From the moment I realized that working from home was a thing, I’ve always made sure to seek out employers that would allow me to work from home. I’m the first person to admit that I am a complete homebody. I’d rather be sitting in my home office, looking out at the trees, clad in some comfy yoga pants than in an corporate office wearing dress pants any day.
Working from home is especially important to me now, when my commute is the longest it’s ever been–a whopping three hours each way. Though I do use that time to be as productive as possible and get work done on OBHL, I’m still able to recapture at least an hour in my day on days when I work from home.
I shared my work at home morning routine last week and so many people had questions about how I scored a job that allows me to work from home and where they could find these mythical unicorn jobs. So I put together a list of work at home opportunities that I’m really excited about–opportunities that can all result in six-figure businesses/careers that will make you enjoy going to work (in your pajamas) every day.
1. YOUR CURRENT JOB BUT FROM HOME
If your job can be performed remotely, there is an employer somewhere that will pay you to do it from home. Now while this probably won’t work if you have a job that requires physical labor or seeing patients in person, there are still so many jobs that can potentially be done remotely at least some of the time.
The first place you should start your search for these kinds of opportunities is with your current employer. There is a whole movement towards working from home more, so the conversation should not take them completely by surprise, even if you are the first person in your organization to bring it up. Studies have shown that workers are more productive when they work remotely, not to mention that it could potentially save on costs by downsizing their office space. Offering this perk also helps retain qualified employees.
If your current boss just isn’t having it, then maybe it’s time to look for a new job. Flexjobs is a great place to find high quality remote or flexible professional jobs.
Resource: FlexJobs.com
2. CREATING YOUTUBE VIDEOS
There’s no way we’d make a list about work at home job opportunities without mentioning one of our favorites: YouTube. Starting a YouTube channel, like many of the rest of the options on this list, is really about creating your own business that generates a full time income.
There are a number of different ways that you can earn money from a YouTube channel while working from home and we’ve created a guide that explains all of them. And if you are looking to get started on YouTube, check out our free email course here.
Resource: 7 Days to YouTube Success – Free Course
3. VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
A virtual assistant is someone that works remotely and helps businesses with their administrative tasks. Their responsibilities can include managing a calendar; responding to emails, comments, and inquiries; arranging travel; and doing preliminary research for articles.
The pay for a virtual assistant can vary depending on their qualifications. And their rates can be hourly or project-based.
When it come sto finding VA jobs, there are two options. You can seek opportunities on your own or you can work with an agency. The plus side of seeking out your own opportunities is that you set your own rates and so can command higher rates. The downside is that you will have to do all of your own prospecting, which means that it might take time to fill your client roster so that you can make that full time income.
On the other hand, if you decide to go with an agency/VA service like Time Etc., the hourly rate that you receive will be much lower but the upside is that you should have a steady stream of work coming your way.
If you are looking for a resource to help prepare you to learn some new skills so you can confidently take on new clients, check out 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success.
Resource: 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success.
4. PINTEREST MANAGER
A pinterest manager is a special kind of virtual assistant that helps businesses drive traffic and sales using Pinterest. A lot of people think of Pinterest as a social media platform, but it is really a visual search engine. People go to Pinterest looking for ideas and solutions. When the find the right pin, they save it and click through to check out the linked website.
A Pinterest manager makes sure that pins are being regularly circulated on Pinterest. That typically means pinning 20-30 pins a day. Pinning this by hand can be time consuming. Luckily there are schedulers out there that make the process a lot easier.
A Pinterest VA should know how to use reputable pin schedulers, how to write pin descriptions with relevant keywords, and how to build their client’s Pinterest traffic over time. Pinterest VAs might also be called on to design pins so having some graphic design skills is a plus that will allow you to charge more for your services.
Become A Pintereset VA Today is an excellent resource that will teach you the ins and outs of pinterest and starting yoru own Pinterest VA business. In fact, Liz, our Pinterest Manager, is an alumni of the course!that manages the Pinterest account for a business
Resource: Become A Pinterest VA Today
5. WRITER/EDITOR
This is a broad category that covers all of the people who specialize in making magic happen with words. It includes investigative journalists, blog writers, copywriters, ghost writers, and so many others. There’s some saying that a good writer will never go hungry or something like that. It’s so true, especially in the digital world where content is king.
The amount that you can make as a writer will vary depending on your skill level and the type of writing that you do. Writing copy for large businesses will pay more initially than writing for your own blog or self-publishing an e-book when you don’t have an audience.
Our go-to resource for getting started freelance writing is 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success. This is the exact course I took three years ago when I decided to start freelance writing.
Resource: 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success
6. GRAPHIC DESIGNER
A graphic designer creates the visual assets for a brand. This can include brand logos, colors, typography, printables, mugs, t-shirts. Anything that you want to look pretty, a graphic designer is the one to call.
Typically a graphic designer will typically have experience with design software like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. The great news is that while, yes, having a degree will make it a lot easier to get started as a graphic designer, a degree isn’t required. There are many successful graphic designers out there that are entirely self taught.
7. SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
A social media manager manages a business’s social media platforms. That can include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and even YouTube. They are responsible for publishing content that is consistent with the brand’s voice and that resonates with the brand’s audience.
They are also tasked with understanding the way that the platforms work so that they can create a social media strategy that will increase the brand’s reach over time. And, they might have to run any social media ad campaigns if the company uses paid advertising as part of its social media strategy.
A social media manager might also be in charge of curating content for the brand, which might include collaborating with photographers and graphic designers to create posts for the various social media platforms.
A social media manager will also need good writing skills because they will probably be responsible for writing captions for the social media posts.
8. BLOGGING
Blogging is near and dear to my own heart because I have one and because I love reading them. A blog is basically an digital magazine that serves its readers articles related to particular topics. The One Big Happy Life blog, for example, talks about lifestyle design, personal finance, family, travel, and entrepreneurship.
If you love writing, blogging can be a great way to build a business that allows you to work from home. My favorite blogging course for getting up and running fast (and the exact course that I used to create this blog) is Blog By Number by Suzy Whitford.
Resource: Blog By Number by Suzy Whitford
8. TRANSCRIPTIONIST
A transcriptionist is someone that listens to audio files and converts them into typed documents. This is a useful in many different industries including the legal and medical fields. And it’s also valuable for online businesses that make video or audio content like podcasts.
Transcriptionists can make $45,000-$60,000 a year. This is another one of those jobs where you can choose to work for a larger business that will generate consistent work for you but will take a share of the profits. You can also go out on your own and seek out your own clients. You will be able to make more money but you’ll also have to spend time marketing yourself and finding new clients.
If you are new to the transcription industry, it might be worth taking a transcription course to obtain a certification and how to market yourself and manage clients.
Resource: Transcribe Anywhere
9. TEACHING ONLINE
If you have a degree and enjoy teaching, this is a great work at home job. Like most of the other jobs on this list, online teaching comes in many different forms. You can teach students as part of an online K-12 school. Or you can teach college courses through an online extension program or online college.
A third options is to teach children who live abroad. A close friend of ours has been working for home supporting her family and an English tutor for who live in China. She has even had the opportunity to go to China for a special summer intensive to teach her students in person. And what’s really interesting is that she doesn’t speak a bit of Chinese. So don’t think that you have to speak the language in order to qualify for these types of positions.
The one thing that you will need is a bachelor’s degree unless you are tutoring. Though even then a bachelor’s is prefered. Depending on the state, you might also need a teaching certification.
The pay for virtually teaching English abroad can range from $10-$22 and hour or $31,000 to $54,000 a year for a full time online teacher. VIPkid and K12.com are two great places to start if you are looking to start a career as an online teacher.
10 WEB DEVELOPER
A web developer is a programmer that specializes in creating websites or applications that are run on the web. In other words, web developers keep our digital world going.
While you can get a formal degree or attend a web developer bootcamp, you can also start learning how to code through online classes like this one from Udemy. This is another one of those professions that can be learned outside of college.
Once you’ve learned the skills, you can apply for jobs on Flexjobs.com or other online job marketplaces like Upwork.com. Another great way to get business is to reach out to businesses whose websites could use a little help and actively pitch your services. Or you can attend small business conferences where the people who need your services will all be gathered in one place.
There are so many work from home opportunities out there. These are just a few of them that really stood out to us either because we have done them in the past, have hired someone to do that type of work for us, or we know someone that does that work and absolutely loves it.
If one of these work from home jobs are just what you are looking for, great! We’ve given you some resources and tips to get you started. But if none of them apply to you, keep digging until you find something that fits right.
Or, you can always start your own business. We’re huge fans of that around here!
Thank you so much Tasha! You warm my heart!!
quick question. on the free budget sheets do you have life insurance bills, medical bills, children supplies etc?
The budget template is customizable. You can always add new rows and include those things in your budget.
Most transcriptionists don’t make that much money anymore. It’s a tough industry to be in these days. If you’re considering this route, you need to go in with eyes wide open.