Imagine telling someone that you’re a freelancer or you work from home in your pyjamas. 10 years back, saying that could’ve earned you some disapproving stares. But it’s a different story today.
In this progressively digital world, it’s not a dream to work from home. The online world and its technologies give us more opportunities to work remotely while connecting with companies, clients and coworkers.
Freelancers are changing the world of work and working remotely will be how we work in the future. In 2018, “self-employed” residents make up 8.4% of Singapore’s resident workforce. That says a lot about the change in the freelance industry these days.
Moreover, the perks of working from home are countless. Like getting that much-needed coffee break without getting that death stare from your superior.
Whatever your reasons are for choosing to work from home, today you’re free to choose from a horde of legitimate (and often profitable) freelance jobs across industries. If you’re wondering how to become a freelancer, take a look below at a few of the couch-worthy career paths you could potentially pursue.
Top freelance jobs to do from home
The job: Remote Social Media Manager
What it pays: $32.5 per hour
Perfect for: The social media guru with creativity and an analytic mind to increases brand awareness and social growth with engaging content.
What it is: Create, manage, analyze and grow brands through content creation and advertising campaigns on various platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
It’s not an easy job: social media managers have to set and track KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for a social media page which includes audience growth, content engagement level, conversion rate and more. And you can work anywhere as long as you have a laptop with you.
The job: Online Writer or Editor
What it pays: Average $35 per hour
Perfect for: A person who’s great with words and skilled in creating content that resonates.
What it is: Write, edit, research, fact-check, and organize content in a way that’s compelling to readers.
Everybody can write, but a good content producer needs to write original and engaging content. It takes skills to avoid plagiarism that is harmful to businesses and also ensuring contents create value for the targeted readers.
The job: Graphic Designer
What it pays: Approximately $28 an hour
Perfect for: Designers who’re well-versed in art direction and visual creation
What it is: Use digital illustrations, photo editing software, and layout software to create designs such as logos, images, and illustrations for published, printed, or digital media.
Generally, clients give a brief to the designers, expressing problems that need to be addressed and outcome to be achieved. Simply put, designers need a certain level of communication skills in order to translate words into images.
The job: Web developer
What it pays: $55 an hour
Perfect for: A problem-solving individual who ADORES coding and doesn’t mind sitting in front of the screen for hours.
What it is: Designing, coding and modifying the layout to the function of a website according to a client’s specifications. Web developers need to be adroit with programming languages like HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
There are basically two kinds of web developers—frontend and backend. Frontend developers take care of fancy layouts that create the user experience. Backend developers process, store and manipulate data that makes the site or applications run smoothly.
The job: Mobile app developer
What it pays: $55 an hour
Perfect for: Those with a creative yet analytic mind that can visualize the way an app works.
What it is: Create, maintain and implement source code to develop mobile apps and programs using computer programming languages such as C++, Java, HTML, MySQL, PHP.
The technological world is always changing, so you also need to be armed with new, in-depth app development skills. You’re fighting for jobs with hordes of app developers, so either be really good at what you do or put your resume out there to earn reviews and build trust.
The job: Translator
What it pays: $40 an hour
Perfect for: The language master who has an acute sense of logic.
What it is: Translation from one language to another with a high degree of accuracy within the given deadline. May also have to conduct research for fact-checking purposes and correct usage of terminology based on all provided reference material.
A lot more are seeking for Chinese translators these days. If you’re one of the rare few who’s effectively bilingual, you could be making a rather decent living as a freelance translator.
4 practical tips for aspiring freelancers in Singapore
You should know that there’s no “one size fits all” formula for a triumphant freelance business. We’ve written some useful tips to find a part-time job in Singapore, and here’s some when you actually score some freelance jobs from home.
1. Forge a plan for winning work.
The internet is your best friend when working from home. You can apply for freelance jobs on different portals such as Upwork, Fiverr, or iTask. When you’re on these platforms, get as many genuine reviews as possible to garner in more job requests. You can also consider setting up a website, blog and/or social media accounts to showcase your expertise or past works.
2. Know your worth
Virtually every freelancer charges too little when they first begin. Make sure you know how long each project takes and how much your hourly rate should be. At iTask, we provide Taskers (also freelance users) with a price guideline so they know what to charge.
3. Use a contract on every project
Most freelancers make this mistake because they’re not a business. Always use a contract for every project to protect yourself. Or in any case, ensure the platform that you’re on provides you with certain guarantees. Find out the common FAQs on being a Tasker on iTask.
4. Do your numbers well
Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you should forgo jotting down your numbers. Not just your revenue and output, but also those that’ll facilitate your income input (money) such as:
- Ratings (how they lead to you obtaining jobs)
- Amount of time you’re spending on each project (and how much you’re estimating and/or charging for)
These are all we have, for now. Are you an aspiring or full-time freelancer? Share your story in the comments!