We’re rolling through Skills Development Month with a look at clues in deciding where to beef up your abilities.

 

This week, we’re going to dive into an extremely useful hint that’s right in front of your face…your clients.

 

 

Clue #2: Client Needs

This doesn’t kick in until you’ve got some client work under your belt, but as you’re working with your partners, they’re giving you signs…signs in the form of what they need help with.

 

If you’re having a hard time pinning that down, ask yourself a few questions…

 

• What have they asked me to do outside of my norm?
• What problems on their end are slowing down their work?
• What have they complained about?
• What have I had to say no to?

 

The answers to those questions are strong clues that can guide your skills development.

 

For example, I’m a writer, and a couple years ago, I had a client pull me on to an account based marketing project. While that isn’t writing, it is related to content strategy, so I took it as a chance to learn more about the skill and start advertising it on my site.

 

Now there’s a caveat here.

 

I wouldn’t do the same for, say, graphic design.

 

Some clients will ask you to do any and everything they can. They’ll have web designers creating content and SEO people tweaking their website. When you take your clues, make sure they fit within the boundaries you’ve set for your skill so you’re not just taking on random, unrelated work that you might hate, be under-qualified for, or that your clients might get better results on with someone else.

 

So what about you? What conversations have you had to clue you in to new potential for skill development?

 

 

 

Megan