Make money with freelance job ideas

We found that the 1 barrier to making more money was finding the right idea. Test your money-making ideas today with the 4 key criteria every idea needs. In our research of over 5, people, we found that the 1 barrier to making more money was, by a huge margin, finding the right idea. Recently, one of my readers, Barbara S. Because it sometimes results in a long day, I have no problem doing the work over a sandwich rather than working and then cooking. It makes perfect sense. For delusional people, these will crush their kooky dreams of living a passive-income lifestyle with no work.

Productizing is unrealistic for most people who are starting out since it involves both the critical aspects of freelancing, as well as an entirely separate set of skills. MOST jobs can translate directly into freelance work and EVERY job implies skills that can transfer to indirectly to related freelancing jobs.

40+ Passive Income Ideas and Ways to Make Extra Money

People worry about the time involved, but this is really just an excuse to do nothing. They know that the real problem is getting any money at all, not getting too much. There are proven ways to minimize the time you spend so you can hit your target goals. Just like dating, it will probably take repeated failures to find a good match between your skills and what the market wants. Please re-read that last point about repeated failures.

What are your real skills, and how can you turn them into something that other people will pay for? What the hell is wrong with these people? In fact, they will distract you from what you really need to be doing, which is identifying needs of potential customers, talking to them, and validating or invalidating your ideas.

I have a guy who works with me who has NO website, yet he is killer at understanding what his clients aka me need. Making more money by learning how to become a freelancer is not some simple checklist, which is what most people want: If you expect a set of guaranteed money-making business ideas to be painstakingly tailored to your situation, go away. This one is common. And since most people are cheapskates, they think that nobody will pay for anything. Go walk in a mall or at a local market.

And they pay virtually anything for their kids and pets. People pay for value Walmart. They pay for convenience housecleaner. They pay for simplicity Apple. My other hesitation is with ideas. Some I have put into practice and then let slide, while others never got finish or started. How does a person like me stick to one idea?

Or is there a way to use all my ideas in one business? First of all, are you seriously telling me your horoscope when it comes to building a process for making more money? Anyway, see if this sounds familiar. You could be a chef! You could create iPhone apps! What about a website? Then, even if we get past this initial paralysis, we can end up spending so much time building up an idea — naming the idea, designing business cards for the idea, putting up a website and figuring out exactly how to describe it to our friends — that when we forget the most critical part: Your money-making idea needs to match what you can do with skills you currently have.

And listen, stop short-changing yourself. Are you really good at math? Did you know I once hired a math tutor and paid him a lot of money? Can you play a musical instrument? Are you really good at interior design? Are you in shape? There are a million skills you have, but we overlook things about ourselves all the time. Except for me, because I am incredibly narcissistic.

What are all the specific things you could list on your resume? Strengths are intangible qualities that you have a natural affinity for that make you stand out from the next person with your skill set.

This is typically what college kids often cite in place of real experience and, while I like to mock it, these actually matter. You might be really good at building systems, or turning complex ideas into actionable insights.

Your money-making idea needs to match what you like to do. Interests are the things you love to do, and not just on the job. What do you read or research in your spare time? What fascinates you most? A market only exists if there are real people — that you can pinpoint, reach, and validate BEFORE you start offering a service — who are willing to pay you for your service. Ok, please read this carefully because too many delusional weirdos get this wrong.

The above skills, strengths, and interests were important, but they are also relatively easy since you can look inward and knock out the answers in 5 minutes. The competition makes them shrink away like a white guy in a spelling bee. This is the opposite of how I see it. Since most people are terrible see The Craigslist Penis Effect , with some ingenuity you can crush them.

On Craigslist, other jobs sites, or even via word of mouth? Every one of my Earn1k students knows that that MUST validate the demand of their idea. Your market must have the ability and willingness to pay. And some people and groups are markedly bad markets. People love talking about passion.

Your should be passionate about your job! Travel around the world for passion. Be a passionate lover. Eat your meals passionately. Guess what I get passionate about besides teaching? But as Cal Newport puts it, passion happens when you master something:. We all know that uncle who has many passions, but never actually did anything, and is waiting for his magical idea to come…. Pick an idea, and begin testing it. Trust me, you get pretty passionate when you start dominating.

You can do this. But it requires a mindset change: Nobody hires freelance software localization specialists. What am I good at? And, how can I position this so people will pay for it? This is what I want you to walk away with today: It means thinking critically about your skills, which may or may not have anything to do with your full-time job, overlapping them with your strengths and interests, and then systematically testing them in the marketplace to find the offering that people will pay you for.

I wrote a huge free guide that goes into detail about how to get started earning money on the side, how to increase your salary painlessly, and how to start an online business that makes money while you sleep. Hundreds of thousands of people have read it and benefitted. Read it, apply the lessons and email me with your successes — I read every email.

No games, no B. When you sign up, we'll keep you posted with a few emails per week. I Will Teach You To Be Rich is packed with tips that actually work. Ultimate Guide to Making Money. Ultimate Guide to Personal Finance: Money Management Made Simple. How to make extra money on the side. Ultimate Guide to Social Skills: The Art of Talking to Anyone. Automating your Personal Finances. How to make money fast. The Best Online Business Ideas You Should Steal.

How to ask for vacation days. How to get bank fees waived and overdraft fees refunded. How to find your Dream Job. Sell It Now — how to make hundreds of dollars on eBay in 37 minutes.

How to get your first 3 paying clients. How to get out of debt fast. Why am I so damn lazy? And how do I stop being lazy? I think these are some excellent ideas and overall a good post.

But I disagree completely with social media being a waste of time. This is part of the process of building relationships that can segue into long-term work or biz dev opportunities.

In reality, you should be spending your time developing relationships in every channel possible, both online and offline, in order to maximize your potential client base. My first goal working with students trying to earn more is to EARN MORE. You could spend that time doing far more profitable things. Just to give you a sense of scale, my non-social-media activities are often x more profitable than time spent on social media. You have to pick the right one.

While that may put me squarely in the Earners camp instead of the Savers camp, I think the savers have something valuable to offer too. My garage has been a mess for the last year. We had just moved into a new house and used the garage for unpacking. Then we used the garage as a transition space when we gutted the basement, then my grandpa died and we inherited a ton of tools, furniture and junk. Finally I realized that the systems in the garage were the problem. We went and bought two more tall shelving units and half a dozen large storage bins and then dedicated several days to re-organizing the garage.

During the reorganization it got worse than it had ever been, we could hardly walk though it. Once we were done however there was a clear place for wood working tools, a separate wall for bins of seasonal items and kids clothes we will use again, a place for bikes and camping equipment, and yes, a space for the car.

With the right systems in place we can now focus on using the garage for parking, woodworking projects, or whatever else we want to do. Several years ago my finances were a mess. It was sites like Get Rich Slowly and Free Money Finance which helped me figure out systems for my money. Just as long as you balance being a saver and an earner appropriately. One of my content partners, a blog associated with one of the bigger web-based companies out there, reached out to me through Twitter and we were able to establish a business relationship from there.

I think it also depends on the idea or the type of work being done. Programmers and other freelancers in the tech space might have an easier time finding potential customers by engaging in social media than say, a guy with a moving business. So that has to be a consideration as well.

Like you said, being aggressive is key, no matter which method of outreach you choose. For example, someone who helps the lonely edit their dating profiles.

Does a customer base like this create the exception to your rule that B is talking about? You want to first understand them. I can help you. How do you find out if there is conflict of interest with your job? Can there be conflict of interest applying skills you learned on your job even to businesses of other sectors? You can look at your employment contract. That was a concern of mine as well. In my case, it is actually against company policy to provide professional services outside of work other than adjunct teaching at university, but that has to be approved first.

I wonder whether my time would be better vested pursuing ideas outside of work, or developing skills that would allow me to advance in my current career. Why is everyone focusing on the comments about social media, when there was so much more to the post? That, rather than engaging in the challenging yet HIGHLY lucrative work of understanding your customer.

I just found your site a couple of weeks ago, and have already ordered your book, which is a fantastic read. The State of CA minimum wage for state workers is impending, so I have to do something about making money! Your comment about Apple and paying for simplicity really hits the nail on the head — Apple has so fine-tuned the user experience for simplicity and ease that people are willing to pay more, a lot more, for a computer.

Even though I work in the corporate world in a pretty unique roll, I always look to Apple for examples of success and as a thought leader. This success builds on itself, as I am able to pick up more consulting work when word-of-mouth spreads. Like you said, your job skills CAN be transferred and people will PAY for this expertise! Ideas suck, only action is cool. Even if you start out with a sucky idea if you keep going forward, making contacts, and learning more you will eventually find that things begin to fall into place and the money, and mastery, will come.

I have an idea that I think is good with a specific customer set in mind, but I need to figure out how to get face time with these target customers so I can talk to them and see what they would actually pay for — ie, if this is a problem they would actually pay me to solve for them.

Many times, this supportive services are more lucrative then the hobby. Our son loves playing music and is in a band, but many money and breaking it big is extremely hard because of the competition. In fact, most bands with never make money. Our son went to school for commercial art and is working for a t-shirt printing place. He would sell t-shirts to bands to sell at shows as a supplemental income.

You can always approach a printer to do the t-shirts at wholesale and you sell them at list and make the difference in price. The amount of actual work is low but the profits can be very high. I am sure if you are creative you can create many opportunities like this off of most hobbies and interests. I used to work as a copywriter for an ad agency until I ran the numbers one day and realized that with a little hustle I could make more money, set my own hours, and work naked.

So what do I do now, four years later? I write the same idiotic crap I always did — childish headlines that clients love and TV commercials that appeal to people who drool. Ever thought about the opposite? Perhaps my job skills are too general, not unique enough? Are you an i-banker? Do you know how many kids would kill to learn how to get an inside leg in the interviewing process? I would instead think about what you do for fun and what kind of groups you associate with.

What are their needs? Possibly one of the longest posts I have read in a while but a good one. Your position on social networks differs completely to someone like Gary Vykenuck so it is interesting, having just listened to him on TED, to compare your different views.

Thanks for this post Ramit. The easiest solution clearly is to go online, but as you say, it means no profit in the short run, and maybe not even valuable profit in the long run. What could be a compromise in your opinion? Great ideas…I loved the brazenness in describing these. Have you worked out the issue with the idea generator yet? I am having the same issue as earlier posters.

Thanks for any assistance. Only recently did I really start trying to do a lot of extra freelance work though. As a web developer that reads countless business and entrepreneurship books I have the knowledge and skill to implement nearly any web-based or IT based idea fairly easily. As far as his comments on social networking go, I completely agree. Spending time on facebook, twitter, foursquare, blogging, etc.

Even then, you should be very careful about spending your time on social networking as efficiently as possible. I log into facebook once a month, if that. Once you have too many customers to communicate with via direct emails, phone, or physical conversation, only then is it worthwhile to direct your efforts towards social networking. I assume that to be able to monetize around a skill, you need to be good at the skill.

How does one become good at something? How exactly do you master something? This should be part of the equation…. Perhaps one week in the course…. I have recently started to read your blog and have already implemented some of your advice! However, I want to use your lessons to start freelancing to make extra income and have come across a few barriers.

I work in the fashion industry -specifically sweater design and knitting technology- which is an ever shrinking industry domestically.

I would like to start consulting and while some companies have shown some interest, it seems that most are unwilling to spend on something they think they can do with overseas vendors. Is it worth it to try this route for the few companies that are interested? Or should I look to my other skills outside of my job to make extra income? I immediately went and wrote down my skills, strengths, added weaknesses too, and interests.

It is the low-hanging fruit of entrepreneurship, easy to define, a breeze to write about. The complex part is obviously STEP 4: But, it would be interesting to see him tackle more challenging material. How does she get leads? Does she freelance at all?

Best Side Business Ideas to Start While Working Full-Time

What was her idea? Is she making money at it? Did she have to get a partner? Obviously, not my blog nor do I pay for it with anything except attention. But this is not always so. What is always so is discipline. Enough of this talk about passion.

Passion is an erradic roller coaster with highs and lows, but discipline is nice and steady, allowing you take action regardless of your emotional state.

Thank you for all of the wonderful ideas. I have a brain tumor, a cyst where my spinal cord meets my brain stem and I also have sarcoidosis. I get sick easy, but I do not want to loose my home. I have two daughters, one of which starts college this fall. I do not know how I am going to do it. I live in the middle of no-where and as you know, the economy stinks!

But, you have given me some great ideas and I am willing to try anything to get my family back on track from the debt we have because of meds and medical bills.

If anyone has any work at home type things they need done, please let me know…Thank you, Mary Connor. Finding the right idea Favorite […]. Get some tips here. Finding the Right Idea. I have a background in structural engineering, and have considered freelancing these skills from time to time, but get stuck at different points.

I imagine similar benchmarks and barriers and exist for people in accounting fields, or perhaps financial advisor roles. Those are very, very common. We cover them in the course and show you how to systematically crush each of the barriers. In my humble opinion, and if I absolutely have to choose, Sales is the most important aspect of any startup. For a start that is. I think the best advice you can give to someone about to start a business is what you put in is what you will get out.

Controversial take on social media. Research says results of social media on sales are immeasurable. Marketing and reaching out to people becomes more targeted this way.

I also used to get worried about specializing in one skill. For me, having one skill meant less clients. After reading this article, I realized that skills can be transferred no matter how unique they are.

I can master other skills if I want to, but only after trying to get my first 3 paying clients. Focus on one skill, then I can expand later. These are Interesting suggestions to earn money, but i can see that you have not mentioned anything about travel industries here. I think now a days starting online travel business is also a good source to earn money.

Websites like travsell are helping many startups to earn high profits by launching their own travel affiliate business. As travel industries are growing every year so this is the perfect opportunity to earn high profit margins from travel online businesses. No one want to buy anything from me.

You should try Bulmen. Here you can earn money by taking surveys online. Just say this site is best ever for me for earning from home. You are so interesting! So wonderful to discover someone with unique thoughts on this subject matter. This site is something that is needed on the web, someone with some originality! Thanks for putting this together. Looking forward to more of this. I found an interesting blog regarding mobile application here you can find it https: Thanks for sharing some ideas of earning money.

Now a day there are many people those who are finding the right idea to earn money. There are various article present online that can help startup to start there business and starting earning money. Here are some business ideas: Always wanted to do consulting and earn extra money, but until I had an organization it would have been like buying more tools to put in the garage.

Fun but have lost someone who could not effectively used. Finding the right … — Includes a free Idea Generator Tool! What about MVB My Video Bank. So enjoy this app. Remember this app only for android user as well as Indian user, with code Thanks for the points you have contributed here. Something else I would like to state is that computer system memory requirements generally rise along with other innovations in the technologies.

For instance, when new generations of processor chips are made in the market, there is usually a related increase in the shape calls for of both the personal computer memory plus hard drive space.

This is because software program operated through these processor chips will inevitably rise in power to leverage the new technologies. Take our short quiz and get a custom report based on your unique strengths. Discover the subtle psychological triggers that landed me a job offer from Google You are using an outdated browser.

Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience. New to the site? Finding the right money-making idea We found that the 1 barrier to making more money was finding the right idea.

What is your earning potential? Choose the answer you agree with the most If I work hard, I can always earn more money.

I am not in full control of how much money I make. Get the Ultimate Guide to Making Money and make money on the side, increase your salary or start a new business. Roth of Get Rich Slowly Learn More. An analogy with my garage, if I may: Thanks for the comment! Ramit, How do you find out if there is conflict of interest with your job? Tulio That was a concern of mine as well. Anyways, great post Ramit. Thanks for the kind comment, Eric. Grin Your Way To Home Sweet Home Commercial Loan Lenders.

I think there is only one way to really settle this. A fight to the death. Someone finally says how social media sites can be the biggest wastes of time ever! Hi Ramit- I have recently started to read your blog and have already implemented some of your advice! Thank you so much for your help!!! Dealing With Stress Edition.

The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Dealing With Stress Edition Financial News and Information. Dealing With Stress Edition Tolly Blog. Passion helps motivate action. You list setting up a blog as a waste of time, yet here you are….

Dealing With Stress Edition Frugal Living News. That was a VERY inspiring article, thanks! Weekend Reading Marketing for the IT Professional.

Saturday Reading 17 Vik Dulat: One of my favorite for sure, and very timely for me. Is it Better to be Rich or Wealthy? Finding the right idea I Will Teach You To Be Rich […]. Screw Employment, Invent Your Own Job! How to find ideas that make money: Finding the right idea - Freelancing and outsourcing.

By signing up you will receive daily blog updates on living a rich life , how to make money , and practical financial management advice. Do you know your actual earning potential? Want to 10x your confidence, productivity, and success? Yes, show me how No, not right now.