salary: $36

Data analysts need to integrate a variety of abilities, such as business intelligence, fast analysis, and coding. You should look for a course that covers a broad range of related topics. 

Begin with the Udacity Data Analysis course, which will teach you all about Python and SQL programming. As well as illustrate how to uncover patterns and insights from collected data using any data visualization tool such as Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, ChartExpo, and Tableau

7. Website Design

Companies invest millions of dollars in designs, according to WebFX,  and each dollar invested in web design generates $100 in sales.

You’ll be responsible for researching design trends and developing engaging designs with creative software like Photoshop as a website designer. 

As they collaborate with front-end developers to construct each site, web designers are also proficient in website-oriented coding languages such as HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

There are three basic specializations from which web designers might choose:

• User experience (UX) designers create and design sites that are engaging to visitors to increase the number of repeat consumers.
• User Interface (UI) professionals work on making a website’s functionality (such as navigation and button placements) as user-friendly as feasible.
• Visual design that incorporates both UX and UI expertise

Average Hourly Salary: $75

You should have basic knowledge of computer programming to begin as a web designer. Start with a udemy website-building course that covers all aspects of UX and UI design.

8. Website Development

There is a huge demand for skilled web developers, both in-house and freelance. Due to the scarcity of talented web developers, it’s time to learn how to program websites.

Web development, like web design, has three areas of specialization:

• Front-end developers are in charge of creating online products including login pages, click buttons, and user forms that interface directly with users. Everything is programmed on a website that is immediately visible and clickable.
• Back-end developers are responsible for the components of a website that aren’t visible to the general audience. This includes the foundation, databases, and servers of a website. They are also in charge of fixing any bugs or weaknesses in a website’s code that prevent it from working properly.
• Full-stack specialists combine front-end and back-end engineers to oversee all aspects of website development and management.

Whatever path you take as a web developer, you’ll benefit from the high income and bonuses that companies frequently provide to freelancers. 

It’s one of the few freelance talents you can develop where businesses compete for your attention instead of the other way around. This implies you’ll have more job opportunities.

Check out the top tools needed by a freelance web developer.

Average Hourly Salary: $75

Even if you’ve never coded before, you can learn the new skills needed to become a web developer. Codecademy is a well-known and well-recognized learning platform that is even used by professional engineers.

9. Writing

You don’t have to be an author to make a career as a freelance writer, contrary to popular assumptions. Because of the rapid growth of online media platforms, 62% of firms engage freelancers to write material for their blogs.

This presents a huge opportunity for those who know how to grab people’s attention with words.

It’s best to focus on one topic and build the skills necessary to write useful and compelling pieces in that field.

It could be in the fields of technology, history, medicine, education, and so on. 

Check out the top SEO tools needed by a content writer.

Average Hourly Salary: $31

The good news is that you don’t need any qualifications in your chosen field to work as a freelance writer. You can refine your talents through a variety of courses on Udemy if you have a passion for writing content and know your way around language.

You can also refer to content writing tools to improve your writing.

10. Proofreader

According to research, 59 percent of clients will not buy a product from a company that utilizes poor language because they believe it reflects poor quality. 

Spelling problems and typos, according to the remaining 41%, are a symptom of a company’s lack of attention and professionalism. 

This requires companies to hire editors to examine each item for plagiarism, grammatical, and spelling errors, as well as guarantee that the content follows the company’s rules. 

Almost every piece of material you read, including this one, has to go through an editing process. This means that editors will continue to exist as long as authors do and are paid to execute their jobs.

Average Hourly Salary: $25

Editors must have perfect grammar, spelling, and punctuation abilities, as well as pay close attention to detail. 

If you want to work as a freelance editor, you should start by taking the Udemy Editing and proofreading course. It covers all of the main topics for anyone interested in honing their editing and proofreading skills.

Check out the 6 different types of editing every freelancer must know.

11. Graphic Design

The graphic design market offers a wide range of tasks to choose from. 

A larger market for graphic designer freelancers exists as 73% of businesses invest in website and social media design.

You’ll be able to work on projects in marketing, web development, user experience design, and corporate communications.

Design career options often push creatives out of their comfort zones and demand them to change their methods and skills on a regular basis.

This creates a lot of obstacles, excitement, and job satisfaction at the end of each project.

Check out this practical guide to set your freelance graphic design rates.

Average Hourly Salary: $26

Potential clients will most likely choose you based on your portfolio instead of your educational background.

However, you’ll need to become an expert in at least a couple of Adobe design products to develop a solid portfolio.

On Skillshare, there are many digital design classes that are a terrific place to start for both beginners and advanced designers. You may also discover a variety of free detailed training videos on YouTube.

12. Video Editing

93 percent of businesses noticed an increase in clients after putting a video ad on social media, video editors are swiftly becoming one of the most sought-after occupations. 

That is why, in order to create sales, marketers are rebranding and focusing more on publishing short, instructive videos. This is especially true for companies that use social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to promote their products.

Average Hourly Salary: $27

As a video editor, you’ll be given raw clips and videos that your clients expect to combine in an interesting and appealing manner.

The role comes with a lot of pressure because your final output must compel viewers to buy that product. 

To ensure client pleasure, make sure your editing style complements each job with the help of some great video editor tools. With the correct materials, most video editing applications can be mastered rapidly.

YouTube is a terrific free resource with hundreds of videos containing step-by-step editing tutorials for every type of editing software available.

Skillshare has terrific classes for beginners if you’re seeking a detailed course to obtain a more in-depth understanding.

13. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO marketing is a subset of digital marketing that ensures that a client’s website appears on the first page of a Google search.

Consumers are more likely to use Google to investigate services and goods before making a purchase.

Only the first five results receive  67 percent of all link clicks. Thus, companies that do not rank high enough lose out on potential clients.

Average hourly salary: $100

To become an SEO expert, you’ll need a thorough understanding of how search engines work and how to apply that knowledge to increase web traffic.

You will be able to rank your website higher on Google and become an SEO professional after taking an extensive online IIDE  SEO course.

14. Social Media Marketing

There are over 4.55 billion social media users on the planet, and each one of them is a potential consumer for any internet-based business, but only if its products are correctly advertised. 

Businesses of all sizes must promote their services online in order to increase popularity and money, and they do this by hiring professional social media marketers.

As a social media marketer, you’ll create online campaigns that tailor to the needs of a certain audience.

Because each campaign will be unique based on what your clients need, you’ll need to keep your creativity at its peak.

Average hourly salary: $50 

Knowing the ins and outs of how each social media platform operates is the key to becoming a great social media manager.

With IIDE online social media marketing course, you’ll learn how to design targeted Organic & Paid Social Media Marketing Campaigns to increase brand awareness, get quality leads, and generate repeat sales.

However, you must still establish a website portfolio with samples of social media styling, success stories on your website or as social media posts using tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social, and so on to apply for any project or role.

This will demonstrate to potential employers that you have the ability to drive traffic and generate sales.

15. Photography

Rather than text, people are more likely to remember visual imagery.

This is especially evident on social media, where promotions using photographs receive 352% higher engagement than those with videos or links. 

As a result, nearly 70% of businesses want to boost the use of photography in their marketing efforts – and, as a result, hire more freelance photographers for their projects.

Self-employed photographers can sell their images on e-commerce sites like Etsy or as stock photos besides offering their services. This allows them to supplement their income while also earning online exposure, which could lead to more clients.

Average Hourly Salary: $32

To become a photographer, look for a course that teaches not only how to take pictures but also how to edit them. The photography masterclass on Udemy lays the groundwork for you to get started.

16. Translation 

There are over 6500 languages spoken around the world, and if you’re fluent in more than one, you’ll have a decent chance of succeeding as a translator.

If you wish to maximize your job prospects, you might consider popular languages to master. For example, there’s a substantial demand for those who learn Spanish as a second language due to the significant global Spanish-speaking market.

Globalization is fueling an ever-increasing need for language experts in businesses of all sizes.

Despite the rise of AI services, translating software is inaccurate and prone to errors.

This means that now, more than ever is the greatest moment to make the switch from a corporate job to a freelance translation profession without sacrificing your income.

Average hourly salary: $26

You’ll need an official translation certificate before you can apply for any remote employment. Unless you have exceptional writing abilities and have specialist expertise in a specialized sector. 

While many organizations expect translators to have a university degree, if you showcase your skills to the clients it’s not required.

Any online course, like this one on Future Learn, is adequate to please lots of firms looking for a translator.

Top 10 High Paying Freelance Skills 2023

What Are The Top 10 High Paying Freelance Technical & IT Skills 2023

• Full Stack Development
• Blockchain Development
• Software Development
• ReactJS Development
• AWS
• Flutter Development
• Mobile App Development
• Shopify Development
• Python
• Data Science
• Back End Development

What Are The Top 10 High Paying Freelance Design & Creative Skills 2023

• UI Designing
• UX Designing
• Motion Graphic Designing
• Illustrator
• Webflow Designing
• Web Designing
• Video Editing
• Pitch Deck Designing
• 2D Animating
• Photography

What Are The Top 10 High Paying Freelance Sales & Marketing Skills 2023

• Search Engine Optimization
• Digital Marketing
• Amazon Selling
• Business Analysis
• Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Instagram Marketing
• LinkedIn Marketing
• Lead Generation

What Are The Top 10 High Paying Freelance Writing Skills 2023

• Translating
• Proofreading
• Content Writing
• B2B Writing
• Product Description Writing
• Copywriting

To Sum Up

By 2030, analysts expect that 80% of people around the world would be self-employed. If the self-employment movement continues to grow, you could soon be competing with the world’s 7.5 billion freelancers. This means that you’ll have to stand out from the crowd to make a living. It will take a lot of dedication and hard effort to develop those most in-demand freelance skills to finally land that high paying freelance job. 

As a result, it’s critical to establish yourself as an expert in the desired field. Sharpen your freelance skills, as it is essential to upskill yourself.

Keep your freelance profile up to date so that the employer is aware of your abilities and can assign you to work.

If you are ready to work as a freelancer or are seeking a new career as a self-employed professional, create your profile on Refrens.

Now that you have decided on your freelance skills, get started with us today!