Industry-Specific Gateways
Rev is a work-from-home site for video transcription and captioning.
WorkMarket connects freelance workers with clients in the technology industry.
99Designs is a marketplace for artists and designers. It’s a great place if you have some artistic talent, especially for web design.
VipKid is all about teaching English to students in other countries, mostly China. VipKid requires a few hours a day, and you may have to put in some strange hours to accommodate for the difference in time zones. You also need a college degree.
FreelanceWritingJobs is purely for freelance writers. If you’re a writer, you’ll want to check this one out. The benefit? No fees! This one is mostly just a job board, but the targeted audience and the lack of fees make it worth the time.
Amazon Turk offers a variety of tasks that require repetitive human input. The jobs are small and the pay is not exceptional, but if you have some free time and don’t have too many specialized skills, this one might be for you.
Additional Options
TaskRabbit is less a “work from home” job than a way to find moneymaking opportunities in your neighborhood. TaskRabbit connects you to people who need jobs done, such as fixing a leaky sink or mowing the lawn. If you like to move around your neighborhood, you might enjoy some part-time jobs from this site.
Tradesy is a bit like eBay. You can list items you have to sell and then sell them through the app.
ThredUP is a platform for anyone who wants to make quick cash by selling off used clothing. Have some clothes to sell? You can use ThredUP to do just that. Some people have gotten into the business of buying and then reselling clothes from discount stores and turned it into a profitable way to make money from home.
This list is by no means exhaustive. There are dozens of sites that specialize in different types of online, work-from-home options. Many sites pop up and then disappear quickly, so it’s best to try to stick with the ones that have a larger presence and provide the higher chance of actually landing you some good moneymaking opportunities.
Pros and Cons
As with any career option, there are benefits and downsides to working at home. Here’s a simple breakdown of some of the pros and cons you’ll run into:
Pros
More freedom to choose your schedule
Easier to negotiate your prices
More variety of opportunities
Ability to work from anywhere
Potentially higher earnings potential for some careers
Low cost of entry
No need for a college degree in many cases
Cons
Work can be inconsistent
More time and effort spent looking for jobs
More effort needed to “sell yourself”
The need to continuously and more regularly update your resume and portfolio
More irregular schedule
A distinct possibility of overwork
Often lacking in benefits, such as employer-provided health insurance
Ready to get started? Here are a few helpful tips.
Create a Portfolio
If you’re looking to start working from home in a particular industry, and have experience in that industry, develop an online portfolio that shows off your talent on a personal website or a portfolio hosted on one of the job market websites you’re using.
Complete Skills Tests
If you’re using a job market website like Upwork or Guru, take their included skills tests. Without a work history trail for online work, employers need to see that you meet the minimum skills requirements.
Update Your Resume
You may find that your resume becomes crucial, at least in the beginning. Make sure to keep it updated so that it reflects the most current experience and education you have.
Search Multiple Sites
Don’t just use one site, especially in the beginning. Search multiple job sites for online work. Make multiple profiles. Share your portfolio on all of them. Eventually, you might find that one site benefits you the most, but until then, use multiple sites. There’s a good chance that some employers use one site, but not another. You increase your chances this way.
Start Small
Don’t expect to command the highest pay right at the beginning. On sites where you can list your rate, choose something that’s reasonably low at the beginning. When submitting proposals on sites, try to undercut the other proposals even if it means accepting a rate that you might not like. Take the smaller, fixed-rate jobs. The point, at least in the beginning, is to build a positive work history and receive positive feedback and reviews. The major freelancing websites, in particular, allow you to have a work trial with client reviews.
Slowly Increase Your Rate
There’s no specific time to increase your rate. The longer your work history and the more successful and positive reviews you have, the more likely you are to get clients who are willing to pay more for your service. At the end of the day, remember: people are willing to pay more for better quality! Make it your mission to be the one that provides it to them.
Final Word
You can work and earn money at home. You should still be aware of the adage, “if it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not true.” There are lots of people offering or promising amazing programs guaranteed to make you masses of money for very little work, or promising the hidden secret to becoming a millionaire from your bed. Be skeptical. If you want training or further education, get it from reputable sources, not some internet know-it-all. Always ask questions, and always do your research. Legitimate work involves delivering goods or services to someone who needs them, and the pay is usually commensurate to what the work requires. If someone’s talking about pay that doesn’t sound appropriate to the work, be careful!
