The inevitable shift from traditional on-site office space work to a more remote, strictly online type of workflow is becoming more and more prominent.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and changed the working landscape for people all across the world, it was quite obvious that a remote work lifestyle was beginning to be seen as both more fulfilling and more efficient.
With this shift in the landscape of the working economy comes the need to develop online soft skills that are versatile and can be applied to a variety of online-based industries
From social media management, human resource management, programming languages, manage company data, and social media marketing, to Photoshop, video editing, website building, and even virtual assistance – there are so many ways to build your skill set and apply it!
In this article, we will be highlighting four of the best skills to learn online.
Video Editing
If you haven’t noticed yet, video photography skills are quickly becoming the next big thing when it comes to online marketing and promotion.
Previously, platforms were mostly dominated by images and other static content. However, more recently, video content has become the go-to for not only companies looking to market effectively but for people simply posting their content.
Instagram introduced the “reels” feature which allows users to make video content and is also delivering much more video to people’s discovery pages.
TikTok, the video-focused social networking platform, has exploded in popularity over the last few years, seeing 850 million downloads last year.
The point here is, that video content is highly sought after, and as a result, people with video editing skills are making a killing.
Everything from youtube channel videos, tik tok video edits, and other less professional projects, to high ticket marketing campaign video content – the variety of demand for video editing services is massive.
So what can you do to go about developing some video editing skills that can be applied to the working world?
Let’s highlight a few different ways that you can learn how to build your video editing skills online.
If you are not looking to invest money into a video editing course or other educational tools, you can use Youtube and other platforms that offer free content to learn and develop your new skills.
If you are willing to make a financial investment, there are a huge number of paid courses and other tools available online.
Three of our favorite paid video editing educational tools that you can find online are as follows:
Udemy
Udemy is an online education platform that is focused on digital professionals. It offers well over 80,000 courses, with over 100 of those being dedicated to video editing specifically.
These courses cover all of the biggest video editing tools including Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Davinci Resolve.
One of the great things about Udemy is that there is no need to buy a subscription. Instead, it is designed to allow users to purchase whichever individual courses they like, which is great for people looking to focus solely on video editing.
Another great thing about Udemy is that users can download the course videos that they purchase for offline viewing!
For aspiring video editors, we recommend “The Complete Video Production by Video School Online”. This will take you through the basics of video editing, spaced out into about nine hours of video training content.
Coursera
Coursera is another online education provider that offers video tutorial courses. One of the big differences about Coursera is that it is run by two Apple Certified Professionals, and is offered by LearnQuest, which is a highly reputable online education company.
Coursera does not have a massive variety of online video editing courses, but the ones that they do offer are incredibly well structured and offer awesome value.
These include in-depth courses for beginners, like how to create a professional video using programs like Canva and Google Ads.
Of all the highly-rated video editing courses, our absolute favorite would have to be the incredibly popular “Mastering Final Cut Pro”.
This 40-hour course teaches users everything they need to know about Apple’s video editing software program that runs on all Mac computers that have the right OS installed.
American Graphics Institute
The American Graphics Institute is another awesome resource for people looking to learn about video editing and other design-based leadership skills.
One of the main differences and arguably the biggest strengths involved with using their online learning platform is the fact that instead of pre-recorded course videos, The American Graphics Institute offers real-time online courses led by live instructors.
These lessons range from beginner introductory courses focused on general topics to more advanced courses that are directed toward specific software and technical skills.
If you are looking for more of an immersive learning experience, where you can interact with your instructors, this is a resource to consider.
There are, however, a few things to keep in mind before jumping in. First, users are required to pay for each specific course, and the prices are not cheap by any means.
Second, because the content is being offered by live instructors, classes will only be available on certain dates, and users will be required to work those times into their schedules as a result.
SEO/Google Analytics
SEO, which is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization, is a practice or process that improves both the quality and quantity of website traffic to a specific website or landing page from different search engines.
SEO practices target organic search results. They do not resort to paid or directed advertising channels, which are often used by companies with significant digital marketing budgets.
SEO specialists understand the ins and outs of search engines, how they work, what keywords provide the most exposure, and a variety of other aspects.
These people are often employed by organizations to optimize web content, blog content, and other important marketing content in a way that will attract a higher number of visitors who are genuinely interested in a product or service.
Google Analytics is a free digital analytics tool offered by Google, which inherently can work hand-in-hand with SEO practices. This tool has been designed to actively track and report website traffic statistics to users.
Google Analytics will analyze the effect of SEO on a business’s online presence, and as a result, can serve as the only SEO analytics tool users would need to determine the value of search engine optimization for their business.
These in-demand skills are incredibly important for businesses to succeed in the digital age, and as a result, individuals who are well-versed in SEO and Google Analytics are in high demand.
When it comes to learning these communication skills, there are several great online resources available.
Udemy
As highlighted in the previous section, Udemy (see also ‘How To Pronounce Udemy‘) is a great online education platform that offers courses focused on a variety of online skills.
SEO and Google Analytics courses are available, and if you don’t mind investing, you can dive right in and start learning.
Free Education
The internet is full of free resources, including Google Analytics and SEO education.
The Google Analytics Academy is a great place for rookies to start learning about Google Analytics, how to use it, and all of the incredible insights the program has to offer.
Designed and offered by Google itself, users can be sure that they are getting the right education from the right people.
As for SEO, there are several free resources online for people to learn about the ins and outs of search engine optimization.
- Reliable Soft offers a free SEO course
- Yoast offers free SEO training for beginners
- ClickMinded offers a free SEO course
There are several other free options for SEO education online. It is best to take a look at a few options and see exactly what they have to offer before deciding which option is best for you!
Web Design
With the rapid rise of the digital age comes the inherent need for companies and organizations alike to build an effective online presence.
To do this, building and launching a website that looks great and functions properly is of utmost importance.
As a result, skilled web developers who can build websites, landing pages, and other important online content of that caliber are highly sought after and can make some great money!
With this being said, it is not easy to learn web development, and there are several different essential skills to hone to become a good web developer.
It is important to first decide what platform you are looking to build on and use to offer website creation services to clients. Examples would be Wix, Webflow, Squarespace, Shopify, WordPress and so many more.
Each platform will have its own set of specific tools and characteristics for builders to learn.
Some will be more complicated to build on, which will change the time required to learn them effectively, but will also create a variance in the relative web-building capabilities of each platform.
Do some research and find out which platform will work best for your learning capabilities and desires, while also keeping in mind client demand for websites built on that specific platform.
Here are a few of our favorite online resources for learning web design:
Webflow University
Webflow has become one of the best website-building platforms on the market. It offers so many awesome capabilities and features a building interface that is user-friendly, and fairly easy to learn with the right guidance.
Webflow offers something called web flow university, which teaches users the ins and outs of web design using Webflow.
It provides hundreds of comprehensive tutorials on every aspect of the platform and building process, including page design, structure, content migration, hosting and so much more. Not to mention the fact that Webflow University is completely free!
Squarespace
Squarespace is another great website-building platform. It offers some of the best template designs for websites of any platform, which can be very useful for beginner web developers to work off of.
Squarespace offers a range of affordable plan options and delivers access to a variety of great building features and capabilities.
One of the most important aspects is that Squarespace provides e-commerce features that can be easily built into websites created on the platform.
This is of utmost importance for clients who are looking to build commerce functions directly into their website to directly sell products or services.
There are several different courses available online from both internal Squarespace parties, as well as third-party experts who simply know the platform inside and out. Most of these courses are paid, however.
It is possible for people looking to learn about website building on Squarespace through free resources found online.
One of the most popular free learning options is to use the plethora of tutorial videos available on Youtube that are directed toward the Squarespace website building key skills.
Project Management
Project management is another very useful and highly applicable valuable skill to learn online.
By definition, project management is the application of methods, processes, tools, and knowledge to achieve specific project objectives based on previously agreed-upon terms and parameters.
The difference between project management and just simply management is the fact that there is usually an end goal or deliverable that is to be completed within a designated period.
Management, on the other hand, is an ongoing process with less of an inherent structure involved.
Project managers are highly sought after, especially in this digital age where 100 things can be happening at one time to complete an overall goal. Becoming an effective PM can result in a variety of really awesome job prospects!
Here are a few of the best online courses to consider for learning project management:
Coursera
As highlighted in a previous section, Coursera is an online education platform that offers video tutorial-style courses for a variety of skills applicable in different industries.
They offer project management-focused education from several different institutions including Google, reputable Universities, and their own Coursera Project Network.
These courses are not free and require payment to access. As a result, it is important to determine which courses are best for you and your educational needs.
Be sure to check out the different Project Management course options, read reviews and consult other platforms before deciding.
Free Courses
There are endless paid options for learning about Project Management online, but some people may not be in the position to invest. Thankfully, there are several free resources that people can take advantage of instead.
One of our favorite resources is edx.org. This organization offers several “edX” courses that are provided by different Universities and other educational entities.
Users can access general “Intro to Project Management” courses, and can also get more specific in their focus by enrolling in software-specific courses or concept-specific courses like “Risk Management for Projects”.
These courses are offered intermittently, and users must be enrolled for a spot and be able to attend the online sessions to take advantage of them.
To top it off, even though these are free resources, some of them will offer professional certificates or other reputable certifications upon completion.
These can be added to resumes and applications to increase credibility!
Resources:
