5 Freelancing Ideas for Dummies

Here are my freelancing ideas for everyone. I have deliberately left out the more specialized skills. I’ll include a more detailed post for the more professional among my readers. Here, I discuss freelancing ideas that everyone can use – without the need of specialized skill set. For this reason, you shouldn’t expect to earn a very high income from these ideas. Instead, use them as a good passive income stream that you can tap into when you need more money or want to supplement your income. In due course of time, you can earn a full-time wage with these methods.

Freelancing Idea – 1: Simple Data Entry

Data entry is one of the least specialized skills on the internet that sure still is in demand. You don’t need any special skills, except the very basic ones. However, it helps a lot to have a good work ethic. The downside should be obvious – since a lot of people can do the job, it drives the wages down. Data entry is well suited for people in countries where the cost of living isn’t as high as the Western world. Otherwise, you would have to spend a ton of hours to make livable wages with data entry.

The good thing of course is that there are plenty of data entry jobs. And yes, please don’t go for the scam advertisements that promise you $40/hour for data entry. Read more about internet scams.

Freelancing Idea – 2: Content Writing

The real problem with writing is everyone who has studied English in high-school (or not) thinks he is a writer. Not so. Words are the backbone of the internet and most companies are looking for quality content in the end, no matter how much they spend on social media or PPC advertising. The real problem is, the range of skills and prices that a writer demands is mind-bogglingly huge.

If you are a really high quality writer, you can write for magazines or perhaps even publish a book. You will be paid by the word. However, for those without a writing background, a good way to start is by writing content. It always helps to learn more about SEO. With this knowledge, an average writer can provide a unique value to the employer that otherwise good writers (aka creative writing majors) cannot.

Freelancing Idea – 3: Create Sales Pitches

Again, creating sales pitches isn’t as hard as it sounds. The opportunity, however, exists everywhere. If you are a top-notch online copywriter, you need to belong to an elite group. However, everyone of us can get started. Just look around, you see ample ideas for sales pitches that you can create.

Think of a Adwords ad that is horribly written. It is not hard to find and you don’t even need to go out of your way to spot them. Offer the company your services as a creative sales pitch writer and do a better job. You would be surprised how many companies don’t bother to make their online advertisements better.

Freelancing Idea – 4: Sell Your Skills

People tend to think of freelancing as requiring specialized skills. Not so. You can just be a casual freelancer. All you need to do is to promote yourself. There are plenty of places where you can sell your skills, from specialized freelancing sites like oDesk to very broad and general job boards like craigslist.

In addition to getting online, you can always consider looking around your neighborhood and placing flyers which sell your skills. Ideas are plenty – always look for an opportunity.

Freelancing Idea – 5: Learn a Professional Skill

Yes, the easiest way to get started is simply to learn! The internet today has rendered traditional degrees almost moot – you can get the best and highest quality education online on any topic that you want. MIT’s OpenCourseWare is an excellent example of this. You don’t need to go back to school and earn a degree. You can simply learn a skill online, practice by taking on some real assignments with small projects, learn and perfect this skill and you can start earning your livelihood online!

What skills should you learn? This of course depends on you and your interests. You should look for skills that are in demand and for which people are ready to pay a good amount of money, like web-designing or programming. These are not for everyone but if you can pick these up, you can get a great head-start in your freelancing career.

If you are completely new to freelancing, don’t go out and quit your job yet! Learn the skills, learn the ups and downs of the process and then decide if you can live off what you make freelancing. There are many factors to consider, so make an informed decision.