The 25 Best Freelance Jobs For Beginners In 2024

Ditch the 9-5 and launch your dream career online!

Working for yourself at freelance jobs can be liberating, especially if you hate your full-time job and wish for a better work-life balance. 

To find the best freelance jobs for beginners, you must plan carefully, saving enough money to cover a few months' expenses before quitting your job.

Try a few easy freelance jobs while still employed to get a feel for what it is like working as a freelancer before taking the plunge.

The 25 Best Freelance Jobs For Beginners In 2024

A recent report from the US government statistics research department projects that more than 50% of the workforce will find freelance jobs by 2027. 

That means that most new entrants into the labor market will likely be working in some form of easy freelance jobs rather than full-time. 

These are the most in-demand freelance job opportunities for beginners online right now:

25. High-Ticket Sales Closer

While successful high-ticket sales closers can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, it takes a high skill level and tenacity to succeed. 

It helps if you can handle rejection without getting depressed, and initial training is stressful if you’ve not been in a sales environment before.

24. Lead Generation

Lead generation is a service that is needed by most companies that sell products and services online, especially if the item is a high-ticket item. 

You can earn between $16 and $22 per hour, depending on your ability to book sales calls, with bonuses for meeting quotas.

There is no selling required, as your job is merely to get a potential client to commit to attending a meeting, either telephonically or via an online meeting. 

Lead generation gigs are a great way to see if gig work is a fit for you, especially if you like client contact.

23. Freelance Photographer

Your skill as a freelance photographer can earn you a full-time income if you sell your photographs on stock photography websites. 

Websites like Shutterstock provide you with a way to work in a freelance job using your hobby - if you can produce high-quality images. 

Most photographs sell for a few dollars, but if you have an extensive portfolio and offer exclusive rights, you can make a lot of money in a short time.

22. Teach Online

If you have a knack for language, becoming an ESL/EFL teacher or TEFL/TESOL certified language teacher is the ticket to freelance jobs. 

Most foreign language schools require English language teachers to have a degree and a teaching certificate before they employ you. 

Expect to earn between $10 and $40 per hour, and you must make yourself available during specified times in the foreign country.

Other popular languages include Spanish, French, German, and Chinese, while math, science, and history teachers are also popular and in great demand. 

If you play a musical instrument such as guitar, piano, and drums, then you can also cash in on the demand for online tuition.

21. Tour Guide

Tour guides can earn between $25,000 and $40,000 per year, depending on their experience, industry, and area they work in. 

Higher hourly rates are earned in specialized areas like fishing and hunting guides or museum guides conducting special events or workshops.

20. Travel Planner

You can charge for developing intricate itineraries and customized trip arrangements if you are an expert in the travel industry. 

Working on a retainer basis, providing guidance or consulting to corporate clients can be very lucrative, especially if you have an extensive network. 

You can work as a gig worker or an independent contractor in this industry and make a full-time income with the right contacts.

19. Dog Walker

If you’re fit, love dogs, and have a dominant personality, working as a dog walker is one of the easiest freelance jobs. 

On average, dog walkers earn $17 per hour, but you can earn as much as $25 per hour if you work in California. 

While opportunities to take dogs for walks are listed online, dog walkers get most of their best clients through referrals and word-of-mouth advertising.

18. Pet Sitter

Pet sitting is one of the easiest freelance jobs and ideal for animal lovers who don’t mind traveling to pet owners' homes.

Rather than boarding their pets, many pet owners prefer to leave their pets at home and pay someone to come over and look after them.

The rate for pet sitting varies, but expect to earn an hourly rate of $13.50 to $18.00 depending on where in the USA you’re located.

17. Playlist Promotor

As a Playlist Promotor, your job is to find influencers and individuals with a significant following who will promote your client’s music to their listeners. 

Once a band or musician gets 100 to 150 daily streams, websites like Spotify will start to push the music organically to more listeners.

Promoters can charge anything from $100 to $150 to promote a song or artist on a playlist, which can turn into serious cash if you know what you’re doing. 

If you have experience contacting creators to push music, then you can expand your services to promote other products like crypto tokens.

16. Podcast Host

Podcast producers and hosts are in great demand, especially in the music industry, where there is an ongoing demand for content. 

You can expect to earn between $20 and $50 per hour, depending on your skill level and track record of producing compelling content. 

Many of the top gig economy platforms carry multiple advertisements for podcast hosts and producers, with demand increasing each year.

15. Voiceover Artist

Voiceover artists provide vocal performances for various forms of media, including television commercials, radio advertisements, animated films, video games, audiobooks, documentaries, corporate videos, and more. 

You can expect to earn between $30 and $90 per hour of completed audio, and there are multiple opportunities for long-term work for talented freelancers.

14. Transcriptionist

Transcriptionists convert a wide variety of audio and video sources, such as interviews, lectures, podcasts, and business meetings into written documents.

Depending on your level of skill and typing speed, you can earn a full-time income transcribing legal and medical audio files for various agencies. 

There are also freelance jobs that require transcriptionists to provide captions or subtitles for video content, live events, and television programs.

13. Accountant

Accountants are still in demand, and it’s a lucrative freelance career that can earn you between $37 and $42 per hour in states like California. 

Earnings vary according to qualifications, with Certified Public Accountants earning the highest rates, especially when showing businesses how to file taxes and resolving tax issues. 

So, whether you are chief financial officer or a newly qualified accountant, pursuing a career as an online accountant makes a lot of sense.

12. Virtual Bookkeeper

With online bookkeeping software available to companies who wish to have access to their data in the cloud, work from home bookkeepers are their answer. 

In place of an office, a virtual bookkeeper accesses the company’s books, giving accounting tips for small businesses from any location - even coffee shops.

Bookkeepers with experience within specific industries like consumer goods or e-commerce are always in demand and can command a premium hourly rate.

According to freelance job sites like Glassdoor, virtual bookkeepers earn between $51,000 and $76,000 per year, depending on their experience and qualifications.

11. Virtual Assistants

As small and medium-sized businesses grow, founders and managers require assistance with everyday tasks, but specialist skills are also in great demand. 

Virtual assistants have some of the best freelance jobs for beginners as the entry requirements are low, and you can learn on the job and be paid to get experience.

Here are some of the freelance jobs that we discovered while researching data entry opportunities:

• Research Virtual Assistant
• Lead Generation Assistant
• Daily Scheduling Virtual Assistant
• Project Management Assistant
• General Task Virtual Assistant
• Customer Service Assistant
• Customer Success Assistant
• Chat Monitoring Virtual Assistant
• Email Prioritization Assistant
• Human Resources Virtual Assistants

There are many more freelance jobs available that require attention to detail and persistence rather than specific skills or experience in online business. 

If you’re willing to learn and train on the job, there are many opportunities for diligent freelancers who are willing to work their way up.

10. Translator

A multilingual audience who don't necessarily speak or read English well access  the Internet daily, and that opens up a huge opportunity. 

Freelancers who can speak multiple languages to a high level are in great demand by companies and individuals who own websites that serve multinational audiences.

The freelance jobs we found online include helping businesses to translate their training manuals, recreating marketing content as well as legal documents and terms of service.

9. Video Editor

YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram provide billions of views per day to an ever-growing video viewership that dwarfs television and cable network audiences. 

This has resulted in a huge increase in demand for skilled video editors who understand the psychology and mechanisms that result in viral videos.

The scope of demand is truly mindblowing, with YouTube alone generating over one billion hours of viewing each day with similar watchtime for Instagram. 

If you have the skills necessary to edit video content, then there will be no shortage of freelance jobs for beginners in years to come.

8. Digital Marketing Consultant

Digital marketing consultants are a diverse range of people who fulfill a wide range of roles within the online workforce.

These best freelance jobs for beginners include:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Consultants

SEO consultants examine content and tactics for websites to raise their organic search engine rankings and increase website traffic.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising Consultants

PPC consultants oversee campaigns for pay-per-click advertising on websites like Google Ads and social media.

Content Marketing Consultants

Content marketing consultants formulate and execute strategies for content marketing, producing engaging material to attract and educate or entertain their intended audience.

Social Media Managers (SMMs)

A social media manager oversees a company’s social media presence, creating and managing content calendars and engaging with followers on various platforms.

Email Marketing Consultants

Email marketing consultants design and execute various email marketing campaigns to help nurture leads and convert them into paying customers.

Public Relations (PR) Consultants

PR consultants manage a company's online reputation and build relationships with influencers and journalists in the digital space.

E-Commerce Marketing Consultants

Specialist e-commerce marketing consultants develop and implement digital marketing strategies geared toward promoting online sales by optimizing advertising and product descriptions.

AI Data Annotator

While the growth of AI has been impressive, it is still a long way from competing with humans in many areas of industry and commerce. 

AI data annotators help AI learn about its environment, whether it be weeds on a farm, labeling images, or annotating video frames. 

Expect to earn between $10 and $25 per hour in your freelance career, depending on the scope of work and complexity of the tasks being performed.

Data Analyst

To find an explanation or resolve an issue, data analysts gather, purge, and evaluate data sets for government research, medicine, business, and finance clients. 

Freelance jobs are currently available in the cryptocurrency environment as well as e-commerce SaaS, workforce analysis, and social media management. 

Hourly rates range from $10 per hour for entry-level work to $50 or more for experienced analysts with industry-specific skills.

5. Data Entry Clerks

With the large amounts of information flying around the Internet, someone has to be responsible for data entry into the system. 

That’s where data entry clerks come in, helping with e-commerce product management, lead generation, digital asset management, and data mining. 

Research also requires a large amount of input and data handling, so opportunities will continue to offer new entrants a variety of possibilities.

Data entry is one of the best freelance jobs for beginners, as the skills needed to succeed are minimal, and you get trained along the way. 

The gig economy statistics and trends point to an increasing demand for data entry jobs, providing a great way to get into freelancing.

4. Programming And Website Development

The gig economy has its pros and cons, but demand for programmers and web developers will increase in the future as many more businesses move online. 

To be taken seriously, every business requires an online presence, meaning developer skills will continue to be a sought-after commodity. 

However, this is not one of the best freelance jobs for beginners, as the skills and experience required take years to learn and develop.

Here are some of the in-demand specializations from freelance job sites that fall into this category:

Front-End Developers 

These developers focus on the user-facing side of websites, using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript frameworks like React or Angular to create online assets.

Back-End Developers 

BAck-end developers work behind the scenes, building the server-side logic of web applications using computer languages like Python, Java, or PHP.

Full-Stack Developers 

Full-stack developers have expertise in both front-end and back-end development, making them versatile freelancers who can handle all aspects of web application development.

Content Management System Developers 

CMS developers specialize in developing websites using CMS platforms like WordPress or Drupal, customizing themes, plugins, and integrations to meet specific client needs.

E-Commerce Developers 

E-commerce developers build and maintain online stores, ensuring a seamless shopping experience for customers using e-commerce platforms like Shopify or Magento.

API Developers 

API developers create and maintain various application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow data to be exchanged between different software applications.

Web App Developers 

App developers write and develop web applications that run within a web browser, providing functionality similar to traditional desktop software.

UI/UX Designers 

UI/UX developers work with other developers to design the user interface and experience, ensuring that websites and applications are functional, user-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing.

3. Graphic Designer And Artist

Artists and graphic designers are in great demand due to the growth in online stores and e-commerce, which require their design skills. 

A graphic designer may create designs for t-shirts one day and a new logo for a startup business the next; it all depends on client demands.

This is one of those freelance jobs for beginners that allow you to learn at your own pace and increase your prices as your skill increases. 

The gig economy offers freelance designers a chance to start part-time while still employed full-time, spending time building up experience and their portfolio.

2. Proofreading & Editing

If you have the irresistible urge to correct work that others have done, then proofreading or editing may be the perfect freelance job for you. 

With a focus on quality content, you can monetize your attention to detail by proofreading drafts of books, articles, assignments, and even resumes.

This is similar to freelance writing but it isn't one of those freelance jobs for beginners as it requires a much higher level of skill. 

Proofreaders focus on catching errors by meticulously examining pieces of writing and identifying and rectifying grammar, punctuation, spelling, and formatting errors. 

They ensure consistency in style and usage throughout the document, whereas editors are more focused on the overall quality of the document.

Editors assess writing clarity, coherence, flow, and effectiveness, suggesting sentence structure and word choice revisions to enhance readability and impact.

 With so much online content being created, the best gig economy jobs include skilled editors and proofreaders who can improve quality and clarity.

1. Freelance Writing Jobs

The most in-demand freelance jobs online involve writing, with websites, blogs, podcasts, e-commerce sites, and videos requiring the written word to communicate their message. 

It is one of the gig economy trends that will continue to create a demand for human writers, despite what AI can produce in the future.

With a freelance career in writing, you get to pick and choose what subjects you write about and how much or how little you want to work. 

Initially, the best freelance jobs for beginners are paid per word, an hourly rate, or per project, while experienced freelancers may receive a revenue percentage.

Inexperienced freelance writers can expect to earn between $0.01 and $0.10 per word or $5 to $10 per hour, increasing as they become more experienced. 

Copywriters focus on providing sales copy to engage their readers and write landing pages, sales emails, video sales scripts, and advertorials. 

Other types of freelance writing include blog posts, biographies, social media posts, search engine optimization (SEO), and product descriptions.

Summary

One of the best freelance jobs for beginners is as a writer, due to the many jobs available and the range of topics involved. 

Freelance jobs sites are only one of the ways that you can score a gig, as there are multiple ways to market your freelance services. 

With the gig economy expanding each year, easy freelance jobs for beginners will continue to present themselves for the foreseeable future.