How To Make Money Freelancing Today

Money is one of the top reasons we don't have the time for our dreams, our family, and hobbies.

If you think working 9-5 is draining your energy and keeping you from focusing on the more important aspects in your life, then this guide is for you.

Checkout the guide every Sunday morning for new tips, tricks, and useful content. Not to mention awesome videos, online polls, and free giveaways. So stay tuned and don't forget to leave some comments - your opinion helps this lens improve.

Many people fail to make money without a job, simply because they didn't think it through. Making an important decision such as quitting your full-time job is not something you do overnight, but rather requires careful investigation of your current lifestyle, ambitions, and budget.

Why Should You Examine Your Lifestyle?

Lifestyles can affect a great deal the way we view our full-time jobs. If you're leading an unhealthy lifestyle such as eating donuts all night long while watching TV only to sleep on the couch, then most likely you won't be a morning person, nor would you be productive or happy at work.

If you're leading the wrong lifestyle for your age, occupation, or budget, you ought to trying out a healthier lifestyle before determining if full-time jobs are not for you.

Why Should You Examine Your Ambitions?

If you're not in the right field to begin with, e.g. you don't like being an accountant; nothing in the world can change that. Quitting your job won't be the solution, since you're mostly likely to rely on your qualifications when freelancing, starting your own business, or making money online.

Examining your ambitions and desires is essential to ensure you're not quitting your job simply because you picked the wrong major back in college. If that's the case, you can pick between starting a new occupation or quitting full-time jobs altogether.

Why Should You Examine Your Budget?

Examining your budget can help you determine if the flaw in your work vs. pleasure allocation is due to your paycheck, financial choices, or trip to Hawaii every 3 months. Before quitting your full-time job, make sure to set the time to examine your budget. Try to write down every penny you earn/pay for at least a month before quitting.

Is the reason why you're spending too much time at work related to your lavish lifestyle?

Your area's deteriorating economy?

Or perhaps your pay isn't enough for your family.

Once you're done examining all three, you're bound to know your current situation well enough to make an educated decision. A couple of questions that are helpful in finalizing your decision on whether quitting your full-time job is the right for you include:

Can you tolerate another working day?

Is the reason you're quitting your choice of occupation?

Could you make more money taking a different job?

Can you risk quitting your job?

Do you have enough money to cover 6 months of rent, living expenses, and gas as you establish your new business?

If you've think quitting your full-time job is the right thing to do at the moment. Let me introduce you to the basics of making money sans your full-time job.

Making money online is one of the best ways to make money without a job. However, many people feel it's too much of a shift when transitioning from a full-time career. For this very reason, I usually recommend freelancing for those still fresh in the making money market. If you have the skills, then you can certainly earn money completing tasks for other people.

Skills that are especially in demand include:

Design

Writing

Programming

Voice Narration

Transcription

Translation

Marketing

Virtual Assistance

Customer Service

To begin with, if you're wondering what is a freelancer? Click here for a detailed post about freelancing. If you think you've got the skills, why not make some cash until you figure out your next step?

Here are some websites offering job posts for skilled individuals:

GetAFreelancer

GetACoder

Rentacoder

All three don't require a sign up fee, however; charge a small commission on every job pay you get. This small fee is used to maintain, arbitrate, and keep the job boards up.

eLance

eLance is free to sign up, however; there's a limit to the number of jobs you can apply to. The monthly fee is used to keep the site running and provide new services.

oDesk

oDesk works on either an hourly or flat fee basis. Freelancers are required to log their activities and communicate directly with their team via the oDesk interface where the leader delegates tasks and supervises progress.

Those websites can keep you busy and pay the bills for a while, but is this what you want? Or do you have something else in mind? Research is your next step.

Researching is your next step if you're not satisfied with the work done on websites such as getafreelancer, elance, etc. Such websites can bring in income, however; with time you'll realize that buyers tend to:

Ask for too much, pay too little

The websites can take a huge chunk of your money with bigger projects

You spend more time pitching than actually working

The solution?

Landing your own clients, of course! If you thought your experience with the above websites was a waste, think again. Many people you've worked with on-site will be more than glad to take their business outside such websites because it's easier for them to communicate directly via skype, IM, or email. This means you've got free clients who've already tested the quality of your work willing to provide you ongoing projects lined up for you.

If you're already contacting them, hold your horses. Before anything, you need to polish your portfolio and provide fresh samples that are well-researched. You might ask why research is important, it's simply because no professional freelancer provides gibberish samples that don't rely on solid facts. Not to mention no beginning freelancer should neglect his freelancing 101 education via research such as: how to pitch clients, how to manage time, how to get paid, etc.

While I can leave you to your keyboard and expect you to research, this lens is your complete guide, so our next item in line is the most basic freelancing anchor: preparing portfolio and samples. Stay tuned!