The freelance workforce in the United States has significantly grown, with a staggering 64 million Americans engaging in freelance work in 2023, up from 53 million in 2014. This trend is projected to continue rising, indicating a shift towards freelance work as a primary form of employment. The increasing popularity of freelancing can be attributed to several factors. Financially, freelancing offers the potential for uncapped earnings and the opportunity to address the challenges of the cost of living. Beyond financial benefits, freelancing also provides invaluable opportunities to gain diverse experience and develop unique skills that may not be easily attainable in a traditional job setting. Moreover, the flexibility and autonomy offered by freelance work cater to the evolving preferences of the modern workforce.
Notably, employers benefit from freelance arrangements as well, especially when they require specialized services for specific projects without the commitment of hiring full-time employees. These factors contribute to the sustainability and growth of the freelance industry.
A recent report by FlexJobs has highlighted several flourishing fields within the realm of remote freelance jobs. Notably, the creative and arts sectors have seen substantial growth, with many career fields within these categories experiencing a significant increase of at least 20%. This indicates promising prospects for remote freelance opportunities in these specific areas in 2024:
- Bilingual
- Graphic design
- Art and creative
- Copywriting
- Consulting
- News and journalism
- Entertainment and media
- Operations
- Social media
- Editing
Below are some of the specific freelance job opportunities which allow you to work from home, that fall within these areas.
(Please note that indicated salaries or earnings from freelance work are there to serve purely as a basic reference, and that your earnings may vary significantly on either end of the indicated salary, depending on several factors relating to how you market yourself and your business, market demand, etc. The term "salary" is used loosely here to represent estimated freelance earnings, as of course, when delivering contracts as a self-employed professional, you will not be on a fixed annual salary. Salaries are taken from Salary.com, Comparably, Talent.com.)
1. Virtual Assistant
Freelance virtual assistants work with small businesses and even other freelance entrepreneurs, who are much too busy to handle administrative work themselves. So these businesses will outsource to virtual assistants. The role is multifaceted. From the comfort of your home, you could be coordinating calendars, responding to emails on behalf of your client, and/or performing other admin-related work so they can focus on the most important aspects of their role.
Average salary: $43,043 to $50,647
2. Graphic Designer
As a freelance graphic designer, you will use your design knowledge to create a visual representation of a product or service, through logos, mock-ups, brochures, and online media formats for advertising.
Average salary: $44,460
3. Project Manager
A freelance project manager manages a range of projects on an independent contract service basis and can offer consultancy and management services to organizations who need a PM for a specific project for only a short period.
Average salary: $87,750
4. Bookkeeper
The same goes for freelance bookkeeping. Just like above for project managers, you can serve multiple business clients with their accounting and bookkeeping needs, or even choose to specialize in working with small businesses and other freelancers to help them track their spending and revenue, and to help with filing taxes.
Average salary: $83,728
5. Copywriter
Do you have a special knack for, and enjoy, writing? Especially if you already have extensive writing experience and a solid portfolio, you can offer your services to write copy for websites, email marketing campaigns, blogs, and digital advertising, to rank highly in search results and attract traffic.
Average salary: $58,644
6. Customer Service Representative
If you enjoy meeting and serving new people, you can easily find remote freelance customer service representative positions by searching online or using the search tool on freelancing websites such as People Per Hour, a freelance and contract platform.
Average salary: $49,966
7. Social Media Specialist
Have a background in social media marketing or digital marketing? You can get paid for your skills as a freelancer. Why limit yourself to working in one organization when you can have multiple clients in your portfolio? You can provide multiple services, from developing social media campaigns to creating engaging content, to optimizing the social media pages and profiles of your corporate clients.
Average salary: $48,447
8. Video Editor
As a freelance video editor, you will be reviewing and transforming raw footage from clients, and making appropriate edits, cutting, and arrangements to improve the quality, length, and sound, to bring a client's project to life. This exciting creative role is all about creative storytelling through editing techniques and is focused on delivering a range of high-quality video content, from marketing videos to demo reels.
Average salary: $88,706
9. Marketing Manager
Freelance marketing managers help their business clients by developing and executing marketing plans and strategies, for a variety of media outlets, depending on the business, industry, and target audience. Of course, this is traditionally a role that is performed full-time for an employer, but in this case, you can instead offer your services as a contract or project directly to business clients, especially for those companies who are just starting out and don't have a solid presence as yet.
Average salary: $92,674
10. Communications Specialist
In your role as a freelance communications specialist, you will be representing your client (an organization) for public-facing duties such as drafting press releases, media content, and social media advertising. You will help to bring awareness to the company, bringing their story to the world.
Average salary: $94,191
Becoming a freelancer requires dedication and effort, and extensive time, energy, and research to get it right and acquire a steady stream of clients, especially business clients. However, all this effort is certainly worth it and will pay off when you can enjoy financial freedom, the autonomy to work on your own terms, and the satisfaction of being your own boss while establishing your career and reputation.