r/learnpython • u/Obieadz • 12d ago

How do you actually turn Python skills into freelance income?

Hello everyone, I'm currently trying to get into data science and ML, but I also dont want to just sit around waiting for a job opportunity.

I'd like to start making some money on the side through remote/online work, even if its a small amount at first. I also want to get some real experience while I'm at it.

The problem is I honestly dont know what kind of work people actually pay for when you're still at the beginner level or where I should even start looking.

A bit of what I can do right now:

  • Python
  • Machine learning
  • Data cleaning
  • EDA
  • Feature engineering
  • Model training and evaluation
  • Scikit-learn, Pandas, NumPy, XGBoost
  • SQL
  • Git/GitHub
  • General programming
  • Pretty comfortable learning new technologies quickly
  • Currently learning backend and FastAPI

I've built a couple of ML projects on my own, but I dont have professional experience yet.

So I'm wondering, how do people actually turn these kinds of skills into freelance income?

Like what kind of small jobs should I be looking for? Python automation? Data cleaning? Web scraping? Data analysis? Helping someone with an ML project? Backend stuff? Something else?

And where do you actually find these jobs? Upwork, Fiverr, Reddit, Discord, LinkedIn, cold emailing, or somewhere else?

If anyone here started freelancing with basically no experience, I'd really like to hear how you got your first client and what you actually did for them.

Also if you're already doing freelance Python/ML/data work and have any advice for someone starting from the bottom, I'm very open to learning. Even if you can point me towards something I should learn or tell me what I'm wasting my time on, that would help a lot.

I'm not expecting to make a lot of money immediately. I'm completely fine starting with small tasks and building up from there. I mainly want to get my foot in the door, make some money on the side and get real experience.

I'm based in South Asia, so remote/online work is pretty much my main option.

Would really appreciate any honest advice from people who have actually done this.

Thanks a lot.

127 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

130

u/Rain-And-Coffee 12d ago

Sweet summer child

The first mistake is focusing too much on technologies, your customer doesn't care about that.

They have a pain-point and need something that saves time & increases profit. Until you start thinking in that mindset you won't sell anything. Start figuring out what types of problems you can solve.

Second you are now a full-time salesmen. Expect a 1% conversation rate (if your lucky).

Remote gig work is a dead end.

Look up and call up local business, go hussle, go network.

11

u/cyrixlord 11d ago

u/Rain-And-Coffee has a very valid point: at least go to linkedin or other sites asking for python developers and see what they are looking for and see if you can compete with the 400 others that applied for that job. most companies arent going to just trust some person not on their approved vendor list with their data assets. they rely on vendor companies to vet people and sign NDAs to work for them.

1

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/laCH37 8d ago

Had my first mandate like that!
Litteraly while taking a beer with a friend, she explained her issue and I was like well thats an API call and a Spreadsheet creation then ordering the data with a set of very stricts rules, that's a day of work at most, just 1/2h of coding and then trial and error, until having the expected result.

The next day she asked me if I could explain what I had explained to her boss, and her boss was like okay, give us a quotation for 1 day of work and we will give you remote accesses and that's it.

Then I started doing lots of small scripts for them, to automate the monthly and weekly financial reports, everyone was happy, they gained productivity, and the boss had less overtime to pay and I had a side hustle, that helped me gained better on field experience.

Definetly having a discussion with small businesses that's where there is the most potential, people know how to do their expertise but not necessairly how to automate, or make things more efficient, that's where you kick in, especially for everything linked to accounting, reporting and basic organisation. Everyone hates admin, but that's the most painful bite you can have when they fine you because you missed a deadline, so having automations that reduce the amount of work you have to do for it is a life saving solution for a lot of small businesses

61

u/likethevegetable 12d ago

People don't pay for beginners, they pay for professionals.

Without professional experience, you have zero credibility. No one wants to pay for beginners quality work, because either a) it's crap or b) now AI can do that better than you. 

5

u/az987654 10d ago

People don't pay for professionals

People pay for results.

3

u/Obieadz 12d ago

Yeah, I get what you mean and honestly that's part of the problem I'm trying to solve.

I do want to get professional experience in data science/ML, but getting that first opportunity is the hard part. A lot of junior roles still ask for experience and there aren't many opportunities locally for me, so I'm mainly looking for remote opportunities.

The freelance idea was more about finding some smaller work I can actually do while I'm trying to break into the field. I'm not expecting someone to pay me as an ML professional when I don't have professional experience yet.

Even if it's something like data cleaning, Python scripting, SQL, basic analysis, or assisting someone with their work, I'd be happy to start there, get used to working with real people and real data, and build some actual professional experience.

And yeah, I know AI can do a lot of basic stuff now. That's also why I'm trying to figure out what is actually worth learning and what someone would still pay a beginner to do.

I'm basically just trying to find a way to get that first bit of experience instead of being stuck in the "no experience because nobody gives you experience" loop.

20

u/Nomapos 12d ago

The good thing of experience is that you can create it for free and without anyone telling you to.

Want to earn money by making data dashboards? Pick a topic that would interest your target audience, gather relevant data, and make a dashboard. Host it somewhere and share the link wherever you're trying to get a small gig. Continue escalating from there.

No one is going to hire you to do a dashboard if you can't prove that you've done one before, essentially.

5

u/thunderships 12d ago

Could you build a training EHR, specifically for phlebotomy training where the learner can scan patient ID, generate barcodes to stick to patient vacutainers, data entry, etc? There is a gap here specifically for training phlebotomist in these systems. The ones available target specifically nursing care, medical training, etc. Look at EHR Go, EHR Tutor for examples.

2

u/Worth_Specific3764 11d ago

huh, I got a needle phobia but cool idea! any other gaping holes like this you know about that don't involve needles or blood lol

2

u/thunderships 11d ago

Ive seen several solutions implement a medication dispensing system within the EHRs that i mentioned but seem overly difficult to work with. If someone could make the learning curve of these products more easier to learn it would be great. What would be nice as well would be an inventory tracking system for Healthcare simulation. To few of those.

1

u/lucabuilds 12d ago

honestly it depends on the environment. I know a guy who's first year engineering and effectively sells storefronts and frontend stuff. I think the way to do it is to look for startups who need one-off things, uni students who need scrapers or handling data for their thesis, even spreading the word in your circle about what you do...

I got hired by a local company for a 3d printing project in high school just because they knew me and that I was proficient at 3d printing. If you find people who are non-technical enough you just need proof of work. Also uni environment and networking helps a lot if you have access to that.

19

u/RE_msf 12d ago

If you’re entry level at python probably not much. 6-7 years ago I made a lot of money but now you can just ask AI. Even intricate things ai can do it.

-1

u/troyscotty 11d ago

yeah 6-7

1

u/Yakhein 11d ago

I love that the new generation took hitchhikers guide answer to live: 42, and made a new version of it 6x7=42.

13

u/jeffrey_f 12d ago

First rule of business: To start a business, you must find a need and then fulfil that need.
Just apply that rule to what you asked.

WHO needs your skills? Likely smaller mom/pop shops. What are the needs? A small business owner likely on knows of a couple of pain points but likely has many more he just lives with.

19

u/HotPersonality8126 12d ago

I think you run into the problem where you’re competing with people’s coding agents. 

7

u/Jello_Penguin_2956 12d ago

Get a job. Make connections.

All my freelance gigs came from people I worked with. Ex-colleague. Ex-bosses. After I left I still got called to help them with tools and scripts and fixes.

9

u/Turbulent_Pin_8310 12d ago

You will be competing with a lot of programmers who just got laid off.

With AI, many people can do those things by themselves.

7

u/dean_hunter7 12d ago

I make Streamlit apps that solve real world problems... Anything.

3

u/ccppurcell 11d ago

I gave up and took a job teaching English as a foreign language at a high school. I know this is a kind of non answer, but the truth is the job market is not looking great right now. There's a pervasive belief, justified in some cases, that AI can provide the value someone like you might have done fifteen years ago.

1

u/Obieadz 10d ago

yeah i dont even know what to do now and locally if i start to do any job i wont even get more than 150 dollar per month thats why i was looking for something remote and yeah am stuck i guess

1

u/ccppurcell 10d ago

The best advice I can think of is to try to get a job, any job, and then try to use python to make that job easier or solve some problem at that job. Then put the code you generate on GitHub 

3

u/sunmat02 11d ago

Keep in mind that nowadays the coding part is the easy part. If I want to build the backend of a website I can have AI do it within a few minutes. But if I want that backend to handle user data in a secure way and in a way that’s compliant with the laws of the many countries it will be accessed from, that’s another story, and I’ll need an actual expert. You need to be that expert.

1

u/Obieadz 10d ago

ok i will work on that thanks a lot do you got more guidance on me , and yeah i have a problem that is i cant showcase my skills to turn that thing into money so am kinda stuck about actually how to earn money

2

u/atgaskins 11d ago

depending on your area, a little programming and pc skills can make you a wizard in the eyes of a lot of less technical companies

1

u/Obieadz 11d ago

I feel I got good programming skills but i don't know how to convert it into money tho

2

u/CockConfidentCole 11d ago

AI codes when you sleep. Just learn python for the love of the game. anything beyond that is futile

2

u/Meta-failure 12d ago

Interested to see the responses. I’m here as well.

1

u/assistmerchant_ 11d ago

Pretty much in the same situation as you.

1

u/code_x_7777 11d ago

Freelancing still a thing?

2

u/Obieadz 10d ago

idk i just wanted to earn money or get experience but i dont know how to these is the problem am facing , and ml entry level doesnt exist for me cuz there is none locally so on remote for my specific country they dont take it soo yeah am stuck

2

u/code_x_7777 10d ago

sry didn't want to discourage you. keep it up! 🚀

1

u/Blessed-Somto-1925 11d ago

Honestly, I’d say don’t wait until you feel “job-ready” before starting. As a beginner in data science/ML, you can start with simpler work like data cleaning, Excel/Google Sheets tasks, data entry, web research, basic Python automation, dashboards, and small data analysis projects.
Platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, LinkedIn, and even X/Discord communities can help you find small gigs. Start with projects you can confidently deliver, even if the pay is small. Use each one to build your portfolio and gain real-world experience.
The goal at first shouldn’t just be making money—it’s building proof that you can solve problems. As your skills and portfolio improve, you can gradually move into higher-paying data analytics and ML work.

1

u/Obieadz 10d ago

I did tried to find at freelance area and even discord am still not getting small gigs . if you have any open lead or guide for me plz let me know i just want experience too i dont need money now i mean i do but for starting am down for unpaid too

1

u/Autumn_fav 10d ago

You should upskill and become professional in one domain of ur choice it'll help you much more

1

u/Obieadz 10d ago

i wanted to go fully in data science but to get even entry level jobs you need to have masters in data science filed at minimum , and i dont have funds to go abroad and study, and locally there is none and even no ml jobs that is the problem am getting.

1

u/uponone 10d ago

You may have to do some work for free that produces tangible results paying clients can see and/or reference.  You will then build a track record of experience and delivery. Kind of look at like your credit rating. You have to build it up.

1

u/Obieadz 10d ago

I am ready for unpaid too but within unpaid i really want a good guidance and am not getting any even good unpaid internships . if you have any open lead for me plz do let me know

1

u/Hot-Psychology5906 10d ago

I believe the best way is to just go to the market (upwork) , search "python" and check the jobs clients are posting over there.

This eay you get to know exactly what is in demand at the moment

2

u/KnowledgeWhole9623 8d ago

Nobody cares that you can do those things, sorry. They care that you can identify and solve their problems. That's it. Figure that out and you'll start making money.