Juggling responsibilities with financial instability is not a very ideal situation. But thankfully, in this day and age, you don’t have to sacrifice your financial stability to fulfill your daily responsibilities of home or school!
Working from home was not as popular 10 years ago as it is now. The pandemic gave a huge boost to the work-from-home job culture and mostly for the better. There are many work-from-home jobs that are perfect for stay-at-home moms and students to earn a steady income while balancing their busy home/school life.
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In this article, we’ll explore the best work-from-home jobs, what they are, how to get them as well as the challenges you’ll face in the process.
Let’s go!
Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistants help businesses and individuals with basic administrative tasks like scheduling appointments, answering emails, managing social media accounts, etc.
There are many ways to find clients as a virtual assistant. You can find job openings on freelance sites such as Upwork and Freelancer, or you can also make an account on Fiverr and create and publish your gig so clients can fetch your services instead of you applying to their job listings.
Another way to find clients is through Facebook and Reddit groups. You can find a lot of job opportunities on Facebook groups specifically created to hire virtual assistants. You can also find clients on Facebook by joining e-commerce business groups as most e-com business owners need a virtual assistant. (But make sure to read the group policies before posting your services.)
You can also use social media platforms like LinkedIn to network and find virtual assistant job opportunities.
To promote your services more professionally and seriously, you can create your website and promote it to your clients. Having your website allows you to set your rates and have more flexibility and control over the types of projects and clients you take on.
One thing to keep in mind is that you will face a steep challenge from virtual assistants in developing nations like the Philippines where virtual assistants sometimes charge as low as $5 per hour for the same quality of work.
(Protip: don’t waste time on stingy clients! Even if you get the job, it’s not worth the hassle. Find a quality client and you’ll thank yourself)
Hourly rates for virtual assistants vary a lot but on average you can expect to earn around $15 to $25 per hour.
Customer Service Representative
Being a customer service representative is a popular work-from-home job option as it allows you to earn from home given that you have a good set of headphones and a quiet place to work.
The main duties of a customer service representative include handling customer inquiries and complaints via phone, email, and chat.
This type of job is popular among students and stay-at-home moms because each company has its timing and you can’t expect a typical 9-5 office time. Some want a CSR for a night shift and some companies hire for a morning or evening shift.
It all depends on where the company’s target audience is located.
There are a lot of job openings on websites like Indeed and Flexjobs. LinkedIn is also a great source for finding a lot of CSR job postings. You can also search for companies that are popular for hiring remote CSRs like Amazon or Hilton.
Additionally, you can also check out job boards specific to customer service jobs, such as The Chat Shop or Convergys. Up2staff is also a great site to look for remote CSR job opportunities.
Highlight your communication skills and customer-centric skills along with any relevant technical skills such as experience with customer service software to stand out from the crowd.
Highlighting your effective email writing skills is also a great asset as you will need to exchange a lot of emails from customers.
The hourly rate can vary but you can expect to earn around $10 to $15 per hour in the beginning.
One main challenge you can expect to face is dealing with difficult customers. (You know, people can get difficult at times!)
So to succeed in this role, you need to have strong emotional intelligence and the ability to handle difficult situations calmly and professionally.
Data Entry
It’s a great work-from-home job option as it requires a minimal amount of qualification and is pretty easy to do.
Data entry is transcribing data from one format into another such as from paper documents into an electronic device/database such as a computer or mobile phone. The process is very simple but you need to have a keen eye for details and a high level of attention and accuracy.
You can easily find data entry jobs from Indeed or Upwork. You can also search for companies that are known for hiring remote data entry workers such as Aixon Data or Appen.
Facebook groups for data entry are another great way to fetch more clients. Fiverr and Reddit groups are also great for finding gigs or long-term clients.
Highlight your typing and accuracy skills along with any relevant data entry software like Excel.
Companies also look for candidates with strong attention to detail, good typing skills, and accuracy, to ensure that the data entered, is correct and complete.
Online Tutoring
If you have a background in a particular field or are just really good in a particular subject, you can offer one-on-one online tutoring to students via video conferencing, phone, or chat.
There are many online tutoring websites to find job listings such as TutorMe or Chegg Tutors among many others.
You can also list your services on online tutoring platforms like VIPKid, which connects tutors with students internationally and provides you with the necessary curriculum and teaching materials.
When you are applying for an online tutoring job, it’s very important that you highlight your background in the particular field that you expertise in as well as list any technical skills needed to tutor online.
Companies also look for candidates with good communication and problem-solving skills, as well as the ability to work independently and in a fast-paced environment.
You can find your students on Reddit or Facebook. Also, you can start your own online tutoring business by creating a website and promoting your services on social media, and reaching out to local schools and universities.
The rates for online tutors can vary a lot depending if you offer services as a business or get registered with a company. But on average you can expect to earn around $20 to $30 per hour.
One of the challenges that you might face is dealing with different time zones. You need to have good time management skills and the ability to work flexible hours. Or you can just teach students from your own country if you cannot afford to work flexible hours.
Writing
You could say it’s the most popular work-from-home job option on this list because of its never-ending demand.
Writing jobs involve creating content for websites, magazines, blog posts, sales letters, ad copies, etc. You can offer your services as a writer or as an editor. But keep in mind that all writers are expected to edit and proofread their work before submitting it to the editor.
There are a lot of job boards to find freelance writing gigs so I’ll just list them here:
- Contena
- ProBlogger
- Up2staff
- Prowriting Jobs
- r/Hireawriter
- Cult of Copy Job Board
- Copywriting Jobs
- FlexJobs
- Listiller
- Upwork
Other than job boards, there are a lot of content mills that hire new writers like Textbroker, IWriter, Hire A Writer, and Writeraccess among many others.
Facebook and Reddit are great sources for finding clients as well as other social media platforms like Twitter.
Though I find Facebook and Reddit to be the most useful. But some writers have had luck finding great clients on Twitter so keep looking. You can also offer your services on Fiverr as writing is one of its most demanded services along with social media management and web development.
You can be a general writer that writes on a variety of different topics or you can write for a specific industry (it helps if you have a background in that industry!) and specialize.
Writers specialized in a specific industry with a few years of experience charge ALOT more than general writers for the same years of experience.
The most important skills you need to succeed as a freelance writer are marketing skills (to gain clients), research skills, good writing skills (no grammatical errors!), meeting deadlines, and following the client’s brief thoroughly.
Hourly rates for new writers vary a lot but as a beginner, you can expect to earn $15 to $20 per hour. Most clients prefer to pay per word so for starters, the starting pay can be around $0.03 – $0.05 per word for blog post writing. (realistically speaking…)
(All writings have different rates so keep this in mind!)
The main challenges you will face as a writer are; steep competition from other writers all over the world that sometimes charge as little as $5 for the same project, tight deadlines, unclear client briefs, and stingy clients.
Social Media Management
You can become a social media manager and work from home if you understand how social media platforms like Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest work.
The job responsibilities involve creating, scheduling, and publishing content, monitoring and responding to comments and messages, and analyzing metrics to measure the success of social media campaigns.
There is a huge demand for social media managers in this day and age as more and more businesses are marking their presence online. Most social media managers handle multiple social media accounts of the same company or individual while some choose to specialize on only one platform.
As a social media manager, you need to understand how hashtags work, how to make captions for posts, design and publish posts at optimal times for maximum attraction, strategize promotional activities, etc.
You can find a lot of job listings for social media managers on Upwork and Indeed. Fiverr is also extremely popular for social media management. You can create and market your gig so you have a say in your work.
Join relevant Facebook, Reddit, and LinkedIn groups as there are a lot of clients looking for social media managers. Job boards like Simply Hired make it easy to find a lot of job listings in one place.
Social media managers on average earn around $20 to $40 per hour BUT it can vary a lot. Especially if you are trying to get a client online as a beginner. Once you gain experience, you can charge higher rates.
The main challenge social media managers face is staying up to date with the latest social media trends and algorithm changes. You need to stay updated to effectively manage social media accounts and create content that resonates with the target audience.
Graphic Design
If you have a creative eye for things and like to play with colors and shapes, graphic designing is a great work-from-home option for a lot of students and stay-at-home moms.
Graphic designing includes designing logos, posters, ad posts, brochures, website layouts, infographics, social media posts, thumbnails, and more.
Graphic designers are greatly in demand because of the boom in online businesses after the pandemic. Photoshop and Canva are the two main software to learn and sell your graphic designing services.
Photoshop has a learning curve and is best for providing professional logo designing services for companies and businesses, while Canva can be learned in a day and is best for creating social media posts, flyers, posters, brochures, etc.
An alternative to Photoshop is Photopea (free!) and it’s enough to kickstart your work. Upwork, Fiverr, and Facebook groups are best to find clients and build your portfolio as a newbie designer. You can also find a lot of remote job listings on Simply Hired and Indeed.
Highlight your design experience if you have any or make mock designs to show off your skills. A few nice samples will do the trick. Advertise your samples on Facebook and Reddit and let people know you offer graphic design services.
Hourly rate for designers if you work in a remote company as a beginner is around $20 to $40 but it can vary depending on your skill and creativity. Freelance graphic designers charge per project or as they see fit.
Delivering unique designs for various clients can be a bit challenging so you need to have a lot of creativity just so you don’t get exhausted or burned out.
Transcription
Transcription means you have to transcribe audio or video in a written format. To become a remote transcriber, you need good listening and typing skills, the ability to follow guidelines, a nice set of headphones, and a quiet environment.
Some transcription jobs may require a typing speed of at least 60 words per minute, and some companies may require a test transcript or a typing test. Either way, to make this job worth your time, you need to have a typing speed of at least 40 wpm.
There are a lot of websites where you can find transcription jobs, such as Rev and TranscribeMe among many others. You can also research companies that are known for hiring remote transcriptionists, such as Tigerfish or Quicktate. (there are hundreds of more websites!)
There are also a lot of transcription opportunities on Upwork, Facebook, and Fiverr. If you want to work in a company as a remote transcriptionist, you can apply for remote jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed as a freelance remote transcriber.
Hourly varies a lot and each website sets its own rate. You can expect $10 to $20 per hour with a company. But if you are a freelance transcriptionist and work on a few projects or one-off gigs, you can expect much more or even less.
The main challenge you’ll face is dealing with noisy backgrounds and difficult accents. You need good listening skills to succeed in this work.
The pandemic has opened the doors to a lot of remote work-from-home job opportunities and has made it easier to work flexibly from home.
With a little bit of effort and dedication, you can expect to earn a steady income online. Pick and explore what suits you best out of all the options and create a plan to achieve your goals.
I hope this post was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions!
