With the number of employment opportunities in the traditional workplace dwindling and the push for people to work remotely growing, the idea of making money from the comfort of your own home has become increasingly attractive. If you’re looking for easy ways to make money from home and you want to benefit from the freedom and flexibility of working from home, this article has got you covered. Here, you’ll learn more than just 20 ideas to make money from home; you’ll also get the essential information you need to know on how to make it work.
From tips on getting started to the most profitable business ideas, you will be armed with a comprehensive set of resources and knowledge to help you make the most out of your newfound ventures. This article has a wide range of ways to make money from home and advice to help you get started right away without delays. Whether you are looking for a full-time or part-time home-based gig, this article is all you need.
Without further ado, the following is a complete guide of 20 easy ways to make money from home.
1. Become an online tutor
One of the easiest ways to make money from home is to become an online tutor. This home-based gig works well when you have expertise in a particular subject. If you already know the top you want to cover, you will not have to worry about learning anything new. All you have to do to start making money from home as a tutor is to start teaching people online.
If there is a particular subject you understand well, become an online tutor and start earning a regular paycheck from the comfort of your home. No matter what subject you are considering, there are millions of people out there who are eager to learn from you. Even if you only know English, you can still teach people how to talk, read in English, formulate sentences, or correct their grammar. The possibilities are endless.
Popular subjects you can tutor online include but are not limited to the following.
- Mathematics
- Chemistry
- Biology
- Physics
- History
- English and other languages
- Psychology, etc.
How much can you make from home as an online tutor?
How much should you expect to make from home as an online tutor? The pay rate will depend on your experience and where you work. According to ZipRecruiter, the average salary for online tutors is $25/hr or $51,154 /year. The base salary for online tutors is $27,000 whereas the high end is $82,000.
You can clearly see that being an online tutor is a legit way to make money from home. Even if you start at the low end, you still have room to grow as you build relationships, networks, and experience.
How to start making money from home as an online tutor?
Becoming an online tutor is very simple and straightforward. All you have to do to start making money online as a tutor is a plan. The following is a set of steps you can utilize and start earning real money from the comfort of your couch.
- Choose a subject. Although you might know a lot of subjects, having a niche is always the best way to start successful ventures. Find a subject you know best and enjoy the most and start with it.
- Make a decision about how you want to work. Are you planning to work independently or work for a platform? The answer to this question will determine the level of preparation and the tools you need. If you decide to work for an online tutoring website, you will need to register and follow instructions from the platform. If you decide to work for yourself as an independent tutor, you will need a way to attract students and a platform such as a blog or a normal website. You can also use social media and schedule conference calls on zoom, etc. The following is a list of online tutoring websites you can start with.
- Outschool. Mostly, K-12 students
- Preply. Typically adults students.
- Camply. Popular for English tutoring as a second language.
- Tutor.com. Popular for one-on-one environment setups.
- Italki. Known for language teachings
- Skooli. For homework
- Chegg Study
- Learn To Be
- Put your teaching material and gear together. If you want to make money from home as a tutor, you will need to have access to the internet, a computer, a webcam, and video conference apps such as Zoom. You will need to record your courses. A good microphone and headset will also come in handy.
- You might also need to get filming equipment, good lighting, and a quiet and safe working environment.
- Advertise your service and find students. Your existing students can be the first ones to take your courses online. You can also advertise your tutoring service on social media, and on your email subscribers, etc.
2. Become a virtual assistant
If you never heard of this side hustle, virtual assistance is a legit way to make money from home. As a virtual assistant, you will provide business and entrepreneurship assistance to various entities remotely. There are many ways you can make money from home as a virtual assistant and almost every company is looking for one way or another to get support from highly qualified individuals online.
What do you do as a virtual assistant?
As a virtual assistant, you are considered a self-employed individual who can remotely provide administrative support and related services to businesses. Some of the tasks you can expect to perform include but are not limited to making phone calls, appointment scheduling, managing email accounts, travel arrangements, account management, marketing, etc.
What is the area you can provide assistance as a virtual assistant?
There are many areas you can provide support as a virtual assistant. However, the following are some of the most common areas to provide support for different businesses.
- Social media management
- Customer service
- Online Marketing
- Events management
- Preparation of reports and accounting tasks.
- Data entry
How much can you make as a virtual assistant?
As a virtual assistant, you can expect to make a decent income by either working full-time or part-time. How much you make will depend on your experience. According to Glassdoor.com, the average salary of a virtual assistant across all industries is $43,710/year. The base salary for virtual assistants is $31,000 whereas the high-end salary tops out at $62,000.
If you want to make money from home as a virtual assistant, you can easily start low and build your experience and wallet over time. There is room for growth in this industry.
How to get started as a virtual assistant?
To become a virtual assistant and start making money from home without leaving the comfort of your couch, you will need to make a plan. Use the following tips to help you get started with virtual assistance and start earning money right away.
- Identify your niche. Making money from home usually requires that you focus on one area you know best. As a virtual assistant, you will need to identify your niche. For example, if you are good at typing, you can easily look for data entry remote work. Or if you are good at financial reporting and management of reports, you can focus on bookkeeping types of jobs.
- Identify your skills. Since you will be working remotely, you will need to have some computer basic skills. Other skills needed to start making money from home as a virtual assistant include communication skills, editorial skills, time management, and organizational skills.
- Establish the service you will offer and the price. Since you will be working independently, it is important that you define particular services that align with your skills. For example, you can choose to be a social media manager. After choosing the service, you will then decide how much you will charge your clients. Make sure that your rates reflect your experience and the industry.
- Get the equipment ready. Working remotely requires some form of equipment. What you will need to put together will depend on the kind of jobs you do and the nature of your clients. But, you will need access to a computer, access to conferencing app, access to the internet, a phone, headphones, a copying machine, a fax machine, etc. You will also need to have a designated office space or access to an internet cafe or park. Again, it will all depend on what you do.
- Start looking for jobs and build a portfolio. After setting your gear, you will need to start looking for virtual assistant jobs. You cannot start making money doing virtual assistance without clients. You might need to start low and build your portfolio to get reviews and recommendations. As you build your experience, you will gain more clients and increase your rates. Focus on building a portfolio, getting referrals, and positive reviews.
- Market yourself. This step is probably one of the most important steps to get your name out there. Nobody will know that you are a virtual assistant unless you market yourself and put your name out there. Start with social media accounts and sent out emails to your followers. Start small and grow gradually.
3. Do online surveys
Online surveys are probably the easiest way to make money from home. Doing surveys will not make you a millionaire, but they will bring in a few bucks that can help you cover most of your expenses. Depending on how much time you have and dedication, you can earn decent money.
This side hustle is so easy that you get paid for providing your opinion. Topics you will work on will vary based on the area of your interest. For example, if you like technology and design, you can choose to do surveys on new car designs, electronics, etc. All you have to do is to create an account with reputable online surveys and start earning a steady paycheck.
The form of payment defer from one survey website to another. But, you should expect to be paid in cash or points. You can then redeem your points in cash later on.
What are the best survey websites?
If you are interested in earning money from home doing surveys but don’t know where to start, the following list of survey sites will be a great place to start. Although there are a ton of survey websites, the following dominate the market. You can either create an account with one or simply enroll in multiple survey websites. Keep in mind that juggling through multiple survey websites will not yield good results as you will not be maximizing your time and effort on any one of them.
Each one of these websites will give you a chance to make extra money from home without leaving the comfort of your couch. You will need to do a lot of surveys in order to make more money.
If you have free time, spend it on surveys instead of playing video games or watching TV.
How to get paid for doing online surveys from home?
In order to make money from home doing surveys, you will first need to enroll in one or more online survey websites. After creating an account, you will then choose your focus area and start taking surveys. As you do surveys, you will earn cash or points that you can redeem later. The more surveys you do, the more experience you will get which will give you access to higher-paying surveys.
How much can you make doing surveys from home?
Doing online surveys requires patience, knowledge, and some skills. Keep in mind that you are required to be honest with every question you answer. If you just click next and submit, you will be flagged as spam. So, make sure that you perform well and earn your rewards by following the honest best policy for surveys.
Short-time surveys pay in ranges of a few cents to a few dollars. The typical range of short surveys is $1 to $2. Longer surveys and group surveys pay as much as $20 dollars and they will take hours to complete. So, depending on the type of surveys you are doing and the time you put in, you can easily make $100 or more per day.
But, if you are getting started, you might not be able to make that much. This is because some survey websites require that you build experience to unlock higher-paying surveys. Again, you can start small and start earning more as you become more experienced with surveys.
4. Start a blog
Starting a blog may sound like a difficult or old way to make money from home. However, owning a blog is easy and manageable as long as you work on something you like. A big mistake a lot of people make is that they start blogs without clear directions and a purpose for the blog. As a result, it becomes harder for them to succeed.
But, if you are serious about making money from home, blogging is an exceptional way to make money. As long as you follow the right steps and properly monetize your blog, you can easily earn a decent living just from your blog.
How to start a blog?
There are many steps involved in starting a profitable blog. But, the steps you need to follow are simple and straightforward. The following is a simplified guide to getting started with blogging.
- Choose a blogging platform. Blogging platforms also known as Content Management Systems(CMS) allow you to write and publish your content. Among popular CMS, there are WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, Medium, CMS Hub, etc.
- Find the right profitable niche. A niche is simply the area of focus. That is you cannot blog about everything. Think about going to college and decide to study 10 majors at once. You can try but the truth is that it will take you dozens of years to graduate. Picking a niche works the same way. Find an area you are interested in and narrow it down to a specific segment of it. For example, if you like dogs, start a blog where you talk about taking care of a particular type of dog. Don’t start a blog that talks about all animals in the world. Picking the right niche is a crucial step if you want to start making money from home as a blogger.
- Choose a blog name and domain. Your blog name is something that is related to what you will be talking about. Some people use their names. Others create brand-new names. The domain name is the address on your blog on the Web. For example, Estradinglife is the name of my website and the domain is https://www.estradinglife.com. Typically, the name of the website and the domain have similarities. This helps people remember your brand name when they forget your domain name.
- Pick your host. You cannot create a business without a host. A host is a company that stores all of your website data and files on a server. Your data will be stored under a unique address which is used to access your data every time your customers make requests. The best hosting companies include the following. Godday, Bluehost, sitGround, Hostinger, Dreamhost, Hostgator, WP Engine, Nexcess, and A2hosting. Register your website. The hosting rates will defer from one host to another. So, choose a host that matches your budget.
- Set up your blog and start designing it. The next step will be to set up your website and start designing it the way you like. You will need to choose how you want your website to look like, what pages to have, etc. You will also need to start creating content and making sure that your content is ranked well in search engines. Keep writing and marketing your content. After having enough traffic, you can monetize your blog and start earning money from home.
How to make money with a blog?
Now that you know how to start a profitable blog, how do you actually make it profitable? Making money with a blog is straightforward. All you have to do is to use the right strategy and sell products your visitors will want to buy.
There are many ways you can make money with a blog and the following are a few of them.
- Offer paid subscriptions. One of the most effective ways to make money from home through blogging is to offer paid subscriptions to your visitors. Some people show their subscribers behind the scenes, and offer exclusive access to certain products and services, content, etc. The choices are endless.
- Write an eBook and books. Writing an ebook is probably one of the best ways to earn money from home with your blog. Yes, it will take time to write a book or eBook. But, once it is written, you will sell it almost forever.
- Sell merchandise. If you have merchandise to sell, your blog will be the best place to sell them. For example, if you make crafts, art, pottery, t-shirts, cups, and any form of products that can be sold online, post them on your website. What makes selling merchandise on your website highly effective is that you are not competing with anyone because you are the only seller on your platform. But, if you only sell your products on Amazon, for example, you will be competing with millions of other sellers.
- Affiliate marketing. Having a blog means that you can promote other people/retail, digital or physical products on your website and earn a commission for every successful sale. This is known as affiliate marketing. All you will have to do is to place affiliate links on your website and earn a commission whenever one of your visitors purchases that product through the link.
- Display adds. Display ads are one of the easiest ways to monetize your blog. If you ever visited a website, you probably saw those little ads popping up all over the place. These ads are easy to set up and you can easily make enough money from them. You can get paid using the pay-per-click(PPC) option which is a model where you earn a fee whenever people click on the ads. Another option is the use the Pay-per Impression(PPM) option where you earn a particular rate for every 1,000 impressions on the ads regardless of whether it is clicked or not.
- Write sponsored content. To earn money from home with sponsored content, all you have to do is to find a product and write an article about it on your website. The business you are promoting the product for will compensate you for writing that article.
- Sell online courses and workshops. If making money from home through blogging sounds great for you, an effective way to do it is to sell online courses and similar products. That is you create a particular course that teaches people how to solve their day-to-day problems. You then charge a flat rate fee for the course.
How to become a successful blogger?
In order to become a successful blogger, you need to understand the basic principles of blogging. Before you start making money from home as a blogger, you will first need to have traffic on your website. The following are effective tips you can use to build a profitable blog.
- Write good quality content. High-quality content is everything for any blog. There are thousands of bloggers and publishing websites out there. In order to succeed and later monetize your blog, you will first need to provide value in your content. Without writing high-quality content, your blog will not make the cut.
- Write a good number of posts. Quantity is also important as it provides more value and a diverse range of information in your niche. You should also update your old posts to keep them fresh and improve their ranking.
- Work on your SEO strategies. The world is saturated with information. In order to gain enough traffic, you need to write content that is searchable and ranks better in search engines. This is where search engine optimization(SEO) comes in. Just because your post is beautifully written, it does not mean it will rank better. Always write content to satisfy the user intent but also follow search engine guidelines.
- Create an email subscription form. Having a subscription form is essential in building your network. This is because if you have something to sell, your first buyers will be your subscribers. Why? Because they have seen value in what you offer and chose to subscribe. For this reason, they will be the first to buy.
How much money can you make from home as a blogger?
Your blogging income will depend on how many products you sell, their quality, and the number of visitors you get on your blog. Blog traffic is essential in boosting blogging income. That is why you need to choose a profitable niche, write high-quality content, and market your blog like there is no tomorrow.
There are people who are making full-time incomes from their blogs and others are struggling to make a penny. But, if you follow proper blogging guidelines, you can easily replace your 9-5 job with a blog. Always remember that it will take time to become successful.
To increase your blogging income, sell a diverse range of products on your website. For example, you can have display ads, affiliate links, promoted content, your own eBooks, and physical products at the same time. The more diverse you are the more chances you will have sales.
5. Sell used clothes and other stuff you don’t need or use
Selling used products such as clothes online is one of the best ways to earn a steady income from home. Instead of giving your clothes for free to thrift stores, Goodwill, and Salvation army, pack them and sell them online. You can expand your business of selling used clothes and other items online by also selling other people’s things online. For example, you can flip items from garage sales, thrift stores, and Craigslist for profit.
Related: 10 things to buy at garage sales to save money
Where to sell your products online?
In order to make money from home by selling used clothes and other items such as electronics, you will need to sell your products on the right platforms. The following tips can help you maximize your sales and eventually profit from selling different products online.
- Sell via social media. A lot of people think that social media is a place where people go to watch funny videos. Although this might be true, social media is much more than that. If you want funny videos, you’ll find them. But, if you want to make money from social media, you will make a ton. It depends on what your intentions are and how dedicated you are to taking advantage of social media. So, if you are interested in making money from home by selling used products such as clothes on social media, you can achieve this goal. All you have to do is to build a following list and advertise your products to your followers. If you have real and loyal followers, they will buy. Start with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok. These social media platforms are very effective for conducting business and reaching loyal customers.
- Sell used clothes on your own platform such as a blog. If you have a blog and have good traffic, consider posting your clothes on the platform. No matter what you will be selling, you can still sell them there. You can also create a small online store and post your products there.
- Sell on existing platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Shopify, etc. You can also make money from home by selling your products to existing platforms. Although the competition on these platforms will be great, you will also have a larger audience.
For more details on where you can sell your products online, use the following guide.
Guide: 14 Best Websites to Sell Products Online
How to successfully make money from home by selling products online?
In order to start earning a steady income from selling your products online, treat your side hustle like a business. That is you need to understand that good quality products and customer services win the game. Be honest with your customers and don’t try to get rich quickly. Focus on building your own brand and treat every customer like he/she is the last one.
The following tips can help become successful at making money from home by selling products online.
- Sell good quality products. Being used does not mean you will grab your products, shovel them in a bad, and send them to the customer. You still need to treat them right, wash, and iron them when you have to, package them right, and send them to the customer with a thank you note. Your clothes might be old, but if you treat them with care, your customer will appreciate your effort.
- Be honest. Your customers will know beforehand that the product is used. However, you must be honest in describing your products and avoid deceiving acts. Your product’s description should directly reflect what you are shipping. If the clothes have tears on them, make sure that your customers know before purchasing them. Lying will not get you anywhere.
- Marketing is crucial to every online business. Nobody will ever know that you exist if you don’t market yourself and your products. Remember, you are trying to build a brand. So, let everyone know that you exist and you are the best and ready to stay. The best way to market your products is to use cost-effective methods. That is starting with social media platforms is always the best way to get started. Never pay for ads when you are not making sales.
- Keep up with the demand. To keep your customers coming, you will need to keep selling. So, make sure that you increase your inventory by outsourcing products from different places and increase gradually as your business grows.
6. Start a business
Starting your own business is the most rewarding decision you will ever make. Not only that you will be your own boss, but also you will get to enjoy making money from home while earning a decent income. I have to warn you, though. Starting your own business is not simple. Well, of course, it depends on the nature of your business. But, being your own boss also means that you will work more and harder than you do at your current job. It takes a lot of effort, time, and energy to turn an idea into a successful business.
The good news is that you don’t need an office to start and run a successful home-based business. You can run your business entirely from home. The best business you can start is to look at what you are already doing and figure out ways to expand and monetize your work. For example, you can easily monetize your hobbies such as sewing, crafting, knitting, painting, etc. Anything that you do as a hobby can be turned into a successful business.
If you are interested in learning how to turn a hobby into a successful business, I have made a complete guide for you. Go ahead and follow the tips and steps included in the following guide.
Guide: 13 steps to turn a hobby into a successful business
How to start a business?
There is so much that goes into starting a business. But, every good business follows specific principles and guidelines. These guidelines might defer from one business to another depending on its nature, type, and size. If you want to make money from home by starting your own business, use the following tips when putting your business together.
- Do a market analysis (Evaluate your product or business idea). Before starting a business, you first need to know if there are customers and whether the product is profitable. You will achieve this by running a market analysis.
- Study your competitors. If you are going to sell a product, you will have competitors. So, know how your competitors are doing, and design something better.
- Write a business plan. A business plan is a blueprint of what you are going to do and how you will do it. Starting a business without a plan is like building a house without a blueprint for it and guessing where things go. You cannot succeed with this strategy. Most businesses fail because they don’t have business plans.
- Build your brand. Your business is unique, and therefore, should be known as such. So, build your brand and make sure that your brand is not like what you see in the neighborhood.
- Pick your business location. Since you want to make money from home, your business location will be your home. This will also dictate the type of business you can run. For example, you cannot run a liquor store from your home.
- Choose your business structure. Choose the right business structure. There are many business structures to choose from such as LLC, sole proprietorship, Corporation, and partnership. The structure you choose will be influenced by tax benefits and liability factors.
- Come up with a business name. You can not build a brand and run a business without a name. Your business name should reflect your brand and the product you sell.
- Register your business. Every official business must be registered in your state. Some businesses might also be required to be registered in every state where you will conduct your business.
- Get your state and federal tax ID. After registering your business, you will also need to have an Employer Identification Number(EIN) for payroll and tax purposes.
- Get necessary permits and licenses. Depending on the nature of your business, you might need to get permits and licenses before you can start selling your products.
- Have a business bank account. It is always important to separate your business finances and your own finances. This helps you to accurately manage your business and offers a safety net for legal purposes.
- Launch your business. After checking all boxes, you will need to launch your business and start earning money from home.
- Market your business. If you don’t market your business, nobody will know that you exist. So, reach out to social media, and create a website with an address searchable in search engines such as Google, Bing, etc.
- Hire a lawyer. Running a business and keeping up with legal issues is like being in a small boat in the middle of the ocean without resources or a compass for direction. Your little boat can be drawn at any time and finding your way out can be a big challenge. Since you cannot know everything about businesses, it is important to get yourself a lawyer who can tell you when you are about to do something wrong or save you after doing it.
To make more money from home with your business, focus on what makes you unique and provide a product that wows your customers. Quality is always the best way to approach your business.
7. Write eBooks
Do you have an idea that you are passionate about? You can write an eBook about that idea and sell it as a physical book or an eBook online. Most people miss the opportunity to monetize their knowledge because of a lack of confidence. But, if you have knowledge that can solve someone’s problem, then nothing should be stopping you from writing an ebook.
Even if you are not teaching people how to solve their problems, you can still talk about your life and experience in your eBook. There are always people who are interested in reading pretty much anything. Do you like dogs? You can write an eBook on how to take care of dogs in general or a particular bride of dogs.
The choices are endless and the only thing stopping you from making money at home is you.
It will take you a lot of time to put the eBook together depending on how much time you put in. The good news is that you will not spend more time on the book once it is written and published.
Benefits of selling eBooks
Selling eBooks is an effective way to make money from home. Not only that what you sell is digital and requires no inventory, but you also have a global reach. Meaning that anyone from anywhere in the world can become your customer which boosts your home-based income. In addition, eBooks are inexpensive to create, free to sell, and easy to publish. Your start-up cost is extremely low. Your eBooks can also help you market other products you have by putting links in them. Finally, you create an eBook once and sell it countless times.
Drawbacks of eBooks
Although eBooks are great products to sell, you might encounter a few hiccups here and there. For starters, it might be hard to put an eBook together especially when you are using the wrong platforms. Depending on the size of your eBooks, it can take months to write your eBook. In addition, you will need to provide instructions on how to transfer your eBooks to e-reader devices and answer customers’ problems when this process fails.
Where to sell eBooks?
The best place to sell your eBooks and start earning money from the comfort of your home is to use your own store. If you have a Shopify store, this could be a great starting place. You can also sell your eBooks on social media platforms. As long as you have followers or can reach readers, you can sell to them. Another alternative is to sell your eBooks to third-party websites such as Amazon, eBay, etc.
If you have your own blog, you can easily reach many customers who are ready to buy by placing your eBooks on your own blog.
How much money can you make from home on eBooks?
The amount of money you can make from home by selling eBooks will depend on how many copies you can sell and the pricing of your eBooks. As long as you can beautifully write an eBook with high value and market it right, you will find success. You can make hundreds of dollars or thousands of dollars depending on the factors I described above. For example, if you market your eBook on your blog, on Amazon, and on social media and have a large audience, your sales will be higher.
8. Create online courses
If you don’t want to write eBooks, consider creating online courses. You can teach about anything. As wrong you have expertise in your area of interest, you will find people who are willing to purchase your courses.
The following are two ways you can use to create your courses.
- Live courses: These types of courses will be conducted in real-time. That is your subscribers will need to join the course at the same time. Having live-streaming video conferencing software will be important.
- Pre-recorded courses: You can record your courses and post them on your website. Each subscriber will have access to the course after paying for it (depending on your terms of use and payment options). Your students or clients will learn at their own pace.
How to succeed with online courses
If you have decided to venture into online courses, first understand the two most important factors that determine your success.
- The existence of a problem. Before you create an online course, first identify a problem. The easy way to start is to identify what your followers struggle with. For example, if you are in pottery, identify common problems in that area. What do most people struggle with? If you can identify all the problems people struggle with in that niche, then you will have the first box checked.
- Your ability to solve that problem. Create a course that solves those problems. Make sure that your answers are clear and concise. You don’t want people to purchase a course and become more confused than they were before taking your course. That is you need to offer value in your course. The best way to know if your product is good is to ask yourself this question, “Would I be happy and satisfied if I was the one buying this product?”. If the answer is yes, then you are good to go.
After identifying these two points, you will then need to do research and start recording your courses. Make sure that you invest in good recording equipment such as a microphone, camera, etc. You should also edit your course and make it interesting to watch and follow. After creating your course, you will need to market it like any other product. The more people you can reach, the more sales you can make.
9. Become a babysitter
Babysitting is an easy way to make money from home. All you have to do is to sit down and take care of the babies. People can bring their children to your place where you will watch them until their parents return.
Before you start this venture, work with your local authorities to make sure that you meet all legal requirements for this type of business.
How much can you make from home as a babysitter?
Being a babysitter is a serious way to make money from home. If you work for yourself you can set up your own rates. But, if you work for a particular company, you will be paid a fixed rate designed by that company. According to Indeed, the average salary of a babysitter/nanny in the united states is $20.60/hr. Again, your rates will be influenced by your experience. Some families are also willing to pay a little extra for babysitters with good recommendations and reviews.
10. Rent out a room
Do you want to start making money from home without doing any extra work? It is possible to earn a decent income from home using the real estate old trick known as house hacking. House hacking means that a homeowner uses his/her primary residence as a source of income. In many cases, people buy multifamily properties such as a duplex, live in one unit, and lease the other.
The house hacking option allows your tenant to pay your mortgage or simply give you a steady income from rent. But, if you don’t have a multifamily, you can still make money from home by renting out a room.
How does renting out a room work?
House hacking allows you to earn an income from home by leasing your spare room to a tenant. All you have to do is find a person who is willing to move in with you and cover part of the rent/mortgage payment. The rental income they pay you will become your monthly steady paycheck.
Renting out a room works well for people who have extra space in their houses. For example, having an extra room or two with a bathroom can easily help you earn an income from home.
Things you should know before renting out a room?
- Have a contract/lease. Make sure that you have a written contract between you and the tenant before they move in regardless of who they are. It is possible that anyone can bounce and disappear without paying for the time they stayed with you. For this reason, a written legal document a.k.a lease will help you recover funds you did not receive from the tenant.
- Live with someone you trust. Renting out a room can be a bit challenging especially when there is no separation in the house. What most people do is use their basements for this setup and keep their lives separated from their tenants. If there will be no separation between you and your tenant, make sure that you live with someone you trust. You don’t want to bring a stranger into your life for a quick buck. And certainly, you cannot trust anyone that much. It is always recommended to separate your lives and your tenants’ lives whether you know them or not.
- Adjust your rent. Since someone will be using your spare room, it is possible that they will not have access to amenities found in traditional rental places such as a kitchen, storage, living room, etc. For this reason, you need to adjust your rent based on what the tenant is getting. You cannot charge the same rent as normal rental places when the only thing your tenant has is a bedroom and a bathroom without a kitchen.
11. Sell your handcrafted objects
Do you have skills in making crafts? If so, you can easily start making money from home by selling your crafts online. This will allow you to earn a steady income while doing what you love.
Where to sell crafts online?
Although there are many websites that specialize in selling crafts, Etsy has proven to be your to-go market for handcrafted products. You can also market and sell your products on other platforms such as Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, and many more.
If you don’t want to sell on other websites, you can create your own online store. You will need to have marketing strategies to bring people to your online store if you choose to sell your craft on your own website. Blogging about products you make and sell can also help you bring traffic to your store.
You can also sell your craft from your own home. People will drive to your location to purchase your products if you market them in your local area.
Tips to successfully make money from home by selling crafts
Selling crafts can come with its own challenges. Although you can handcraft products needed on a daily basis, the truth is that you could be making entirely new products. This means that you might need to do some convincing to make people buy your products.
In addition, you need to be unique and build your own brand. Branding is key to differentiating yourself from competitors. What makes you different and your product unique? Always be genuine, be loyal to your customers, and market your product everywhere you have access. Also, start with free marketing tools before you start paying. Do not run ads unless those ads are being paid for by your products themselves.
12. Become a freelancer
If there is an easy way to make money from home, freelancing would come on top. As a freelancer, you can work on any project in the world and work with any company all from the comfort of your own couch. You don’t have to go anywhere to start making money as a freelancer.
What is freelancing and how does it work?
Freelancing or working as a freelancer means that you are not stuck with one employer. You take different projects from companies and individuals and get paid per project. This allows you to work with different companies, make your own schedules, and make your income on your own terms. As a freelancer, you can either work independently or work for an agency. If you like writing, researching, doing different projects, or having a set of skills you can monetize, freelancing is right for you.
How to become a freelancer and start making money from home?
If you are ready to earn money from home via freelancing, the following tips can help you get started.
- Evaluate your area of expertise. To become a freelancer and start making money from home, you need to have expertise in something. This is because you will be taking on projects and using what you know to complete those projects.
- Define your service. You will need to have a plan for the services you provide. For example, If you are good at setting up websites, you can start and set up basic websites for your clients. That is a customer can give you a domain name, passwords they want to use, hosting information, name of the website, and then, you can design a simple website for them.
- Know your audience. You need to understand your clients and what they want in order to best serve them.
- Put in place your pricing structure. In order to earn money from home doing freelancing, you will first need to have a payment structure. How much will you be charging for the service you offer? Have these pricing structures in place beforehand.
- Create your portfolio. We are in a world where fake prophets outnumber good ones. So, in order to be trusted by large brands and many companies, you need to first have a portfolio of projects. It is always hard to hire someone with no experience at all. How will your clients know that you can actually do the job? This is where your portfolio comes in. Most people do their first projects for free in exchange for positive reviews. These free projects help clients know that you are not a spammer and can actually get the job done.
- Write proposal. You need to write a complete description of who you are and what you can do. You should also include the project timeline. For example, you can say that you will write a 1000 words blog post in 24 hours. This timeline gives your clients a timeline for when they should expect their products to be delivered.
- Have a sample of products(when possible). If you are marketing yourself as a copywriter freelancer, have a blog where you show samples of your writings.
- Start small. Freelancing is a game that requires time and patience. Depending on your level of experience, it might take longer to gain traction. Usually, more clients go to people with a lot of positive reviews and many years of experience. So, if you are getting started, it will take time to gain such experience and reviews. Only focus on the positive impact on your clients. Quality products always win.
Best freelancing websites
Although there are dozens of freelancing sites, the following are the top freelancing websites you can choose from.
What can you do as a freelancer to make money from home?
Freelancing covers a wide range of sectors. Anything you are capable of can be done for freelancing. The following are popular freelancing jobs you can get into.
- Web Designing
- Editor
- Tutoring
- Copywriting
- Graphic Designing
- Virtual assistance
- Web Development
- Business Consultant
- Financial Consultant
- Software consultant
How much can you make from home as a freelancer?
Freelancing is an easy way to make money from home. Not only that you make your own schedule, but you can also be in charge of projects you do and how much you can earn. Your experience, reviews, and area of interest will all affect how much you make as a freelancer. According to ZipRecruiter, the average national average salary for freelancers is $68,924 /year or $33/hr.
The base salary for new freelancers is $15,500/year and the highest can be as high as $158,500. You can see that there is room to grow in the freelancing market even if you are getting started.
13. Become a petsitter
Becoming a pet sitter could be one of your favorite adventures. You will need to have some love for pets in order to become a pet sitter. How much can you make as a pet sitter? Your earnings will depend on your experience, the number of animals you watch, and the rate you charge per animal.
Since you will be conducting this business from home, you might be limited to your local area. But, if you market yourself well, you can easily earn a steady income from petsitting.
Your own home can be used as a place where people bring pets for you to watch them. You will set your own standards and prices that each customer will be paying.
14. Start a bookkeeping business
Are you organized and have financial or accounting skills? You can use your skills and work as a bookkeeper for many businesses. This type of business can totally be done online from your own home.
What do you need to become a bookkeeper?
To become a bookkeeper and start making money from home, there are steps you need to follow.
- Acquire the right education. To become a bookkeeper, you will need to have a bachelor’s degree or at least a high school diploma with some certifications.
- Become certified. Having certifications can help you stand out among other bookkeepers on the market. Common certifications include but are not limited to the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB), and Certified Management Accountants (CMA).
- Acquire the right training. Bookkeeping requires certain skills and experience. So, dig deeper into the industry and find out what skills you need to stand out. Data entry, communication, the basics of computers, and problem-solving are some of the most useful skills you need to successfully make money from home as a bookkeeper.
- Apply for jobs. In order to start earning money as a bookkeeper, you need to apply for jobs and work with businesses and individuals. You can either work for a company or work independently.
How much money can you earn from home as a bookkeeper?
Yes, you can make a good income from home as a bookkeeper. But, the amount you can earn will depend on your level of experience and certifications. If you are getting started, you will probably earn a little bit less compared to people with a lot of experience. But, over time, you will be able to increase your rates or simply get paid more as you work with large companies.
According to glassdoor.com, the average salary for a bookkeeper is $42,326/yr. And bookkeeping salaries range from $31,000 / yr to $58,000/year. You can see that even if you start low, there is room for growth in this industry.
15. Start a youtube channel
Making YouTube videos is an easy way to make money from home. Some people think that it is too late to start YouTube channels. But, as long as you have a product to sell and something of value to give your viewers, there is room for growth on this platform. There are millions of people who are making millions of dollars every month from YouTube. They were not born to be YouTubers. Instead, they learned how to play the game and started playing.
If there is something you can passionately talk about to influence people and change their lives; starting a YouTube channel is a way to share your content and start making money from home.
How to make money from a YouTube channel?
Starting a youtube channel is an effective way to make money from home, and if done right, you can completely replace your 9-5 job in less than a year. There are many ways to make money from home on youtube. The following are some of the things you can do to monetize your YouTube channel.
- Sell your own Merch. If you have an online store or a blog where you sell products, you can direct your followers and viewers to these platforms to make sales.
- Create sponsored content. Many companies will pay you to create content that promotes a particular product or service. You can also make a normal video that is sponsored by a particular company and get paid by mentioning the company during the video.
- Become an affiliate partner. You can become an affiliate partner for different companies and brands by putting links to their products in the description of your videos or mentioning them in the video. Another way to make money from home with YouTube affiliate programs is to make reviews of certain products such as the camera you use, all the gears, and other products.
- License your content to media. Very often, you can license your content to companies and get paid every time they use your content. That is you will earn loyalty from the content you created.
- Use crowdfunding /Patreon. This is a clever way to earn money from Youtube while sitting at home. Patreon programs let your views contribute a monthly donation to your channel. Most YouTubers give their donors exclusive insight into their private lives, or behind the scene. Or something of value that justifies their donations.
- Join the YouTube Partner Program(YPP). This program gives creators access to youtube resources, monetization features, and support teams. You can also have access to YouTube ad revenue sharing on your content.
- Make money from home with your YouTube channel with Adsense. As a YouTube creator, you can also earn money by running ads on your channel. These ads a provided by google and you earn a percentage of the ad revenues.
Requirements before you can monetize a youtube channel
Before you put ads on your channel, you must have 4,000 watch hours in the previous year and 1,000 subscribers. These numbers are achievable and the time it will take will depend on the quality of your content and how active you are on YouTube.
16. Become an online video gamer
Did you know that you can make money from home while playing video games online? If you are a professional video gamer, companies can pay you a lot of money to taste their games. The following are some of the many ways you can use to earn a living from playing video games.
- Game testing
- Quality assurance for games
- Win awards through competitions
- Run paid ads on your channel or account, etc
If you have enough gaming skills, you can monetize them and start making enough money to sustain your living in no time. The beauty of video games is that everything can be done entirely online without leaving the comfort of your home.
17. Apply for home-based jobs
If you are tired of commuting to your office, you can always make money from home by applying to home-based jobs. There are companies that hire people to work remotely. If you don’t want to put on a suit and go to work every day, get a job that will let you work from home.
For example, jobs related to software engineering, database management, and computer systems, in general, will let you work from home. Customer services jobs and bookkeeping come with the option to work remotely and earn a living from home. Typically, any office job that can be done on your computer can also be done remotely. It will all depend on your company’s policy and accommodation requirements.
Like any other home-based job, you will need reliable internet and a computer to successfully work from home.
Related: 16 work-from-home tips: A complete guide
18. Become an online translator
Do you speak many languages? If so, you can easily start making money from home by becoming an online translator.
As an online translator, you can translate many documents online across multiple languages. These documents will come in all forms and sizes. For example, you can have a small document to translate a report or a big one such as a book.
Your clients will come from many backgrounds and could be big or small. If you are an independent translator, you will decide how much to charge per page or however you want it to be.
On the other hand, if you are employed by an online translation firm, you will be paid based on the money agreed upon when you were hired.
19. Become a P2P lending investor
P2P lending is an easy way to make money from home. If you have money that you are not using and have no plan for in the near future, consider lending it to other people.
P2p lending is completely done online and the only thing you will need to do is to join a P2P lending website. This will be a place where lenders and borrowers meet through a third party.
This guide will show you the best P2P lending websites you can start with.
P2P lending guide: 7 best peer-to-peer lending websites in 2022
20. Invest your money
Investing is probably one of the best ways to make money from home. All you have to do is to buy income-generating assets and collect passive income from home. People who know how to invest their money into high-return investment options become financially independent faster than everyone else.
It is important to invest your money whether or not you want to work from home. Investing is the path to building wealth and becoming financially independent requires that you learn how to increase your returns using the money you have made already. This is possible through investing.
There are many investment options you can pursue.
For example, you can invest your money in the stock market, bonds, gold, currency, real estate, Index Funds, Exchange-Traded Funds(ETFs), mutual funds, IRA, etc.
If you don’t like highly volatile assets, consider putting your money into interest-generating accounts such as savings accounts, certificates of deposits(CDs), etc.