Some types of data entry projects usually posted are:

• Convert hard copy to soft copy: Clients will usually send the print / manuscript copy to be converted into say, MS Word/ MS Excel etc. It can be as simple as a multiple page essay or book to tabulated data in MS Excel. Sometimes you may need to do this by typing manually (e.g. when the copy is manuscript) or you can use OCR software to first obtain the data and then do the corrections.
• Data Extraction from Files: A client may want only certain data e.g. email addresses of those businesses residing in New York with net worth more than  US$ 300,000. If the data is huge and has some structure, you can even use a software solution to extract this data.
• Data Extraction from the Web: Also known as online data extraction or web scraping or copy-paste from web, which indicates that it is as easy as copying data from websites and pasting it into MS Word / MS Excel etc. The most common sub-type for this project is extraction of contact info from websites. e.g.  obtain contact info (including mailing address, phone, fax, email and web address) of all realtors in California. Manual copy-paste in this case is tedious and time consuming. So there are a range of software / scripts available for web extraction.
• Proof-Reading: Proof-Reading simply put is correction of data; spelling mistakes or typos, grammatical errors etc for a book are the easy ones. Some jobs may involve basic knowledge of the field e.g. proof-reading of a contract requires familiarity with legal terminology, medical journal requires knowledge of medical terms.
• Transcription: Medical / legal transcription was the beginning of data entry outsourcing. It involves listening to audio / video recordings and transcribe the conversation in a prescribed format. Transcription today is not just limited to medical or legal fields but also to others like business owners who require a Virtual Assistant to transcribe their thoughts for the day. Its best to invest in a good headset and software for these kinds of jobs.

Often, I see many freelancers (even designers and programmers) begin their freelancing career by taking up data entry projects and build up their ratings – this is especially applicable to sites like Rentacoder.com. Many would argue against this approach as it is unrelated to your actual expertise. But I would suggest taking them up as good ratings reflect not only your ability to complete a project, but also your attitude to a job. Moreover, you get to understand the intricacies of a bidding process before you begin to bid on projects that are specific to your skillset.

A Word of Caution: Look for projects on freelance marketspaces like Guru.com, elance.com etc and don’t bother about the vast multitudes of work from home and earn $6000 for data entry scams. The reality is that no single person has EVER made millions doing data entry (a company with 100s of data entry operators perhaps).

My advice is to use Data Entry as a stepping stone to win projects of a different category – yes, you will need to upgrade your skills for that – if you stick with freelancing, I guarantee that you will find a skillset that you love within a year. If you don’t find it or if you need help, I am just an email away.

So here’s the thing for all those experts who are called by friends and family to click photos – get those cameras out more often and click away. There are many websites which will sell those photographs for you. Some of the best ones are:

• iStockPhoto
• Shutterstock
• DPhotoJournal
• KeyImagery
• BigStockPhoto
• FotoLibra
• CitizenSide (To sell News images)

You just need to register on these stock photo exchanges and upload your images. These websites pay anything between 20% to as high as 70% of the selling price. And the selling price ranges from US$ 1.5 for a small (about 150 px) image to US$ 15 for large images. This amount seems small, but once you multiply the number of photos by number of downloads, it is considerable – yes, I can wager that if you don’t suck at clicking images, the money from here will pay for a nice Canon SLR. Many successful photographers upload many good AND related (note this down) images thus increasing the chances of a multiple sale.

TIP: Look for what kind of images are sold most and get them. What kind of background (white?), subject (business or corporate?) and so on are the questions you may want to ask.

Perhaps you think that your images are way better than most to be sold at such a low price. Then, setup your own website, and add a photo gallery with shopping cart using web services and tools that are available. Some of them are:

Web Services

• Flickr. Host your images and just add readily available scripts to embed the slideshow of your galleries and tags
• PhotoBucket. Nice alternative to Flickr
• SmugMug. They also have selling services like shopping cart etc

Scripts. These are scripts ranging from simple Javascript to PHP/MySQL scripts. A big list is at http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/05/18/30-best-solutions-for-image-galleries-slideshows-lightboxes/

So go and click those images away. Who knows you will get money as well as rave reviews for them.

Keep watching this space for more on freelancing as a photographer