Make Money Online with Freelance Animation Jobs

Sharing is caring!

I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my full Affiliate Disclosure for more information.

How to Make More Money Online With Freelance Jobs in Animation

Since the advent of computer-aided design or CAD, animation has taken a fresh new turn. Now, animation doesn’t only imply cartoons for children but is also used for multiple purposes to convey diverse messages. Meaning, the field has a demand for young, creative minds like you. 

If you’re a creative person who can create eye-catching graphic designs, freelance animation jobs are an excellent option for you. Even if you’re working on another job, you can pursue this as a side hustle in your free time and earn good money. 

How Much Money Can I Make With Freelance Animation Jobs?

Animation is one of the most lucrative freelance gigs out there. Graphic designs and animations help brands connect creatively with their customers. That’s why, just like web developers and content writers, the demand for graphic designers and animators is high. 

This means, not only can you easily land profitable gigs, but can also earn well. In fact, this may lead you to consider ditching your 9-5 job. The payment model can be formulated for any freelance career under two methods: 

• Pay-per-hour method 
• Pay-per-project method. 

In the case of freelance animation jobs, you can use both methods. Depending on your experience and creativity, you can charge anywhere from $10-$50 per hour, or $50-$200 per project. 

You can initially decide on your payment method with your client according to the task’s difficulty and how much time it will potentially consume. 

Believe it or not, professional freelance animators can charge more than a thousand bucks per project. 

You can search for freelance animation gigs on popular freelance sites and see for yourself. 

However, don’t expect to earn hundreds and thousands of bucks right from the beginning. In fact, as a beginner, you might find it difficult even to get $20 for a project. Nevertheless, after building an impressive portfolio and gain reliability in the field, you can start charging as much as you want. 

Excited? Go through the following steps to start working as a freelance animator today. 

How to Get Animation Jobs Online? 

We won’t say that the initial hustle for getting animation jobs online will be easy. 

• The market is saturated 
• You’ll need time to prove your worth

But remember, the first step is the most difficult one. If you nail that, you can continue bagging freelance animation jobs daily and generate a steady income stream for yourself. 

Check out these steps to follow and make money with freelance animation jobs. 

Step 1 – Sharpen Your Saw

Let’s face it; you won’t get regular freelance work if you don’t work on your skills. Even if you’re a creative person with a good hand at basic animation software like Adobe Animator, there’s always room for improvement. 

Especially if you’re thinking of shifting to this profession for good, you should learn to work with multiple animation software and use them to the optimum level. That’s because you might come across some picky clients who want their work done from a particular software only. 

Many popular animation apps like Moho, Toon Boom Harmony, and Blender provide free trial options. So, you can check out their salient features before starting a paid subscription. 

You can also go through online tutorials and paid courses to learn the ropes on these apps before you sign-up. This way, you can pay back your subscription immediately by creating animations for your clients. 

Step 2 – Create Your Portfolio

Once you step into the freelance business, you’ll know that resumes no longer work without an impressive portfolio to back it up. Even if you’ve started getting clients on freelance sites, you should maintain a portfolio if you want frequent, high-paying work. 

Besides being a testimony for your work quality, a portfolio also signifies professionalism. This means you can lure potential clients by showing off a good brand image for yourself by compiling your favorite animation works. 

Your portfolio can be anything from your personal blog, website, or a folder where you save your work. Blog and website are better options because you can use organic traffic to get more clients. 

While you’re creating a portfolio, make sure you gather diversified pieces of work. You see, when clients look for a person to take up a high-end project, they’ll want someone who excels at every aspect of animation. 

Including an example from every genre will create a lasting impact on your clients and is bound to quickly get you high-paying projects. 

Step 3 – Pitching Potential Clients

Pitching potential clients is a skill in itself. And unfortunately, that’s the skill most freelancers lack. 

Once you’ve decided to follow the freelance path, you cannot expect to get work just by sitting in front of the screen. You’ll have to reach out to clients and show them what you’re made of to land profitable deals. 

We know it’s a nerve-wracking task. Nobody wants to call up strangers and ask for work. However, you might miss out on a hot load of work if you don’t market yourself with a targeted approach. 

Remember, we’re not asking you to call up random companies and introduce yourself. To pitch clients, you’ll have to do your homework. 

• You can start by calling up references from your previous clients. This way, you can create a familiar ground before you start talking about your work. 
• After that, you can go a step further by calling up potential clients. 

Cutting the small talk, let them know about the brands you’ve worked with and the type of animations you’ve done. Even if they don’t have any jobs to offer at the time, they will always call you back if you leave a lasting impression. 

Step 4 – Look for Gigs on Freelance Websites

Apart from contacting potential clients, another way to get freelance animation jobs is through online freelance platforms. These sites help you connect to clients who need work done from all over the world. 

The best part is, you can find gigs for both cheap work and high-end projects. Meaning, you can start by bidding on the cheap ones as a beginner and progress toward the high-paying ones as you gain experience. 

Another benefit of signing up on these sites is that you can advertise yourself by creating work packages. You can put up a gig by setting your rates for your clients to check out. 

Landing the first client is the most challenging part of these sites. After you’ve worked for at least five to six clients and received a good rating, you’ll be on a roll. 

The best sites to sign-up for as a freelancer include Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer.com. In the case of freelance animation jobs, you can also check out Craigslist and Guru. The trick is to sign-up for multiple websites when you start to connect with a broader audience.

Check out this post on starting an online business!

Step 5 – Provide A Quotation 

After getting in touch with a potential client, you’ll have to provide a quote for the project they offer. To give an honest quote, you’ll need to get as much information as you can about the project. You can start with these questions:

• How long will the animation clip be? 
• What is the action going on? 
• Are there two or multiple characters? 
• How much data, such as audios, designs, etc., will be provided by the client? 

Keeping this information in mind, provide a figure to your client. If he seems hesitant, ask him how much he would spend initially and see if you can work around with the figure he expected. 

Try negotiating by omitting a few customizations or stretching the deadline. This way,  you can come to a price that works for both of you. 

Remember, freelancing is like running your own business. You don’t have to settle for a price you think is not worth your time. 

Step 6 – Work On Feedback And Be Consistent

Dealing with client feedback is perhaps the worst part of freelancing. You’ll spend a lot of your time working on corrections, changes, and last-minute revisions. In this case, you will have to decide which demands you want to succumb to, and which ones you want to refuse. 

Anyway, you will learn something from each project you complete. Hang on to the feedback you get and use it to improve your future projects.

Besides that, as a freelancer, consistency is the key. You cannot afford to have fluctuations in your work quality. 

That takes us back to step one. Always stay in touch with the advancements in your field and keep learning. This will help you maintain a consistent image for yourself in the market. 

Final Words

The bottom line; completing freelance animation jobs is a highly profitable venture if you want to go for a lucrative side hustle. There’s a lot of demand for fresh animators in various fields, including entertainment, retail, and even the consumer industry. 

To start earning a steady side income through animation jobs, the first thing you’ll have to do is work on your skills. After that, you can start looking for clients on online platforms and create your portfolio to get regular projects. 

Once you start making money, you can invest in yourself further and switch to the animation career for good. If you’re consistent and passionate about your work, the sky’s the limit for you when it comes to freelancing. 

Author Bio: Freelancer Nomads is the ultimate freelance community. We’re on a mission to help over 50 million freelancers work better and smarter. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest. 

Sharing is caring!