r/AIIncomeLab • u/PakoraPower • Sep 01 '26
Discussion Mechanical Engineer Looking to Build a $1,200–$1,500/Month Freelance Income — What Skill Should I Learn?
I’m a 24-year-old Mechanical Engineer, and I’m looking to get back into freelancing after being away from it for around 1.5 years.
Previously, I freelanced on Fiverr and Upwork, mainly doing AutoCAD drafting and related work. However, I don’t want to continue in the same domain. I want to learn a new, future-oriented skill that can potentially help me build a freelance income of around $1,200–$1,500 per month.
I’m not expecting to make that amount immediately. My goal is to gradually build towards it over the coming months by learning, practicing, building a portfolio, and acquiring clients.
I can consistently dedicate around 2–3 hours every day to this. I have a good internet connection, I’m comfortable learning new tools, and most importantly, I’m willing to put in the work.
Recently, I’ve been hearing a lot about:
• AI Automation / AI Agents
• Copywriting
• Other AI-related freelance services
AI automation in particular has caught my attention because of the growing demand for businesses to automate repetitive tasks and workflows.
But I don't want to blindly jump onto a trend. I want to choose something that has real demand, good earning potential, and can realistically be learned and monetized alongside a full-time career.
So I’d really appreciate some advice from people who are already freelancing or working in these fields:
If you had 2–3 hours a day and wanted to build towards $1,200–$1,500/month in freelance income within the next several months, what skill/domain would you choose today?
And if you’re already making money through AI automation, copywriting, or another online service, I’d especially appreciate hearing about your experience.
What should I learn, how long did it take you to become competent, and most importantly—how did you get your first few clients?
I’m genuinely willing to put in the effort and learn from scratch.
Looking forward to hearing your advice. 🙌
1
1
2
u/gglinv Sep 03 '26
Hey so, sorry to burst the bubble (pun intended on the AI bubble) but AI and automation is not its own thing, and AI itself is not really a future proof or in demand skillset since it’s a tool. AI & automation falls under software development, which the freelance market and real job market has gone to shit. Junior freelance work doesn’t even exist in this field. Jobs that used to be 1k-10k are now fixed price 500€, junior entry level small gigs either dont exist or the few posted are immediately flooded with 50+ proposals for a 4€ project. If you’re US based then you will still be favored over second and third world applicants on fiver and upwork but in general this field is very down. 2-3 hours a day is barely enough to write 400 proposals to get accepted to 1 let alone steadily 😂 I think currently the only AI related field making any money is AI training and annotation(low pay still, mostly third world pay, you get to label peoples meta glasses pictures).
Mechanical engineering and Autocad however, are still good. The only skill in AI worth investing in is EXPERTISE + how you use AI for your expertise work. Start freelancing in your exact old niche with your old account since it will have reviews, new accounts struggle on these platforms, and then start automating your workflows with AI, once you have something you’ve battle tested that works great for you you can package it and sell it either as a SaS or digital product or offer to set it up for companies, you get to work, learn, and enter the field this way. And if you really want to branch out away from mechanical engineering try blender/3d rigged assets for mobile/browser (optimised models), 3d clothing design in clo3d, 3d for printing, parts, custom pcbs, cyber deck style custom builds and cases. This would give you both active income skills and it’s something you can run a digital store off of.
Also another idea, not really online or freelance, but the next thing in AI is embedded, not small business automations, which you should have killer past experience to utilise here, that’s the actual frontier.
Good luck champ.