11 Best High Income Skills to Help Boost Your Pay

Do you want to develop high income skills that will help you to earn a decent living with lots of flexibility? The best high income skills can be broken into two main categories: creative skills and technical skills. Both offer you the opportunity to earn a generous salary using the knowledge that you already have or are capable of working to refine. 

If you're ready to dive into the high income skills that can earn you a pretty penny, here are our top choices. 

Creative High Income Skills to Learn

While creative high income skills may not pay as well as a more technical high income skill, there are still many benefits to exploring your creativity. They can give you an outlet for your ideas, help others create content that matters, and hone soft skills that will make you an ideal candidate in many fields. 

1. SEO and Content Marketing Strategy

Search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing strategy are high income skills that can give you endless freedom. Some people choose to work for themselves, running successful niche blogs that generate income. Others work for a roster of clients, creating page content and running a blog.

This high income skill is in high demand as it requires a delicate balance of skills ranging from creativity to generate content to the more technical skills required to rank higher on SERPs. 

If you aren't sure where to start with SEO or a content marketing strategy, you can easily take courses like those offered by Income School. Be sure to see our full Income School review here. 

2. Copywriting

Copywriting requires a much different skill set than creating engaging content. As one of the best high-paying skills, you must deeply understand what drives people to make a purchase. Instead of writing blogs, you will write marketing material to encourage sales. 

There can be quite a bit of pressure with these high income skills because your success will be measured by how well your copy converts to sales. If you have the creative writing skills and the flexibility to understand what motivates people to make a purchase, this is a high income skill you can hone over time for a decent salary. 

Learn more here:

• What is Creative Copywriting?
• Copywriting for Blogs: 10 Tips You Need for Profitable Content
• 11 Copywriting Podcasts that Can Actually Improve Your Writing

3. Video Editing

Maybe you don't love the idea of being in front of the camera and starting your own YouTube channel or video content. That doesn't mean that you can't work in the field of video marketing though. Many people who record their own content are looking for video editing services so that they can move on to the next piece of content, making this another of the best high income skills.  

Video editing requires you to have high income skills like deep knowledge of Final Cut Pro or iMovie, both of which are popular editing softwares. If you have the budget to spend on nicer software, many editors love Adobe Premiere Pro as well. 

4. Social Media Marketing and Digital Marketing

Both social media marketing and digital marketing will put your sales skills to the test. This high income skill requires social media marketers to master word smithing, a deep understanding of marketing, and a spark of creative genius. You should know what drives people to make a purchase or to engage with a brand. 

Furthermore, it requires project management skills to keep all of your digital marketing campaigns running smoothly. A little bit of search engine optimization is also helpful to understand what terms people are searching for and how you can capitalize on those searches. 

The only downside to high income skills like social media marketing and digital marketing is that you have to be available often to interact with customers and manage these campaigns. 

Be sure to check out some of this related reading:

• How Tara Williams Grew Her Baby Business to $25 Million/Year with Social Media Marketing
• 7 Steps to Start a Marketing Business and Grow a Successful Agency

5. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another high income skill that requires you to create your own content. For example, you could write a blog post that refers people to a particular product that you are reviewing. Using these high income skills, you will use a unique link and earn a kickback from each person who makes a purchase using your link. 

Does it sound simple? 

If you have a knack for writing persuasive content, then you might be a good fit for affiliate marketing. The important thing here is to be transparent with your audience about whether a product is a good choice and to only recommend things that you genuinely love.

Your audience may leave if they think that you're in it just for a quick buck, but you can easily earn a six-figure income if you play your cards right.

Be sure to check out our other guides on getting started with affiliate marketing here:

• Is Affiliate Marketing Legit?
• Affiliate Marketing for Beginners: Your Complete Guide to Building Profitable Affiliate Sites

6. Online Course Creation

Another of the top high income skills, course creation can take many different paths. First, you might decide to cash in on your expertise in a given field. You can create a course that teaches someone how to follow your own skill on platforms like Teachable.

Set your own price for the course and start marketing your own business of online courses. 

Other people prefer to take their knowledge of creating online courses to create content for other people. As a course developer, you would take the key skills you learned to create video and written content, structure an outline of an in-depth course, and then create and market it. There are lots of free resources that can help you get started with this valuable skill.

Here are a few reviews and free resources of some popular course creation platforms:

• Teachable Review
• Thinkific Review

Coding and Other Technical Skills to Learn

High income skills that are more technical like coding are constantly in high demand. If you have a mind for numbers and problem-solving, then these skills might be a good fit for you. The best part is that they are frequently high-paying skills as many people lack the technical knowledge of how to do these skills. 

Coding is the first high income skill to think about learning. For those who specialize in coding, you will need to know how to build a website or work on apps. Coders are responsible for spinning something wonderful out of nothing but lines of technical code. You tell the computer or the internet what, when, and how to do something with this high-paying skill. 

A college degree is often helpful in this field, but you may find free coding courses through sites like Udemy.

7. Data Science or Analysis

If you have a strong mind for numbers, data science or analysis is one of the best high income skills to learn. This involves sifting through tons of data points to come up with a plan for what would drive the company forward. The goal is to sense unique opportunities that the brand can take action on immediately. 

This can also play a role in digital marketing and determining if a campaign is worth the money that is being invested into it. You would comb through the data sets to decide how successful the endeavor has become, putting you in high demand. 

8. User Experience

Do you have a passion for helping people to interact with a finished product? User experience is a high income skill that focuses on understanding what end users truly want and what their experience of the brand is, which ultimately ties into how well a page will convert or keep people coming back. 

These trade skills often work hand-in-hand with some of the other best high income skills like software engineering, coders, and data scientists. Any aspect that influences how someone is likely to perceive a website, app, or other end point would fall into the purview of a UX professional. 

9. Software Development

If you already have a background in coding as a high income skill, then making the leap to software development or software engineering isn't that much of a reach. With these trade skills, you would move from conception to the final development of high-demand programs. You could be building a program for the computer or an app, depending on your specialized skills. 

To be successful with these high income skills, software developers will need hard skills like math skills, the ability to problem solve, an understanding of programming languages, and good project management skills. 

10. Web Development

If software development isn't where your talent lies, then you can branch into other high income skills like web development or web design. Instead of creating programs, you would be responsible for the creation of beautiful and functional websites. You will still need some knowledge of coding, sales skills, and digital marketing to make a robust website. 

Having these in-demand skills will make your job search a breeze.

Web development is broken into two high-income skills: front-end and back-end. Front-end web design focuses on the actual aesthetic experience that a user will have when visiting a given website. Back-end web design works with structure and code to ensure that every aspect of the website runs smoothly.

If you want to set up your own web development business, check out our list of web development company name ideas.

11. Project Management

If you have some of the soft skills and income skills that allow you to work well with others and have excellent organizational skills and communication skills, then project management might be the right fit for you. This high income skill is in high demand, as everyone has a major project that they are working on. 

A project manager will be responsible for helping people to conceive and plan their project, gain the necessary talent to execute it, and see it through to its completion. While you could go back to a local community college for a college degree for these high income skills, not everyone does.

You can also take online courses and earn a certification if you have the raw talent to be good in this arena and if you naturally have the soft skills to support it (and be sure to check out our list of quick certifications that pay well for more ideas). 

Final Thoughts: Which High Income Skills are Right for You? 

Are you ready to start putting a high income skill into practice and earn a decent living? Even if you lack some of the technical know-how required from some of these best high income skills, gaining the experience is easier than ever with the internet at your fingertips. All you need are some great soft skills and you can transform your tech skills into something marketable. 

Whether you want to pursue search engine optimization or software development, there is a high income skill here for you to learn and grow with. Which one will you choose to pursue? 

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