How to Start Freelancing: 7 Skills Beginners Can Sell

7. Getting paid to say out loud what you think of a website or app

Seven freelance skills beginners can sell, starting with saying what you think of an app. Number seven: getting paid to say out loud what you think of a website or app. So what does a website test actually ask you to do? Typical tests take twenty to forty minutes, and you speak your thoughts aloud the whole time.

Each study can be a website, an app or a prototype that a company wants feedback on. Userlytics starts with your email and a short practice test, then adds you to its invitation pool. Its sign-up form asks you to confirm that you are sixteen or older. Clients want critical feedback, the help page says: where a site is not great and where it can improve.

So the useful skill here is noticing problems and saying them clearly. Some tests need a webcam that shows your face clearly, and some do not. You also need headphones and a working microphone on your computer. You see the reward before you begin, and the client must approve your test before payment.

Payouts go to an online payment account on Fridays, every two weeks. The help page says payment comes on the first Friday after a fifteen-day window that follows approval. Invites come only when a study matches your profile, so how often they arrive varies. By our count, a payout every two weeks means up to twenty-six payout Fridays in a year.

Answering the surveys and completing your tester profile raises your chances of an invite, the page says. Real data is not required, and the help page says to stop any test asking for financial details. Payment options and rules for testers differ where you live. Subscribe if guides like this help you: each step here comes from the platform's own pages, linked below.

Next, the skill that pays for each approved bug you find.

6. Testing apps and devices

Number six: testing apps and devices, then reporting each bug you find in detail. Is testing a job only for experienced programmers? The page welcomes new and experienced testers alike. New testers can start with uTest Academy, a free training program with practice in live test cycles.

Functional testers do tasks like downloading and opening files, then report anything amiss, from broken links to missing buttons. Detailed reports with relevant screenshots or video captures help raise your rating, the help page says. Pay comes per approved bug, set by how much the issue is worth to the customer. Rates also depend on each project's complexity, and higher-rated testers are paid more.

uTest also pays for approved test cases and usability surveys, and some testers are paid for other tasks. Testers are paid twice a month, on the fifteenth and on the last day of the month. The help page asks you to allow up to twenty-four hours for a payment to process. A tester picked as a favorite by a company gets 5% more on future issues for that company.

The uplift lasts as long as you remain that company's favorite, the page says. For more invitations, the help page suggests staying active, keeping your profile current and checking projects daily. By our count, that 5% adds $5 for every hundred dollars paid on that company's issues. Declining a cycle you will not do is better than accepting it and staying idle, the help page adds.

The site asks testers to share information only through the platform or its official domains. Tax rules on tester payments vary from place to place. Next, a skill for people who like social media, marketing and content.

5. Social media and marketing work for clients

Number five: social media and marketing work for clients, found through one freelance platform. How many jobs can a free account apply to? The free plan allows one application a day to client jobs on Twine. The page lists marketing, social and content creation among its freelancer job areas.

The Pro plan costs $18 and ninety-nine cents a month and allows fifty applications a month. It also features you above free accounts in searches and opens Pro-only jobs. By our count, one free application a day comes to about thirty a month, against fifty on Pro. And twelve months of the Pro plan add up to $227 and eighty-eight cents.

The portfolio takes about two minutes to set up, or you can upload a resume instead. It lists your skills, experience, education and testimonials in one place. Twine also gives you a one-page website to share as a link in your bio. You can send that page straight to clients to show your skills.

The Twine vault lets you start work only after the client has paid. You request advance payment into the vault, and Twine holds it until the job is done. The site's AI job agent can also search jobs across the web and rank the ones that fit you. On the free plan it runs three searches a week, and it never applies without you.

The page says you keep the clients you win. Clients can also hire you by the hour or by the day, and you bill them on Twine. Taxes, contracts and payment options differ where you live. Next, a skill where your own voice is the whole product.

4. Voice acting for indie projects

Number four: voice acting for indie projects, recorded at home and sent online. Do you need an agent, a degree or a studio to start? Casting Call Club's own guide says you need none of those to start voice acting. It says you need a quiet corner, a decent microphone and a lot of auditions.

Joining, auditioning and posting projects are all free, and a premium plan is optional. The page says nobody should ever ask you to pay to audition. Directors post projects with roles, and you record your lines at home for an audition. If they cast you, an email arrives and the credit shows on your profile.

Over the past year, the guide says, about 72% of people sending twenty or more auditions got cast. With fewer than five auditions, the share was about 6%. These are casting rates for all kinds of roles, not only paid ones. The guide itself calls getting cast mostly a numbers game.

By our count, 72% is roughly twelve times the 6% for people with fewer than five auditions. Of everyone who did get cast, half landed a first role within their first four auditions, the guide adds. Fan dubs, student films and hobby animations cast newcomers all the time, it says. For a first booth, the guide suggests a closet full of clothes, because soft things soak up echo.

It says a budget microphone that plugs into a computer is fine to start. Paid roles get far more auditions, so the guide says they are harder to land. Credits and a short demo, about a minute long, help change that. Projects that collect voices to train AI are not allowed on the site, the page says.

Rules for paid voice work and taxes differ where you live. Halfway point: website tests, app tests, social media work and voice acting are done. Still ahead: photos, writing, and logo design, the skill this list saves for last. Next comes a skill you may already practice with a phone camera.

And one question matters most there: who owns each photo after you upload it?

3. Selling licenses to your photos on Adobe Stock

Number three: selling licenses to your photos on Adobe Stock, as a contributor. So who owns a photo once it is uploaded? Contributors keep ownership and grant Adobe the right to license the photos to customers, the help page says. The overview also says contributor content feeds the company's generative AI training and reference systems.

The benefits page calls Adobe Stock non-exclusive, so you can sell the same content elsewhere too. Its contributors range from amateurs to advanced creatives, the overview adds. There are no upfront costs or subscription fees, the page says. You create a free account, verify your contact details and complete tax information before uploading.

A moderation team checks each upload for technical quality, legal compliance and commercial suitability. Accurate titles and keywords help photos stand out in search, the help page adds. For photos, the royalty rate is 33% of the net price of each license, the page says. Actual royalties also depend on the license type and the contributor's tier, the help page adds.

In the page's example, a plan costs $29 and ninety-nine cents a month for ten photo licenses. That works out to about ninety-nine cents per licensed photo, the page shows. By our count, at that example rate, it takes twenty-six photo licenses to reach the $25 payout minimum. Twenty-five licenses at ninety-nine cents come to $24 and seventy-five cents, just short of it.

Your first payout needs that $25 balance and at least forty-five days since your first sale. After you request a payout, funds typically arrive in your payment account within seven to ten business days. Contributors control their own schedule, the page says, and can contribute casually. Without a valid tax form on file, the page says up to 30% can be withheld automatically.

Tax rules and payment options differ where you live. In one breath: website tests, app tests, social media, voice acting and now photos are covered. Two skills are left: writing articles, and then design, the last one. Next comes writing, where the quiz to join has five questions.

And the writer sets the price of every article.

2. Writing articles about topics you know

Number two: writing articles about topics you know, and selling them on Constant Content. How much of each sale does the writer keep? The writer gets 55% of each sale, and the site keeps 45%, its help article says. That fee pays for advertising, promotion and editing, among other costs, the same article explains.

By our count, on a hundred-dollar sale, the writer's 55% comes to $55. And on a two-hundred-dollar sale, it comes to $110. The writers page says creating a profile takes about five minutes, with some personal details and a grammar quiz. The quiz has five questions, and you need four of them right, an 80% pass rate.

Then you write a sample article on a random topic, and you can ask for a different topic. The site normally replies within five working days, its help article says. Once accepted, you write about things you know and love, and an editorial team reviews each article. The page says every approved article is put up for sale in the marketplace.

You set your own prices, and the page says niche articles generally command a higher price. Blog posts, product descriptions, marketing copy and press releases are among the types listed. 85% of listed articles sell each year, the writers page says. That is a site-wide figure, not a forecast for any one writer.

Payments for sold articles go out on the first or the fifteenth of the month. The page also says editors may invite writers whose skills match a brand to write for that brand. Local rules on selling articles and on taxes differ from place to place. Before number one, a guess: how much has one design site paid its designers so far?

Keep your number in mind, because the page states it to the dollar.

1. Designing logos and graphics for clients' contests on DesignCrowd

Number one: designing logos and graphics for clients' contests on DesignCrowd. Was your guess anywhere close to the number on its page? The jobs page says $79,679,471 were paid to graphic designers. That is a total across all its designers over the years, not what any one person gets.

Signing up as a designer is free, the help page says, and creating the account takes minutes. Then you browse design jobs that match your skills and submit actual designs to the client. Clients review the designs, give feedback, ask for revisions and then pick a favorite. You can submit more than one design to a brief, ideally with different ideas each time.

DesignCrowd keeps 15% of all budget, place and participation payments from customers. Prizes and participation payments are paid out through an online payout account, the help page says. A place payment, like second place, has a minimum of $100, the help page says. After a client approves the handover, an email confirms the exact amount you will receive.

A second-place design moves its files and copyright to the client, though the designer may reject that payment. A curation team reviews all designs from new designers, the jobs page adds. By our count, the minimum place payment of $100 leaves eighty-five after the 15%. Designers who submit but do not win can get a participation payment, typically ten or $20.

It is paid only when the design meets the site's quality standards, once per designer per project. A contest may have only a few participation payments, or none at all, the page notes. Committed projects promise that a winner will be chosen, and the page says they attract more designers. Design rules, taxes and payment options differ where you live.

So, seven skills: website tests with Userlytics, app tests with uTest, and social media work with Twine. Then voice with Casting Call Club, photos with Adobe Stock, writing with Constant Content and design with DesignCrowd. Each platform's rules and payment options differ where you live. So the first step is its own help page, to see what it asks for in your area.

Which skill would you try first? Tell us the number in the comments. Results vary, and this is information only, not financial advice. This is Wealth Filings.

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