3 Freelance Businesses That Can Thrive in the Gig Economy

As you move forward in your career, it's easy to become disenchanted with the concept of working for an employer just to earn some money. Often, we enter adulthood feeling that we will get satisfaction from our work and that we can make a difference in the world. The reality, many times, is that companies and bosses simply treat employees as expendable, replaceable parts like you would find in a machine. With the arrival of new technologies, workers began to understand that they could make money and still have freedom if they took advantage of opportunities in the gig economy. By making smart choices about the projects you seek out and accept, it's now possible to make a living doing virtual, or remote, assignments that let you work from home and live anywhere in the world. 

Website Developer

When a client needs to create an Internet presence, they will need a website developer to design and code their site and add all the features it needs. It's critical as a developer that you have experience in user interface design, HTML, CSS and a graphics program like Photoshop. You will also need to understand how to create responsive sites so everything looks great on mobile as well as desktop environments. It takes a lot of training and education to become a top-notch website developer. As you seek out the training required in this field, it's a good idea to apply for and take out student loans. When your loans are approved and funded you can instantly sign up for the best courses and your investment in yourself will pay off with more clients and higher rates.

Virtual Assistant

As more startup companies and virtual organizations began to emerge, the market for virtual assistants also grew. Instant connectivity and communications tools such as video calls make it possible for the majority of tasks to be done remotely. Savvy entrepreneurs can leverage their time by handing off many marketing, administrative and client contact tasks to their virtual assistants. For instance, as a VA you'll be called on to book client appointments and look after calendar management. You may prepare PowerPoint presentations, respond to client emails and communication and manage all of the social media accounts.

Online Course Designer

Entrepreneurs are finding that there is a lot of money to be made by offering online courses. These courses can be sold again and again, and since this is a virtual product delivered automatically, new revenues are almost pure profit. As an online course designer, you will be responsible for creating the web site, designing the online course framework and setting up the sales and marketing software. Typically, an online course designer needs to be skilled in web design and development and to be able to produce sites that are responsive and load quickly. You will create a course delivery system and templates that allow the content creator to provide video, text and PDF training materials to their students. Ideally, you will also be able to set up landing pages, sales pipelines and automated marketing systems that move customers along the journey from initial interest to final product purchase.