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Everyone is on the search for working from home online opportunities, and it isn’t really surprising.
The way people work right now has changed drastically in the past few years, and it shows in the numbers. In a 2017 study conducted by Upwork and the Freelancers Union, about 57.3 million Americans already do some freelance work and it is expected to surpass the number of non-freelancing workers by 2027. In a study made by Slash Workers, it was found out that about 77% of freelancers are already making a stable income since they ditched their day jobs.
If those numbers alone are not enough to convince you to join the freelance economy, then I don’t know what else would.
For moms, the lure of being able to work from home, at their own pace and at their own schedule, has become even more attractive because the arrangement allows them to be fully present to attend to their family’s needs but still able to contribute to their household’s finances.
Personally, I’ve chosen to work from home for these very same reasons, and it has afforded our family to all be present at home (yes, dad included) and take full control of how we spend our days.
But the biggest question for those looking for stay-at-home income opportunities is often…how do you start? What kinds of skills are needed to start an online side hustle?
Below are among the best work from home opportunities that you can turn from a side hustle to a full-time gig.
1. Become a Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant is exactly what its title says: a freelancer who provides assistance to business owners in a virtual manner.
Virtual assistants can provide a wide range of skills and services to their clients including one or many of the following:
- answer emails and clean out the inbox
- write, edit, format and schedule blog posts
- maintain different social media channels
- do research work
- make travel bookings or create itineraries
- create graphics for blogs and social media
- maintain websites or online stores
- and many other services!
The pay range can also differ, depending on the type of service that you provide. General virtual assistants, or those that can pretty much do anything and everything under the sun, can start at $10 per hour. However, those with highly specialized skills especially those that are geared in technical work can demand a lot more from $20-$40 per hour, or even beyond!
I started my VA business last year and earned $20k in revenue after 11 months.
Anyone, even those who have zero experience prior, can start a virtual assistant business. The best route here would be to start providing administrative or data entry services to online business owners.
As you gain experience as a virtual assistant, so will your skills upgrade. Don’t hesitate to learn more skills or invest in more training to level up because the more you provide value to your client and the lesser time they spend on their business, the more you become valuable to them – and the more you can demand for a higher pay!
To get started as a virtual assistant, you can check out this post by Gina Horkey, which describes how you can become one in detail, or you can join her in her Breaking Into VA Work Webinar!
2. Get Paid as a Freelance Writer
I started out as a freelance writer so this is something that is really close to my heart.
The work of a freelance writer can be varied – you might be writing blogs and articles for websites and online magazines, or you could also be doing offline work such as writing books, ebooks, PDFs, white papers, case studies, and many more.
What many people don’t realize is that becoming a highly paid freelance writer doesn’t require experience nor a degree in Journalism or Creative Writing. As long as you are able to write in Grade 4 English, then you can get hired for your skills!
Because I started my freelance career as a writer, there are a lot of writers I look up to online. Elna Cain is one particular stay-at-home mom turned highly paid freelance writer – you can check out her course and learn how to earn your first $1,000 as a writer or you can start out with her FREE Become a Rockstar Freelance Writer email course.
Gina Horkey also started out as a writer before doing VA work. She explains in detail how to become a freelance writer and you can also download her guide of 200+ Writing Niches that you might want to specialize in.
3. Become an Online Bookkeeper
This is embarrassing to admit but I actually don’t know how to keep books. We never had them in high school (I live in the Philippines and for some reason, our all-girls Catholic school home economics only taught us sewing, cooking and other practical but women-only work).
Now that I am running my own business, I am able to keep a record of my business and personal cash flow – but balancing accounts and figuring out taxes is just something I don’t want to deal with.
Knowing how I feel about the numbers, I am quite sure there a lot of other business owners who would rather want to focus on their business than balancing books – which is why bookkeeping can be a highly lucrative business to start online.
This free webinar will guide you through how to start a bookkeeping business from home – watch it and see if it’s something you might want to venture!
4. Become an Online Transcriptionist
When I was in college, I trained for a few weeks to do general transcription jobs. It was back in 2008 and online businesses weren’t as big as it is now, so all the training had to be done in an office and at night (time zone issues).
Fast forward to today and transcription work has evolved and has become very in demand nowadays.
Some transcription work you might be assigned include transcribing:
- medical reports, documents, etc
- legal reports, documents, hearings, etc
- voicemails (this was what I did in 2008)
- podcasts
- webinars
- interviews and online summits
- any form of audio/video content
5. Start a Proofreading Business
If the wrong use of apostrophes, commas, hyphens and the like irk you or if you are just can’t help but be a grammar Nazi, doing proofreading work is probably for you.
It’s common to mistake proofreading as editing, but remember that these two are quite different although there might be some overlap in between. Basically, editors help in improving the overall quality of writing by removing errors and inconsistencies and enhance the use of language. Proofreaders, on the other hand, helps perfect an already good writing by making sure there are no spelling or grammar mistakes, that language and formatting stay consistent and that the document is publication ready.
You can join this free workshop to know more about becoming a general proofreader and to see if it is something that you can see yourself doing in the coming years.
6. Become a Scopist for Court Reporters
Not a lot of people might be aware of this job, but scoping is yet another form of lucrative business that you can start online.
What exactly is it? Scoping is basically editing in the court reporting industry. That means that if the court report is the writer, the scopist is the editor.
On average, scopists earn around $30-40,000 per year and are highly in-demand because they help court reporters save a lot of time.
If you want to know more about the work of a scopist and see if it is a great fit for you, join this free 7-day mini course.
7. Start Making Money Blogging
Ahh…blogging.
A lot of people have their share of success and failures in blogging. One thing is for sure though: blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
It takes a lot of effort and hard work – and if you are in a situation where you need money as soon as possible, this option might not be for you. I suggest that you start a service-based business first based on your current skills and make your next steps from there.
Nevertheless, earning huge sums from blogging is totally possible.
Just check out the monthly income of my favorite high-earning bloggers:
- Melyssa Griffin of Melyssa Griffin/Nectar Collective – $283,000+ as of December 2016
- Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income – $167,000+ as of December 2017
- Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents – $104,000+ as of September 2018
- Abby Lawson of Just A Girl and Her Blog – $41,700 as of December 2016
- Lindsay and Bjork Ostrom of Pinch of Yum – $32,000+ as of June 2015
- Paul Scrivens of Billionaire Blog Club – $29,000+ as of January 2018
Which path are you taking?
I know it sounds overwhelming but take all this info in and reflect upon it.
Which do you think will work for you? Which ones will allow you to make use of your current skills?
Read about it, sign up for the free courses and webinars, and see if it is something for you. Don’t be afraid to test out one thing and fail at it. Maybe the next one is the one you’ll be successful at.
Happy business building, mama!
