• Be your own boss.Person image by Patrizier-Design from Fotolia.com
  
  A tough economy has left many people frustrated at the thought of being laid off from a stable job. If you are worried that you have no job security, consider doing freelance work that gives you control of your career. Whether you freelance as a part-time hobby or take it seriously as a career, there is considerable money to be made by those who are self-employed.
  
  

Writer

• Being a freelance writer is a legitimate way for people to earn an income from a creative source, even during tough economic times. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that authors and writers had around 151,700 jobs in 2008 and expects the field to grow about as fast as average through 2018.
  
  There are several options for online writers if you have a strong writing sample. Some pay an upfront fee for your work. Others might pay you for the number of views that your material gets on the Internet. Beware of scams; never pay to join a writing website.
  
  

Actor

• A market exists for actors in many major cities outside of New York and Los Angeles. If you love reading screenplays, turn your hobby into a money-making scheme. Films, television shows and commercials shoot around the country each month. Some of them look specifically for real life people, which means you do not have to worry if you do not resemble a Hollywood movie star. Working in the entertainment business as an actress or actor might pay low at first, although some people start out making big dollars.
  
  While talking to Screen Actors Guild franchised agents (see Resources) might help you find these roles, working without an agent means more money comes directly to you. Consider doing extra work, or background work, to make a few dollars even though the hours are typically long. Extra work means that you might see your face in a crowd on screen; extras do not have lines. Make sure to set the lowest wage you would work for, and do not go below it for any reason. Plenty of unpaid work exists for actors because it is a competitive field. Typically unpaid gigs are not high profile acting roles that can help your career; avoid them.
  
  

Model

• Whether or not you resemble Kate Moss, there may be modeling gigs out there for you. Print work--printed newspaper and magazine advertisements--needs real life people to sell objects to homemakers, acne prone teens, and middle-aged men. A Screen Actors Guild franchised agent might help you find print work and commercial work, in television commercials. Agents typically want you to have a professional headshot taken and printed, which can be a costly endeavor.
  
  If you are turned off at the idea of paying for headshots, there are other modeling opportunities besides print and commercial. For instance, portrait painting classes hire clothed models to sit for their art students. Also, consider looking into fit modeling for designers. Fit models are typically a sample size of around zero to two, and they let designers fit clothes to their body shapes. Starting out as a fit model or artistic model might also be an entry point to print and commercial work.