Can people do freelance work online after they come home from their day job

Can people do freelance work online after they come home from their day job? This is the question I am going to answer in today’s article. Stick around if you are interested in learning ways to supplement your monthly salary with income from freelance jobs.

Why do it (why work part time doing freelance jobs online)

  • To make extra money. You can use the money to pay your bills or to just save it up somewhere if you are planning to make a big purchase later down the road.
  • To make extra money to pay off your debt. If you have outstanding loans you want to get rid off as soon as possible, the income you make freelancing can help you become debt free faster than if you just rely on one income – what you make from your day job.
  • To gain more real world experience. What better way to gain experience that to freelance on the side while getting paid. If you are a designer you can perfect your skill by picking up extra work from various freelance marketplaces a few times a week / month.
  • For more networking opportunities. If you are going to do any type of freelance job online, you will find yourself on blogs frequented by your peers. You will find yourself going to similar Facebook groups. And slowly, without even realizing it, your network will grow by ten, then twenty plus people.
  • To raise capital for a side hustle offline. If you want to start your own business (with a physical location), you can do jobs online to make the money you will use as a capital.
See also  Disadvantages of hiring freelancers

How to do it – successfully freelance on the side while having a day job

Narrow in on a skill

One skill. Let it be something you are already good at. For example, a hobby of yours that you can easily turn into a service business.

Or if it is a topic, let it be something you are quite knowledgeable about.

 Note: This post may contain affiliate links. When you click on something I recommend and purchase it, I will receive a commission for the sale – at no extra cost to you. 

You don’t want to spend several hours learning something new before you can even start thinking of ways to get clients and start making some money.

Go with what you already know. It could be even something in the same industry as your day job. So, if you work as a programmer, just go with that skill.

There are clients for almost every skill a person may have. So, you really don’t need to study to learn something new.

Just sharpen your one skill. And take it to the market.

Decide on when to get work (get the word out)

Will you be reaching out to potential clients after you arrive home? Will you bid on jobs while on the matatu or during lunch breaks?

See also  What can a small business in Kenya hire a freelancer for

Or will you do it on the weekends, for example sending hundreds of emails between Friday and Monday to potential clients?

Decide what works for you, then get the word out. Use Google Search to find people to email. Go to websites like UpWork to bid on jobs. Place an ad listing on sites like Niabusiness.com.

Decide on when to do the work

All at night or some at night and some in the morning. It is up to you to decide. If you can get at least one hour daily for five days, that is enough to work on 2 or 3 projects if you choose the path of freelance writing for example.

If you need more time for the kind of work clients will be outsourcing to you, find areas to spend less time on so you can get more time to allocate to your online pursuits.

You can cut down on TV time for example. Or cut down on the time you spend on social media (sites like Facebook) or messaging apps (like WhatsApp).

If you stream a lot of content on YouTube, Netflix or Showmax, take some time off these activities and use that newfound time to bid on jobs / work on client projects.

Some things you can do online for extra money after coming home from your job

Writing. Creating content for blogs, websites, magazines and small businesses. You can write articles, blog posts, do copywriting, write sales pages, tutorials, Amazon Kindle books, proposals, plans, CVs, essays, manuals or product reviews.

Paid ads management. Creating and managing client ads on platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook Advertising and other PPC networks out there.

See also  Hire bookkeepers in Kenya working online as freelancers

Design. Offering design services for websites, apps, labels, business cards, packaging material, stationery or even rooms / offices.

Transcription work. Turning audio files into text. For example creating a text version of a video on YouTube (or video used in an online courses. Or creating a text version of a podcast episode. Or turning someone’s audio recordings into an article or ebook.

Translation work. If you are fluent in two or more languages, say English and French (if you learned it in high school / college for example, you can help clients get English translations of their French work and vice versa.

Outreach work. Helping clients send more cold emails to potential customers – helping them with sales and marketing. Nurturing leads. Sending emails to get links to pieces of content published on a client’s website / blog.

Bookkeeping. Helping clients keep their books in order. Helping clients with cash flow and taxes for example – using various accounting software / apps such as QuickBooks or Xero.

Can it really work: Making an extra income doing freelance jobs online without quitting your day job.

Yes. And the only evidence you need that it can work is this: hearing me say that others have done it. And that some, right now, are also doing this very same thing am talking about in this article.

Without sacrificing your health and happiness, you can make an extra income freelancing in the evenings before going to bed.

Just learn to manage your time well. To start working on client projects as soon as you get them, and to quickly finish them, so you don’t feel overwhelmed working on your new venture as well as your day job.

Take a long term view, and just bite only enough – only what you can chew. You don’t need to bring lots of clients if you are only going to disappoint them.

Better to have one or two (every week) that you work with, that are happy with the results you are getting them, and then grow gradually – bringing in more work as you get more and more experienced.

Leave a Comment