Having a freelance career is no easier than working a regular nine-to-five-job.

It takes discipline, commitment and a lot of hard work. But freelancing does have its advantages – choosing whom to work for and working wherever one wants are just two.

The second of this two-part series continues the discussion on the areas where freelancers are in demand.

Translation and editing

• Website and blog post editing

Someone who likes to write and has great spelling, editing and communication skills – and especially if they know something about search engine optimisation (SEO) and content marketing – can work from home (WFH) as an editor.

Editors must know how to do online research as well because they work with a wide range of subject matter.

The main goal is to increase traffic on the client’s website to increase sales and gain repeat customers without being too in-your-face about the fact that the company is selling something.

This field requires a passion for language and a knack for subtlety.

• Advertising copy editing

Those with marketing experience, good editing skills, and sales and SEO expertise, would do well in persuasive editing and advertising copy editing. This is the text in advertisements seen on the internet, social media and apps. The job entails creating attention-grabbing copy that draws in the audience and generates as many clicks as possible.

• Translation services

Thanks to translators, people and companies can overcome language barriers, access information in other languages and expand to markets abroad.

It requires complete proficiency in the language to be translated into, which is why it is a bad idea to apply for translation tasks with limited knowledge of the language.

However, for those who learn the language well and acquire the necessary skills, the workflow is constant.

• Editing and correcting text

Grammar, spelling, Orth typography and style wizzes can work from home and help other authors who need help editing and improving their text.

Ideally, an editor would have experience as a writer. Specialised courses on editorial revision are available.

• Ghostwriting

Many people include book writing and writing blog posts in their personal branding. Although they may be experts in their field, they often hire a professional writer to write a high-quality piece for them.

Generally, the two parties agree on the information and structure the book will have and the editor has a certain amount of creative licence to develop the content.

Sometimes there is shared authorship and other times ghostwriters cede all rights to the material.

• Subtitling

One of the easiest and most in-demand editing jobs is subtitling. Video content often has to have subtitles for SEO and accessibility purposes, and it is as easy as learning to use a programme that helps place a text box in the video, listen and transcribe.

Those who are fluent in a second or multiple languages would have more opportunities.

Digital marketing and sales

• Digital marketing strategist

You must know your SEOs from your web analytics, excel at social media management, be an expert at creating content and love making sales funnels.

The role is to coordinate and focus on every aspect of online marketing and to offer solutions to companies that want to get to know their clients better and make more sales.

• SEO

SEO is a pillar of online marketing. It means ensuring that all the company’s content – from website copy to articles and blog posts, to videos and ads on social media – meets the appropriate language and structural criteria to generate the most visits possible on a search engine.

• Community manager

A community manager is in charge of managing a company’s social media. This involves posting recurring advertisements, creating and maintaining a community of followers and responding to customer comments and questions on this channel.

• Online publicity/advertisements

In addition to organic placement, companies place paid advertisements on search engines and social media, especially companies that sell online products and services.

There is an analytical science behind the ad that allows resources to be invested in creating calls to action and finding and appealing to the type of user that is most likely to buy their service or product.

To work in this sector, proficiency in using one or more digital advertising platforms is essential.

• Sales from home

Sales agents are needed to provide face-to-face customer service to clients who are ready to buy their services and close the sale successfully.

For those with great communication skills who enjoy interacting with other people in a service capacity, being a WFH sales executive can be a great option.

Finance and business

• Recruiting

Thanks to the latest technological developments, every stage of head-hunting and recruiting can be done online.

There are many HR management programmes in the cloud and interviews can be done by video chat.

For individuals who love finding talent, having multiple clients and working from home, there are so many options.

• Strategic planning and project management

This is especially good for those with years of experience in project management and strategic market planning, who are tired of going to the office every day and working for one company.

• Accounting

An accountant and/or someone with expertise in accounting and tax liability in their country can easily become a freelancer with plenty of projects to choose from.


Source: FMT