As of September 2020, 33% of the American workforce is working remotely. Many of these individuals had previously worked in offices until the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
As working remotely had become more popular and more possible over the years, many people dream of being able to make money from the comfort of their own home.
Is making an income online really possible?
Yes, it is! That’s why we put together this guide to making money online just for you.
Beware Scams and Time-Wasters
Before we hopped into this guide about making money online, it’s first words making a note about the prevalent of scamming information and other paths that will just be a waste of your time.
There are a lot of gurus that promise that they have the key to becoming rich with little to no work from home. You’ll want to be wary of this type of site, since, while anything is possible, there’s a chance of these promises are empty.
Similarly, when you Google “guide to making money online,” you will find tons of suggestions for things like filling out surveys for money. Maybe this could give you a meaningful amount of money if you’re in a country with a favorable currency exchange value or if you are so bored that you are just looking for something to do, but it’s important to understand that you likely won’t make anything close to enough money to live on through this means.
Now that was on that out of the way, let’s take a look at some ways that you really can make money online.
Blogging
When you think about making money online, blogging is likely one of the first thing that comes to mind. There are something like 500 million blogs on the Internet, so it’s important to understand that this is a competitive market.
Blogging is not just about writing articles and hoping that people like them. It is a business and most of that business has a lot to do with marketing.
While anyone can start a blog, monetizing your blog means you need to take things to the next level. There are a number of ways to make money with blogs, such as ads, selling e-books and online courses, affiliate marketing, selling sponsored blog posts, and more.
Freelance Writing
Another way that some people managed to make a living online is through freelance writing. This is also a competitive space, and there are a lot of people who are willing to write for very little pay. For this reason, it can be difficult to rise above and make a reasonable wage freelance writing.
There are different types of freelance writing. Could be a copywriter, a content writer, a ghostwriter, or more. Determining which type of writing would work best for you is an important first step in you want to research how these different fields of writing pay.
There is a huge range in the amount of money that freelance writers make. A small percentage of freelance writers can make quite a bit of money each year and have clients come to them. For the most part, however, there is more demand than supply and it can take a while to build up clients that are willing to pay you a reasonable amount.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has become an increasingly popular way of making an income online.
Essentially, affiliate marketing is when you are being paid to be a third-party salesperson for another brand product or company. When a person clicks on the link that you have embedded on your site and they purchase products on the other side, you can receive a percentage of the profit if you have an affiliate marketing deal with the brand.
You can learn more about how to make money online with affiliate marketing here.
Graphic Design
If you are a creative person trying to find out how to make money online, you might consider becoming a graphic designer. Before you delve too deep into this one, you’ll want to understand that this is also a fairly competitive place to work.
There are a number of different websites where you can find graphic design work. Sites like Fiverr and Upwork are quite popular but it might be difficult to work your way out of the lower-paying work. With websites like that, there are often individuals who are willing to do quite a bit of work for a very small amount of money.
Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant performs some of the traditional administrative assistant tasks remotely in addition to some other services. The services that you specifically provide is up to you, as there are a number of different options.
Here are some examples of services that a virtual assistant might provide, depending on their interests and skills:
- Community moderation and management
- Social media management
- Lead generation
- Content creation for blogs
- Ghostwriting
- Customer support
- Email management
- Project management
- Processing refunds and online order
- Managing product launches
- Creating sales pages
- Website design
- Graphic design and layout
- Editing and proofreading
- Website maintenance
- Travel arrangements and calendar management
- Transcription
- Keyword research
- Content research
- Bookkeeping
- Editing videos
- Data entry
As you can see, there is a lot of opportunity in variety and what it can be to be a virtual assistant.
One of the great things about being a virtual assistant is a flexibility with which you can structure your business. You can decide what type of industry you want to work in an whether or not you want to work with people local to you. You can also build off of existing skills you have and acquire new skills in order to expand the services that you offer.
You can also build being a virtual assistant around your existing personal situation responsibilities. You’ll want to be honest with yourself about how much time you have to put towards us and at what times you will be available to help your clients.
After you’ve decided on your business structure and the services that you offer, you can start building your online presence and lodging your website. Knowing who your ideal clients are is the first step to getting client. You’ll want to market yourself like any brand with market itself, by understanding their target audience, advertising where their target audiences, and having a strategic marketing campaign.
Transcription
Do you love typing? If you answered yes, you might be interested in becoming a transcriptionist.
While voice to text dictation is sometimes used for transcription, it is imperfect in a number of different scenarios. The reality is, that a lot of audio has background noise, several speakers talking over each other, and other things that make it difficult for a software program to accurately transcribe the words.
Transcription is a way that you can make money online, but it probably won’t make you rich. How much money you make has everything to do with how fast and how accurately you can type. This is because transcription jobs are typically not paid by the hour but rather by the audio hour.
What this means is that you will make a set amount of money depending on how much audio you transcribe. If the rate is $60 per audio hour, that means that you make $60 no matter whether it takes you two hours or 10 hours.
Understanding how quickly you will realistically be able to do transcription work as an important consideration in whether or not you can actually make enough money to support yourself this way.
It’s also important to realize that typing is not the only thing that goes into transcription. Many transcription companies have strict style guidelines that you will have to learn and memorize. It is usually expected that there are little to no grammar or spelling mistakes, so it is often necessary to go back through your work after typing and edit. This takes time, and depending on how much your being paid, may or may not be worth it.
Starting a YouTube Channel
There was a golden age at the start of YouTube when content creators could make quite a bit of money. YouTube has changed how much money you make over time, so while it is more competitive and less lucrative, a successful YouTube channel can still make you quite a bit of money.
Starting an Online Store
Another obvious example when it comes to making money online is to start your own store. Whether you are a potter or you want to sell hard to find auto parts, starting an online store can be an effective way of making money if you choose the right niche and market effectively.
Making an Income Online: Is It Right For You?
Did you find this article on making an income online interesting? If so, be sure to check out the rest of our blog for more fascinating and informative content!
