Hairdressing and Beauty Therapists

Medical Professionals

Care and Support Staff

Construction and Trades

Theatre Staff

Performers and Performance Artists

Athletes and Fitness Instructors

Security Guards

Landscapers and Horticulturalists

Police and Support Staff

Hairdressing and Beauty Therapists

A hands-on job, people will always need to have their hair cut and seek out the latest styles. It’s hard to cut your own hair well, and many people enjoy the experience of going to the salon.

To become a hairdresser, you’ll need to take some qualifications. Many can be done as an apprenticeship, so you earn while you learn on the job. The minimum you’ll need is an NVQ Level 2.

When you’re qualified, there are further things you can specialise in to earn more money. You might specialise in hair extensions, for example, or hair dying techniques, for example.

Beauty specialists are in the same boat as hairdressers: their hands-on job can’t be replaced by a computer. People will always want to look their best! Again, the minimum qualification is usually a Beauty Therapist Level 2 Apprenticeship to get started, and then you can specialise in things like fillers, semi permanent makeup, or more advanced treatments to earn more.

Medical Professionals

Whether it is a nurse, doctor, surgeon, or clinical support staff considering locums tenens, the medical field is one of the few that will be integrating AI into various practices but cannot fully replace human jobs. AI can aid in the medical field with advanced technology for remote consultations or to map the body with scans, but the day-to-day healthcare and specialist areas such as surgery will always need staff.

How long it takes to qualify depends on what you want to do. Support staff may need GCSEs, right up to specialised surgeons who take over ten years of study to achieve their independent practice.

It helps to be good with people but being comfortable around bodily functions is probably the most important skill to get started!

Care and Support Staff

Another hands-on job, care staff will always be needed. Community carers who visit people in their homes to help with daily tasks are one example. Or care home staff or managerial positions, as well as live-in staff for residential homes to support those with physical and learning disabilities to live an independent life.

You don’t need qualifications to start out as care staff in many cases. Lots of roles will train you on the job. It helps to have first aid and health and safety certificates, to show you’re responsible and know what to do to work safely.

Some more specialised jobs will require more work experience with qualifications, such as live-in support staff. These can often be gained over a few years while you work.

Construction and Trades

Builders, plumbers, electricians, and carpenters will always be needed. AI might be helping in some area of construction but it will never fully replace people. Trades like plumbers and electricians will always be in demand, and as these areas are crying out for more people, now is a good time to consider switching careers.

You can learn on the job with apprenticeships with many roles. This is the best way to take practical skills and improve them while you train. When you’re qualified, you can then either be employed by a company or set up as a self employed tradesperson. Being self employed gives you more flexibility over when you work, the jobs you take, and what you charge. Employed roles are regular pay and you don’t have to find the work.

Theatre Staff

Here’s one that many people won’t think of. But theatres will carry on even as AI starts to take over the creative industries. More people are craving live performance, and there could be a boom in theatre attendance in coming years.

Theatre staff include front of house, such as ushers, creative roles like artistic director, and technical roles like lighting, sound, and costume.

Theatre is a tricky world to break into, and you may have to start off by volunteering with a local amateur dramatics group to get some experience. You can also study technical courses at college and university level, which opens doors for you in building networks to find work.

Performers and Performance Artists

This is a tricky one. AI is definitely encroaching on creative spaces – just look at Midjourney and DALI for the impact AI has had on digital art. However, live performance will always be something humans desire.

Musicians performing live will always beat a track made by a computer. Actors on stage (and on screen, if AI doesn’t take over totally) will always bring a more emotional performance than a computer-generated character. Artists who work across mediums will always have a space in creative places and on people’s walls at home.

You don’t need any qualifications to follow a creative endeavour. You might even want to learn more about AI to see how it can ethically be used in your art!

Athletes and Personal Trainers

There’s no way that competitions in how far the human body can be pushed will be replaced by AI! If you have a natural skill for a sport, keep going. Training to become an athlete requires total dedication and it is not for the faint of heart. But it can be highly rewarding (and when you reach the big time, sponsorships can bring in nice extra income).

If you’re not interested in becoming a competitive athlete but love health and fitness, consider personal training. While there are many ways people can get fit now such as apps and YouTube classes, some still need in-person training. This is true particularly for those new to getting fit and those specialising in improving in a sport like powerlifting or crossfit.

Security Guards

Yes, CCTV is everywhere now. Facial recognition software makes it easier to track suspects through crowds. But in-person security will always be an AI-proof job. At least in our lifetime – it’s going to be a while before robot sentinels become commonplace.

Guarding property is important for investors and for businesses. On-the-ground security staff can respond in real time to an incident rather than only reviewing CCTV after the fact. It’s not just about preventing crime, either: security staff can spot potential problems like fire hazards (or actual fire) for an immediate response that protects assets.

Landscapers and Horticulturalists

Whether you want to be a local gardener helping people with their lawns, or you want to design and maintain the greenery in public spaces, landscaping will always be required.

It’s another one of those hands-on jobs that could, in theory, be assisted with AI. But it’s an AI-proof job in real terms, as while jobs might be helped with robotic machinery to cut time or work in risky areas safely, there will always be a need for people to tackle the majority of the work.

If you’ve got a green thumb, becoming a horticultural specialist could also be your next career move. As global food supply chains change to tackle climate differences and population demand, there is also space for new jobs in advanced horticultural techniques like hydroponics.

Police and Support Staff

While some police work is computer based and will benefit from AI tools to be more efficient, it is still an AI-proof job. Unfortunately, crime will always happen. So, people will always need police officers. And police officers will always need support staff to help build a case, interview suspects and witnesses, and provide victim support.

You can become a police cadet during the ages 13 to 18, but after that will need some qualifications such as GCSEs or a Level 3 qualification. To be a police officer, you need to pass a fitness test, medical checks, and background security checks.

To become civil support staff, you will need a background check and some school qualifications. You may also be able to train on the job for more specialised work.

Some people start out as support staff by offering their services as an Appropriate Adult, too. This is a volunteer that sits in with interviews with children or vulnerable people to ensure due process is followed and that they have an advocate in the room. You don’t need a legal qualification to do this but you will need compassion and be able to support people who may have committed a crime through the interview process without judgement.

Can you think of more AI-proof jobs for the future? Comment below!

The post AI-Proof Jobs to Secure Your Financial Future appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Online freelance writing is a great way to earn additional or full-time income, and you don’t even need to leave your home to do it.

There are countless opportunities out there, you can work as little or as much as you want and you can make in excess of £100,000 a year if you develop a good marketing strategy and work hard. The first few years will be tough as you find your feet, but the flexibility of online freelance writing and the higher fees you can charge when you’re established make the work worthwhile.

Here’s everything you need to know to make money online freelance writing.

• What is Freelance Writing?
• What Are Freelancing Platforms?
• What Do You Need to Get Started?
• What Will It Cost Me?
• What Can I Earn?
• Portfolio
• Finding Jobs
• Staying Employed
• Long-Term Clients and Long Term Success
• Alternative Income Streams

What is Freelance Writing?

Simply put, a freelance writer is someone who writes for money but isn’t tied to a single organisation. A freelance writer offers their services to anyone who needs some writing done, and will often work for several companies at a time.

It’s often said that freelancers are their own boss and that no one dictates what they do. This is true, to an extent. But freelancers actually have many different bosses. And they need to meet deadlines and to work to specifications just like any other employee.

Online freelance writing jobs come in a variety of forms. The most common job is content writing. There are are over a billion websites out there and they all need content. A freelance writer is often the one tasked with creating that content.

Other jobs include:

• Novel Writing: Ghost-writing personal memoirs, fiction/non-fiction for publishers.
• Script Writing: Everything from TV pilots and film scripts, to commercials and animations.
• Marketing (also called copywriting): Press releases, brand stories, slogans.
• Academic Writing: Academic non-fiction, peer reviewed study write-ups, essays.
• Technical Writing: Instruction manuals, how-to guides.
• Legal Writing: Terms and Conditions, privacy policies, long-form contract writing.
• Editing/Proofreading: Correcting all of the above.
• Critiquing: Providing advice on personal projects (novels, short stories).
• Consulting: Providing guidance on publishing, writing, SEO and more.

What Are Freelancing Platforms?

When it comes to the concept of online freelance writing, it usually revolves around something known as a “freelancing platform”. This is a service that acts as a bridge between the client and the freelancer. These sites include those like Upwork, Guru and Freelancer, but not all should be judged equally as many are hard work for little reward (and some are downright scams).

You can use a freelancing platform to showcase your abilities like you would on a CV, and you can also use them to find jobs.

Clients post job availabilities, writers apply to these, and the clients interview them. All of this is done through the platform, including the interview itself. And when the writer is hired, the platform continues to act as an intermediary.

If the freelancer and client agree a fee of $100, then the client must pay that $100 upfront. The platform will then hold that money in an escrow account, sitting on it until the job is finished. Upon release, the platform takes a small percentage as their fee and the writer gets the rest.

Watch out for red flags, which include: sites that ask you to write articles in the hope of selling them (ie they only pay you if it sells); sites that require a monthly fee; platforms which have negative reviews on sites such as Glassdoor; very low fees for writers (such as those offering just a couple of dollars for a hundred words).

What Do You Need to Get Started?

There is very little you need to get started as an online writer (apart from talent!). Basically you need:

• Computer: You don’t need anything flash. If it connects to the internet, it’s good enough.
• Word Processor: Clients will usually expect to receive work in .doc or .docx form. However, most word processors can convert, so you don’t need MS Word. There are free alternatives out there, like Google Docs. If you’re sharing a Google Doc with a client, always paste your work into a new document when you send it – that way, the client can’t see your edits and writing process while you work.
• Planner: When the jobs roll in, it’s easy to lose track. So, make sure you stay organised. A wall planner and a paper planner are both useful – carry one with you and keep the wall planner above your workspace at home to quickly refer to for deadlines.
• Bank Account/PayPal: You will need a bank account for clients to pay you, or sometimes a PayPal account to receive payments. Stripe is a useful payment platform if you want to write for international clients, as it gives you an IBAN number to take (for example) US payments as if it’s a US bank, which helps keep transfer and conversion fees down.
• Zoom: Many clients will want to connect with you via Zoom to talk through projects.

You’re also going to need to sign up to online freelance writing job platforms like UpWork. This will take a bit of time, especially as you create your sample articles or upload previous work to show clients your portfolio, so make sure you leave plenty of time for this as it will be what makes a client choose you over someone else.

What Will It Cost Me?

Online freelance writing job platforms like UpWork will take a percentage fee. This might be the same percentage for whatever you’re paid (5% whether you’re paid £5 or £5000) or it can vary by price brackets so the more you earn, the less you give the platform overall.

These platforms aren’t the only way to find work, either. You could invest some money in placing strategic advertisements in trade magazines if you specialise in copywriting for a particular industry, for example. You could also benefit from attending local Chamber of Commerce business networking meetings (or similar – most towns and cities have several business-to-business events you can attend to meet business owners) so set aside some money for these, too.

What Can I Earn?

When you’re starting out, you will find your rates start around £25-30 an hour. With even six months’ experience, you can rapidly increase your rates. The most senior freelance copywriters earn up to £2,000 a day. It is easier to get to these kinds of rates if you already have specialist knowledge in a particular industry, and you target specific niche clients in this area. Specialising is the quickest way to earn more, as people will value your experience and knowledge in the field.

Despite online freelance writing being remote and worked from anywhere in the world, you will have an advantage to increasing your daily rates if you can sometimes travel to meet a client. People who live in London, for example, can charge a higher rate (because London) and visit offices for in-person meetings, which helps clients feel like they’re getting more value from you. If you don’t usually travel to meet a client but one requires you to, make sure you have a stipulation in your contract that they will pay for travel and accommodation expenses on top of your daily rate.

When setting your rates, it’s really important to build in time around your quote. If you think writing a 500-word blog will take you three hours, assume it will take four. This is because, sometimes, you might only take a couple of hours and sometimes it will take you six – so it needs to average out to include the time it takes you over a number of projects rather than a specific one. Building in spare time into a rate quote also covers time you’re not writing – such as back and forths with the client about the project brief, which is easy to forget also counts as work.

Creating Your Freelance Writing Portfolio

Your online portfolio is your CV – it is what will make clients choose you over others, particularly if you’re using an online freelance writing job platform. Use articles, pamphlets, instruction guides or whatever else you’ve written for businesses to date (without including any confidential business information). If you have never written for businesses before, you can write sample articles ‘in the style of’ as examples of how you can change your tone and writing type for each different client.

However, strangely, you will also need to make sure your online portfolio is visual. Photos that represent your work (such as screenshots) can sometimes be required to create a visual portfolio that then leads a client to request your samples to read.

Your portfolio needs to be visual. You’ll be prompted to upload documents and writing samples, but no one pays attention to these. In fact, if a client wants to read a sample they will expect you to send them one during the interview.

Also, see our article on how to make money writing short stories here

Staying Employed

Freelancing will open a lot of doors. It will introduce you to publishers, publicists, web-masters and business owners. If you stay connected to all of these, using social media to keep them close, then a simple job could lead to something massive.

Work will dry up on occasion, but the good thing is that this rarely happens once you have an established profile. Until you get to that point, here’s what you can do to keep the work coming:

• Ask: If a client promised more work that they didn’t deliver on, ask them about it. If a client who gave you a lot of work in the past suddenly stops messaging you, email them. It’s best to give them a friendly nudge in the form of a catch-up message, following it up with a simple, “If you need anything done, you know where to find me”. You’d be surprised at how often this works.
• Focus on one site: It seems counterintuitive, but if you focus on one online freelance writing platform you’ll have more work. The effort you put into a single platform shows, and this is what prospective clients want to see.
• Keep applying: It doesn’t matter how many projects you have right now, you should always find time to send more proposals, apply for more jobs and sit through more interviews. You might be busy now, but soon you’ll meet those deadlines and collect your money, and then you’ll realise you have nothing else to do. Build time into your weekly schedule to do marketing outreach, both keeping in touch with previous clients and also finding new ones.
• Lower Your Rates: If you’re struggling to find work, reduce your rates slightly to get the ball rolling again. It’s better for work at a reduced rate than not to work at all. You can always kick that project to the curb when a better one comes along (just make sure you finish it first).

Long-Term Clients and Long-Term Success

Not only will a good client continue to provide, but they’ll introduce you to other clients and open many doors.

Whether you work on an online freelance writing platform like Upwork, or you do all of the legwork yourself, keep the following in mind:

1. Always go out of your way for a client you respect. Never take liberties and apologise profusely if you make a mistake.
2. Always be prepared to strike a deal. Offer cheaper rates for bulk jobs in the hope they will increase your workload.
3. If you haven’t heard anything for a few weeks, send a message to enquire if they have anything available. In a competitive marketplace, freelancers can be forgotten.
4. Give them advice. You’re the expert here, so if you notice an area of their site that could be improved or added to, tell them. They’ll appreciate it and you’ll get more work.

Alternative Income Streams

The work isn’t always going to be there. It’s important to keep trying, because it’ll get easier. But there are also other ways you can make money.

So, if you have the time but you don’t have the jobs, and if you’ve done all you can in terms of applying and being interviewed, you can try some of the following:

• Search “write for us”: More and more web-masters are turning to online freelance writing platforms to source content, but there are still sites that wait for the content to come to them. These sites typically pay well, and if you Google the phrase “Write for us”, you shouldn’t have an issue finding them.
• Websites/Blogs: If you don’t know anything about SEO now, take your downtime to learn all about it. It will add an extra string to your online writing bow, and help you produce content that delivers trackable results for clients when you get them.
• Flipping Sites: Flippa is basically eBay for websites. You can buy and sell all kinds of blogs, high-profile domains and established online businesses. You can buy poor-quality sites, rewrite the content, do some more and sell them on. It’s just like Homes Under The Hammer—if you have the capital and you can cut costs by doing the work yourself, you’ll turn a profit.
• Contribute: Contributors to sites like Huff Post do not get paid. However, they are allowed to write what they want (within reason) which gives them an opportunity to embed links in their articles. There are countless clients on online freelance writing platforms seeking freelancers who can get a single link on Huff Post. If you’re a contributor to this site, you can get anywhere from $200 to $500 for that link, and you only need to write a short article in order to post it. Forbes pays even more and works in much the same way.

The post Online Freelance Writing: Make £100+ An Hour Writing for a Living appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Did you know there’s support for the newly self-employed? Even at this difficult time, there are still many resources of financial and business support you can access.

If you’ve found yourself with a sudden drop (or total loss) in your earnings, being self-employed could be the way to go.

So, what help is available for the newly self-employed?

• Universal Credit
• Help to Save
• Access to Work
• Personal Independence Payment
• Business mentorship
• Prince of Wales Trust
• Startup funding
• Peer-to-peer lending and ‘angel investors’
• Crowdfunding
• Local authority funding
• Social enterprise funding
• Training grants
• Apprenticeship funding

There’s a lot to get through, so let’s get started!

Universal Credit and Self Employment

Universal Credit is a flexible benefit. You don’t have to be out of work to access it. When you’re self-employed, you’ll submit a monthly assessment of your income and expenses.

When your net profit is below a certain amount (depending on your circumstances), you’ll receive some or all your Universal Credit payment. The months you earn more, you’ll receive less or no Universal Credit.

This means you can continue to be a UC recipient until your business returns a solid income every month. Unlike Job Seeker’s Allowance, which stops as soon as you find work, UC is an ongoing safety net.

You will need to prove that you are ‘gainfully self employed’. This means that:

1. Your job is your only or main income
2. You have regular work
3. You can show business activity, such as client invoices

There is something called the Minimum Income Floor. This varies from person to person, and is based upon what someone on PAYE in a similar role to yours would earn at National Minimum Wage. If you earn over this amount, your Universal Credit is worked out based on what you’ve earned over this floor (so deductions are made from your earnings to the level of the MIF). If you don’t meet the MIF, your Universal Credit deductions are based on what the MIF would be. The MIF only applies if you are not in a start-up period (see below) or you are gainfully self employed. If you are not gainfully self employed (for example, you have a main PAYE job and a small self-employed job on the side), the MIF won’t apply.

If you’re just starting out, you have one year during the launch of your business to get Universal Credit support without a MIF applied. You don’t have to look for other work, though you will meet with your work coach every few months. Your Universal Credit is based on your monthly income – and losses (such as a month where your expenses outweigh your income) are rolled to the following month.

Universal Credit eligibility

There are some limits to accessing UC.

You must:

1. Have less than £16,000 in capital or assets
2. Not own a second property
3. Apply jointly with your partner if you live together.

This means if your partner earns above a certain amount, you won’t be eligible for Universal Credit. You don’t have to be married – if you live with your partner, their income is taken into account.

Universal Credit, Self Employment, and Disability

Self employed people who claim Universal Credit but have a disability or mental condition which affects their ability to work full-time will be able to apply for a Work Capability Assessment. You will be assessed to decide if your health impacts your self employment opportunities, and could be placed in one of two groups for extra financial support if it is deemed your health puts you at a disadvantage to finding work. You will either be in the Limited Capability to Work group or the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity group – the former has some additional financial support, the latter has more (how much depends on your circumstances).

If you are found to be in these groups, other exceptions may apply – such as removing the requirement to meet the Minimum Income Floor after a start-up period.

Help to Save

If you do qualify for Universal Credit, you can plan to open a Help to Save account, too.

Once you earn above £793.17 in one monthly assessment period, you can apply for the account. You don’t need to earn this income every month – just the once. That’s your household income, too – so the £793.17 can be the total earned between you and your partner in one month. You can both open a separate Help to Save account.

Help to Save is a useful savings account with a hefty government bonus. Save between £1 and £50 each month, and the government pays you a bonus worth 50% of the highest balance you’ve saved.

The account lasts for four years, and the bonus is paid to you in year 2 and year 4. The maximum bonus you can receive is £1,200 (£600 in both year 2 and year 4). After the fourth year, it automatically closes and you can’t open another one.

This extra money – and savings habit – is a great way to make sure you’re setting aside some money for your tax bills. Things like Payments on Account can take newly self-employed people by surprise, so an emergency buffer like this helps.

Read our in-depth Help to Save article to find out more.

Access to Work

A little-known resource, Access to Work helps people with disabilities get the right equipment or help to do their job well.

Employers can access the scheme to receive a portion of costs for special equipment. Self-employed people, however, can use the scheme to have most or all of the cost covered.

The grant covers things like desk equipment or speech-to-text software. It can also cover things like assisted travel to and from a workplace, or support worker services. You can also get help with work support such as ADHD counselling and work coaches, to help improve your productivity and find ways to cope in work environments.

Access to Work is not taxed and doesn’t have to be paid back.

How to apply

To be eligible, you must have a disability (a chronic physical or mental condition that affects your day-to-day tasks). You don’t have to receive disability benefits to qualify. You’ll also need to be in paid work (including self-employment) or due to start paid work imminently.

First, apply online for an Access to Work grant. There’s a slightly different scheme to apply for if you live in Northern Ireland.

You’ll be asked about your health condition, how it affects your ability to work, and what equipment you need to help.

Next, someone will come to assess your needs either at your office or home (if you’re working from home). If, for example, you need a special desk chair, they’ll measure you for this at the same time. You may not require an assessment to receive your grant – or your grant could be delayed until assessments are available again.

If your grant is accepted, you’ll receive the report along with information about the equipment and supplier. You can then order that equipment from the supplier – and either pay direct and be reimbursed, or have Access to Work pay the supplier direct.
If you work from home, you may have to pay a portion of the cost (usually around 7%) if the equipment could be used for personal use. For example, if you order a foot rest for your desk, but use your computer outside of work hours, this is personal use.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Personal Independence Payment is not means tested, which means you can apply whether you’re in work or not. It is designed to help people cope with the extra costs that come with having a disability. This might be hiring support workers, getting taxis if you can’t drive or walk with ease, or even things like getting a cleaner once a week so you can focus your energy on work-related activity instead.

You can spend your PIP on whatever you need to, in order to make your life a bit easier living and working with a disability.

There are two parts to PIP, and a lower and higher rate for each. You might qualify for one or both, at whichever rate an assessor deems suitable. The Daily Living component is £68.10 for the lower rate or £101.75 for the higher rate each week. The Mobility component is £29.60 lower rate or £71 higher. Qualifying for one component does not necessarily qualify you for the other.

Find out more and how to apply here.

Business Mentorship

Not strictly a funding opportunity or a benefit, but business mentorship programmes are a great place to start when you set up your business.

Your local Job Centre and your Citizens Advice Bureau will have plenty of advice about accessing local business mentorship schemes.

Getting a local business mentor means you’ll have access to important networking opportunities. They’ll also know where you may be able to access grants and funding on a local level, too.

Some local authorities run a business mentorship programme with lots of free workshops to educate new business owners on everything from marketing to managing taxes. You may also be able to access free (or very cheap) co-working office space, equipment, or storage units for inventory.

Prince of Wales Trust

The Prince of Wales Trust offers business mentorship and funding support to entrepreneurs aged 18 to 30, inclusive – so if you’re already 30 you can apply.

The Trust has an excellent reputation for helping young people launch their careers. Its team offers mentorship and support, from business planning through to funding applications and beyond. You can also access the Development Awards for some training grants, too.

Take a look around the website to see if they can help.

Startup Funding

If you can start your business without borrowing, that’s a great position to be in. However, most new business owners will need to borrow some capital to get their business off the ground.

Startup loans offer a low-cost way to fund your new business plans. You don’t need the same established business requirements of a typical business loan, either. For example, you don’t have to have several years’ accounts to be approved for a loan.

Shop around for your startup loan. Like any other loan, some deals are better than others. Borrow only what you need – not the maximum amount available. This helps keeps costs down in the long-term without impacting your short-term cash flow.

Try the Startup Loans Company or Funding Circle as a first stop.

Peer-to-peer Lending and ‘Angel Investors’

A so-called ‘angel investor’ is like a dragon from the Dragons’ Den. They’ll fund part of your business venture in return for a percentage of the profits. You’ll often receive business mentorship as part of the deal, too.

There are lots of angel investor platforms available. Try to meet with (or, these days, video-call) potential investors before signing anything. Always read the small print and make sure you speak to several possible investors before choosing your partner.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending is a bit more anonymous. You don’t get the business mentorship but you can access a larger fund.

Investors pay into a P2P fund in return for a percentage on their money. The P2P platform takes a percentage, too. Think of it like a loan – but without the need to satisfy high lending requirements of a high street bank.

Crowdfunding

We’ve all seen the success of Kickstarter and Crowdfunder. But how do they work?

You create an online pitch for anyone to see. This includes details about the products you want to develop, what it does, and what the crowdfunded money pays for. You can entice investors by giving them something in return for their cash. For example, they can buy the product early and at a reduced price, or you can offer them a listing on a sponsors page – anything you think will entice investors.

You have to set a target. If you fail to reach the funding target, you won’t get any of the money.

If you do reach your funding target, on the other hand, you will get your money. However, it doesn’t stop there. You’ll be held accountable for the cash and will have to prove you’ve done what you said you’d do with the cash.

Local Authority Funding

Check your local council’s business pages to see what assistance it offers. You might be surprised!

Many local authorities offer funding or mentorship programmes for new business owners. These schemes are often more prevalent in deprived areas, to encourage new companies to set up in that region.

Regionally, Wales and Scotland tend to have more local funding options for new businesses than England and Northern Ireland.

The funding available could be anything from a one-off grant to ongoing business support in the form of a rent-free office or shop space. Many grants need to be matched – so if you need £1,000, you’ll need to put £500 up yourself and ask for a further £500 in the grant.

In a post-lockdown world, you may also find new grants and schemes popping up as local authorities try to stimulate the economy and reduce regional unemployment. So, if you have no luck right now, keep an eye on it!

Social Enterprise Funding

If you want your new business to be a social enterprise, this opens you up to many more funding opportunities.

A social enterprise puts surplus profits back into the business to aid the community. You can still earn a profit and wage, but your overall work needs to have a social or environmental mission that benefits your local community and surrounding areas.

Running a business like this is similar to any other business model. However, instead of sharing profits in the form of dividends to shareholders, you put that money back into your business efforts to maximise your impact on the community.

Social enterprises qualify for all sorts of grants, including those offered by the National Lottery Community Fund.

Loans are available as a funding option, often with a percentage grant. This means you won’t have to pay back everything that’s borrowed, only the loan element. For example, the First Steps Enterprise Fund offers loans up to £30,000 – with 90% of that as a loan and 10% a grant.

Try The Grants Hub to find social enterprise grants and loans for your business type.

Training Grants

If you need to achieve a qualification before you can open your business, you may receive training funding to help.

For example, people on Universal Credit may apply to have some or all fees paid for, if they enrol on a short professional development course. The course needs to be an essential item – for example, your Gas Safe certification if you want to start a boiler engineer business. It could also include things like health and safety training for mobile beauty therapists, licence courses for security staff, or a PTTLS adult teaching qualification for tutors and workshop leaders.

The National Careers Service has some funding opportunities for courses, too.

If you’re on a low income, it’s also worth looking at your local adult education centres and courses. They’ll often offer free or discounted places to people on benefits or who can prove a low income.

Look at charities centred around your industry of choice, too. Screenskills, for example, offers bursaries and training opportunities for all kinds of people wanting to work behind the scenes in television and film.

Apprenticeship Funding

Do you want to set up a business with staff? If you’re not planning to go it solo as a freelancer or contractor, staffing costs will make up a huge overhead as you set up your company.

Apprenticeships offer a way to staff your company while training the new generation. New businesses have to fund 5% of apprenticeship costs, with the rest covered by a Government scheme.

You’ll need to follow the rules about working hours, and time off for study and exams, and assist with mentoring your apprentice.

Your apprentices could become full-time staff once they pass their course a few years down the line, too!

More Business Ideas and Tips

Feeling inspired now you know you’ve got lots of ways to fund your business idea? Check out these other business and freelance tips, too!

The post Benefits and funding for the newly self-employed appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Going it alone as a freelancer is a brilliant feeling… until the work seems to dry up or get repetitive. Staying motivated as a freelancer is essential for your business success – but it can take a bit of tough love and discipline to keep going!

Use these strategies to stay motivated and keep pushing your business forward, even when you’re in a bit of a slump. You’ll feel productive even on days without client work AND you’ll get out of the doldrums, too!

• Join a Virtual Networking Group
• Diarise Your Day
• Set Goals
• Change Your Workspace
• Exercise Daily
• Get Dressed
• Make an Appointment Every Day
• Take Regular Breaks
• Use Apps to Improve Your Focus
• Arrange Social Engagements
• More Freelance Tips

Join a Virtual Networking Group

One of the most effective ways to find work is through your network. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been freelancing for years or you’re just starting out! Finding an industry group to join will make a difference to your work.

Not only will you earn referrals and hear of job opportunities through your group, but you’ll benefit from ‘shop talk’ with a wide range of people. Freelancers aren’t as competitive with each other as you may initially believe. In fact, they’re a supportive group of people who champion others who’ve taken the freelance leap!

Look for Slack communities, Facebook groups, or LinkedIn groups to start with. Look at your local Chamber of Commerce to find out what they’re doing in terms of virtual meetings. They’re a great way to meet other local business people AND promote your work without being too salesy.

Some groups run webinars, others like a Zoom meeting. Some are continuous chat channels like Slack, that you can dip in and out of depending on how much time you’ve got. Keep regular contact and answer questions as well as asking them. Giving back to the community makes others more receptive to helping you out, too.

Diarise Your Day

Even if your books are bare and there’s no work coming in, spend time planning your day or week in a diary. Stick to your appointments!

Block out times for research, cold pitching, or training webinars. Use the time you’ve got spare to learn more about your industry or how to run your business. These skills come in handy later on, so it all counts as business-related activity even if you feel it’s not earning you money right this moment.

When you’ve got a lot of clients on your plate and you’re juggling tasks, a diary plan helps to break your workload into manageable chunks. Set out blocks of time – say every 60 minutes – and write a schedule for your work. Include time for social media and emails, too! Often, block-checking emails then ignoring them for an hour or two is a great way to improve focus and productivity.

Set Goals

As part of your diary planning, or a larger project, make a list of goals. These could be short-term business goals for the week or month, or longer goals such as what you want to achieve by the end of your first year freelancing.

Having something to focus on and work towards keeps you focused on work and reminds you why you went freelance in the first place. When work is slow, these goals help you decide what you need to do next to get where you want to be – such as taking extra training courses or increasing the number of cold pitches you do each week.

Change Your Workspace

Working as a freelancer at home means you can go a little la-la from staring at the same four walls.

If you’re stuck in a rut, change your workspace. This could mean any number of things: rearrange the furniture in your home office, or move from the sofa to the kitchen table. Perhaps you can take your laptop to the local park for an afternoon of work in the sunshine, or maybe you can visit a friend to work together at their place.

Regular freelancers who don’t have a home office, or like the differentiation of work/home space, find co-working spaces revive their motivation. You get the benefits of going to an office, but for your own business. Look for local workspaces in your area – you can often rent a hotdesk space by the day or week, and some offer free trials to get you started.

And remember one of the best, free, places to work: your local library. Many now have cafes too, and lots of useful resources – even things like business networking events sometimes – so make sure you check out your local library. It’s warm and dry, friendly, quiet, and FREE. Sounds perfect to us!

Exercise Daily

There’ll be days when you feel like you’re too busy to get some exercise, and other days when your motivation for doing anything except watch Netflix is nil. Don’t let it get to you!

Take time for at least 15 minutes of exercise – even on the days you don’t feel like it. Not only does it get you away from your desk/bed/sofa, but exercise also stimulates mental ability and can help you find inspiration. It also staves off depression – and is something you can do with a friend, to boost your social interactions, too.

Try the NHS quick workouts, pop to the gym to lift some weights, or get out for a brisk walk around the block. Alternatively, start your day with a yoga routine to feel invigorated, or arrange to meet a friend for some tennis or a kickabout in the evening after work.

Exercise doesn’t have to cost you a penny, but it’s essential for keeping you motivated as a freelancer. It helps you find mental clarity, boosts your health so you’re not at risk of taking (unpaid) sick days, and helps relieve strains from poor posture sat at a desk all day.

Get Dressed

Your pyjamas might be the comfiest clothes you own – but it’s not going to put you in a work state of mind!

Every day, get up and get dressed. Even if you’re changing from ‘sleeping PJs’ into what’s officially known as ‘lounge wear’, that act of getting changed into something different helps change your mindset into work mode.

Some people find the simple act of putting shoes on is all it takes to give them confidence for that all-important client call! It can help you feel like you’re a professional at the office (which you are, just at home), and resets your thinking into a business-like attitude.

At the end of the working day, change back into your PJs! This helps signify the end of your work time and start of your wind down evening time.

Make an Appointment Every Day

Treat your working week as if you’re going to the office. Even if you’re a part-time freelancer, use your working days as efficiently as possible.

Avoid losing focus by making sure each work day has at least one appointment in it. This might be calling a potential new client, catching up with an existing one, or attending a training webinar. Just pick something that forces you to get your business head on!

It’s also a good way of making sure you’re moving towards the goals you set. An appointment doesn’t have to be with a client or potential customer. It can be an appointment with yourself! Promise yourself you’ll spend one hour reading about a topic, or that you’ll spend two hours developing your business plan. It puts your business at the forefront of your daily routine – and helps you stay motivated as a freelancer.

Take Regular Breaks

On the flip side, don’t stuff your day with back-to-back calls if you can avoid it! The likelihood is, you chose freelancing to get away from the 9-5 grind and find a flexible way of working that suits you.

The trouble with that – plus the knowledge that you’re responsible for every penny that goes into (or out of) your pocket – it it’s easy to get carried away. You’ll realise you’ve been sat in the same position for hours on end, trying to finish your latest project or sending off ‘just one more pitch’.

Set a timer on your phone to go off every hour. Get up, stretch, make a cup of tea. Spend at least five minutes away from screens in each hour and revive yourself! Take a lunch break, too. Going full force all day long is the guaranteed route to burnout – and no freelancer stayed motivated when that happens!

Use Apps to Improve Your Focus

Sometimes, you can do everything right and yet still find it hard to stay motivated as a freelancer. The world in 2020 is a particularly big challenge: there are many, MANY distractions going on around us and it’s easy to get sucked into a mental wormhole about it all.

If you struggle to stay focused on your work during the day, consider using apps to help. For example, if you know that social media drains your time AND energy, use a blocking app on your computer. Apps like AppBlock let you set the times you are – and aren’t – allowed to access other apps on your phone or desktop.

It means that, even if you’re tempted to check Facebook instead of write that proposal, you physically can’t! You can go one step further with similar apps for things like writing, too: Cold Turkey Writer blocks EVERYTHING until you reach a set goal!

Many freelancers struggle with their focus overall. Staying motivated as a freelancer involves an ability to cut out the distractions – which are often caused by a busy mind and that leads to a lack of sleep! Try apps like Flipd or Calm to help you learn techniques for coping with a busy head. Meditation strategies and even the sound of a crackling fire to lull you to sleep at night can all help you manage your mental focus.

Arrange Social Engagements

Don’t forget to have a life, too! Staying motivated as a freelancer is nigh on impossible if you’re all work and no play. It’s so easy to keep cancelling plans because you want to work on your next pitch, or you’ve got client work you really want to get finished (even if the deadline isn’t until later in the week).

Taking time for yourself to have social interaction is vital to maintaining your motivation during your working day. Set time aside to spend time with your family, and make sure you have at least one full day off every week to do things with your friends, family, or even just some ‘me-time’ that’s away from your desk.

Social interaction is important for your mental health and maintaining your relationships. However, it can also boost your enthusiasm for your freelance work. Taking time away from your computer to do something entirely different gives your brain time to percolate ideas in the background. You’ll return to work revived! Going out to do things, like taking a walk with your family or watching a film with friends, also brings inspiration from other places that you can introduce to your work.

The post 10 Ways to Stay Motivated as a Freelancer appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Not being able to find work is one of the most daunting parts of being a self-employed freelancer. Luckily, though, there is a tonne of work out there for those who are bold enough to strike out on their own. Often, freelancing can feel more stable than a traditional career path – especially if you have multiple income streams that you can rely on, rather than just one. Also luckily, this is true of most industries that hire freelancers. 

So, where do you look? In this article, we’ll introduce you to a few different routes that you can use to find clients. Let us know if you’ve found work in a way that we’ve missed… 

• Job Boards 
• Recruiters 
• Newsletters 
• Mine Your Network 
• Freelance Communities  
• Your Website and Online Portfolio 
• At Conferences 
• Social Media 

Job boards

Job boards – the Reed, Monster, Indeeds of the world – are ten a penny, and you might need to sift through a lot of irrelevant postings before you find work that’s appropriate to you. They can still be useful, though. Just make sure your email alerts are filtered so you’re only seeing the jobs you might want. Freelance journalists should keep an eye on Cision, where hundreds of roles are advertised. For the wider media, Mediargh and The Media Mentor are good options. 

There are freelance specific job boards, too. Check out The Dots and Underpinned for great roles across numerous creative freelance areas. 

Recruiters 

You might not think you’ll find clients for your freelance work through recruiters, but hear us out!  If you’re looking for longer term gigs (maternity covers, for example, or one-off projects that might take a few months to complete) this can be a great option.

Recruiters can really help you out when it comes to things like pay and contracts. Best of all, they’ll find the opportunities so you don’t always have to. Taking on contracts can be a great option if you want a reliable income stream for a few months. Look for recruiters that specialise in temporary contracts, and be clear about the kind of work you do (and don’t) want to do. 

Newsletters 

Freelance journalists across the land have been singing the praises of Freelance Writing Jobs, the weekly newsletter by writer Sian Meades-Williams, for a while. Landing in inboxes every Thursday, FWJ lists all the best (paying) opportunities of the week – from in-house poets to editors laying out pitching guidelines for their glossies. Sign up if you’re a writer of any kind. Look for similar initiatives within your own industry if you’re not. 

Journalists should also check out journalist Anna Codrea-Rado’s The Professional Freelancer, a newsletter with a wealth of invaluable advice and relevant musings. 

Mine your network

This is the time to make sure everyone you have contact with know that you’re self-employed and open for business. This includes the random connections on your LinkedIn profile, and extended family members. Spread the message widely, and don’t be afraid to reach out to old colleagues or acquaintances who might be able to help. Meeting people for coffees to update them on your work is a great way to stay in touch. You never know, that person from your old job could introduce you to a potential new client or spark the best idea you’ve had all year… 

Freelance communities  

As the freelance workforce grows, more and more groups are popping up to support both the newly self-employed and those with existing experience. Across the creative industries, the culture of community is rife. Everything from advice on finding clients to financial management (and even just the company of others in a similar position) is being freely offered.

Look for Slack communities within your industry, and check out organisations like the Society of Professional Journalists, Women in SEO Tech, and Freelance Heroes. This is, of course, the tip of the iceberg. 

Your website and online portfolio

You’ll probably have heard a million times that you need to display your best work online via your website and online portfolios. But it doesn’t make it any less true! If you display your work clearly and your story is engaging, and if you’ve got details of how you can be contacted displayed prominently, you’re on your way to having clients coming to you rather than the other way round. If you need to, invest in a graphic designer to get your website looking as professional as possible. You won’t regret it! 

When it comes to online portfolios, you know better than us about the ones that are best suited to your specific industry. Do your research, and make sure you’ve got profiles and work displayed on the general freelance portfolio sites (Behance, The Dots, Underpinned) as well as the ones that are more specific to your sector. 

Find clients at conferences

Conferences can be great places to meet people within your industry. That can include potential new clients as well as those in a similar position to yourself. Even virtual events, which have largely replaced face to face ones in 2020, can be a great springboard for conversations. It’s time to get involved…

Social media 

Finally, we couldn’t end this piece without giving a shout-out to the behemoth of freelance opportunity that is Twitter. In journalism circles, editors with a pitching budget often head straight to the timeline to shout about the opportunities they have, what they’re looking for, and how you can contact them. Is that the same in your industry? Maybe – and you won’t know unless you’re paying attention. Believe us, the time you spend scouting for new clients on Twitter is rarely wasted! 

We hope this has given you some inspiration on where to find clients for your upcoming freelance projects. If you’ve got an idea that we haven’t talked about, we’d love for you to share it. Let us know over on the forums! 

Now read:

Need more help setting up your freelance business? Read these articles next!

• Best Free Websites for a Freelance Portfolio
• How to Set Up a Website for Your Freelance Business
• 5 Common Objections Freelancers Hear (and How to Overcome Them)
• 10 Ways to Stay Motivated as a Freelancer

The post The Best Places for Freelancers to Find Clients appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

If you’re the sort of person who likes to take some reading material into the bathroom with you, then why not try to make money on the toilet instead?

Here are 10 things you can try:

1. Do an online survey – or three
2. Check Free Postcode Lottery for a chance to win money every day
3. Slogan competitions
4. Save money by switching your gas and electricity
5. Earn while you surf
6. Save money by switching your car insurance
7. Save money by your home insurance
8. Come up with a killer business idea
9. Come up with a new TV game show format
10. Sell your toilet roll tubes

Do an online survey – or three

Online surveys are a quick and easy way to make money on the toilet. They can be quick or long, depending on which one you do.

We like Inbox Pounds. It’s easy to sign up simple to use wherever you are. Including the bathroom.

In fact they give you £1 just for signing up, so you’ll be making money even If it’s a very quick visit.

Take a look at our article on how to make money with online surveys to see even more survey sites that will can be used to make money on the toilet!

Check the Postcode Lottery for a chance to win money every day

Now this really is a quick and easy one.

Check the Free Postcode Lottery for an opportunity to win money every day. On some days they have over two thousand pounds to give away if it’s been a roll-over.

All you need to do is sign up with your email address and postcode. Then you check the site each day to see if your postcode is the winning one. It’s that easy. Read our article about it here.

They also have other ways to win such as an Emoji Lottery and a Video Lottery. So if you happen to be someone who takes a little while on the toilet, then this may be worth a try.

Check it out and sign up for free here.

Come up with slogans for competitions

We love competitions at MoneyMagpie. In fact we run one every week in our newsletter (sign up here to get them sent to your inbox).

As you can see in our article on how to get money and freebies through competitions, some companies run slogan competitions, here you have to come up with a clever little phrase about their product to win the prize.

Why if you’re looking for a way to kill some time and make money on the toilet, maybe try your hand at this?

Save money by switching gas and electricity

If you’re reading this on your smartphone right now, you could be saving yourself a tidy sum just by switching your gas and electricity provider. You don’t even need your bills to see how much you could save. Just put your postcode into the box here and see which companies are offering you a cheaper deal.

It’s likely that it will be one of the smaller suppliers. They are doing their best to get into the market and compete with the larger providers who dominating it.

Check it out now and make some money!

earn while you surf

You could win £1,000 a month just for surfing the net with this competition site called Neilsen.

They have been known to give up to £30,000 away every year.

 save Money by switching your car insurance

Again, while you have your mobile phone on you consider switching your car insurance. Your car insurance premium may have gone up since you last checked, but you can save yourself money by switching to a cheaper deal than you have now.

Take this time do explore the different options that are available.

Switch to a better car insurance deal here.

 Save Money by switching your home insurance

According to Which? Magazine you should be able to save money by switching your home insurance. While sitting on the throne you may have some time to kill. Why not try this?

Do it here. Switch to a better home insurance deal.

Come up with a killer business idea

Is visiting the loo the only time you get some peace and quiet and time to think? It is for some people, if so then spend a bit of extra time to ponder a killer business idea.

You probably already have one rattling around your mind. Use this time to work out how to do it, what you will need to start and how to make a profit.

We have plenty of ideas for you, as well as lots of help and advice to hey you started here on our small business section. For example, take a look at this article with twenty tips for setting up your own business.

Come up with a new TV game show format

Feeling creative? Being on the toilet can be a good time to come up with story ideas for a novel or other creative pursuit.

But have you ever considered creating a TV game show idea?

Game shows can be hugely lucrative if you can come up with an original concept it right. People make hundreds of thousands from a successful idea they came up with which was then sold to production companies all over the world.

See our article here on how to come up with a winning TV game show format.

Sell your toilet roll Tubes

It’s possible to sell the cardboard insides of your toilet rolls on eBay. There really are people who need them for craft projects and will buy them off you. Sell them for about £7 per 50. If you have a family you will probably get through a lot and will be able to gather 50 rather quickly.

It’s not a major income by any means, but it’s simple enough to do.

While you’re here, why not get our eBook on 101 Ways to Live for Free which has more fun ways to earn money for free. Download it here for free.

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The post Ten ways to make money, while on the toilet! appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Ever since the globalisation era began, the search for language skills has been on the rise. Today, with thousands of multinational enterprises worldwide, there are more opportunities than ever in the translating business. Being an online translator means you can offer your bilingual skills to companies and authors looking to translate their content and appeal to a wider audience.

If you happen to be one of those lucky bilingual individuals or you want to work with professional translators and help with the translation process, here are a few ideas to generate some extra cash from online translations and become one of the people that get paid to translate online.

• Platforms for freelance translators
• Selling your translation pieces
• Creating a glossary
• Translation royalties
• Live translation jobs
• More ideas for bilingual people
• More ways to make money online

Translation Companies and Platforms for freelance translators

One way to find online translation jobs and offer out your translation services is to use freelance platforms. These work as a middle-man between companies or individuals needing translation services and professional translators. You post your profile and services, and pitch for jobs advertised. The platform takes a small commission of any work you complete, but it’s a good way to get started in finding new clients. So where can we hone our translation skills for money?

Fiverr

Fiverr is one of the most well-known freelance platforms in the world. It’s a free and reliable platform with over 14 million users. While the jobs you can find here range from palm reading to IT and marketing services, some of the most common offerings are translating and transcription services. It is easy to set up an account and your fees based on the length of a project or your hourly rate.

To get started with Fiverr, you need to optimise your profile and write a compelling opening statement about your offering (or ‘gig’ – Fiverr’s term for providing services). It takes a bit of effort to get started – but as soon as you snag a client, make sure you get them to leave you a review. As your reviews build, it gets easier to find work!

Peopleperhour.com

Another mediator platform between freelancers and businesses, PeoplePerHour runs on a similar concept to Fiverr. Set up a profile that explains your services and rates, and pitch for jobs.

This website also has a section of urgent jobs listed by companies that you can apply for in minutes. Hence, one of the strongest points of this platform is that you can sometimes get work almost immediately.

Lionbridge

Lionbridge offers content, translation, testing, and AI services. All these areas come with multiple freelance opportunities for translation servives. With a variety of translation jobs, this platform is another great option to create a new income stream as a freelance translator. According to Glassdoor, Lionbridge pays its translators between £17 to £20 per hour.

Acclaro

Online translation agencies such as Acclaro is a translation service company always on the lookout for new freelancers.

Unlike freelance platforms, Acclaro handles freelancers with experience. This means you can find jobs with a higher rate of pay. It works like an agency, so you get paid by Acclaro rather than individual clients. Most of their vacancies require a literature degree, language qualifications, or previous experience in translation. The salaries Acclaro offers range between £68,000 to £73,000 per annum.

Selling your translation pieces

Perhaps you have an already-translated document that people would be willing to pay money for. In that case, you can increase your income by selling your translation pieces. Being an online translator is as much about creating content to sell as it is finding clients that already have stuff to translate!

A prime example of this practice is the Muller Report case. Although this report was available for free, the Washington Post wrote a book about it and sold it on Amazon. Currently, the report is only available in English and Spanish, both versions having sold hundreds of copies. So, if you have some spare time on your hands, you could also translate the Muller Report in your second language and then sell it online.

However, it doesn’t have to be the Muller Report, it can be poems, songs, short stories, etc.

Look at classical texts, too. They don’t fall under copyright laws anymore (but always check first!). That means you can translate the text, publish it as an eBook or a book, and claim the profits for yourself.

It can be any piece of writing you can find and notice a demand for. Just do your research, be creative, and get those translation skills in action!

Creating a glossary

When you think of being an online translator, you most likely think of large chunks of text awaiting your bilingual skills. Yet, it doesn’t always have to be like that. If you speak two or more languages and have extensive knowledge and vocabulary of a specific field, you can build a glossary.

A successful example of this practice is the IMF Glossary: English-French-Spanish. It focuses on terms related to macroeconomics, money, and accounting, and the new hardcover version sells on Amazon for £57.

However, it doesn’t necessarily have to be career-focused. The topic of your glossary can be any field you have an interest in. Other examples include El Jefe’s English – Spanish Glossary of Basketball terms, the Harry Potter Glossary, Glossary of Stand-Up Comedy terms, Glossary of Surfing Terms and Surf Slang, etc.

As long as you have a clear understanding of your chosen subject in both languages, you can write a glossary about anything!

Translation royalties

If you have confidence in your linguistic abilities, another alternative of making money online is translating a book. Depending on the terms of your agreement with the writer and many like certified translation services, you can claim translation royalties. This way, every time a copy of the book is sold, you receive a percentage of that sale. You can even enter competitions with your translation, and win cash prizes!

Although literary translations can be hard to find, it’s important to be proactive. Writers won’t trust other people with their books unless they know who they are; so, you’ll have to reach out to them.

While getting the first job might be difficult, the rewards are plentiful. One project can be enough to generate money for you long-term, without you having to do any extra work. Hence, it’s worthwhile considering it.

Live translation jobs

There’s a growing market for real-time professional translators, too. If you’re fluent in two languages, you can use this to offer your services as an interpreter. From police interviews to joining international online business meetings, there are lots of ways to use your business translation servicess as a live translator.

More jobs are online than ever before, so it’s possible to be an online translator even if you’re not in the same location as someone. This is really useful for things like businesses who want to gain international clients. You can sit on their Zoom calls and directly translate the conversation on both sides to make sure a deal is arranged.

If you want to go into live translation, decide on the type you want to do. Police interpreters, for example, often work as freelance translators working with solicitors and lawyers as well as police stations. The more specialised your language skills, such as a language not commonly spoken in the UK, the higher rate you can charge. If you’re operating as a freelance translator, it helps to set up a website that showcases your skills and niches.

More ideas for bilingual people

If you want to leverage your language skills and you’re not too keen on translation jobs, you can try tutoring and helping with translation assignments. There are millions of people out there who want to learn a foreign language. To reach them, you can simply create an account on platforms like italki or Verbling, which enable students and teachers to come together. All it takes is to set up an account, take a video of yourself for introduction, establish an hourly fee and you’re good to go.

Alternatively, use your translation skills in services like transcription, subtitling, and captions. Some of the main platforms specialising in these services are GoTranscript, REV.com, and GMR Transcription.

The average pay on these websites ranges from $1,000 to $4,000 per month and all of them offer flexible hours. So, if translating is not your cup of your tea, there are still various options you can try, to monetize your linguistic competencies. You just have to try! Why? Because imagine being able to speak two languages and to start losing some of your vocabulary… some people would say that you’re bilingual.

More online jobs

To get paid to translate online and provide translation services remotely, is one way to work flexibly from home. There are, however, tons of ways to make money from home! Check out these articles next.

• 5 Unusual Ways to Make Money Writing Online
• Make Money Copywriting
• Can You Really Make Money Vlogging?
• Anybody Can Make Money with These Work From Home Jobs
• Make Money in Teaching and Childcare This Summer

The post Get Paid to Translate Online appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Also consider…

• Emergency cleaning. Armed with a mobile phone, and cleaning equipment in your car, you could offer an emergency cleaning service. This is where you will rush over to a house that has had a plumbing disaster or similar and needs the place to be spotless in a hurry. This is something you could charge a premium for too!
• Cleaning up after builders. Get friendly with some local building companies, painters and decorators and offer a cleaning service that makes their work look tidy and clean when they’ve finished. In order to do this, you should offer an hourly rate or a total price per job.
• Curtain and upholstery cleaning. You can offer general cleaning once a year or so for houses with a lot of soft furnishings and also specific cleaning of stains. For such a service, you will need steam cleaners, special fluids and, possibly, a good relationship with a local dry-cleaner. Next, advertise in areas with large, expensive houses that are likely to have a lot of curtains and sofas that will need attention.

For more ways to make money from working in other people’s houses check out our pages on house-sitting and ironing.

Something a little more…risqué

If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, you could earn up to £45 an hour cleaning people’s homes.

There is a catch, however…you need to do the cleaning in the nude.

Yes, it does sound a bit perverse on first hearing, but there is a real naturist market out there. Many are people who just prefer being in the nude and want other people in their company to be naked as well.

If you think this is something you might be interested in, then read our full article on making £45 an hour cleaning in the nude!

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The post How to set up your own cleaning business appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Take a look at our guide for starting up a baking business below:

• Make money from cakes
• Where to sell your cakes
• Devising a business plan
• Equipment you need
• Getting inspiration 
• Creating hampers
• How much should you charge?
• Seasonal baking
• Have fun with it!
• Case study: Lazy Day Cakes
• Case study: Hummingbird Bakery

How to make money from cakes

Home cooking, especially baking cakes and cupcakes, is very fashionable right now. This is thanks to celebrity chefs and cooking programmes like the Great British Bake Off. People will pay good money for high quality baking. You can sell your food at parties, fairs, and even at local food markets.

The beautiful thing about earning by baking is that it’s straightforward, flexible and enjoyable. It isn’t something that you necessarily have to do on a regular basis if you don’t want to. But if you’re ever short on cash, the option is there. All you’ll really need is a few good recipes and a reasonable idea of what people want to buy.

Getting started: Where to sell?

There are many places that you can sell cakes and other sweet products.

• Car boot sale
• School fairs
• Online shop
• Selling to local stores
• Setting up your own shop

Remember location is important. Before you decide to make a real go of baking, first find out what sells and where.

Working out a business plan

Working out the basics of your business first will hopefully help you keep on track with your budget. Running your own business can be exciting and rewarding but also stressful and taxing. But if you follow our tips, you’ll find your baking life will be made much easier.

Start small and keep costs low

Don’t spend any more than you have to on your start-up. Lots of big businesses start small, for example Laura Ashley began at her kitchen table. M&S started with a market stall, and Tesco was just a couple of local grocer’s shops at the beginning. Consider using your kitchen as your workplace before moving somewhere bigger.

Don’t forget insurance, as your household insurance may no longer be valid if you’re working from home. This is something you’ll need to check with your current broker. You may need to upgrade your insurance.

Set up a separate bank account for your business. It doesn’t need to be an expensive ‘business’ account, it can be an ordinary current account. Either with your current bank or with a different provider.

Pay attention to cashflow

Starting up a new business can be hard, so any help financially can really make the difference. Don’t assume that people will pay on time every time.

• Cut down your waiting time for payments by getting clients to agree payment terms at the start.
• Don’t spend money now assuming that you’ll receive payment from your clients.
• Plan your business expenditure so that you are not creating debt. And therefore not dependent upon customers paying on time.
• Have more than one income stream – even if that means doing a part-time job while you get established.
• If you’re having consistent problems with unpaid bills then consider joining the Federation of Small Businesses (around £200 a year) so that you can use their legal assistance to chase your debtors.

Create a realistic business plan

As the saying goes: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Therefore, even if you’re just setting up as a part-timer you need to give yourself a clear idea of your monthly costs and how much profit (or other income) you must generate to keep going.

Work out what your monthly sales need to be, factoring in costs like baking equipment, ingredients, delivery etc. Make yourself a chart for the next 12 months showing the growth in sales you can realistically generate and be clear on how you’ll generate those new customers.

It’s a tough thing to guess but just the action of thinking it through will provide you with earnings goals and points to consider as you run your business.

Networking is vital

The more you’re out touting for work, the more work you’re likely get. With the internet it’s possible to meet people without leaving your home.

Join online networking groups and forums and start giving useful advice on areas directly relevant to your business. This raises your profile in a positive way. But don’t spend too much time on it, allocate a certain amount of time a week and stick to that.

A simple way to get some repeat business is to get some business cards printed. If you’re making cakes, you could then advertise the fact that you bake to order for parties and events. Pop into local cafes and coffee shops (not the chain outlets), hand them your card and make your services known. Maybe even provide them with a few samples. Make sure you take your business cards wherever you go. You can meet interesting and potentially useful people anywhere.

Give people what they want

Don’t make the mistake of being blinkered about what you want to produce and sell. You have to be very aware of what your potential and existing customers want to spend money on. Not just what you think they want because it’s easier for you.

Speak to potential customers, both before you start up the business and as an ongoing habit. Take them to lunch, pick their brains, ask them what they want and enjoy.

Keep a realistic perspective of what’s selling as your business develops. Is there a sideline product or service that’s very popular and takes less effort than the main offering? If so, focus more effort on it. Be honest with yourself about what works, what doesn’t. If you have to make enough to pay the rent, then you need to be brutally honest about the success or failure of products pretty quickly.

What do you need to start

Food safety and hygiene

The first thing you should do is research the food safety standards. Legislation says that all food businesses must register their kitchens with their local authority unless they operate on a “casual and limited” basis.

If you’re simply selling once in a blue moon at a car boot sale or market then you don’t need to worry. However, if you are planning on making an income in this way, contact your local council and ask them what the rules are in your area. Laws vary depending on where you live. For example, in some places you will need to become a registered trader, even if you only sell your food once every couple of months.

Be aware that if you’re regularly selling food produce, you may need to need to take a course in food hygiene. You can do this over the internet and it’ll cost you around £15. The course is mostly just common sense so it’s reasonably easy to complete.

Work out your costs

If you want to make money baking, you need to do some basic costings. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You’ll need to take into consideration:

• How much ingredients cost
• Cost of the sale location fee (car boot sale/farmers market fee) if there is one
• Average cost of travel to the location
• Cost of the food packaging (keep it simple to start with, clingfilm will do in most cases)
• Initial cost of food hygiene training (if you’re planning on regular sales)
• Cost of labels/general stationery/invoicing pads
• Extra cost of gas or electricity for your oven

Once you’ve worked out how much all of this is, you should be able to work out how much you’ll need to sell to make a profit.

While you do your research, you should be taking note of how much other stallholders sell their cakes and foods for. This gives you a rough idea of how much you can reasonably expect to charge.

You don’t have to be qualified to sell cakes, but there are hundreds of baking/cake decorating courses you can go on which are likely to benefit the quality of your products.

Here are a few we recommend:

• Annabelle Jane Cake School
• Blue Door Bakery (email bluedoorbakery@hotmail.com)

Finding the right location

Try out a stall at a car boot sale first, because it won’t cost much to set up. You can find your nearest car boot sale on Carbootjunction. Once you’re more established, you might consider going a little more upmarket. Although if you have cracked the car boot market, you could also simply increase the number of cakes you take with you. Letting your business grow that way.

To set up a stall at a farmers’ market, you need to find one local to you. You can do this by searching Facebook or the Local Foods website for your nearest market.

Keep on top of your finances

• Put money aside for your forthcoming tax bill.
• If you can, speak to an accountant about how much you should put aside for tax.
• However if you’re just starting up, you probably won’t have to pay VAT.
• Keep good records of your incoming and outgoing revenues, your receipts and other related information. Again if you speak to an accountant they will give you guidance on what files to keep, how to organise them and what to do to keep your accountancy bills down.
• Accountants too expensive? Though a good accountant is invaluable, you don’t necessarily need one when you’re first starting out. Plenty of people do their own accounts on paper or using an Excel spreadsheet.

How to come up with ideas

It’s a crowded market so how do you make sure people want your cakes?

The cake business has been around for longer than anyone can remember and in recent years the market has become very crowded. It’s important that you create and sell things people will want to buy. Chances are somebody will already have the best butter cream filling or the tastiest frosted cupcakes. How are you going to make sure you stand out from your competitors?  Think outside the box. Take a trip to your local car boot sale or farmers’ market and look for which food stalls are the busiest. If it seems like jam is the ‘in-thing’ and there aren’t that many stalls that sell it, you’ve found your product: jam filled cakes.

If you’re at a car boot and there aren’t any stalls selling food then it’s a good idea to take a look at the people that are there. Are they the sort who would prefer to buy upmarket, fancy, homemade produce or a couple of 20p fairy buns to nibble on? Make the kind of cakes and sweets you think you could sell easily.

You can also ask your family and friends what they’d like. Try to ask a wide range of people and see if you come out with any unanimous decisions. Also, speak to any cake sellers you see at fairs and markets and ask them which cakes sell best.

Experiment

Once you’ve got a good idea of the kind of people you’re going to be selling to, it’s time to get your product sorted. You’ll need to come up with a range of different products to make this work. If you’re selling cake, try out different methods, ingredients, flavours and fillings. With sweets, test out different recipes. You could try focusing on one area, like chocolate, fudge or maybe even health food.

Get your friends and family to try all your samples out and find out which are the most popular choices. They’ll likely be more than willing to help. It’s worth knowing that at farmers’ markets, you’re not likely to sell much unless you use local, organic ingredients. People who go to these events look for traditional homemade foods and one of the pros of shopping for food at a farmers’ market is that you’re able to ask the stallholder precisely where the food is from and how it was made.

Stallholders at farmers’ markets should be prepared to give honest, credible answers to customers. So factor these more expensive ingredients into your budget. Remember that people are usually willing to pay for high quality.

Presentation

Presentation is important, particularly if you sell at an upmarket venue. Consider your customers: are they going to want something ‘cheap and cheerful’, or posh-looking homemade produce? Funnily enough, some of the more expensive jams and cakes have ‘the rustic look’: you could find yourself charging a lot for produce which looks especially homely.

Packaging can affect your sales in a big way. Ribbon is cheap if you buy in bulk from a haberdashery store, and can neaten up any edges around your cakes. If you’re selling jams it’s worth getting some fancy labels printed, or spending some time decorating your own. You could experiment with themed packaging around holidays like Easter and Christmas, and for days like Valentine’s Day and Halloween

Whatever you use to package your products, it’s important to remember that you’re dealing with food. This means that you are limited to certain types of packaging depending on what food you’re selling.

Creating hampers

Everyone loves hampers – particularly at special seasons or occasions like birthdays. Big stores like Harrods and M&S do a roaring trade in them – have a look at their hampers to give yourself ideas of what to put in yours. Actually making the hamper can cost very little and the goodies inside can be made at home to bring down costs. However, the selling price can be as high as you like, so this is an amazing potential earner if you get it right.

Seasonal hampers

Seasonal hampers can be best sellers if you do them right. Easter and Christmas will be the best time to make seasonal hampers. Everyone likes a Santa-shaped cake or Easter bunny cookie.

Hamper presentation

It’s important to remember that these hampers or baskets are meant as gifts. So they should look as gorgeous as possible. If a customer is not wowed by the first hamper you supply, they are far less likely to buy from you again.

The key to decorating baskets effectively and cheaply is to keep it simple. Place some shredded paper in the bottom of the hamper to protect your goods. Then arrange your items so they’re all facing the same way, looking up at the buyer.

If you want to add a little more luxury you could tie a ribbon around the hamper. Or you could drop a few foiled chocolates to cover empty space. Simplicity is the key for decoration of hampers.

To add touches of Easter arrange a few decoration chicks in the hamper or a few false flowers. You could also paint eggs and use them to add colour to your basket. At Christmas add some tinsel and a few red or green bow.

How much should you charge?

To work out how to price your hamper, there are a few things you need to take into consideration.

The first and most obvious is how much it costs to make. This includes the items inside the hamper, the basket itself, the decorations. And finally the costs for the delivery, if relevant.

The second cost is your time: how long does it take to make a hamper? Consider how much you would like to pay yourself an hour and incorporate this into the costs.

Once you have a good idea of how much each hamper costs to make and distribute in total, you can decide how much you are going to mark the price up. Other factors to consider are the quality of your hamper, and what you think the market will bear. Remember that if the price is too high then customers will use one of your rivals, so be competitive without selling yourself short.

For more ideas about how to present and sell hampers see our article here.

Seasonal baking

Seasonal cakes and cupcakes are also very popular. The safest thing is to go for very simple, cheap cake and biscuit recipes that you can decorate to look really special. Think about sponge cakes, madeiras, shortbread biscuits, gingerbread etc. None of these cost too much to make. With a little extra spent on the icing and decoration, though, you could charge three or four times the cost of making them.

Easter cakes

At Easter you can offer baskets with cakes such as simnel cake, hot cross buns, nest cakes or Easter biscuits. There are many recipes on the internet and in cook books available at your local book store. The BBC Food website has easy-to-follow hot cross bun, Easter biscuit and simnel cake recipes.

To find out how to make chocolate nest cakes visit cakebaker.co.uk. Another particularly good collection of Easter cake recipes can be found here.

Christmas baking ideas

Christmas cakes can come in all different shapes and sizes. A Snowman topped with a delicious layer of snowy buttercream icing. A Christmas tree with green icing and hundred and thousands for decorations. Or something more traditional like a rounded fruit cake. Fruit cakes are very seasonal but they cost a lot to make. Will you be able to make enough of a profit on them?  Whichever way you choose to go, make sure you’re original.

Biscuits are also great for Christmas. Buy a cutter set and make biscuits in the shape of trees and snowflakes, then add some colourful icing and a few silver balls. You could put your biscuits in a simple see through bags with a nice ribbon so they can hang from the tree. This way they can act as a decoration as well as a tasty Christmas treat.

Birthday cakes

Birthday cakes are great because people have birthdays all year round so there is sure to be a demand for your services if your price is right. With birthday cakes people will usually ask for a specific cake, maybe a Spider-Man cake or in the shape of a number.

This is a great time to experiment with food colouring, icing options and build up your portfolio. If someone asks for something you don’t think you can handle, though, don’t take it on just because they are offering you their money. Make sure you have the skills to create what your customer is asking for.

Special occasions

There are so many special occasions that could be used as an opportunity to offer your baking services, including baby showers, retirement parties, graduations, weddings and many more.

Finally, remember to have fun…

Running a business should be creative, satisfying and enjoyable. It’s a chance to express yourself, meet interesting and creative people, and potentially make a lot of money. So enjoy the process of being in business. And make the most of the good times.

When you get a big contract or when you complete a difficult task remember to celebrate!

To inspire you to get started with your baking business we have two real life case studies of how you can turn your hobby into a fully functioning money-making business. Both case studies were self-taught bakers! See below:

Case study: Whitney Hurst – Lazy Day Cakes

Whitney Hurst started selling cakes from her kitchen in 2012. Before she knew it she had a load of orders and decided to set up her own shop, Lazy Day Cakes. Recently she decided to sell up to pursue her dream of becoming a midwife. Below Whitney tells us about her success and experience of selling cakes.

When and why did you start selling cakes?

“In 2012 I fractured my spine in a gym accident. After months being bedbound and unable to work I was finally able to shuffle round my kitchen and that’s when I started baking. I had made my kids birthday cakes in the past but I got started on cupcakes. I was making 30+ a day and that’s when I decided to make a website to see what happened. Amazingly within a few days I had orders.”

What was your first professional baking job?

“I started by going to craft fairs and ladies’ nights. It didn’t take long to realise that ladies love cakes but also are very conscious of them being a treat so I came up with a new recipe that reduced the fat content if the cakes by 50% that’s when things started to go mental.”

How did you go about promoting yourself in the wider community?

“My only form of advertising was Facebook. I just put up lots and lots of pictures and that’s when the word started to spread. I was very lucky because people not only liked the look of the cakes but the taste was a win too. Quite often with cupcakes they look great but the taste isn’t always up to scratch.”

How long did it take to get you established?

“It took probably six months of events such as craft fairs before we started getting recognised.”

Did you initially work from home and then go on to get a shop?

“I did the cakes from home for 12 months doing the craft fairs, farmers’ markets and ladies’ nights. In June 2013, I opened the first shop where I had just four tables and a serving counter.  I was still baking everything at home and transporting the cakes to the shop daily. In October 2013, I moved into a shop three times the size where I had a full bakery and a much larger cafe area.”

Did you have any professional training?

“No. I am totally self-taught.”

How did you set yourself apart from similar businesses around your area?

“There were two other local business that were similar. What made us different was that having four kids we were so child-friendly that people with kids wanted to come just so that they didn’t have to worry about messy children. Our workshops and parties were priced reasonably because the rent overheads were relatively low. The other business that offered just workshops was really expensive because of its city centre location, and the other just did parties whereas we did both and had a tearoom.”

Why did you end up selling?

“I wanted to pursue my passion of becoming a midwife and now that I have the support from my fiancé Ian, to go back to university I decided to enroll. I decided juggling the business and my studies wasn’t a possibility and closing the shop wasn’t really an option – considering how successful it was – so I decided to sell.”

Whitney’s advice to those wanting to make baking a full time career…

“My advice to anyone wanting to set up a cake business is trust your abilities. It’s very difficult to compete with supermarket prices but they’re full of chemicals and made in machines. Don’t sell yourself short, work out how much the ingredients cost, how long it’ll take you to make the cake and add your time and at least minimum wage.”

Case study: Tarek Malouf –  The Hummingbird Bakery

Tarek Malouf was working at ABC News in London before he decided to start a bakery business in 2002. Following two years of researching and testing recipes, his first bakery opened its doors for business in early 2004. Below Tarek tells us about his journey to success and future plans for expansion.

When and why did you start selling cakes? 

“The idea of setting up a bakery came to me in early 2002. I was visiting a relative in North Carolina who took me to several traditional American bakeries that served pies and homemade cakes. The smell of fresh baking in these places was amazing. During that time, my sister was living in New York, and we used to go and eat lots of cupcakes and traditional American goodies every time I’d visit her. Taste buds awoken, it was then that I realised I wanted to open my own bakery in London so that people here could enjoy the authentic taste of American baking.”

How did you go about promoting yourself in the wider community?

“Our launch was not promoted in any way. I tried to choose a location for my first branch that had plenty of American expats living close by, as well as a lot of passing foot-traffic. I thought that if we could attract the Americans wanting a taste of home, then we’d start off with a decent customer base. This worked – a very large proportion of our initial customers were American. And after we opened the doors and let the smells of fresh baking waft out onto the street we soon started selling cupcakes to everyone who walked by.”

What was your first professional baking job?

“Prior to first opening The Hummingbird Bakery, I spent two years testing and refining countless recipes in my kitchen at home. Other than this, however, I had no real baking experience. I’d grown up with a great appreciation for the delights of American baking so I did at least have a very clear idea of how I wanted The Hummingbird Bakery’s products to taste. So really, my first professional baking job was in my Notting Hill branch.”

How long did it take to get you established?

“Prior to opening my first bakery, I did do a couple of private cake commissions for friends but this was in no way how I launched. Having fitted out, equipped and opened the doors to my first branch, the business got itself established very quickly. Within a few weeks of launching, word quickly got around that we were baking delicious cakes and business began to grow rapidly.”

Did you have any professional training?

“I have no professional training in baking other than that which I’ve gained from working in my own bakery.”

How did you set yourself apart from similar businesses around your area?

“Initially, we were in the fortunate position of being able to get the business off the ground with no real competitors – there certainly wasn’t anywhere else in London that specialised in quality American baking. Of course, as soon as cupcakes caught on, other cupcake bakeries did quickly pop-up. We have always differentiated ourselves on the quality and authenticity of our products. Another thing we do is bake on site at each of our branches throughout the day to ensure the complete freshness of our products. We also only source quality ingredients – real butter, jams and preserves from Tiptree, free range British eggs, cream cheese from Philadelphia and so on.”

What does the future hold?

“I plan to grow the business here in UK by opening further branches within and around London. I’m also looking at opportunities to open branches in other UK cities. We have franchise partners in the Middle East who have already launched three Hummingbird Bakery branches in Dubai.”

The post Everything you need to know to make money baking appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

The Influencer Marketing Hub is a very useful tool for anyone who monetises their social media. Their 2020 Benchmark Report proved just how big social media marketing is. According to the report, the influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $9.76 billion in 2020. And not only this, but now 300% more micro-influencers are utilised by large companies than in 2016. This paves the way for future influencers and enables more people to utilise their social media to generate an income.

• Sell your own products and services
• Make money from affiliate links
• Use promo codes
• How to approach brands
• Tips on building a following (and selling to them)
• Rules for making money on social media

Sell your own products and services

According to research at Smart Insights, 30% of consumers say they would happily make purchases directly through social media platforms. While 87% of e-commerce shoppers believe social media helps them make a shopping decision. So, if you’re not using social media to sell and promote your products and services, you’re missing out on a massive potential market!

There are plenty of helpful tools out there, like Hootsuite, to help manage selling on social channels. Through their service you can track, manage, and schedule your social channels all in one place. They help you see what type of content, and on which platforms, your audience engage with most. The more you know about your audience demographic and their tastes, the easier it becomes to sell to them.

Bear in mind that most of these tools are paid-for services, although you can usually get a 30-day free trial to test them out first.

If you’re thinking about setting up an online shop, check out our article here for tips on getting started.

Key considerations for selling online

• Matching your social strategy to your audience. Who is your main customer? A teenager or working professional? Who your demographic is will largely determine how you market and sell your products and services.
• Create the right content, at the right time. Statistics show that across all social media platforms, posts that include visuals consistently perform better and see more engagement than those without. However, posting too frequently, or even not enough, is damaging and will drive customers away.
• Connect everything back to your business. A relationship with your audience is essential – sales rarely occur on first contact, but normally several times later. Your audience need to trust you and you need to listen to them. When you do this, you’ll be in a better position to provide your audience with what they need, and when they need it.

Make money from affiliate links

Affiliate links are a popular way to make a bit of passive income. They’re cheap and easy too, as you don’t need to create and sell a product yourself. You just need to establish a connection between the buyer and seller, and then take a commission when a sale is made.

There are a few different ways you can set up affiliate links – one is through the Amazon Associate Programme. With this, you can earn up to 12% of all purchases made during the buyer’s shopping session. So even if someone clicks on your link, doesn’t buy that specific item, but ends up purchasing something else during that same ‘session’, then you’re still entitled to 12% of that.

ClickBank is another site with it’s own affiliate marketplace. They allow you to promote already best-selling products and earn commissions as high as 90% on some products. You have the option to pair with brands in various areas including arts and entertainment, e-business, and parenting and families.

How to promote affiliate links

Any promoting and selling on social media should come across as natural. No audience wants to feel like they’re constantly being sold to.

Reviewing a product is a legitimate way to link it into a post or blog. Summarise the pros and cons, giving a balanced opinion of it. You want your audience to trust you and selling them naff products is only going to damage your credentials.

Choose your affiliate links carefully and post them sparingly. Inundating your followers with affiliate links is counter-productive, they’ll more likely be put off and unfollow you instead. Promote a select few that you genuinely believe are worthwhile purchases and fit with your brand image, whether that’s fashion and beauty, or the latest gadgets.

Use promo codes

Plenty of influencers use discount and promo codes to make money. They work similarly to affiliate links where a commission is earned on the number of sales made with their code.

Almost anyone can get promo codes for brands, although you’ll probably have more luck the larger your following. When appealing for promo codes, make sure the brand is relevant to you, your content and your audience. Chances are they’ll be happy to offer you a code, as it comes at no cost to them. Put simply, if they don’t make any sales from you, they don’t have to pay you any commission and they haven’t lost out.

How to approach brands

Brands are a big source of social media income and anyone with a following of 2,000+ is considered a micro-influencer. Plenty of brands want to work with influencers now as it’s much more effective and cost-efficient for them than traditional forms of marketing, like magazines and TV ads.

However, knowing how to approach brands is key.

Steps on how to approach a brand

• Do your research. Thoroughly research the brand, their mission statement, and any products you’re interested in. It comes across very poorly if you’re asking a brand for sponsorship but don’t know anything about them.
• Check your social media. If you really want to be able to monetise your social channels, make sure you keep it on-brand and professional. Posts in the public eye need to be free of anything incriminating or potentially offensive. If brands spot any risky content they’ll be sure to steer clear.
• Pitch yourself. You need to be able to offer the brand something in return. Think about what your USPs are. What’s different about your content, or your audience, that makes this a worthwhile opportunity for them that they won’t find elsewhere?
• Illustrate affiliation with the brand. Don’t send out a blanket email to every brand you get in touch with but demonstrate your knowledge and create a unique pitch every time.

Questions to answer when you pitch to brands

• How relevant is your blog or social channels to the campaign subject matter?
• How big is your following? What is the size of the potential audience the content will reach?
• How regularly do you post on social media?
• How engaged is your audience?

Another consideration for reaching out to brands is through agencies. There are actually several UK influencer marketing agencies that you can sign up for including Disrupt, Goat Agency, and Socially Powerful.

Tips on building a following (and selling to them)

Unfortunately, there’s no quick way to instantly increase your following. There are plenty of false advertisements for this and whilst your follower count will increase, it’ll be made up of bots who won’t actually engage with your content or brand, completely defeating the purpose.

One way to build your network is to create daily, weekly, and monthly goals so from the outset you’re committed to a pace of engagement that will steadily grow.

TikTok

TikTok has been the latest social media trend and is rapidly growing with over 800,000 logins every month. Although TikTok doesn’t currently have any direct money-making features, one of the key ways people are earning from it is by pushing their TikTok followers onto their other social media platforms, where they are able to make money. Some other users have even been organising sponsorship deals for things like wearing branded clothing or appearing at particular events in their videos.

At the moment, most influencers using TikTok are compiling it as part of a general package rather than making lots of money off of it directly. Although only a few months ago TikTok announced its Creator Marketplace. It’s a site in which users can connect with advertisers to collaborate on marketing opportunities.

Users can also receive gifts from their audiences via TikTok Live videos. Hootsuite also has a super helpful guide on all the ways you can make money through TikTok. You can read it here.

Instagram

Instagram is a huge contributor to people making money on social media, with over 90% of influencer marketing campaigns involving the app.

Business profile

Instagram has the ability to change your personal page into a business profile. When you do this you get to view insights into engagement with your posts and stories, and also get the ability to set up an Instagram shop.

Instagram’s shoppable features allow businesses to tag products that are available for sale and allows customers to purchase them directly within the app.

On an Instagram business profile you need to include:

• A photo or brand logo that’s recognisable and consistent across all your social platforms.
• A well-thought-out bio. This is a chance to give customers a brief insight into you, your brand, and your business.
• Link to your website. Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t allow direct links in posts so the URL section of the bio is the only clickable link in your profile.

Run ads

The easiest way to run ads is by promoting posts you’ve already shared on Instagram. Simply select the post you want to boost and hit ‘promote’.

You have the option to create the audience you want the post to be shown to (choose across genders, age range, etc.) or you can leave it to Instagram who will automatically share it with a similar audience.

Ads also don’t have to cost a lot – they can start from as little as a couple of pounds. Initially, you can just run an ad for a few days to test how well it performs. However, keep in mind that it takes a little work to get it right so if your first attempt doesn’t bring in tons of business, keep trying. Ideally, having a simple call-to-action button like ‘Shop Now’ makes it easy for someone to make a purchase. Overcomplicating it will put people off.

Instagram stories

If you have more than 10,000 followers, Instagram gives you the option to add links to your stories. It can take a while to build a following of this size, but having a concise and consistent brand image, regular posting, and using hashtags smartly will help bring new people to your page.

You can use the link in stories function to create direct links to your website, shop, or specific items.

#Use hashtags

Hashtags are a simple and effective way for people not following your page to find your content. Don’t use too many though! You don’t want your page to look like spam, but like it’s carefully curated. It’s much better to focus on a few targeted and highly-trafficked hashtags. Think about who you’re trying to target, and use hashtags that will find them.

Rules for making money on social media

New legislation states that if you’re making money, you need to declare it.

1. Disclose any and all affiliate relationships. All you need to do is include a simple sentence along the lines of: “Disclosure: The link below is an affiliate link. Which means that, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through that link I’ll earn a commission.”
2. If you’re working directly with a brand who’s paid you to post something, then include a simple hashtag or comment along the lines of #sponsored #ad.
3. If a brand or PR company requests that you don’t tag something as ‘sponsored’ or ‘ad’ it’s actually illegal and you need to refuse to do so.
4. You need to make it clear when you’re posting about your own products and services, too.

What counts as an ad?

• Paid-for space
• Own advertising
• Affiliate marketing
• Advertorial
• Paid reviews of products
• Paid product placement in your content

Gifted content can cause confusion, but basically if the brand asks for something in return – for you to post it on social media, or provide some form of editorial content – then it’s an ad and should be tagged as such.

More ways to make money online

Need some more ideas to make money online? Try these articles next!

• Make £25 an hour as a virtual assistant
• How to make money as a digital nomad
• Make money with dropshipping
• Anybody can make money with these work from home jobs

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