Emergency Cash With Freelancing!
15. Jul, 2010 
7 Comments
There is no doubt about it, it seems like everyone needs more cash these days.
The unemployment rate is sky high, the economy is poor, and everyone I speak with says that finding a job in this market is nearly impossible unless you have an absolutely stellar resume. And even that is not a guarantee.
Fortunately, there is one way to make emergency money that doesn’t require a stellar resume, or any type of cash investment, or any extremely specialized skills.
Really all you need is a computer, an internet connection, and a decent grasp of website or graphics design, programming, or the English language.
You should also be able to manage your time, work efficiently, and work without a boss looking over your shoulder.
I’m talking about freelancing.
As a freelancer, you don’t have to spend any money to make money. Finding work is pretty simple unless you’re expecting to get paid $50+ per hour. And most people have some skills that can translate into cash.
Freelance Writing
The easiest way to make cash as a freelancer for most people is through writing.
Now of course you’ll need to have a pretty decent grasp of the English language, including the proper use of spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
You don’t have to be perfect, but your grasp needs to be satisfactory.
Freelance writers typically make about $3 to $10 per article for web content. Now you can make more writing for print publications, but those are a lot harder to get work with.
I already hear you…$3 doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but with steady practice and improvement you could easily churn out 3-5 articles per hour, which would earn you a minimum of $9 to $15 per hour.
In truth, that’s not bad considering you can do it from your own home and you don’t have to fill out a job application or sit through a tough interview.
Also, consider that as you earn a reputation and build a portfolio of your sample writings, and get some testimonials, you can raise the prices you charge for your writing.
In practically no time at all you could easily be earning $7 to $10 per article. That would mean you would be making $35 to $50 per hour. That’s definitely not bad!
I’ll share with you a few places you can find work later, but for now let me tell you about a site that will pay you for articles. You can get some quick cash writing articles for Associated Content (http://www.associatedcontent.com) if you’re in the United States.
The last time I checked they didn’t accept writers outside the U.S., but if you’re American they’ll pay you a few dollars for every article you write, and they will accept most articles if they’re on a good topic and well-written.
Freelance Website or Graphics Design
If you are a website or graphics designer, or if you’re able to hire someone to do the work for you, then you can make pretty good money doing designs for people.
You can get paid anywhere from $10 for an advertising banner up to a few hundred dollars for a complex website design. If you’re really good, you can get higher prices than normal, especially once you get some testimonials!
Of course you’ll need to be able to show some samples of your work, so it would be beneficial for you to have a website where you can showcase it.
You can send potential clients there to see your work, check out your prices, and contact you if they want to hire you.
A great way to make some emergency cash is to create websites for local businesses. Just visit some of the local businesses in your area and talk to the owners. Ask them if they have a website, and if so, ask them how well it’s performing for them.
Even if they have a website already, they might be willing to pay you to make some changes, help to improve their search engine rankings, or set up an email list for them so they can keep in touch with their customers.
Selling Turnkey Websites
If you don’t want to design custom sites for people, you could build websites and sell them. Now there are a couple of reasons why this is easier than building custom sites.
But one very good reason is you don’t have to worry about building the site to the customer’s specifics. You build it your way, and if someone doesn’t like it, they just won’t buy it.
Here are a few places where you can sell turnkey sites:
Freelance Programming
There is a huge demand for quality programmers. It can be incredibly difficult to find an honest, reliable freelance programmer who will complete a job on time, do quality work, and won’t run off with your money.
So if you have programming skills there’s plenty of room for you to step in and get work.
Good programmers can get paid by the hour or by the job. It may be best for you to charge by the hour in case you run across a picky client who wants endless changes, but some people may want a firm quote based on the job.
Programming is very skilled work, so you can make a bit more for it than for writing or design. Just be aware that you will be competing with freelancers from around the world, and some of them may have less living expenses than you do.
Finding Work
Finding work is the toughest part of being a freelancer. Many freelancers have found it almost impossible to find enough work, because they just didn’t know where to go to find clients.
The first stop for many freelancers is the various freelancing and outsourcing sites. There are quite a few of them you can try, but you’ll be facing a lot of competition from all around the globe. Some people are writing articles for as little as $0.50 each on these sites! The quality is horrible at that price, but they still manage to get work.
Some freelancing sites to try:
A better way to get work is on the various internet marketing forums. These forums are full of successful marketers who need services like these!
It can be pretty hard to find a good, reliable freelancer, so they’ll be more than willing to give you a chance. You can also get slightly better prices than you can on the freelance sites.
One of the major forums is:
These were two other sites that had forums where the top marketers hang out, their services have changed slightly over time.
Take a look and see if they work for you:
Don’t go spamming the forums with offers! You’ll need to follow their rules, and you may need to pay to post an ad to get business. But paying $10 or $20 is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money you can make from a single offer.
If you don’t have the cash to post an offer, you can try selling something on eBay.
Just find something around your house that’s worth more than $20, sell it on eBay, and have the buyer pay you by PayPal. Then you can use that money to pay to list your offer!
Extra Tips for Freelancers
OK, Freelancing isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. There are a few potential bumps and snags to look out for. I’m going to give you a few additional tips to help make your job a little bit easier.
Remove distractions by closing down your email and web browser, turning off your phone, and going behind locked doors if necessary.
Always make sure to stay in communication with clients, especially if you know their project is going to be a bit late. Most people will understand as long as you stay in touch with them. If you don’t, they will think you ran off with their money and they will get upset quickly.
Always do your very best to get projects completed on time. Repeat business is the bread and butter of the freelancer, so treat every customer well.
If you run into a client you can’t seem to please no matter what you do, or who expects too much, is abusive or rude, or who just makes you miserable, don’t be afraid to fire them.
Don’t be rude. Just say, “I really don’t think we’re a good fit for each other. I’m refunding your money so you can find someone who is better able to help you.” People like this are not worth the hassle!
Offer very low prices in the beginning to build testimonials, references, and samples. Once you build a reputation, you can raise your prices.
Don’t hide behind an alias unless you have a very good reason to. Using your real name will boost your credibility. Using a photo will also help give you a lot more credibility.
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Sometimes I feel like I’m pulling teeth when I mention this, but if this post has been helpful to you or maybe someone you know, post your comment or feedback below.
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Talk to you soon!
Greetings Bro. Bedford,
Another terrific article! I really appreciate your providing tremendous advice and potent information to us. Interesting, I am in the beginner stages of writing financial articles for the people here in Philadelphia and after reading your article, I may look to becoming a freelancer. We appreciate you!Thx,
James
p.s. By the way, the information and video you recorded from the POWERNETWORKING event was awesome!!!
Wow!!! I needed this. It came just in the nick of Time.
Thanks, Bro. Bedford
Bro. Bedford-
I felt like I had to respond to this post. I read your site often and always come away with immediately useful information. This post is no exception! I know we don’t always comment, but we are here and learning!
This was a great article! Thanks for the information. I’m getting started today.
Thanks for another great article. I appreciate you alway sharing useful information and resources.
Great article thanks.
Thanks Bro. Bedford for the reminder to tap into our skills as a freelancer. Wonderful insight on how to not only drum up some emergency cash as an entrepreneur, but potentially add a new dimension to our businesses. Thanks for the insight.