Are you tempted by the idea of working from home?
You may be surprised to find that you have a skill which you can market on the internet. Freelance working allows you to work from home and to be your own boss. You advertise your services and leave it up to clients (employers) to decide if they want to hire you. Freelancing can be very rewarding if you have a skill which is marketable but if you are not sure of your skills then sites like Smarter Work and Home Working UK will be able to help you find out how marketable they are.
Do you have the right skills for freelancing?
Skill areas which lend themselves well to freelancing over the internet tend to be IT type skills, such as web design and software development, but many other less technical admin skills are often in demand such as data entry, typing and Microsoft Excel. One of the most sought after skills at the moment is also the ability to write articles and web content about a wide range of topics (see 'paid articles' link below).
Freelancing Marketplaces
Freelance Marketplaces are a good way of finding freelance work on the internet. They allow you to register as a 'service provider' which allows you to post details of the service that you want to provide, along with details of your experience and evidence of any similar past work you may have done. You are then added to a database so that potential employers can search for your service and so that you can search for specific jobs to 'bid on'. If you are awarded a job, the freelance site will take a percentage (usually between 5-10%) of any fee paid to you. Once you have completed a job, your employer will be able to give feedback on your service which if good, will increase your chance of getting hired again. Registration to these sites is usually free however paying members are offered additional benefits such as having their services displayed more prominently in searches.
Some popular Freelancing Marketplace sites for you to use (search for these names)
Guru
Elance
getafreelancer
Of course, if you are more experienced and not comfortable with allowing anyone to take a cut of the payment for your work then you can find skills on the internet directly. For example, if your skill is in web design then you may be able to find jobs on popular web design forums.
For more ideas about how to make money online from home visit the Online Money Test. For example: Online Surveys, Paid Reviews, Paid Article Writing.
