There’s always some idiot in the Instagram comments telling you that you can make thousands of dollars working from home. Most intelligent people know to ignore them. It’s obviously spam, but the poor spammer has no idea.
It’s not only spammers in comment sections that give bad working from home advice. There are countless blogs telling people to sell their kids’ drawings, or donate platelets for a living.
Don’t let this make you think there aren’t real, legit ways to make money working from home. With so many online opportunities, a lot more people than actually realize it could quit their office jobs.
But while you can spot a scam a mile away, what exactly are the real opportunities? These are 4 legit ways to make money online.
1. Freelance, freelance, freelance
If you’ve got a skill that businesses need, you can hawk it online. The online freelance space is taken advantage of most easily by web developers and writers, but there are also plenty of opportunities for virtual assistants, researchers, and much more.
Sites like Upwork and Freelancer match clients with freelancers and you can have a look there to get an idea of what sort of jobs are available. But the truth is, the most successful freelancers go out on their own, pitching clients with cold emails or through LinkedIn. This is the way to earn well-paying jobs, that end up bringing in more income than your office job did. There are many freelancers online writing blogs and courses to help you get started, along with freelancer communities, so that you don’t have to go it alone.
2. Monetize a blog
Alternatively, if you’re a writer and you want to make money without searching for clients, you can use a blog to offer up your expertise. If you can carve out a niche, people will flock to you to see what you can provide.
Monetize your blog using Google Adwords, as well as selling courses and e-books, and affiliate marketing. This blogger made $14,000 last month from her blog alone (in addition to her regular freelance work).
3. Trade online
While spammers will tell you how to get-rich-quick using dodgy so-called trading, you really can make a living from online trading. You won’t, however, hit it big in the short term. Online trading is a reality because the markets are now so accessible. Whether you learn to trade stocks, Forex, CFDs, or commodities, if you’re patient and smart about it, you can make a steady income.
The major difference between legit online trading and the scams, is that to make real money you have to do the hard work, including spending some time swotting from online resources and courses.
4. Virtual tutoring
You don’t have to be a genius to be an online tutor. In reality, a good tutor is someone who can understand what they’re teaching while facilitating learning (rather than spoonfeeding). You don’t need any particular qualifications to get started, but a graduates degree will help. Anything more than that will make you a superstar.
There are always students in need of a little help, and they’re willing to pay for it. Your time is valuable to them, and with some good self-marketing you can really make this work.
