I've thought about doing remote computer classes for people 50 and up to give them some basic skills on talking to their grandkids,etc.
Not really the point, but this jumped out at me: how are 50-somethings who lack basic computer skills supposed to take an online remote course?
I do some freelancing for software development and other computer stuff, so far all past employers or personal referrals. I was doing it as my main profession for almost a year in 2012, but I scaled it back when I decided I wanted to get out of one large project, so I picked up a full-time job again. The hardest part to me is finding work in a field that seems to prefer FTEs. I absolutely sucked at it last year but I hope to get better.
Rule #1 with any business: don't spend more than you're bringing in. If you don't have any big, regular clients (easy ones like former employers don't count here), don't order a bunch of business cards, stationery, pens, etc. These items are part of a marketing budget, and if you have no revenue your marketing budget is ZERO. Work within that to do your marketing.
It may sound scary, but if you want to get into this the best way I've found is to just jump in the deep end by getting rid of the full-time job. Make sure you have a good chunk of savings so you can get by for a year or so if need be. Find an easy 1-2 day per week part time job to provide at least some income (I think it's best if this job doesn't involve a computer, it's a chance to recharge). Then set a goal for how much money you want to bring in each month, and spend all your extra time that you'd otherwise spend working figuring out how you're going to make that money.
If you don't have enough work, this is a mini-EMERGENCY, and you need to spend more than the shortfall of your time on:
- Tactical: networking. Meetup, LinkedIn, Stack Overflow, blogging, etc. Don't underestimate the value of networking through non-job-related activities like intramural sports and your neighborhood. The MMM forum may also be a good place to look for subcontract work.
- Tactical: learning new skills. In my case, new programming languages that I could use to get new work.
- Strategic: expanding the search into new areas. Last year I landed a contract doing management of an ad server, something I'd had only a smidgeon of experience doing before (but of a VERY specific nature that few others have). If I expand my skills in this and started pitching them, I could leverage the existing client to get more work!
The easiest jobs to find were people with a "great idea" for a website/business who want your help setting it up. I've avoided those because they seem too risky; these people usually can't pay you directly, and may instead give you part ownership of the company. If you already have a couple clients and your expenses are reliably covered by your existing work, any speculative work like this can be a great idea if you're comfortable with the risk you're taking. Otherwise, pass.
If you're going to be doing most of your work from home, make sure you have a good work-from-home setup to limit distractions during the day. A dedicated home office would be ideal for me, but mainly this is a matter of knowing what you need personally to stay on task.
Following all of the above, I found it pretty stressful to build up my business and get going. I'm curious how more experienced freelancers coped with all this.