Did you ever imagine there is a world where you can work from home all of the time? You wouldn’t need to commute, you’d have flexible hours and good pay? Yes, there IS such a reality and because I love this topic so much I will share my own experience with working from home.

First of all, I was one of those people who thought working from home was not even possible. But believe me, I have until now tried A LOT of work from home jobs and it is totally doable. In fact, it is the only thing that works for me and my family and I just will continue to work like this.

So do you want to stay home with the kids? Do you need more flexibility for your projects? Maybe just looking for a side gig to make extra money?

No matter what your motivation is, just know that all of it is totally possible now. The internet didn’t just come along with a lot of crazy stuff but it also came with the amazing opportunity of connecting to people worldwide.

There is a cultural change going on and the most adaptable companies have already jumped on board and are now open to working with collaborators online.

Which is great, because in doing so they have access to talent everywhere in the world, which will make them innovate over time and outcompete the companies that did not adapt when it was time.

And for us, it is great because we are now offered the opportunity to take on responsibility, without having to fully delegate our own family responsibilities.

I will share the jobs that got me at least $1000 a month without having to work full-time, I personally invested 2 to 3 hours a day for this, from Monday to Friday to get this amount.

But really, any of these jobs could have gotten me even more money if I had invested more time, of course. So you get to decide how much you want and can make, depending on your situation.

I am also sharing a list of work-from-home ideas that I believe are actually legit and you can make money with it. Here we go:

1. Teaching English Online

This was my first work from home job back in 2013 and I loved it. I was only teaching Japanese students and it was fun, because each of them had a small story to share, giving a glimpse into a super interesting Japanese culture. They had preferences in what they wanted to learn and either sent me material or let me pick a topic for the class.

If you might get discouraged thinking you need to be a teacher for this job, just know it is not true. Each company has its own sets of requirements, but there are some who won’t ask for formal testing or certifications and they will test your level of English inhouse.

The pay will also be substantially lower, ranging from 5$ to 12$ per hour. For those of you with university degrees or currently enrolled in a university, companies like Qkids pay 20$ an hour to teach 5 to 12-year-old Chinese kids.

Here are 18 companies that offer online English teaching jobs. Companies that hire English teachers online without a degree include:

• Cambly
• Preply (Teaching Adults)
• PalFish
• SkimaTalk
• ABC360
• Open English

2. Teaching Maths on Khan Academy

I just love Khan Academy – the whole idea and the actual value that it provides is priceless. I made money with their platform by teaching math to 10-year-olds and they loved it. They would do extra exercises and I could keep track online of their evolution.

Note that I am not a math teacher, yet the platform practically does the work for us. There are explanations for all exercises and hints on how to solve a problem and the kids get badge rewards as if it were a game.

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My job was to keep them accountable and follow their progress. I charged their parents a flat monthly fee, which was a good additional income for me at that time.

The platform not only works for tutoring, but it’s also a great homeschooling tool for parents and even as a tool for us to learn in-depth about different topics, from computer programming to anatomy and much more. I just think it’s genius and you should definitely check it out. Here is a guide on how to use Khan Academy as a teacher.

I support Khan Academy with a yearly donation which I can also deduct from my taxes, so if you find it useful or just like the concept and want them to continue their work, please consider donating as well.

3. Event Planning

I worked as a business event planner and this is another job that you can totally do from home. There might be situations where you would have to go and check out venues and some suppliers, or you would have to attend the event itself. But 95 % of the work would still be done behind the computer or even your phone or tablet.

Organizing an event has pretty standard procedures, but each client and event is different, so it is always a challenge to find a sweet spot. If done right, this gig can bring you much more than 1000$ a month. I charged per project and I found it best for me. But there are many ways to monetize this, once you know which kind of events you want to specialize in.

There are even international conferences that people organize yearly where you would have to work a whole year to get hundreds to thousands of people together. There are many perks to being a planner, from good connections to free courses and free travel.

The Event Design Handbook is a cornerstone of event planning and you can find it online if you want to create transformational events. I was so lucky to take a free event planning course with the authors of the book while I was attending IMEX at the Frankfurt Messe.

4. Email Marketing

I had clients for whom I would send out a newsletter or press or miscellaneous marketing materials once or twice a week. I would previously discuss with the editor in chief what should come in the next number and I would put it together, test it and send it out.

Most newsletter systems work on the same principle, so this is something that you can do no matter what technology your client uses. I personally worked with MailChimp, Cleverreach and Convertkit so far and they’re all great tools, depending on your needs of course.

5. Online Shop Management

I have learned so much from doing this. Guess how much experience I had when I first took this job? You guessed it, none.

Once trust is established, the clients slowly delegated their tasks to me and sent me small videos of how they run their shop, because each person has a system put in place that only they know and every time there will be some sort of custom set up that you need to know about.

But overall, this job can get you good financial rewards and it is of great value to someone who owns an online shop. Just think that if they can trust someone with their orders and invoices, they get so much freedom and in some way, passive money.

What the job actually implies is that you process orders, payments, generate invoices for everything, and send them to the warehouse or whatever system your client has in place. You are basically making sure that your clients’ customers get what they ordered from the online shop on time.

If you are anything like me, you will particularly find this type of job interesting because if you want to be an online entrepreneur, you’ll learn a lot by doing. You will have a clue on how to start an online shop from scratch. You can also estimate and anticipate the costs and what the common problems might be. So that’s helpful.

6. Listing Products on Amazon

It pays well if you have the right clients. It is not my favorite job to do because I got many times frustrated with Amazon’s overly complicated ways and sometimes clueless customer support.

But well, no reason to complain about something I don’t plan on changing. The good side is that I learned so much about how to have an Amazon shop, just by doing experiments. If you have the chance to do this for a client and you ever plan on selling on Amazon, it’s a great practice opportunity. I did get quantifiable results on this one and I really enjoyed the feeling of seeing sales come in.

My particular success came with keyword optimization on Amazon in different languages. I listed products with different keywords and titles and my client who had never had sales on Amazon instantly started getting in daily orders on products that range at 80-90 $.

7. Seo Optimisation

You can specifically cash out on this one once you gather experience. But if you love hashtags and you can always think about how you search for something when you need it, this is something that you can start now and learn easily.

I like googling things and Google, and I am a big nerd, so of course, I did this too. It pays well and it is of true value if you are good at it and can show results.

I’ve also heard endless stories of people making tons of money offering SEO services, just because their clients have no idea what they are paying for. To them, it just sounds like something smart and good that they should be doing for their business.

8. Graphic Design

Definitely a side gig that is 100% home-based. I made side money with this job only 3 months after I first started working with Photoshop. I am a huge fan of learning by doing, so my go-to resources for learning graphic design were 2 free resources actually. The Every Tuesday youtube channel, run by the amazingly talented and hardworking Teela Cunningham. She still serves as an inspiration to me and I can’t wait to see more of her tutorials. Plus she sells awesome fonts, textures and brushes on her site. And Forever Dansky, also on youtube, with Dansky, a really great teacher who just shows you everything you need to know design-related.

You can monetize graphic designs in many different ways. There are many sites where you can submit your design on demand, sites like 99designs, Crowdspring,  Design Contest, Hatchwise, Design Crowd. Working long enough (or strategic) on these platforms will eventually lead you to recurring clients.

But if you don’t like the bidding game, you can also search in your surrounding area for potential clients. Facebook groups where people have needs & design problems are another place to look.

Most of the work-from-home jobs that I listed here benefit from or simply require graphic design skills. I am very happy that I chose to start learning this, I love it and I’m always eager to test things out and to create digital products.

As a financial tip, once you start using both Photoshop and Illustrator, you might consider being on the lookout for a Creative Cloud All Apps offer. I got mine for the price of Photoshop and Illustrator combined and I have access to so many other useful tools, like InDesign, Lightroom and Acrobat DC. But make sure you don’t invest too early to avoid wasting your money.

9. Website Design

Good news! You don’t need to know how to code to do Webdesign. 99 designs and the other websites mentioned above will typically have contests just for the design part. Of course, down the road knowing a bit of HTML and CSS will be useful, but you can always learn that as you go. So for now, you just need a computer, an internet connection and the willingness to invest a bit in some software. You can also get a free trial on Photoshop and the monthly fee is totally affordable.

I started learning about Webdesign back when I was first time pregnant. I took a course on Udemy called “Learn Photoshop, Web Design & Profitable Freelancing”. I wholeheartedly recommend this, especially if you do not consider yourself a technical person. The instructor is great at explaining Webdesign and he shows how to make money with it from 99designs and other similar sites. I find he teaches Photoshop for complete beginners really well, it is easy to follow and full of useful tips.

Sure, his approach is one of the many ways in which you can make money with Webdesign. But you can also start a blog like I did and get clients through it, you can look for people who need websites on Facebook groups, you can niche down, you can give away business cards at your local small business funding events to people who are just starting out. The list of strategies to get clients for Webdesign is quite large and the demand for web design is very high.

10. Social Media Manager

There is also a huge demand for this. If you see yourself doing it and you have a bit of experience, it’s awesome.  This can be a small business in itself if you provide a whole range of services.

Social media management can typically mean Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest Management. But clients might also be interested in blogging, Facebook Ads, copywriting & even graphic & Webdesign. So make sure you state exactly what you do. Annelise offers more info on how to become a social media manager & where to find clients for this job.

You can always drop me a line if you have questions related to Pinterest Management, I had a constant stream of 1.5 million unique views per month after just 9 months of opening my account. Now I have a steady audience of 3 million viewers.  I seriously love Pinterest.

11. Writing for Magazines & Publications

I also worked as a content editor for some time and then I realized that I can also freelance the hell out of this gig. And I am not a great writer, on the contrary. I am still reading into the topic and I am taking every opportunity to write. On social media, on my blog, for my clients, while breastfeeding.

But because there are so many niche topics that require content, you can totally make use of this opportunity now. This means that if you know something about a subject, whether it is baking gluten-free, sugar-free cookie recipes, work-from-home, parenting or you just enjoy writing lifestyle pieces, you can totally submit your posts for money. You can find clients that need content. Here is a list of 70 places where you can get paid to write, here 23 publications for women that are looking for freelance writers and here are 63 sites that pay up to $2000 per post.

12. Online Research

Do you enjoy reading and discovering new things? Are you good at evaluating information? If you can tell what is important to a topic in a given context, then this is something that can also be a side job. There are plenty of websites where you can find remote research assistant jobs. Here is a more in-depth article with websites that offer real online research jobs.

13. Proofreading and Content Editing

Proofreading vs editing? Proofreading only requires that you look for vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation errors which might have been during the editing process.

It is a very popular work-from-home job and it requires that you take a preparation test for it, but it is worth it if you enjoy reading and you are good with your grammar & patience.

Part of my job was to check English spelling, logic & page format for blog posts, business proposals, marketing material and other written content.

Before you think it is a job exclusively for English natives, just know that I am not a native English speaker either and I still made money from home with this one.

If you are an English native, you can leverage this by offering your services to foreign companies. Here are 30 websites to find freelance editing and proofreading jobs. Here are another 32 legitimate websites for proofreading jobs.

14. Blogging

I made money with my first blog in the 3rd month of running it. However, it wasn’t nearly close to 1000$ a month back at the beginning.  I didn’t retire to Costa Rica 5 months after, with a 6 figure income, working just 4 hours a year.

It was the amazing sum of 5$, go figure! I got this through affiliate marketing. But this made me incredibly happy because it proved that my content is solving a problem for some readers and it resonates with people.

If someone is talking about an easy overnight success blogging story, to get you, your neighbor and their dog retired and sipping cocktails, meh. I can’t even.

via MEME

I’m probably hating, maybe they are selling a vision of success and it is so great because it actually helps or motivates some people to reach their goals. Maybe. I just found that what helped me most was getting myself organized and just breaking big goals down to smaller tasks. Then getting them done one by one. So there is no shortcut, sorry to break it down to you, right after a poop joke. But there is repetitive, smarter, courageous daily work.

You can totally get to monetize your blog if you focus your efforts and are really passionate about the topic that you choose. And by the way, choosing just one topic can be extremely hard. I have a hard time with this myself, but I just go on. I promise that as you write and you improve and learn from mistakes, you will also know what you like to blog about more.

If this is your first project and no one is following your stuff yet, here’s your chance to play around and see who gathers around your content. Except for your mom and those 2 friends who will always like everything that you post.

Also, you don’t need the best site, the best design, the best post. Screw that. Done is better than perfect. Just try and publish your work and improve it in the process. I am running an imperfect blog part-time for less than 10 months now and I am monetizing it through affiliate marketing already.  All of this while being full-time with 2 babies under 2.

If you too want to get started with a blog right away, I recommend checking out Suzi Whitford from Start a mom blog. This is not an affiliate link, but an honest testimonial. I started by getting her 20$ ebook and worked step by step on implementing it. I ended up picking a process and routines that work for me now, but the kickstart that I got from her was priceless. And she has so many useful courses.

One thing that is great about Suzi is that you can find her weekly for counseling and support live chats on Facebook and constantly get help when you get stuck. She has 3 babies but manages to be so reliable and organized.

But most of all she is real about it. I was impressed to see her do videos with a small baby sleeping in her arms because this is a reality that I believe we should see more often and support. Overall, her work will help you save time and get directly to work on your passion. So, again. Suzi. Here.

Pioneer blogger Michelle Schroeder has a great course that you must check out at one point called Making Sense Of Affiliate Marketing, from which you will learn effectively how to monetize your blog through affiliate marketing, without millions of followers and subscribers.

A final thought

Ok, so if I remember correctly, that’s about all I tried and tested so far in the last 7 years as work-from-home gigs, besides my full-time jobs.
So by this time if you think I am this flaky person who is interested in everything, I wouldn’t judge you. But it’s ok because I know I am always choosing my jobs deliberately, looking to learn something from them, while generating the money that I need. I am already combining all of the gained experience to serve my two passions: owning an online business and writing well.

Some were just plain boring and repetitive but I think I had to do them in order to grow. I would not have anything to say on this topic if I never tried my various work-from-home options. Yes, sometimes in the future niching down is key, but until then, no online job where you will learn a skill relevant to your goal is to be discarded.

Coming up I have some other work-from-home ideas that I believe to be legit. Just please, don’t waste your time on Swagbucks and surveys online, it’s a waste of your beautiful self.

15. Bookkeeping

I always say that in life, there are only 2 sure things: death and taxes. Truth is every business needs bookkeeping because every government wants taxpayer money.

I have actually done an easy version of bookkeeping for a short period of time, just not from home. I find there is a huge market opportunity for this work-from-home job, especially for women, especially now that most businesses are so much comfortable operating online.

It is very flexible, and with a few different clients in a month, you can make a substantial amount of money. For example, Bethany Holt runs now a bookkeeping business, an Etsy shop, and blogs from home and she makes 60$ an hour as a work-at-home bookkeeper.

16. Flip Items

I’ve had experience selling things locally here because I wanted to declutter. Plus, Germany has a tradition for selling and buying used objects that I think is great, for so many reasons. Buying used items prevents waste, it is good for the environment, you can use your extra money to invest in your dreams. Or just to keep your mental sanity by being debt-free.

I know for sure that you can make money out of it if you put in the hours to look for bargains in all possible situations. If you think this is your thing, google around stories from people who did this before, so you can be aware of some beginner mistakes and cash in as soon as possible.

Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper has been flipping objects for a profit for more than 10 years, and she offers a free webinar on how to buy and resell on eBay.

17. Sell online – Etsy

If you are creative and if you can anticipate what people would like and want, you can make a lot of money with Etsy. There are so many resources supporting you on everything related to Etsy, it’s almost a shame not to do it. Here are a few women who made money with Etsy and can share good, valuable tips on this topic:

• Jenni from Fuzzi and Birch
• Carolyn from Mum Cents (print on demand)
• Lizzie Benson from & She’s Brave (print on demand)
• Steph from Zero to Biz (custom, printed invitations and announcements)
• Claudia with her Goodnight Moon Store (Moon Phases Wall Hanging)
• Aimee from AimeeTodayPrintables (Printables for creating and tracking habits)

You can also follow my Etsy board on Pinterest, I always post interesting tips and success stories from Etsy owners.

18. Sell digital products on Creative Market

This is a great passive income idea. I am currently working on my first products and I can’t wait to finish and post them online. Creative Market is pretty much the authority for downloadable digital products.

So if you are considering creating a digital product, join Creative Market to get inspiration. You can easily set-up a store. Here is a list of hot digital products to sell in 2020:

• Invitations
• Save-the-Dates
• Event printables
• Pregnancy Announcements
• Cards & Tags
• Party Decor (Christmas, Halloween, Birthdays etc)
• Templates for graphics and documents
• Workbooks
• Guides
• Schedules
• Spreadsheets
• Stock photos
• Patterns
• Wall Art
• Brushes
• Fonts
• Icons

A tip worth considering: Building an audience (whether on social media or with a blog) before launching a digital product.

19. Write an e-book if you know something well

If you are an expert in anything, consider writing about it.

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You can always reach out to someone to help you make your writing better but do share with us what you know best, we want to learn it. You should consider this because the writing process can be practiced and learned and this will be a huge thing for you.

Being able to put your ideas out there will also boost you forwards, as you will actually learn more about what it is that you are doing. The teacher learns a lot while he is trying to teach, as he is interacting with his readers. So go write it out.

However, this is obviously not a shortcut, it is a long process and you have to do it because you love writing and connecting to other people and you really want to give back and improve your work through real feedback.

20. Host food events at your place

Do you have cooking skills and a welcoming home? EatWith.com offers you to option to invite travelers around the world to dine in your home, connect with you as a host, share stories and enjoy homemade cuisine together.

Bonus, you are paid for these services. So if you like hosting dinner parties (and are extrovert), this looks like a really nice way to make extra income. Plus you can totally connect this to a food blog and start writing down your favorite recipes so we can try them as well.

21. Set up a shop and sell something online

Not just Etsy, not just Creative Market. Your own online shop. If you’ve got money set aside and are willing to invest a bit in an online business, you should go for it. It won’t be easy, but you will learn so much.

If you pick something that you are passionate about and that gives actual value to a group of people, you might also make a good profit. It will not happen in a month though, so you need to decide and start breaking the actual thing into smaller steps so that it doesn’t overwhelm you. Here is a quick overview of what you could do to open a WordPress Online Store.

22. Teaching online on Udemy

Expertise required again. I know this is something that sounds hard and it surely can be if, as a beginner, you try to tackle big subjects where there is a lot of competition.

But maybe you can also think of something completely out of the box. Maybe you know how to do something that nobody else does. The more niched a subject is, the better.

Just a few weeks ago I purchased 100 Side Hustles and I read it on my Kindle in one evening. It had some amazing ideas. One of them was the super inspiring story of Theresa Greenway, who made 178 000 $ dollars in her first 2 years of launching her online course where she is teaching people the art of baking sourdough bread.

Despite her financial and personal struggles, she managed to educate herself on Udemy with cheap 10$ courses, about Youtube channel management, photography and video editing. It took her 4 months to craft a course with no fancy equipment.

I love these stories because they show us all that where determination and focus can take you.

23. Baby Equipment Rental Business

Cool idea, even cooler if you live in a touristic area. If you have kids, you know what traveling is like. If you don’t, I can tell you it is like moving and it totally sucks. I basically need a trailer for what these kids need for 3 days.

So renting equipment on the go is actually a great idea and a growing market thanks to the internet. You can easily have this as a side gig by creating your own website but you can also register to Babyquip.com and partner up with them to build your baby rental business in no time.

24. Virtual Assistant

I first heard the term years ago from Tim Ferris while reading his notorious 4-hour Work Week. The virtual assistant gig is as popular as it can be because everybody with a small to medium business needs someone to help them with daily tasks that they don’t have time to do themselves.

I do too. I hired people from Upwork multiple times to do VA work or tasks that were too time-consuming. I worked in many situations doing VA work to some extent and still do. Here is a great post to get you started, containing a list of trustworthy companies where you can find legitimate VA jobs.

25. Travel Agent

I worked in the business event industry and I ran across the travel industry many times. It is a great side hustle to have. People need you to help them organize their trip and if you like to do this, you are in luck. It can bring you extra money from the comfort of your home.

Plus, you will get the best offers from suppliers and you will find cool places & things to do that you will like to try yourself.  To get you started, you can always attend a big travel event near your area with a trolley and get the latest brochures offers from places all around the world. Here is a post on how to get you started as a Work-From-Home Travel Agent and a list 30 companies that hire travel agents remotely.

26. Laundry Business

Interested in a no-phone, no-computer job? Iron, wash & do it for money! You can set up a small business in your area and look for clients who are interested in such a service. Or you can use Laundry Care, who handles the marketing for you, helps you set up your own laundry service and does all of the paperwork, including billing etc. Here is a testimonial of a woman making up to 700$ a week with this as a side gig.