101 Freelance Business Ideas for Creative People

Starting out as a freelancer can be kind of thrilling. On the one hand it is incredibly scary to do it alone and manage an entire business. On the other hand you now get to work on your own schedule and on projects you are truly passionate about.

Because of the growth and popularity of freelancing as a career path, sometimes coming up with an idea for how to get started is difficult.

In this post we’re sharing over 100 of the best freelance business ideas to help you start your business. You’ve probably already come across or thought of many of these ideas on your own. The point is to get the creative juices flowing and give you some new ideas that you may not have considered before. Read through these freelance ideas and see how you can apply them to your work. Whether that is through combining various skillsets or exploring different industries, there is a lot of opportunity out there.

Have an idea you think we should add to the list? Comment below and we’ll update this post with the top suggestions.

Top Creative Freelancing Ideas

1. Design logos for small businesses, other freelancers, and websites.

2. Design book and eBook covers for writers.

3. Design greeting cards and graphic prints for companies or to sell online.

4. Design social media graphics, marketing images, and email graphics for companies.

5. Design cover art and album graphics for musicians to use on their physical albums and on streaming services.

6. Design user interfaces for mobile and desktop apps for businesses, websites, and agencies.

7. Design and format presentations, slideshows, and other visual content for companies.

8. Draw/illustrate comics, avatars, and other custom characters for people.

9. Become a freelance tattoo artist and draw custom tattoos for people.

10. Format documents for other freelancers and agencies. You can assist in the compilation of social media graphics, setting up a new website, customizing templates, and more.

11. Create advanced digital manipulations, illustrations, and paintings for companies and commercial purposes (advertising campaigns, social media, and more).

12. Provide vector tracing services to individuals and companies looking to convert logos and images into vector files.

13. Provide file conversion services for designers and agencies. This could involve converting certain files into .psd documents for Photoshop or migrating something from Photoshop to InDesign for printing purposes.

14. Write poems, short stories, comics, manga, and other forms of creative writing projects for individuals, blogs, and magazines/publications.

15. Write advertisements, taglines, slogans, and other creative copy for businesses.

16. Provide direct response copywriting services to companies for specific campaigns. (Read an AMA from a direct response copywriter who makes $10,000 a month)

17. Write articles and other content (such as documentation) for businesses.

18. Write product descriptions, listings, and other eCommerce related content for businesses.

19. Transcribe documents from print/physical catalogs to digital formats. Companies need assistance with transcribing sales pages, guide books, and other printed materials.

20. Provide resume and cover letter design/writing services to help people in their career search.

21. Provide technical writing services for medical companies, legal purposes, science companies, and other technology focused industries.

22. Become an editor for books, articles, support docs, and other written content.

23. Become a writing assistant to help students with their college essays and applications.

24. Create custom graphics for Youtubers’ channel cover art.

25. Animate intro and outro videos for Youtubers.

26. Create whiteboard animations and animated explainers for video creators, businesses, news/media, and more.

27. Create mobile videos, news style content for media sites, and funny/creative videos. You can also sell viral videos on sites like Viralhog, Jukin Media, etc.

28. Become a 3D artist to create custom renders for movies, games, architecture, and many other projects involving 3D production and development.

29. Create animated characters and provide 3D modeling services with animation.

30. Make music, beats, and instrumentals to sell to video creators.

31. Make background music and commercial music to sell on stock websites.

32. Make music and list it on streaming services like Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play/Youtube, and more.

33. Teach people how to create music whether that is by teaching a specific instrument or helping people learn about audio production software.

34. Provide voice recording services and voice overs for videos, animations, and other video projects that need narrators.

35. Provide audio editing services to podcast creators and other audio professionals.

36. Provide audio recording services for events, concerts, and other audio focused projects.

37. Become a DJ and perform at parties, local events, weddings, and other venues in your local region and beyond.

38. Provide domain name research services and other services related to branding and product naming.

39. Manage Instagram accounts, or other social media accounts like Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook, for companies.

40. Create marketing plans and social media content strategies for companies to implement.

41. Provide customer service and support for companies. This could be as simple as managing a social presence (like answering questions for a Facebook page), or more advanced like monitoring a company email and responding to inquiries.

42. Manage email marketing campaigns and autoresponder sequences for companies.

43. Manage advertisement campaigns for businesses. These could be social media ads, search ads, video ads, and many other forms of ad campaigns.

44. Manage affiliate campaigns and influencer outreach for companies. This involves the assistance of driving affiliates to a new program, getting influencers to promote a brand, and maintaining relationships over time for new promotions.

45. Provide eCommerce marketing services to companies. You can assist with management of advertising campaigns, partnerships, outreach and pr/media, and more.

46. Provide SEO services to clients looking to grow their organic traffic. You can assist with guest blogging, on-page seo, ranking, and other key aspects of search engine optimization.

47. Provide blog management services and content solutions for businesses, individuals, and/or website networks. You can assist in the management of articles and formatting, meta descriptions, social media promotions, etc.

48. Provide physical marketing services for companies with a local presence in large cities or towns. This could include flyer distribution, market research, managing a booth at an expo, and other related tasks.

49. Become a music promoter and help up-and-coming artists get more attention for their songs. This could involve promotion of songs through streaming platforms, promoting music videos, working with radio stations, etc.

50. Shoot custom photography campaigns for companies to use on social media. These could involve lifestyle photos, travel themes, fashion, and more.

51. Shoot custom travel video campaigns for companies to share on Youtube and Facebook/Instagram videos.

52. Cut and edit videos for Twitch streamers, Youtubers, startups, and more.

53. Sell your custom Lightroom Presets, Video LUTs, After Effects Templates, and more on FilterGrade! (Sell Products on FilterGrade)

54. Become a photo retoucher for product photographers, wedding photographers, food photographers, and many other fields of photography.

55. Do product photography for Amazon, eBay, and other large marketplaces or assist eCommerce websites with their product photos on their own websites.

56. Sell stock photos from your travels and photo shoots. (Read more ways to earn money as a photographer)

57. Sell stock videos from your trips and/or create a Youtube channel to share your videos.

58. License images directly to companies, local businesses, and websites around the world.

59. License images and/or written content for editorial purposes to magazines, newspapers, and media organizations both large and small.

60. Set up websites for small businesses in your local area or in a specific niche that you focus on.

61. Develop mobile apps and/or custom websites for businesses.

62. Develop plugins, add-ons, and other extensions for software companies. You can develop Shopify plugins, WooCommerce extensions, custom code for WordPress, and much more. (Read how this agency makes money selling premium plugins)

63. Develop mobile games to sell on the Apple App Store, the Amazon App Store, Google Play, the Opera Mobile Store, and more.

64. Provide development consultation and services to video game studios. You can assist with Unity/Unity3D development, cross-platform compatibility, graphics handling, and more.

65. Develop APIs and databases for companies looking to better manage their data.

66. Provide development consulting to individuals and teams looking to expand their knowledge or expertise in specific areas. For example you can consult eCommerce stores and what software is best for their needs or you can assist a developer in tackling a problem outside of their scope on one-off projects.

67. Provide news and media aggregation services for websites and email newsletters.

68. Provide A/B testing and marketing services to eCommerce websites.

69. Provide listing and marketing services to real estate agents and companies.

70. Provide data visualization and data management services to large companies looking to evaluate trends.

71. Provide data analysis services and generate reports for marketing teams, financial teams, customer support teams, and more.

72. Become a server admin and help companies keep their software businesses running smoothly.

73. Provide security consulting to websites and software companies to ensure their users are protected.

74. Provide virtual assistant services to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and other freelancers.

75. Coach executives, entrepreneurs, and other people to help them work through their toughest career problems with strategic advice.

76. Provide travel consulting services and help plan trips for individuals, companies, and events/workshops.

77. Teach photography workshops and offer 1-on-1 training for skills like lighting, shooting, editing, and more.

78. Provide computer repair, mobile phone repair, and other technical support services to individuals and local businesses.

79. Provide computer training services to individuals and teams. You can teach people about specific software programs, development techniques, creative skills, and more!

80. Create handmade jewelry and custom pieces for clients.

81. Create handmade art and custom arts/crafts for clients.

82. Create custom floral arrangements and decorative pieces for weddings, parties, special events, and business clients.

83. Craft custom furniture and interior decor for individuals and/or businesses to place in their properties. Ideas include vintage furniture, specialty pieces, custom ornaments and decorations, and more.

84. Invent fun board games, puzzles, backyard party games, intriguing mind games, and more. Examples include Cards Against Humanity, Spikeball, Kan Jam, Left Center Right Dice Game, etc.

85. Design scrapbooks and provide custom scrapbooking services to clients.

86. Become a stylist and fashion consultant helping celebrities, influencers, and other individuals look their best at events. (Read why stylists are important)

87. Become a make-up artist for actors/actresses, media companies, fashion shows, and more. (Read how to select a make-up artist)

88. Provide event planning services. You can help couples plan their wedding, plan events for companies, organize meetups, and more.

89. If cooking is your specialty you can work as a caterer providing full meals, baked goods, specialty treats, and other food/drinks to events, businesses, and parties.

90. Become a freelance interpreter and help translate important conversations in real time for clients and business teams.

91. Provide interior design consulting services to individual clients, real estate agents looking to stage a home, or property development companies.

92. Become a color consultant to help interior designers plan a theme for a space based on color palettes.

93. Become a nutritional consultant to help people get on the right track with their diets. This could involve working with people who have severe food allergies or people on strict diets for sports.

94. Become a personal trainer and help clients achieve their fitness goals. You can assist people with yoga and meditative therapy, cardio, weight-lifting, and other exercises.

95. Provide freelance business services involving programs like Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint, Google Slides, Prezi, and more. You can assist in generating reports, creating formulas to forecast data, formatting presentations, and more.

96. Provide research services to businesses and individuals that need additional information and credible sources about a topic. You can write research reports or work directly with companies on research projects for specific topics.

97. Work as a freelance salesperson for companies that need additional help with their sales team. This could involve sending emails to prospective clients, handling follow up phone calls, demoing products/services, and much more.

98. Create business plans, sales strategies, project budgets, and other strategic documents for businesses.

99. Provide invoice collecting and follow-up services. This involves assisting businesses in getting their outstanding payments from clients through follow up letters, emails, etc.

100. Make courses to help others learn important skills. You can create courses for a wide range of topics from photography to programming to business and beyond. Sites like Skillshare make it easy to reach a large audience with your courses.

101. Become a manager and assist musicians, producers, influencers, and other entrepreneurs with their contracts, business deals, and overall management.

Hopefully this list will help you discover some new freelance business ideas to start from. What other ideas do you have for freelancers? Leave a comment below and we’ll add the top suggestions to this post.

Read more articles for freelancers

• Top Freelance Blogs

• How to Benefit From Using Your Photos on the Web

• Tips for Getting More Photography Clients

• How to Start Earning Money as a Photographer

• How to Create Effective Social Media Marketing Goals