Making Money as a Freelancer

One of the ways to make money that virtually ANYONE can explore is freelancing. What is freelancing? Well, it's also known as independent contracting, or consulting, whichever label works for you.

A freelancer operates independently and does not receive the traditional salary because he or she has no employer. Instead, the freelancer has "clients", people who pay for particular services offered by the freelancer. So a freelancer can be considered to be self-employed.

Anyone, as long as you have some kind of skill to offer, can be a freelancer. It may be as complex as computer programming or making architectural drawings, to legal consulting, to typing letters, to pet sitting or dog walking, and down to car washing, snow shovelling, or running errands.

The challenges with freelancing arise in the fact that you are independent. You must find your own clients, market your services, and keep your clients. Your earnings are directly dependent on the effort you put in. The advantage is that you are independent. You have more autonomy, can set your own schedules, can pick and choose what jobs you do for what clients, and you run the show.

So start thinking about something that you know how to do, do some research, and see if you can make some money from it.

There are some great websites out there with ideas and lots of help for you. One excellent one is Freelancing Tips. It offers practical, down to earth simple tips to help you get into and succeed at freelancing, find clients, and be efficient. Another good one with lots of interesting content and resources is Freelance Switch.

And always remember, every penny counts, every penny helps.