Why is it important to increase your market value? With today’s increasing demand for better efficiency, diversified skill sets, and creativity, and with companies on a downsizing frenzy, if you’re not constantly upgrading your skills, you may soon find yourself disposable and obsolete by most companies. In order to stay ahead of the market and increase your income, you must constantly increase your market value.

Here are 7 steps you can do to increase your value in the market place:

1. Increase Your Writing Ability

This is a skill that can be a great asset to your palette of expertise. Today, everything is about communication. You must be able to communicate effectively in order to get your message clearly understood. The ability to write well is something the majority has yet to acquire so if you can master it, you will have a tremendous advantage over the competition. You can take a writing class or study and emulate the writing styles of great authors.

1. Increase Your Public speaking skills.

As mentioned earlier, the ability to communicate effectively is one of the most important skills you can develop. The fact is that most people are uncomfortable with public speaking yet it is often a skill that is essential in positions of leadership. If you want to be in such a position, improving the ability to communicate well through speech is absolutely critical to your success. A great way to improve your speaking skill is to join a Toast Masters club.

1. Increase Your Network.

You know the saying, “it’s not what you know it’s who you know.” In today’s economy, with rising unemployment and everyone fighting over jobs, knowing the right people can get you into doors you never even knew existed. If you ask random people how they got into the company they work for, you’ll find that many of them were referred by a friend. Expanding your network will also lead to great business opportunities as well. You can do this by simply making the effort to get to know more people.  (To be continued)