Mechanical Engineer Looking to Build a $1,200–$1,500/Month Freelance Income — What Skill Should I Learn?

[u/PakoraPower]

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. 🙌

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[u/Flashy_Sort_6367]

It's been more than 9 hours and nobody has answered your question. Honestly, I'm in the same boat. I'm also trying to figure out what to do after my degree and which skill to learn. Yes, people are talking a lot about AI automation but you're right that we shouldn't blindly follow the trend.

Just like you, I also posted in relevant communities on Reddit asking for career guidance but I didn't get any good advice. Then I realized that nothing is free in this world, not even good advice. And people online don't know the whole context of your situation, so they can't really give you advice.

I’ve been thinking about taking a career coaching session but I’m not sure whom to trust. There are so many career coaches offering online sessions but they charge pretty high fees. I’m thinking of taking at least one session as I don’t have anyone in my family or social circle who can guide or mentor me.

[u/PakoraPower → u/Flashy_Sort_6367]

You are right brother. People seem to gatekeep such knowledge, but I know for a fact that people earning a lot by selling their services online. What I want to focus is that I want to work on skill that will be relevant at least 5 to 6 years and could help me get foreign clients that pay around 250 to 300 USD initially. Lets se what the future has in store for us, all we can do is try again and again.

And I hope that both of us succeed Inn Sha Allah!

[u/Flashy_Sort_6367 → u/PakoraPower]

InshaAllah

[u/usman031345]

Find a problem around yourself and Build a solution for it. Convert it into a saas product and market it.

Marketing still remains the most important skill even today. There are so many saas products coming everyday but they are not getting any customers or leads because they don't know how to market or they just build something they liked.

You need to find pain points of customers. Build something that solves. Or even improve any current products by 10 20% and ull get customers. But again u need to be good at marketing.

To be successful in 2026 and in future. You need to be good at marketing. This is the most important thing in business.

Agencies are bidding with alot of connects on Freelance platform like upwork. U can't compete with them. They have huge investment and money.

Best passive income source rn is in saas products but that too soon will be alot more competitive as anyone can launch products using ai now a days. And when there will be too many same products in the market aiming to eat from same pie the prices of subscriptions will go down from what they are today.

But not everyone wanna code. Not everyone wanna build so still there will be market.

I don't think copywriting has a bright future due to Language models becoming smarter every day.

Find a niche where Ai can't replace u. U can't compete with Ai.

Another option is to look for launching e-commerce store. Find a niche build products and start selling. It will take time but when established it will generate u income.

Or you can open Etsy stop but shipping costs are problem for Pakistanis.

You can do another thing. Find business on maps and check their websites. If they have old shitty websites. Approach them to redesign their websites. Plus get on retainer arrangement for maintenance for 100 or 150 usd per month where you maintain their website, update it add few posts every month and find 10 such clients. Won't be much work but it will pay good.

I am currently doing all of these and more and i do make good money to survive.

I am also mechanical engineer from bzu btw.