11 Highest Paying Freelancing Jobs | Easy To Start With Zero Investment
Gaurav Upreti 16 July, 2024
In the past couple of years, people around the globe have experienced uncertainty like never before. Post-pandemic, people are looking at different freelancing jobs for a steady income to secure their financial future.
Well not just that, it’s always the highest paying freelancing jobs that most people are after. It pays well and gives one the liberty to be their boss.
That said, there have been a lot of new businesses popping up around the globe. In the US alone, there were 1.5 million new business applications by the end of the year 2020.
With a lot of businesses downsizing their operations, the demand for freelancers has surged in the past couple of years as well.
Once an individual has established themselves as a freelancer the earning potential is immense. Therefore, a lot of people are looking into freelancing as a career option.
Freelancing is a contract-based profession where the person opting for this profession doesn’t commit to an organization that only provides services to a client or several clients, using his skills and expertise.
Freelancers work independently, organizations hire freelancers to cut down on their costs as freelancers are not given the same benefits or salary as full-time employees.
Freelancing provides a lot of benefits to an individual. It gives them the freedom of working around their schedule and the liberty to work from home. This is especially convenient for individuals who are working as a freelancer to earn a steady side income or for stay-at-home parents wishing to earn some extra money.
In fact, with regard to the current economy, most of the highest paying freelancing jobs and their monetary compensation compare quite well with their 9-5 counterparts.
Moreover, it also gives the individual experience of working with multiple clients without committing to one agency or organization.
With freelancing, you can be your boss! All you need is a computer, an internet connection, and marketing skills to market your expertise.
Highest Paying Freelancing Jobs One Should Keep An Eye Out For
So, if you’ve been trying to get into the freelance business or become a freelancer, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve listed the top 11 highest-paid freelance jobs (in no particular order) in the year 2022 to get you started.
- Content writer
- Web developer
- Virtual Assistant
- Graphic designer
- Teacher/tutor
- Editor
- Financial advisor/accountant
- Social media manager
- Business Consultant
- Videographer
- Programmer
1. Content Writer
One of the most common and highest paying freelancing jobs (if done right) is content writing.
Freelance writers can work on a short-term or long-term contract basis with various businesses and organizations at one time. Writers can create content for books, magazines, websites, blogs, and journals depending on what the client wants.
There are a lot of options available for content writers on the web. Platforms such as “Fivver” and “Upwork” provide a great stepping stone for new writers trying to establish themselves as content writers.
If you’re a good writer who can meet deadlines and has the drive to learn. All you need is a laptop/computer, an internet connection, and good writing skills and you’re good to go.
Perhaps the best part of becoming a freelance writer is that it doesn’t require any hi-tech equipment or software. You only need Microsoft word to deliver your work and you can do it from any part of the world.
Additionally, if you’re good at Technical or medical writing you will have a greater chance to make a good living out of freelance copywriting. On average a content writer makes $60,068 per year.
2. Web developer/designer
Web designers or developers work with organizations and individuals to create code, plan, and design websites.
Post-pandemic many businesses and start-ups have realized the demerits of a physical work front and are moving to a more virtual solution i.e., websites. Therefore, the demand for web designers is on the rise.
Web designers help organizations/individuals create websites that fit their requirements and business persona. It can sometimes require a designer to update an existing website.
Therefore, a web designer should be creative and have the technical know-how required to develop web pages.
Depending on your work experience and your technical knowledge you can earn up to 30$ per hour or more through platforms such as “Upwork”.
Moreover, job opportunities in this field are expected to rise by 13% in 10 years. “Upwork” and “Fiver” are great for individuals who have a fair amount of experience in this field and are familiar with WordPress. Those, who are comparatively new should try “udemy’s online” to get lessons.
For web designers who are highly experienced “Toptal” is your best. It is by far the highest paying platform for web designers as the clients tend to be high profile.
3. Virtual Assistant
There is a surge in demand for a virtual assistant in the past couple of years.
Organizations and individuals hire virtual administrative assistants to take care of day-to-day tasks such as data entry, email management, calendar organization, scheduling appointments, and taking phone calls.
Sometimes the individual hired may also have to run personal errands of the employer such as making restaurant reservations, scheduling medical appointments, and making personal purchases.
Clients outsource these responsibilities through freelance platforms so that they can focus on to day-to-day operations of the business. These administrative assistants usually work from home and the clients never really meet them in person.
Typically, a virtual assistant makes around 56,860$ a year and between 12$ and 20 $ per hour performing administrative tasks through platforms such as “Upwork”.
So, your salary is determined by your experience and your expertise as an assistant.
4. Graphic designer
This is another great freelance job that provides flexibility and project-based payment. Graphic designers are required to create visual content for their clients, in both print and digital media.
App designing, product packaging, newsletters, magazines, visual reports, advertisements, brand labels, and logos are all in their scope of work.
Usually, a client hires a graphic designer and gives them a message their company is trying to send out, the designer takes those words and turns them into images.
In this time and age, where the most advertisement is done through social media, the demand for good graphic designers is on the rise. Instagram and Facebook adverts are solely made by graphic designers.
So many businesses and start-ups are looking for fresh, creative minds that can help them get their message across to their diverse potential clients.
Being a freelance graphic designer gives you the freedom to choose which client you want to work with and how much work you want to take on. It also gives clients the freedom to choose between different freelancers for different jobs.
Thus, making it a very profitable business. In the US, freelance graphic designers can make up to 48,920$ yearly, starting from 17$ per hour.
5. Tutor/teacher
Post pandemic world is quite different from the pre-pandemic world. Where it brought a lot of negative changes in our lives, it also brought some good changes. It opened great avenues for teachers in general.
A lot of parents had to take solace in online teaching when covid was at its peak, which inevitably led to greater availability of online platforms such as “My Tutor Source” for educational freelancers.
These platforms were so successful that parents are still enrolling their children to help students gain a better understanding of concepts being taught at school.
This has not only provided the teachers with a flexible schedule but also an extra income. The average income of freelance tutors in the US is $53,558 annually.
In addition to teaching children online, educational freelancers can also provide classes at home and in libraries to children living in the same city as them. Depending on your experience and your degree you can charge up to 100$ per hour making this a highly paid freelancing job.
6. Editor
This is another high-paying job if you’re good at identifying grammatical errors and other issues in writing. Editors play a vital role in the editorial process. They are responsible for revising and reviewing write-ups.
They go through written texts to eliminate any factual issues, punctuation mistakes, and syntax issues. Editors also help writers in improving their writing style and flow of words.
Freelance editors can work with various authors and across different content areas at one time. Which increases their work experience and adds to their portfolio.
Editors work with various written materials such as books, magazines, blogs, reviews, and newspaper content. There are a lot of options available online for a freelance editors.
“Upwork” and “Fiver” are the top choice for many. On “Upwork” editors can earn between $20 to $$) per hour making it one of the highest-paid freelance jobs. In the Us, editors earn an average of $57,704 per year.
Here’s what Clem Flanagan, an editor on Reedsyblog, said about the profession and the freelance counterpart.
Another subcategory of this job that has a different scope of work is video editing. it is also a very well-paid freelance job, which happens to be very high in demand. Many budding YouTubers and businesses hire video editors to edit videos according to their needs. On average a video editor earns $47,000 a year
7. Accountant
The responsibilities of an accountant include interpretation of financial records, and record-keeping of financial processes, transactions, and documents. If you have a degree in accounting, helping businesses while making use of your abilities can prove to be very fruitful.
It can help you further your career and launch you in the right direction. Freelancing doesn’t have to be for companies alone. You can always start small, get a freelance job to help someone with their taxes, or help small businesses with their books.
You might want to take a look at this infographic from the Online Degrees Blog that explains the knick-knacks of a career in accounting quite clearly.
An accountant helps in keeping the financial records up to date so that the business owners can make well-informed decisions about their business operations. Additional duties of a freelance accountant may include preparing invoices, performing audits, and analyzing budgets.
The upside of working as a freelance contract-based accountant is that you can work with many different organizations/individual clients at one time.
The usual rate for accounting services is $30 per hour. If you’re an experienced accountant with a lot of expertise and good credentials you can charge more for your services.
Freelance accountants do very well in terms of the pay scale, the average salary for an accountant can go up to $64,900 a year making it a very viable career option.
8. Social media manager
Social media has become a very big part of our lives, making it a very powerful advertisement tool. When used incorrectly can have repercussions for the business. Therefore, many organizations and small business owners hire social media managers to handle the company’s social media profiles.
As a freelance social media manager, you’re responsible for creating posts, answering queries, replying to comments, keeping the page up to date, and trying to boost overall engagement.
The upside of taking this career route is that you don’t need a specific degree, if you have a marketing degree that will most definitely help you but if you’re a college graduate looking to make some extra income, not having a degree won’t stop you. With this job, you can earn up to $50,860 a year.
Find below the qualities that Beacon believes all social media managers should master to become successful.
Organizations want to keep a strong media presence on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram but don’t want full-time employees. Making it easier for social media managers to make their way into the organizations.
Most social media managers work part-time for various organizations at one time, making it a very fruitful and viable career option in this day and age.
9. Business Consultant
Businesses usually hire consultants to understand operational matters and gain an in-depth insight into the day-to-day activities of the business to ultimately increase profitability.
The consultant plays an integral part in solving complex business problems by looking into each detail of how the business is run and highlighting factors that would lead to inefficiency.
The consultant may specialize in more than one field, i.e., marketing, finance, and human resources.
If you’re hired as a freelance business consultant by a firm, you’ll be providing management solutions to the business. You’ll have to analyze the business operations and will have to work with the client to come up with a plan to increase the productivity profitability and efficiency of the business.
Also, you’ll be suggesting methods to improve the performance of the business.
As a freelance consultant, you have the flexibility of working with more than one client at a time, which means you’ll have more than one source of income. Depending on your level of expertise and your experience in this field you can make up to $71,578 a year and $98 per hour.
10. Videographer
If you have a knack for video making, this is another great way to maximize your income. As a freelance videographer, you’ll be required to film events and undertake video production projects.
You might not get big projects at first and you may have to start with smaller projects such as wedding/party videography, personal depositions, corporate seminars, training videos, and short films. but with time and experience, you will be able to make your way towards bigger productions.
If you know basic editing skills the job will become quite easy for you. You’d be able to edit the videos as beautifully as you’ve captured the moments. But if editing is an issue, you can take help from freelance editors or collaborate with other freelance videographers.
Numerous platforms provide videographers to showcase their work to get business. One such platform is “Upwork”, Where videographers can get job listings every day.
In addition to this, a more viable option is Instagram. It has recently introduced a feature called “reels” which are short videos. Freelance videographers can collaborate with various influencers to make reels and get a lot of engagement and followers through them.
This will not only help them make a name for themselves but will also help them get business.
Videographers usually make up to $30 per hour and an average of $77,008 per year, making it one of the highest-paid freelance jobs.
11. Programmer
If you’re a software engineer or have a keen interest in developing apps, this freelance job is for you.
Programmers are people who have developed applications we use on our mobile phones and laptops, today.
The applications we see, and use are a result of their hard work. therefore, these talented individuals are very important in today’s digital world.
As a contract-based freelance programmer, you’ll have the flexibility to work with numerous clients at one time which will help you maximize your income. You will be responsible for making computer programs and software programs.
In addition to this, you can also provide consultation to various businesses and provide a technical solution to the client’s individual needs.
You will also be in charge of troubleshooting problems when the need arises for a smooth-running system.
The average income of a programmer with basic skills is $47,714 per year.
Advanced programming skills will help you earn more with the added responsibility of web development.
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