5 Online Business Skills That MAKE MONEY

When I first started working online, I had no idea what I wanted to do.

The idea of having more freedom in my life, and having a platform of my own was exciting. But beyond that?

I was clueless.

I didn’t know if I wanted to be a blogger, freelancer, marketer, influencer — or something totally different.

On top of that, even if I decided I wanted to do any of those things. I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know what skills I’d need in order to be successful at any of them.

One thing I did learn pretty quickly is that there are a handful of skills that will be useful to you regardless of which path you decide to take.

If you can get to an intermediate level at each of these online business skills, you’re going to have a much easier job finding work, building an audience, and making money.

What are those skills? That’s what I’ll be telling you about in this post.

My First Two Online Projects

I don’t know where the inspiration came from, but in late 2008 (yeah, that’s how long I’ve been doing this), I decided to start a site dedicated to tennis.

I grew up playing competitively and had some contacts in the industry, so I bought my first domain: hookedontennis.com.

At the time, I’d never heard of WordPress, so getting started with basic HTML was clunky and time-consuming. It didn’t take long to realize my initial idea for a tennis site wasn’t very feasible — mostly because I wasn’t that interested in tennis anymore.

After a week, I moved on to an affiliate tutorial (that’s no longer there) from Glen Allsopp. I didn’t know what that was either, but the concept sounded great!

You write a review of something, get a special link, people click the link, and you get paid!

How hard can that be?

As you see in this video, clearly harder than I expected:

I bought Jamoramaguitarlessons.org and used his template to try and sell a product for guitar lessons.

However, because I didn’t understand the fundamentals of marketing and setting up a website, that idea quickly floundered.

While both were good learning experiences, there was a big problem in each case.

I didn’t take the time to develop a set of fundamental skills that would help me be successful online, mostly because I wasn’t sure what those skills were.

Over a decade later, there are five skills that, more than anything, I’ve found to be incredibly useful to building an online business.

If you’re good at even one of these skills, you can build a successful business around it.

But if you can get a general understanding of them, you can apply them laterally across your business and become much more effective in the process.

We talk about this a ton in Location Rebel Academy.

5 Online Business Skills That Every Entrepreneur Should Have

Below, we’ll examine these online business skills, why each is so important, and some potential starting points as you become proficient in each.

Critical Skill #1: Copywriting

It took me a while to fully understand just how important copywriting is.

When I launched my very first product way back in 2010, I was still writing the sales page for it right before I launched it.

Most people will spend 98% of their time creating a product and 2% of the time working on the sales page, if that.

However, it’s that well-written copy that will get people in the door in the first place. This is why most online products aren’t successful — because their creators don’t know how to sell it.

I’ll even go as far as to say this is the most important skill you need for success on the internet.

It doesn’t matter what you’re doing; you’re always selling something.

Whether it’s an idea, a product, or yourself—when almost everything online is distributed via words, you are always selling.

Is there one skill that has been more crucial to my success than any other? In my mind, the answer is yes. And that’s copywriting:

Potential Jobs You Can Get in Copywriting

• Creating Sales Funnels: As we discussed above, most people can’t write sales pages, let alone ones that convert well.  If you know how to create a killer sales funnel for others, you’ll never hurt for money again. Check out How to Create a Sales Page
• Affiliate Marketing: Can you write reviews that build trust with an audience? You can make a very lucrative career out of affiliate marketing. Check out How to Start Affiliate Marketing
• Professional Blogger: Still have dreams of being a pro blogger? Every single post has the potential to go viral, make you money, build your reputation, and more, so the more convincing you are with your words, the better. Check out: 56 Reasons You Should Start a Blog
• Freelance: Maybe a major corporation needs help crafting their perfect about page, or a popular blog needs a ghostwriter for a big project. As a freelance copywriter, you can make a lot of money if you’re good. Getting to this point takes a lot of work, but the rewards can be worth it. Check out How to Become a Copywriter

However, if you do decide to go the freelance copywriting route, keep this in mind:

Critical Skill #2: WordPress

When I began my first two websites, I had no idea what WordPress was, so my ideas never got off the ground.

So, to make sure we’re all on the same page, what is WordPress? 

WordPress is a CMS, or Content Management System. This means that you can build and manage a website with little to no knowledge of development or coding.

You should also understand that we are talking about wordpress.org. WordPress.com is different and should probably be ignored if you’re serious about building a business.

To be honest? My business(es) wouldn’t exist without WordPress.

Me, probably with WordPress open on my computer. While drinking a beer. After skiing. THIS is why you create an online business 🙂

I likely never would have gotten the traction on any of my sites if it had not been so easy to customize and set up WordPress.

But why mention that here?

If you know how to use WordPress, you can take any idea from idea to execution in a weekend.

Even better, if you’re skilled enough to help other people design and set up their businesses in WordPress? You can make a pretty killer business for yourself.

In fact, at its most basic level, I think the single easiest way to make your first dollar online revolves around this process:

So while copywriting is essential, it doesn’t do much good if you don’t have an easy way to post those words for people to see—this is what WordPress allows you to do.

Potential Jobs for WordPress Experts

• WordPress Installation: As shown in the video above, this is one of the easiest ways to get started online and one of my first side businesses.  Many hosting accounts will pay you $60-200 if you refer a customer. You can tell your clients that you’ll install WordPress and set up the basics of their site if they sign up through your link.  Right there, you have money in your pocket.  Not to mention what you make if you refer them to premium themes or plugins or charge a little more to set it up. Check out: How to Start a Blog
• Product Creation: WordPress makes creating a membership site, digital product, or brand easy. While there are other services, you can easily do it cheaper on WordPress. Check out How to Build a Membership Site in 48 Hours
• Affiliate Marketing: Whether through a blog or niche website, you’ll need a backend that’s easy to manage and flexible enough to allow you to test and make changes as you see fit.
• Freelance WordPress Development: One of the great things about WordPress is the huge support community online. Because so many people use it, there’s always a need for people with technical problems. If you devote some time to being a WordPress power user, you can make a nice income by providing freelance troubleshooting or development services.

Critical Skill #3: Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a skill that can be polarizing.

Usually, people will either go all in on it or try to make search engine traffic the primary form of traffic for their website and brand.

Or they ignore it completely.

Regardless of which route you take, understanding the basics of how it works and being able to optimize a post for Google is an incredibly useful skill.

For me, SEO has completely made my business.

When I first started with Location Rebel, I did freelance SEO. This served as my bridge business while I worked to get where I really wanted to be.

Now, I can directly tie the search traffic I receive to the tens of thousands of dollars of monthly revenue my businesses generate.

There are many resources for learning SEO. Glen’s course SEO Blueprint is my favorite.

I also personally use SEMrush for all of my SEO research.

To put it bluntly, the opportunity to make a living is virtually limitless if you can create or optimize content that gets ranked in search engines.

Potential Jobs in SEO:

• SEO Freelancer: This is how I began making my first real income online after I stopped working with Dan at the Tropical MBA. It’s more difficult now than it was back then, but there are still a lot of opportunities if you’re willing to dig in a bit.
• Blogger: If you can drive traffic to a blog, you can then monetize it via affiliate links, display ads, your own products, sponsored posts, and more.
• Freelance Writer: Freelance writers are in demand. But freelance writers that also know how to write and optimize for search engines? That will give you a huge leg up over your competition.

Critical Skill #4: Design Essentials

When you show up on a website that looks like crap, what do you do? Chances are you leave immediately and never return. While you don’t have to be an expert designer to succeed, understanding some basics will go a long way.

Couple some basic design knowledge with WordPress skills and give yourself a recipe for success.

So many new bloggers or freelancers creating their portfolio sites have horrible-looking webpages simply because they don’t know any better.

For instance, the difference between a custom logo on a blog and stock text says a lot about your commitment to your website.

A good WordPress theme can go a long way, but if you have enough design knowledge, you can know the difference between what looks good and what doesn’t. You’ll be in great shape.

Potential Jobs in Design:

• Branding: Want to help someone craft the entire look and feel of their business or personal brand?  This is a great solution. Most people online (myself included) constantly need help in this department, so if you have an eye for design, you can make big bucks by becoming their go-to person for anything design-related.  I’d start by marketing yourself on Fiverr if you think this might be a good fit.
• Blogger: Again, if you’re a blogger or marketer who can make your content and website look even that much better than similar sites, you’ll have a big leg up on others.

Critical Skill #5: Basic HTML

While understanding how WordPress works is far more important, that doesn’t mean you’re completely free from having to learn some basic HTML. The fact is, if you want to get the most out of WordPress, you’ll want to learn some of the fundamentals.

You do not need to know how to code a full HTML site, but the more you know, the easier it will be to customize certain aspects of your WordPress site.

Luckily, there are some great, fun ways to learn HTML. My favorite is Code Academy. I’m still far from an expert, but I can at least make my sites do what I want, when I want.

Well, at least some of the time.

What makes this stand out is that if you get really good at HTML and CSS, you open up worlds of opportunity to do more website development work—which is always in demand. It also pays well, so devoting some serious time to this particular skill can be incredibly valuable—although not entirely necessary to see success.

If I were to tell a teenager which skill I’d learn to ensure they’d always be able to support themselves?

I’d tell them to learn how to code.

Copywriting is also an essential life skill, but to be honest, it’s easier to find coding jobs than copywriting jobs.

Potential Jobs in Web Coding:

• Freelance Development: Whether it’s coding a full site from scratch, tweaking a site’s CSS to make it look completely different, or a combination of the two, you shouldn’t ever be strapped for work if you learn how to develop for the web.
• Agency Work: Maybe freelancing isn’t for you, but you like the idea of becoming a developer.  There are many companies you can work for, many of whom are open to remote agreements, which still gives you some freedom.
• Technical Support: Building a business around helping others solve their catastrophes not only can make you some bucks but also make you feel good at the end of the day knowing you really helped someone who needed it.  When I turn to my developer friends, I feel completely indebted to them every time they fix one of my screw-ups.

How It All Ties Together

If you haven’t noticed, there are some common themes among all of these skills. Every single one can lead to successful freelance work, and freelancing is usually the easiest way to get started online.

Why?

Because with any of these, there’s a virtually unlimited amount of people looking for work at every level.

You don’t have to be the very best of the best right out of the gate.  Start small, and expand the type of clients you bring on and the work you do as your skills are built up.

We should also point out how important these skills are laterally. Take affiliate marketing, for instance. You’ll want to be proficient in these skills to have the best chance of success.

If you’re a good copywriter who can put together a good-looking WordPress website who also knows the fundamentals of SEO?

The sky is the limit.

Each of these skills works together in different ways, and by understanding the basics of each, you can take any idea, implement it in a weekend, test for viability, and potentially create something huge.

This post was updated in August 2024 to ensure accuracy.

Sean Ogle

Sean Ogle is the Founder of Location Rebel where he has spent the last 12+ years teaching people how to build online businesses that give them the freedom to do more of the things they like to do in life. When he’s not in the coffee shops of Portland, or the beaches of Bali, he’s probably sneaking into some other high-class establishment where he most certainly doesn’t belong.