Make Money Online By Freelancing
Make Money Online: Looking for an excuse to ditch your job and start up something that you can control? Try freelancing.
The easiest way to make money online is to take your current job in your 9-to-5 role and do it online instead. For example, if you’re a writer, administrative assistant, graphic designer, teacher, developer, etc., you can market these skills and find clients online who are willing to pay you to apply them.
There’s a never-ending list of job platforms for each type of freelancer too. For example, freelance writers can apply for jobs on specific online writing job boards, but also on general freelance websites like Fiverr, Freelancer, Upwork, and all the others. If you find that your skills can’t be directly used to create income streams, you can try monetizing other transferable skills you may have.
To make money online as a freelancer, you need to start by building out a strong portfolio. That may mean doing some free work with some reputable mid-tier brands to start. Once you create a strong portfolio, you can reach out to potential big clients to earn more money online. Remember, freelancing is a numbers game: the more personalized emails and applications you fill out, the more likely you’ll be to get a response back.
Who Is A Freelancer?
A freelancer is a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance workers are sometimes represented by a company or a temporary agency that resells freelance labor to clients; others work independently or use professional associations or websites to get work. Freelancers are free to work for multiple companies or people and not get fired for it.
A lot of people prefer freelancing to staying put with one employer because it helps widen their income revenue and also helps them widen their networking.
Fields, professions, and industries where freelancing is predominant include: music, writing, acting, computer programming, web design, graphic design, translating and illustrating, film and video production, and other forms of piecework that some cultural theorists consider as central to the cognitive-cultural economy. Although more forms of work are coming up to change this course.
Depending on the industry, freelance work practices vary and have changed over time. In some industries such as consulting, freelancers may require clients to sign written contracts. While in journalism or writing, freelancers may work for free or do work “on spec” to build their reputations or a relationship with a publication. Some freelancers may provide written estimates of work and request deposits from clients. It all depends.
Payment for freelance work also depends on industry, skills, experience, and location. Freelancers may charge by the day, hour, piece rate, or on a per-project basis. Instead of a flat rate or fee, some freelancers have adopted a value-based pricing method based on the perceived value of the results to the client.
By custom, payment arrangements may be upfront, percentage upfront, or upon completion. For more complex projects, a contract may set a payment schedule based on milestones or outcomes. One of the drawbacks of freelancing is that there is no guaranteed payment, and the work can be highly precarious. In order to ensure payment, many freelancers use online payment platforms to protect themselves or work with local clients that can be held accountable.
With the rise of the gig economy, people are talking about freelancing more than ever before. And that’s because there are more freelancers today than there have ever been in history – a 2019 study by Upwork and Freelancers Union shows that 57 million Americans freelanced in 2019. And according to the same study, 53% of workers aged 18-22 are freelancing.
WHY FREELANCE?
Freelancing provides a lot of flexibility and control to the individual. Most freelancers choose their own hours, the work that they do, the clients they work with, and may even be able to work remotely. Freelancing is also a form of entrepreneurship, which means freelancer has total control of their earning potential. Freelancers aren’t locked into a salary, so they can earn as much as they are able to bill to their clients. And as a freelancer, you are your own boss.
Freelancing provides a lot of variety in the type of work you can do, too. If you are someone with a lot of interests and are drawn to trying new things, freelancing can help you explore all kinds of projects and industries. Freelancing isn’t something people typically do forever. They either hire other freelancers or employees to build a full agency, they build their own products to replace their freelance income, or they go back to working full time.
Freelancing provides the flexibility many people want in order to figure out their next career move.
What type of work can I do by freelancing?
Companies are becoming much more open to and interested in hiring freelancers doing many different types of work. So freelancing has become much more acceptable for a wide variety of roles.
Admin Support Jobs
Freelance administrative support jobs include:
– Virtual Assistant
– Administrative Assistant
– Project Management
– Order Processing
– Data Entry
– Transcription
– Online Research
Design and Creative Jobs
Freelance design and creative jobs include:
– Brand Identity and Strategy
– Animation
– Presentation Design
– Motion Graphics Design
– Audio Production
– Video Production
– Voice Talent
– Physical Design
– Graphic Design
– UX/UI Design
– Art and Illustration
– Photography
– Videography
Writing Jobs
Freelancing writing jobs include:
– Copywriting
– Editing
– Proofreading
– Content Writing
– Ghostwriting
– Grant Writing
– Writing Tutoring
– Career Coaching
– Creative Writing
– Technical Writing
– Business Writing
Web, Mobile, and Software Development Jobs
Freelance web, mobile, and software development jobs include:
– Ecommerce Website Development
– Scripting
– Automation
– Mobile Development
– Product Management
– Game Development
– Desktop Software Development
– QA & Testing
– Web Design
– Mobile Design
– Web Development
– Other Software Development
Accounting and Consulting Jobs
Freelance accounting and consulting jobs include:
– Business Analysis
– Instructional Design
– Recruiting
– Tax Preparation
– Accounting
– Bookkeeping
– Financial Analysis
– Financial Modeling
– Management Consulting
– HR Administration
– Training and Development
– Financial Management
– Virtual CFO
Legal Jobs
Freelance legal jobs include:
– Business Law
– Corporate Law
– Tax Law
– International Law
– Securities and Finance Law
– Intellectual Property Law
– General Counsel
– Labor and Unemployment Law
– Regulatory Law
– Immigration Law
– Paralegal
Data Science and Analytics Jobs
Freelance data science and analytics jobs include:
– Data Mining
– Data Analytics
– Data Extraction
– Deep Learning
– Machine Learning
– A/B Testing
– Data Engineering
– Data Visualization
– Data Processing
– Knowledge Representation
– Experimentation and Testing
Sales and Marketing Jobs
Freelance sales and marketing jobs include:
– Marketing Strategy
– Social Media Marketing
– Community Management
– Display Advertising
– Telemarketing
– Lead Generation
– Public Relations
– Market Research
– Email Automation
– Marketing Automation
– Search Engine Optimization
– Search Engine Marketing
Customer Service Jobs
Freelance customer service jobs include:
– Customer Service
– Technical Support
IT and Networking Jobs
Freelance IT and networking jobs include:
– Network Security
– Information Security
– Solutions Architecture
– Systems Engineering
– System Administration
– Systems Compliance
– Database Administration
– DevOps Engineering
– Systems Architecture
– Network Administration
Engineering and Architecture Jobs
Freelance engineering and Architecture jobs include:
– Civil Engineering
– Structural Engineering
– Architecture
– Mechanical Engineering
– Electrical Engineering
– Sourcing and Procurement
– 3D Modeling
– CAD
– Interior Design
– Chemical Engineering
– Product Design
Translation Jobs
Freelance translation jobs include:
– Legal Translation
– Language Tutoring
– Language Localization
– Technical Translation
– Written Translation
– Medical Translation
Jobs websites
Another popular method for finding client work is through a freelance marketplace like Upwork, Fiverr, FlexJobs, or SolidGigs.
These marketplaces serve as the middleman by aggregating freelance jobs on one side of the marketplace and freelance talent on the other. Marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr have a lot of competition, and it may be tough to build an initial profile or get paid what you’re worth. And they will keep a small percentage of each job as a transaction fee.
But over time, if you build a strong reputation, you can reliably find work without having to prospect too hard.
Good luck.