With the growing number of work at home opportunities comes the increasing number of freelancers and home-based workers. There's a tough competition in hunting for telecommuting jobs so there may be a need for you to show potential employers your extra edge over other jobseekers.  You might want to consider attending several online classes before taking the plunge into becoming a full-time work at home mom. Here are five classes to take to improve your opportunities:

1. Online Writing Courses

Article writing and copywriting services are one of the most common work at home opportunities today. You don't need to have a formal training or degree in writing; you can simply brush up on your writing skills by taking online writing courses.  There are several sites that offer free online writing courses that can provide you with materials and links that will help improve your writing prowess. 

Recommended free online writing courses can be found in About.Com, MITOpenCourseware, Suite101 and Wikiversity's The School of Journalism. You have to keep in mind, though, that almost all free online courses do not provide certificates and cannot be used to make up for similar writing subjects in college.

2. Online Coding Classes

Medical coding and transcription jobs are also abundant when it comes to work at home opportunities. These classes range from six months to two years and subjects include physiology, anatomy, insurance policies, billing procedures, medical terminology and pharmacology-standard codes. When looking for online coding classes, make sure that your chosen course will provide you with the necessary training and qualification for online transcription jobs.

3. Online Communication Skills Training

There are a wide variety of online communication skills training courses available and you should take advantage of these as you should be able to communicate to your clients in a clear and concise manner.  The success of being a work at home mom depends on how you can convey and sell yourself to prospective clients. This can be achieved by getting the necessary training on both oral and written communication skills.

4. Online Consultancy Courses

It is also important for work at home moms to have excellent consulting skills. Several clients hire home-based consultants, so you might want to take online consultancy classes. These classes usually cover topics on how to improve your questioning, persuasive, motivating and questioning skills. It also includes tips on how to efficiently manage projects and resolve conflicts. You can also learn how to make use of storytelling techniques that can help you explain current internal problems and issues to clients.

5. Event Management Classes

You can also enroll in short-term courses that offer lessons and techniques on how to properly organize events.  There are a growing number of clients online who are in the lookout for event specialists. Event management classes usually tackle time management and efficient organizational skills.