Imagine no longer having to wake up at 5am by the annoying BEEP, BEEP, BEEP of your alarm.
Think about what it would be like to set your own schedule and not have to work the normal 9 to 5, or more often these days, 7 to 6?
Am I right?
What if instead of getting stuck in rush hour traffic both on your way to work AND on your way home from work, your commute was as short as walking from your bedroom to your home office?
Let’s talk about making money from home!
Whether you’re home with little ones (like me) or simply prefer the convenience of working in your pajamas on your own schedule, as technology advances, securing a work at home position is becoming more and more appealing and more and more attainable.
Today, I’m going to share three ways that you can bring home the Benjamins without leaving your home.
A) Find a Work-at-Home Job
From nurses to call center agents, transcriptionists and even teachers, there are growing opportunities to work from home for a reputable company. Companies like BabyCenter, 1-800-Flowers, and even the Hilton, will pay you to work from home. You may have to stick to a certain schedule and follow the rules of the company you work for, but you’ll have the convenience of working in your own home.
B) Become a Freelancer
The sky is the limit when it comes to the type of jobs you can do as a freelancer. You can be a writer, graphic designer, virtual assistant, or video editor. Whatever skills you have, you can use them to create a side income or even a full-time income. With freelancing, you are your own boss so it’s on you to find the work, but when you do, you usually sign on for one project at a time. Check out websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Hire My Mom that can help you find projects or ongoing positions. If you want to get out of the house, consider becoming a Tasker for TaskRabbit, where people can hire you to hang pictures, do their grocery shopping, or even stand in line.
Imagine getting a ding on your phone, and someone wants to pay you $25 to drive them to the airport! Well, you can make that happen by becoming a local driver for Uber or Lyft and get paid to drive people around town. And don’t forget about Craigslist! As you likely know, Craigslist is a free forum where millions of people post items to sell, places for rent, and job opportunities. But you can also post on Craigslist if you’re looking for work. List your skills and specifically what type of work you’re looking for, and you might be exactly the person that someone is looking for! It’s completely free, and free is definitely worth a try!
C) Become an Entrepreneur
Becoming an entrepreneur is only limited by your creativity. It’s similar to freelancing, but entrepreneurship is where you focus more on creating a sustainable business rather than performing one-off projects. For example, as an entrepreneur, you can sell new or used physical products, on websites like Craigslist, eBay, Amazon, or Etsy. You can either create the product yourself or sell an item you purchased for a higher price. If you find a company whose products you love, you can often get them at an extreme discount or even for free by selling the products to others who may love them just as much as you!
Do you have a message that you want to share with others? Do you have something you can teach others how to do?
1. You can sell digital products, such as eBooks or online courses and programs. It’s now easier than ever to become a self-published author by uploading your eBook to the Amazon Kindle store and gain access to their hundreds of millions of customers. Alternatively, you could potentially charge higher prices by selling the eBook on your own website.
Websites like Udemy and Teachable, make it easy to create and sell self-study online courses. You create the course, customers purchase the course, and you get paid.
2. In line with that is to become a coach or consultant. Do you have a skill that people keep asking you to teach them or help them with? Are you an expert in marketing, gardening, nutrition, or fitness? If you make it known what you can help people with, you can find clients that will pay you to coach them. For example, my husband and I paid off $120,000 of debt in two years on a single, middle-class income, and now people pay me to help them create and implement their plan to get out of debt!
3. And there are millions of bloggers, podcasters, and YouTube sensations who make a full-time living by sharing their message on the Internet! Usually, they earn money from advertisements or sponsorships, but they may also use the other strategies that I mentioned to create multiple income streams.
Gone are the days where the only way to earn a paycheck is by trekking to an office building across town, working for someone you don’t like with people you don’t care for.
Today, there are more opportunities to work from home than ever before. If you long for the convenience of working in your pj’s or you just want to bring in some extra income, then I encourage you to explore some of these options.
Freelancing is a good option to earn money staying at home. Yes “you’re our own boss” gives a space to breathe. Each time you have to follow different rules and criteria that sometimes challenging and difficult. But for me, freelancing is a good way to learn and earn.
Yes, it’s not for everyone, but I think it’s a great way to earn an income and have a flexible schedule! Thanks for stopping by, Amy!
So many great ways to work from home! Love how you highlight these in easily digestible nuggets for folks who are just starting to think about the switch. It is a pretty big change, and certainly NOT for everyone, as Meredith says. But I always tell people: I would rather work 70-80 solid hours per week for myself than 60 hours a week for someone else! 😉 The commute definitely can’t be beat (when I don’t have meetings or events).
Thanks, Marlynn! I agree — I would rather work more hours for myself than less hours for someone else. Plus, I love the unlimited income potential!
I’ve only recently started to work from home with my job since the team is now off site, and not having to worry about a couple hours in the day wasted for a commute is amazing! It’s a small part of my day that I got back, but it feels huge!
Yes! I used to have a long commute, and now I couldn’t imagine going back to that schedule. I love working from home!
Great post, Monica. I love that more and more people are challenging the traditional ways of bringing in income.
Thanks, Alaya! Me too!
I’m a freelance consultant and have experienced the benefits of controlling my schedule, fee and the projects I take on. I would say that it takes a good amount of time to have an established clientele, systems and learning the operational side to make it financially feasible and reducing stress. I would say it takes at least 18-months to get to a low-stress point, and that requires a lot of discipline and consistency. It certainly isn’t for everyone.
Yes, marketing yourself and refining your craft definitely take time. I think freelancing is a great way to start a side hustle while you’re still working a day job or home with kids.