Really struggling to make an income / freelance

[Thefirstime]

Would love to make a freelance income (day rate or per hour)

I have experience in business support - PA/EA

And am a vocalist (hoping to focus on this much more!)

it’s tricky to find opportunities and since having children, my professional networks have shrunk!

Any ideas how I could make a freelance type income that would be worth my while?!

I’ve taken a very low part-time paid job which isn’t cutting it and is costing me more money/time in other areas..

What are the types
of in demand freelance / part time type roles available? I’d happily retrain!!

thanks

Well it's the Golden Ticket isn't it!
Sorry, but all I can offer is being extraordinarily good at something or extraordinarily lucky.

Some get one, both, or neither.

Most people just slog away at what they can do and dream.

Retrain by all means - it makes no difference.

What do you currently work as OP? Is it an industry that gives you opportunity to grow, or a company that will retrain you? That's a good place to start.

How old are your DC? Are they old enough to care for themselves?

Join as many networking groups as you can, then meet as many other business owners who potentially need your services for a coffee as you can. That’s it.

I work freelance and have a high day rate. I work 3 days a week with average 6-8 weeks holidays and earn more than I did FT before.
I didn’t retrain but I am in a very niche industry and have a very niche skill set. But I also don’t have job security.

you need to be out there, have a super professional LinkedIn profile and headshot. Have very professional text and register with a few agencies. You can earn very well as temp EA I would assume. Be firm on your day rate and always say something higher than the lowest you are willing to accept. After a while you don’t need agencies anymore but get your own work. You have to invest time and money initially. And you need to network. Contact your old managers, bosses, networks, go to industry conferences and be friendly and professional (and not pushy). Stay in touch with people.

Remote EA jobs are here for example:

https://www.secsinthecity.co.uk/searchjobs/

IME if you are good, professional and reliable, you can get earn 50-60K as EA.

I'm a freelancer, part time and term time at the moment and making about 10k last year which was my first full year of trading. Plan is to upscale once DD is in school.

I work in design after about 10 years in my industry working in a few roles within design offices. I spent my maternity leave building a portfolio (all my previous work places refused to let me use their work so I had no examples).

My advice. Ideally do it with something you already have experience in so you are back with a good CV/ experience/ references/portfolio.

Market yourself, website, good CV, examples of work at the forefront.

Go for local first. All my client companies are within 30minutes of me. It means I look like a local person looking for new clients, not an opportunistic rando from the internet. Bring able to meet in person if needed is a bonus.

Hassle people. I've sent dozens of emails to companies trying to sell myself. All my clients I got via people I know or by phoning first. An email is easy to ignore, a phone call is harder. Speaking with people is much better as it's easier to respond to their needs.

RE retraining. I would look up the most in-demand freelancer work and choose one of those that fits with your skills.

I dated an actor whose bread and butter was doing voice overs. He made enough to live on in London.