Discover the hard facts and surprising figures about the growth of the gig economy, and how it's transforming the lives of millions.

What You Will Learn

• How the growth of the freelance or gig economy is transforming the way we live and work
• The impact this new way of working is having on people across the world
• How much freelancers earn and how happy they are

A Freelance World

Over the last two decades or so, technology has had a huge impact on the way we live and work. The advent of the Internet has heralded a new world of global collaboration, sharing and communication.

One of the most striking effects of this revolution has been the rise of the gig economy. Thanks to technologies such as video conferencing, document sharing and online project management, people have been freed from the need to work in the same office.

In fact, they don’t have to work in the same office - or even the same country. This has opened up an opportunity for millions to embrace the freelance lifestyle. They work for different companies at different times, often across multiple time zones.

More recently, the explosive growth of app-based solutions such as Uber, Amazon Flex and TaskRabbit has added a whole new dimension of freelance work. The result has been the meteoric rise of the ‘gig economy.’ 

Tens of millions of people now work without a full-time employer. Some simply do a few gigs as a side hustle to make a few extra bucks at weekends. But many others choose the freelance lifestyle as a long-term career option.

The statistics are not only impressive but very surprising. Let’s dive in and take a look…

Defining the Gig Economy

Let’s start by defining what we are talking about. Merriam-Webster defines a freelancer as:

‘a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer.’ 

The term originated in the middle ages, when some knights were loyal to particular lords, while others were mercenaries with ‘free lances’ who fought for anyone who would pay them. 

The term ‘gig economy’ is much more recent. WhatIs.com defines the term as follows:

‘A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.’

Here a gig is any paying proposition which is undertaken on an occasional basis, which could be anything from washing dishes at a pizza parlour to undertaking management consulting for a Fortune 500 company.

The Size of the Gig Economy

So just how big is the freelance market? That depends on who you ask. Different surveys produce different results.

However, all of these studies show that the market is a lot bigger than you might expect. According to a survey by Upwork and Freelancers Union, 55 million people in the U.S. (35% of the workforce) are now working freelance at least some of the time.

The Mckinsey Global Institute Survey of Independent Workers gives us a broader perspective, covering both the U.S. and Europe. This survey shows that 20-30% of working-age people are working independently, putting the total at around 162 million, breaking down the numbers as follows:

1. Free Agents: freelancers who actively choose a career in the gig economy - 30% of independent workers (49 million)
2. Casual earners: professionals who augment their main income with freelance work - 40% of workers (64 million)
3. Reluctants: people who work in the gig economy because they can’t get a full-time job - 14% (23 million)
4. Financially Strapped: people who are forced to moonlight in order to pay the bills - 16% (26 million)

These numbers tells us that around 43% of the original 162 million work full time as freelancers. For the rest, taking part in the gig economy is a side hustle. So overall, we find that between 8.6% and 12.9% of working adults in the U.S. and Europe are full-time freelance professionals. 

 These numbers are backed up by the State of Independence Survey from MBO Partners, which finds that 41.8 million adults in the U.S. work independently. The same survey predicts 3.6% annual growth, so that by 2023, half of the American workforce will have worked freelance at least some of the time.

Most surveys produce similar numbers. In the 2018 ‘Gig Economy and Alternative Work Arrangements Study,’ Gallup found that 36% of U.S. workers are gig workers. The report states:

"Gallup estimates that 29% of all workers in the U.S. have an alternative work arrangement as their primary job. This includes a quarter of all full-time workers (24%) and half of all part-time workers (49%). Including multiple job holders, 36% have a gig work arrangement in some capacity."

This works out to about 57 million Americans in total. Most surveys produce similar results.

How Much Do Freelancers Earn?

As we can see a lot of people are choosing to work in the gig economy. But how much money are they actually making? 

If you look at the overall average, the numbers don’t seem to be that impressive. Earnest, a loan provider based in San Francisco, analyzed tens of thousands of loan applications to study the impact of gig-economy jobs. They found that 85% of gig workers make less than $500 a year.

But those numbers seem to be very much on the low side. Payoneer (a global payment platform) surveyed over 23,000 freelancers from 180 different countries and found much more encouraging numbers.

The survey showed that the average freelancer works around 36 hours a week, earning $21 an hour. This equates to a pre-tax salary of over $39,000. In most of the countries surveyed, this income is substantially higher than the salary of a typical full-time employee.

Scott Galit, CEO of Payoneer, says that today’s "borderless world" has created new work opportunities for freelancers all over the world:

“There's an obvious appeal to freelancing. Businesses worldwide can tap into a larger and more diverse talent pool than ever before. Freelancers and service providers [can] secure work with international companies.

“Freelancing offers smart, talented, hardworking professionals and business owners in emerging economies such as Argentina, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines and Serbia a major breakthrough in job prospects and earning potential that they would have never thought possible a few years ago.”

MBO Partners reports that many freelancers are doing even better financially. Their study shows there are 3.3 million freelancers earning $100,000 or more in the U.S. alone. 

These high earners mostly offer professional services, working in hot areas such as:

• IT
• Marketing
• Biotech
• Pharma

 It is also worth noting that some freelance professionals, such as direct response copywriters, can earn over a millions dollars a year.

How Happy are Freelancers?

There are pros and cons to working freelance. So how happy are people who work in the gig economy overall? The Gallup poll mentioned above is very instructive here. Both freelancers and full-time employees were asked a number of questions about their contentment at work. 

Independent gig workers were the clear winners. They scored much higher on the happiness scale than traditional job holders across all job metrics.

There is no doubt that freelancers gain many lifestyle benefits, such as flexible hours and freedom to work where they choose. But as you might expect, they fall behind traditional workers in terms of regular benefits and promptness of payment.

According to Gallup, traditional workers strongly agree that they get paid on time (82%), while less than 70% of freelancers agreed.

Another peculiarity of the freelance lifestyle is loneliness, which can lead to depression and reduced productivity. This is one reason why co-working spaces have become so popular. 

According to the Harvard Business Review, freelancers using co-working spaces are satisfied with the arrangement, and consider the additional costs of co-working to be worth it:

• 77% of respondents said they thought the price they paid was fair (17% felt the price they paid was a bargain)
• 90% of respondents reported either being highly satisfied or satisfied
• Only 4% of respondents said that they won’t stay members for more than two years

Quick Gig-Economy Stats Summary

Here are some quick stats about the freelance and gig economy to put all of the above in perspective:

• The gig workforce is adding $715 billion to the U.S. economy by doing freelance work
• 31% of freelancers say they can find a gig online in less than 24 hours
• 36% of Americans say they’ve thought about quitting to go freelance
• 32% of freelancers say demand for their services is growing
• 43% of freelancers expect their income to rise in the next year
• The number of people submitting 1099 (freelance) tax forms has gone up by 22% since 2000
• 54% of older adults don’t want to undertake full-time jobs
• 77% of freelancers say they make the same or more than they did in their full-time job
• Some 24% of Americans are making money from the digital ‘platform economy’
• All industry sectors experienced growth in gig-style businesses between 2003 and 2013
• 80% of full-time job workers would be prepared to do freelance work to make extra money
• 53% of freelancers started doing gig work by choice, not necessity
• 65% of freelancers say the Internet has made it easier to find work
• 18% of Americans have earned money in the last 12 months by selling online
• 8% have made money in the last year using digital platforms such as UpWork
• More than a third of millennials work in the gig economy
• 23% of those using digital platforms to find gigs are students
• 65% say that freelancing is more respected than it was three years ago
• 77% of freelancers say the best days of the freelance job market are still in the future

The 21st Century Lifestyle

We have seen massive changes in the first two decades of the 21st century, and we can expect further big shifts towards the gig economy in the decades to come. 

The freelance lifestyle offers many benefits to individuals, and evolving technology is continually creating amazing new opportunities to make money in new ways. For those who embrace the changes, working freelance in the gig economy is clearly a great way to make a living whilst enjoying life to the full.

Make money while you study, be financially free and get out of debt. Easy ways to create cash online working flexible hours.

The Broke Student Dilemma

There are lots of reasons why being a student is wonderful. You get to spend your days studying a subject that interests you, and your evenings and weekends having the best time of your life. 

What could be better? For most people, the answer to that question is ‘the money!’ If you happen to be an Ivy League student bankrolled by an allowance from the family fortune, then good luck to you. But for the other 99% of us, getting by in college is not so easy.

Tuition costs and arm and a leg, and even shared accommodation takes a big chunk out of what little budget you may have. And as for food, you can’t live on Ramen noodles for ever…

So for most students, generating additional income is a necessity. And that means finding some kind of part-time job. But finding the right kind of job to fit in with student life is not always easy.

Studying needs to be your priority, of course, so you can’t work much during weekdays. But on the other hand, you don’t want to be flipping burgers all night, leaving you too tired to get to lectures in the morning.

To make it worse, the only jobs you can get working unsocial hours tend to pay offer miserable pay and even worse conditions. Your grades suffer because you have no free time to study, yet you can still barely pay the bills at the end of the month.

And as for that mountain of student debt, it just keeps on getting bigger and bigger. You end up like a hamster stuck in a wheel, running faster just to stay in the same place.

So what do you do...make money and let your grades suffer? Or focus on your studies and end up even deeper in debt?

It’s a dilemma for sure - but there is a solution...

Best Jobs for College Students

As a student in the 21st century, you are lucky to be living in an era where you don’t have to do menial tasks for minimal pay. Forget waiting on tables and begging for tips, or flogging insurance that nobody wants in a wage-slave call center.

There is a better option - a much better option. You can make money online.

The Internet has opened up a whole wealth of different ways to make money, and dozens of these opportunities are ideal for students. There are many reasons why online jobs are the best jobs for college students today. 

You can forget all the problems associated with traditional, part-time student jobs. In particular, no more:

• Neglecting your studies to make money
• Doing rotten jobs you hate
• Working for minimum wage (or less)
• Working while your friends are having fun
• Relying on tips to make up your money

Instead, you can work online and enjoy all the benefits that these income-generating opportunities create:

• Working flexible hours that you choose
• Putting your studies first, and work second
• Getting fairly paid for the hours you put in
• Doing work that is interesting and enjoyable
• Potentially opening up a whole new career path

For most of these jobs, you don’t need previous experience or qualifications. So being a young student is in no way a handicap. You are perfectly poised to start making money right out of the gate.

There are so many opportunities that you can try several and see which is the best fit for you. At the very least, you can expect to make a good hourly rate to supplement your income. And who knows, your part-time project may grow into a full-time online business.

Back in 1997, two students at Stanford university came up with an idea for a software program that made it easier to search for web pages and find information. This was just a part-time student project, and they hoped to make a little extra money renting out the software.

They made more than a little pocket money. Those two students - Sergey Brin and Larry Page - turned their student project into a company. They named it Google and became multi-billionaires.

And they are not the only students to turn their part-time online gigs into massive fortunes. Yahoo and Facebook also started life as student projects. So start working online today, and who knows where your part-time job could take you.

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty, and start examining the top online jobs for college students to make money.

1. Write Essays and Term Papers

We’ll start by looking at the opportunities that are a natural fit for students. And the obvious place to start is with writing student essays and term papers.

As a student yourself, no doubt you have lots of experience in writing these! So you know exactly what is required, and you understand all the ‘dos and don’ts’ that apply to this kind of work. 

Best of all, you are ‘in the zone’ right now, so your skills in this field are bang up to today. That makes you a perfect fit for essay-writing resources like I Write Essays. This is just one of many websites that connects writers with other students who need things written. 

This is an excellent way to leverage your existing skills and make some extra money online. 

2. Rent Out University Links

How would you like to make an extra $450 a month for doing next to nothing? Many students are doing exactly that! Here’s now...

Many colleges and universities allocate students some space on their website to upload content. Many website owners consider links from educational establishments (with a .edu domain suffix) to be extra valuable in helping their sites rank in Google. 

Because of this, they are prepared to pay you hundreds of dollars every month if you create a link to them from your college website. Once the links is in place (five minutes work), there is nothing further for you to do. You just collect lots of money every month!

3. Tutor Online

Another way to leverage your existing skills is to work as an online tutor. Having recently completed high school yourself, you have detailed knowledge of your best subjects.

That puts you in a great position to help other high-school students. You can work as an online tutor and assist them in improving their grades. There are many websites dedicated to connecting students with suitable tutors. Just sign up for one or two and see what projects come up.

You can do this job from anywhere in the world, and help students in other states - or even different countries. As well as earning good money, you may also make some new friends!

4. Research Projects

As a student, you know all about doing research. So becoming a freelance researcher is a natural extension of what you are already going. 

All you need to do is sign up with a site like Wonder and start taking on projects. You may typically be asked to assist with interesting work such as:

• Gathering statistics
• Explaining a trend
• Determining the size of a market
• Competitive landscaping
• Researching products or services

“I love working for Wonder because it allows me to do professional, interesting, engaging work on my schedule, which, as a stay-at-home mom, is priceless. The pay is good, the leadership team fantastic, and I learn something new every time I sign on.”

Nina R., Expert Researcher

5. Work for Google

What kind of online job could be cooler than working for Google? You may be surprised that the online search giant hires thousands of remote workers to help improve the quality of its service.

Google is always looking for search engine evaluators who give feedback on the quality of certain search results. The idea is to help the company understand where its complex computer algorithms are working, and where they need improvement. 

This is a job that can be done from anywhere in the world. Google hires search engine evaluators through third-party recruiters, and you need to go through a testing process to qualify. Read our detailed post about Google search evaluator jobs to find out more. 

6. Write Freelance Articles

If you made to to college, chances are that you are reasonably good writer. And that means you can generate some extra income as a freelance writer. With millions of websites all needing content, there has never been a better time to make money from writing.

You can sign up with any of the freelance writing jobs sites and start picking up clients right away. You might have to work for low rates initially, in order to get some experience and positive feedback on your account. 

But once you have a few jobs under your belt, you can start ramping up your rates and earning good money. The best freelance writers make well over $100,000 a year, and top copywriters make a million dollars a year plus. So there is plenty of opportunity in this market!

7. Manage Social Media

Many businesses are run by older people who grew up in an era where there was no Internet and no social media. So they are often somewhat at sea when it comes to taking advantage of social media marketing. 

That’s where the student generation comes in. Having grown up with this technology, you can offer facility with social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. So you can help businesses by offering to take on the role of managing their social media.

You can find part-time social media jobs at any of the freelance marketplaces, or even on regular job boards. Alternatively, you can simply approach businesses in your area and offer to help. Look for companies with a poor social media presence, where you can make an immediate impact. 

8. Develop Software

As we mentioned earlier, many students have started programming projects that have turned into multi-billion dollar companies. So software development is definitely a good business to get into.

You don’t have to be studying software engineering to make a go of this. You can learn programming through online courses or simply by watching YouTube videos. Once you have a little coding knowledge, you can start taking on simple jobs.

The more jobs you do, the more your skills will grow. You can raise your hourly rates steadily until you are making an excellent income, or charge high rates by the project. 

Alternatively, you can put your new skills to personal use and create the next Facebook. If Mark Zuckerberg can build a trillion-dollar business from his dorm room, so can you!

9. Teach English Online

Here’s another nifty way to take advantage of your good English skills. Around the world, there are millions of people learning English. In China alone, 400 million people are learning English...that’s more than the entire population of the United States!

What many of these people need is direct contact with a native English speaker. And that’s where you come in. There are many companies which exist to connect students of English to suitable teachers.

Teachaway alone has over 300,000 students who need a tutor, and they pay up to $22 an hour. It helps if you get TEFL qualified (Teach English is a Foreign Language), but it’s not essential.

Many students simply want to practice chatting with a native English speaker to improve their conversational skills. So if you like the idea of getting paid $20+ an hour just to chat on Skype, teaching English online may be for you!

10. Write Resumes

Another simple way to leverage your writing skills is to specialize in revamping resumes. There are millions of job seekers who need a great resume to secure their next job, but don’t know how to do it well.

This is a simple skill to learn, and you could soon be making good money as a part-time resume writer. Once you have learned the ‘formula’ for writing a good resume, you can knock these out in an hour or two and get paid around $100.

You can add a second string to your bow by offering to write LinkedIn profiles, too. These are really important to job seekers, and go hand in hand with a good resume. Offer the two services together and double your money!

Use any of the major freelance jobs sites to help you find resume-writing jobs. There are always lots of opportunities on offer. 

11. Offer Gigs on Fiverr

Fiverr provides you with an opportunity to be creative and offer special services based on your skills, experience and special talents. All kinds of people deliver all kinds of services on this fascinating platform.

Do you want birthday wishes from the Queen of England, or the Pope? Maybe you want someone to sing happy birthday in the shower...anything is possible on Fiverr. You just have to get your thinking cap on and decide what service you could offer.

No matter how crazy your idea may seem, there is sure to be someone who will pay for it. That makes this site perfect for students who are prepared to do almost anything to make money!

12. Test Websites

Want to get paid for just surfing the web? You can! Many companies hire website testers to give them feedback on their online operations. 

When a big company launches a new website, they need to know how things are going. Can users find their way around? Do they know where to click? Can they get help when they need it?

To get information about all of this, businesses often hire people to simply test out their websites. You can find work in this field by signing up with a company like WhatUsersDo. 

They will pay you around $8 by PayPal for testing out a single website. All you have to do is:

1. Sign up
2. Download the screen recorder, 
3. Take a practice test
4. Start earning money!

“It's easy and convenient to take the tests. I get rewarded and help someone get real feedback on their products BEFORE they go live. Why not?”

Christian

13. Do Search Engine Marketing

For any online business, showing up in the search results on Google and other search engines is incredibly important. In fact, it can be make or break for a business. That’s why so many companies spend a fortune on search engine marketing. 

You can help by becoming a search engine optimization (SEO) consultant. This is a specialized skill, but one that you can easily learn if you put your mind to it. Once you have boned up on the art of SEO, you are ready to help companies rise to the top of the Google rankings. 

Get good at this and you can earn great money. A single client may well be prepared to pay you several thousand dollars a month to take care of their SEO needs. Good search engine marketing professionals are always in demand.

Alternatively, you can become an advertising consultant and help businesses succeed with Google Ads. Many businesses depend heavily on these ads to generate customers, but they don’t know how to run campaigns efficiently. Step in to help and you could be sitting on a goldmine. 

14. Drive for Uber

Ride-sharing jobs depend heavily on Internet technology, so they fit neatly under the heading of online jobs - even if you can’t do the work from your dorm room. They could not exist without wireless Internet, smartphone apps, GPS and other online tools.

Businesses such as Uber and Lyft have revolutionized the way we get around, and have created a whole new economy in the process. If you are lucky enough to be a student with a car, then you will love driving for the ride-sharing firms.

This work is perfect for students because it is so flexible. When you have a few hours to spare, you can log on and start taking rides. But when you need to focus on your studies, you simply log off and get out a textbook. 

You can maximize your income by working at busy times when surge pricing pushes your hourly rate up to the max. Friday and Saturday nights are always great for making money. And if you are prepared to work over holidays, you can really cash in. In just a few hours on New Year’s Eve, you could make over $1000 bucks!

15. Deliver Food & Products

Like to drive but don’t like driving people? Then maybe delivery driving is for you. This option offers all the benefits of driving for the ride-sharing firms, but without the problems of drunks throwing up on your back seat.

There are now lots of companies who will pay you to deliver food or packages, ranging from ride-sharing specialist Uber to eCommerce monster Amazon. Here are the top 10 for you to consider:

• DoorDash
• Instacart
• Uber Eats
• Postmates
• Favor Delivery
• Caviar
• Saucey
• Eaze
• Deliv
• Amazon Flex

Another advantage is these companies are less fussy about the car you drive than the ride-sharing businesses. So if you are driving a rust bucket that suits your student budget, this may be a better option for you.

16. Help People Out (TaskRabbit)

Are good at doing odd jobs? If so, you can try one of the task apps for smartphones, such as TaskRabbit. Just log onto the app when you have some time to spare and get paid to help people in your neighborhood. You may be asked to assist with tasks such as:

• Mounting & installation
• Furniture assembly
• Moving & packing
• Home improvement
• Heavy lifting
• Cleaning
• Handyman jobs

Typical jobs pay anywhere from $40 to $120, with the rates going up for more difficult projects. So this can be a great way to earn some extra money at weekends. 

17. Publish eBooks

How would you like to start your own publishing company? Thanks to Amazon’s Kindle platform, that is now a real possibility. You can start with zero budget today, and grow your own million-dollar business.

Amazon has made it easy to publish eBooks, thanks to it’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) platform. You can easily turn a Google Doc or a Microsoft Word document into an eBook and publish it right away.

You can get started with Kindle publishing by writing and publishing your own books. Then when you start making money, you can reinvest the money by hiring others to do the writing. 

18. Create a YouTube Channel

If you have a lively personality and look good on camera, then you could be a YouTube star in the making! All you need is a good idea and some time to commit to making your project a reality.

The top YouTubers make millions every year from advertising, sponsorship and merchandise. While you may not make a seven-figure income, it’s entirely possible that you could make a good part-time living from YouTube. 

You don’t need to invest much money to get started. In fact, you can just use the video facility on your smartphone initially. Then as you start making money, you may want to buy some better equipment and set up your own studio.

YouTube racks up over five billion video views every single day - that’s close to the entire population of the planet! Growth is still exploding, so there is plenty of opportunity for you to carve out a lucrative niche.

19. Do Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketers make money online by promoting other company’s products in return for a commission. This can be a very lucrative business, and many affiliate marketers have become multi-millionaires.

You can get going for just a few bucks by starting your own website. Then all you need to do is add some affiliate links and start promoting. The more visitors you can send over to buy the offers, the more money you make.

Of course, you must be prepared to work hard at this. You will need to learn how to market your website using strategies such as SEO and social media marketing. But once you crack the system, you can look forward to a very nice income. 

20. Proofread and Edit Documents

If you have a good eye for detail, then you can make good money from proofreading and editing documents. Every day, gazillions of blog posts, articles, reports and other materials get published online.

Any publisher who wants to maintain professional standards needs help with proofreading these documents. So demand for proofreaders is exploding. You can get paid good money for doing relatively easy work from the comfort of your own dorm room. 

There are many websites where you can find proofreading jobs you can start today. You need to have a good understanding of English grammar and spelling, plus the ability to spot typos and other textual problems. 

21. Sell Online Courses

Do you have some kind of special knowledge or expertise? Maybe you are an expert in archery, or needlepoint or computer programming. Whatever skill you have, you can make good money by sharing your knowledge with others.

Selling online courses has become a boom business. Thanks to platforms like Teachable, it’s easy for anyone to create and offer professional-quality courses. People will pay good money to learn about all kinds of subjects.

You can market your course using social media such as Facebook, or you can get good at search engine marketing. There are many ways to make this work - you just have to find what works for you.

22. Design Websites and Creatives

So you have a good eye for design, huh? In that case, your skills will always be in demand. There is a huge and growing need for good designers who can help get creative work done. 

You can use any of the freelance job marketplaces to find work in areas such as:

• Web design
• Graphic design
• Print design

Alternatively, you can come up with your own designs and sell on them on a platform such as Creative Market. That way, you can create your design once, and get paid for it many times over. 

23. Keep Websites Secure

Hackers are everywhere, it seems, and that is a big problem for website owners. But it’s also a great opportunity for you. There is a growing demand for Internet security consultants who can keep websites safe from attack. 

You do need something of a geeky side to do this, as it gets technical very quickly. But once you have gained the skills you need, you are in a great position to demand high rates for your work. Businesses that have been hacked will pay almost anything to get the problem fixed.

It’s a good idea to specialize in a popular platform such as WordPress, to ensure that you always have plenty of work. You can offer your services on services websites such as UpWork and Fiverr.

24. Review Products

There are lots of ways you can make good money simply by reviewing products, or testing them out. When a company launches a new product, they need feedback on how well it works, and it compares to rival products.

For you, this is a chance to pick up some easy cash. Here’s a great list of sites that will pay you to review and test products, with the list especially geared towards students. Try a few and see what works best for you. 

You can also make good money reviewing products in YouTube videos. 

25. Complete Surveys

Another way to make some useful extra income is to complete online surveys. You’re not going to get rich doing this, but it can be a fun way to make some extra money. 

Sign up with companies such as Swagbucks and InBoxDollars to get started. You may find that you get rejected for some surveys, but accepted for others. You can top up your income by undertaking all kinds of additional paid tasks. 

These sites can be very useful for saving money towards big expenses like Christmas. You can earn money all year, then transfer the funds to Amazon gift cards. That way, you can do all your Christmas shopping without having to spend a cent of your hard cash.

26. Work as a Virtual Assistant

If you are a good organizer, you may consider working as a virtual assistant. This is a job that can be done from anywhere, and the hours are usually flexible. Rates of pay can be good if you find the right clients. 

The title ‘virtual assistant’ covers a wide range of possible tasks, which might typically include:

• Maintaining a website
• Posting on social media
• Dealing with customer support
• Helping with link building
• Organizing and posting content
• Keeping notes and reports

...and a whole lot more. You can find virtual assistant opportunities on any jobs site, as well as in any of the freelance marketplaces.

27. Start a Blog

One of the best ways to make money online is to start your own blog. This option is great for students because you can get started with very little money. What you mostly need is some time to invest. 

Creating a blog is easy with today’s technology, such as WordPress. The hardest part is marketing and promoting your blog. But if you get good at search engine optimization and social media marketing, you can get thousands of visitors to your blog every day. 

Once you have an audience, you can make money from advertising and affiliate programs, or by selling products and services online. One lady used her blog to clear $38,000 of student debt in seven months...and then go on to make over a million dollars a year...that’s the way to do it!

"The biggest reason for why I was able to pay off my student loans is because I earned as much money as I could outside of my day job. I mystery shopped and got paid to take surveys, but the biggest thing I did was I make an income through my blog."

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Turn Your Finances Around

If you’ve been lying awake at night, fretting about how you are going to stay ahead of your bills and get out of student debt, you can now stop worrying. Working online is the answer.

Wherever you are in the world, and whatever kind of college you attend, there are always ways to make extra money online. Just think...start working online today and you can look forward to:

• Paying the rent on time every month
• Having cash in your pocket to enjoy life
• Never having to say ‘no’ to fun that costs money
• Paying down your student debt...fast!
• Focusing on your studies and getting better grades

So check out all the options above and decide what’s right for you. It’s a good idea to try out several opportunities. You may be surprised at which one is the best fit for you. 

Above all, get started today. The sooner you put your toe in the water, the sooner you will be swimming in cash. So take your pick and start making money online today!

Discover how to win the best proofreading jobs that pay top dollar, are easy to do and allow you to work from home anywhere.

Get Paid to Read

Do you love reading? If so, then proofreading may be the perfect freelance gig from you. Proofreaders get paid to read all kinds of documents and spot mistakes. If you have a good mastery of the English language, plus an eye for detail, then you can make a great living at home as a proofreader. 

You can get freelance jobs proofreading documents such as:

• Books and ebooks
• Blog posts and white papers
• Marketing materials
• Legal documents
• Students’ theses
• Transcripts
• Academic papers
• Contracts
• Resumes
• Press releases

...and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The rapid growth of the Internet as a communications medium has led to an explosion of content of many different kinds. All of this needs to be proofread if professional standards are to be maintained. 

For you, that means a never-ending supply of potential proofreading jobs.

What Do Proofreaders Do?

Proofreading often gets confused with copy editing, so it’s important to understand the difference. While editors make broader decisions about style, format and structure, proofreaders are solely concerned with spotting errors. 

As a proofreader, you will read a document carefully and look for these kind of mistakes:

• Spelling errors (‘affect’ vs ‘effect’)
• American vs British spelling (“center” vs “centre”)
• Grammatical errors (“its” vs “it’s”)
• Typos (typing mistokes...er, mistakes!)
• Widows and orphans (very short lines)
• Punctuation (colon vs semi-colon)
• Capitalization (Mom or mom?)
• Verb Tense (“would of” vs “would have”)

Proofreading may be a simple task, but it’s not easy. You need to concentrate, so this is probably not something you can do while listening to music or watching TV. It’s your job to catch the errors that have slipped past the scrutiny of the writer, the editor and other readers. 

The key is to learn to see what is actually written on the page - not what your brain expects to see there. It’s very easy to skip over a typo or spelling error such as “calender” because your brain automatically corrects it to “calendar” - or “colander.”

To succeed as a proofreader, you need to slow down and switch off this automatic correction. You will succeed or fail according to your ability to catch the mistakes that others miss.

If you can do this, you are well on your way to a highly-successful career as a proofreader. To see if you have the chops for the job, you can take a free test from the Society of Editors and Proofreaders. If you get a good result, you are good to go!

Some employers may expect you to have a degree in English, but the majority don’t even ask. They are more concerned with your ability to spot misplaced commas than your glittering academic achievements. 

It’s a good idea to learn the most common style guidelines, such as AP Stylebook and the es. The Chicago Manual of Style. These are used as the publishing standard by many organizations, so a good understanding of them will help you a lot. 

How Much do Proofreaders Earn

According to Glassdoor, the average salary for a proofreader is $36,000 a year. However, this is very much a low estimate. If you are good at what you do, and you learn how to pick up the best-paying jobs, you can earn up to $100,000 a year doing proofreading.

In proofreading, you are usually not paid by the hour. Instead, you are paid by the page, or the number of words read. This means that if you work quickly, you can take on more jobs and increase your income substantially. That’s one way to crack the six-figure income barrier as a proofreader. 

Better still, proofreading is perfect if you are looking for a work-from-home position. All of the work can be done online from anywhere in the world. The only equipment you need is a device with Internet access. 

A decent laptop is perfect for this, but you could also use a tablet. At a pinch, you can even do the job using your smartphone. 

How to Proofread

The main skill you need to have as a proofreader is a good grasp of English grammar and spelling. If you have that requirement under your belt, you are good to go. 

You will need to pick up some specialized knowledge of proofreading, but that is not difficult. For example, it’s a good idea to learn the common proofreading marks that have been used traditionally.

It’s good to learn these, even though things have moved on. Nowadays, you are more likely to be working on a collaborative document such as a Google Doc. That makes it easy for you and others to add comments as annotations to the document.

Sometimes, you will come across a client who asks you to use iAnnotate. This app is easy to use, and you can soon get up to speed with it.

Working with clients is usually a straightforward process. You can communicate by email, online chat, video chat or a project management system.  

Why Proofreading?

There are many different kinds of freelance jobs you could consider, so why would you choose proofreading as your preferred option? There are many benefits to doing proofreading work:

• You don’t need experience or qualifications
• No investment is required
• You can work from (or anywhere)
• The hours are flexible
• You get to learn as you work
• You can generate a steady income
• There is plenty of work available

Where to Find Jobs

So you’ve honed your grammar, worked on your spelling and studied the main style guides. Now you are ready to get paid good money for proofreading. All you need to do now is find a job.

The good news is that the number of job options for proofreaders is overwhelming. There is a veritable tsunami of proofreading jobs posted every day. All you have to do is identify the ones that meet your requirements in terms and start applying.

So where should you look? There are 10 principle ways you can find proofreading jobs, and each provides a wealth of sub-options. So let’s get into it...

1. Proofreading Jobs Sites

The obvious place to start when looking for employment in this sector is the jobs sites that specialize in connecting proofreaders with paid work. This is where the best contracts are likely to be found. 

In order to win jobs at these sites, you need to come across as being very professional. Remember that you will be competing with other professional and experienced proofreaders, so you need to up your game. The standards are generally higher at these sites, and you may need a degree and previous experience. 

But even if you are a raw beginner, you can still find some plum jobs on these sites. 

Proofreading Services

This site hires both freelance and full-time proofreaders who can demonstrate excellent proofreading skills. Applications are accepted from any country worldwide. They offer:

• Competitive rates of pay that exceed the U.S average
• Flexible hours to suit you
• A great community of proofreaders

Proofreading Pal

A two-proofreader model is used at Proofreading Pal, so that every document is proofed by at least two professional proofreaders. Their proofreaders earn up to $3,000 per month.

ProofreadingPal is currently seeking qualified applicants who meet one of the following criteria:

1. Are currently employed by or enrolled as a graduate or postgraduate student in an accredited United States university and have a minimum GPA of 3.5.

2. Have a graduate degree with a minimum of five years of professional proofreading and editing experience.

The ideal candidate will also offer:

• The ability to work independently
• Exceptional time-management skills
• Excellent Google search skills
• An ability to meet deadlines
• Experience proofreading academic papers  
• Experience with several popular writing styles

 If you meet their stringent requirements, you can take their online test and apply for work. 

Scribendi 

This company claims to have the world’s fastest growing community of editors and proofreaders. 

Scribendi has been in business since 1997, and is open to applications from freelancers. You need to have a PC with Microsoft Office, and proven skills in your field. 

WordsRU

In order to be considered for a proofreading position with WordsRU, you need to meet the following requirements:

• Hold a Master's degree, PhD, or equivalent professional experience in any academic discipline.
• Have at least two years of professional experience as an editor, copyeditor, or proofreader.
• Be proficient in MS Word and its tracked changes feature.
• Have experience in efficient document management.
• Be familiar with major styles.

It also helps to have proficiency in at least one of the following:

• Adobe Acrobat Vs 8 (Professional) for editing PDFs
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Framemaker
• DITA and Arbortext Editor
• QuarkXPress
• Final Draft
• Movie Magic Screenwriter
• LATEX

If you feel you meet the requirements, you can send your resume and cover letter to  jobs@wordsru.com.  

Polished Paper

In order to be considered for Polished Paper, you will need to complete a 35-question test. But don’t let this put you off, as it puts you in pole position to get work. 

CEO and Founder, Steven Bredenkoetter, says:

“Polished Paper believes every document that comes through our doors, from the student's admission essay to the hedge fund's investors deck, is a document of consequence to the author submitting it. It is our duty to our clients, and our promise, to keep this fact always in mind.”

EditFast

To get work from this site, you need to sign up so that you qualify to receive project notifications. The site provides tools for you to promote yourself in the community, get more attention and additional work. 

Payments are made by PayPal, after the company has deducted its commission payment. You are required to have:

• A degree from a recognized university
• A wide variety of reading interests
• A computer with an Internet connection
• The usual word processing software
• Past editing/proofreading experience
• Computer/Internet experience

WordFirm

This company employs home-based freelancers on a variety of projects. Applicants should have a college degree and the thoroughly professional. 

You can apply by filling out a detailed independent contractor application. You can indicate the categories you wish to be considered for. 

English Trackers

When you work with English Trackers, you benefit from:

• A flexible schedule  
• Guaranteed on-time monthly payment 
• A responsive editor support team  
• Applicants need to meet the following requirements:
• Native English speaker
• Minimum 2 years professional academic editing experience
• PhD holder or academic editor with verifiable experience
• Experience editing documents written by non-native English speakers.

GramLee

These guys are grammar fanatics who shudder at the thought of poor writing, and they are looking for people to help spot such heresies.

You get to work at home on a freelance basis, and they are always open to proposals. This should be a fun company to work with. 

WordVice

This company offers proofreading services for scholarly papers, checking for grammar, spelling and punctuation. 

Proofreaders are carefully matched with assignments based on their familiarity and expertise in the subject area. The goal is to ensure that research papers are assessed on its merit, without the distraction of language issues. 

R3ciprocity

This site is unusual as it is based on a credits system. Contributors proofread each other’s work, and get credits towards having their own work proofed.

However, is also possible to turn your credits into cash, so this is a useful site to consider. You may get some interesting projects here.   

2. Freelance Marketplaces

The next best place to look for proofreading jobs is at any of the major freelance marketplaces. These offer lots of opportunities for proofreaders, and the qualifications requirements are likely to be less stringent. 

Upwork

As the world’s biggest freelance marketplace, this site has plenty of work on offer. At any one time, you are likely to find several hundred freelance proofreading jobs listed here. 

The key to success on Upwork is to stand out from the crowd. You don’t want to end up in a bidding war which forces prices down to the lowest level. 

Instead, create a professional profile that positions you as an expert. Build a reputation as a reliable proofreader who delivers top-quality work. 

Although Upwork takes a slice of your earnings, the sheer volume of work available here makes this site a priority.

Freelancer

As another big contender in the freelance marketplace world, Freelancer should be your next port of call. Lots of proofreading jobs are listed, in all kinds of niches.

As with Upwork, positioning is important here. You need to make the most of whatever experience and expertise you have. Work hard on getting positive feedback to establish a reputation in the marketplace.

Guru

Although not so many proofreading jobs are listed here, you will find that the competition is not so intense, either. 

This is a good site to sign up with and check back one a week or so. You may find some lucrative jobs posted here that you won’t see anywhere else. 

PeoplePerHour

A decent number of proofreading jobs get posted here, so it’s worth signing up to see what you can get. 

The jobs can generally be done online on a freelance basis. In addition to applying for jobs that you see posted, there is also the option to offer services pro-actively according to your skills and experience. 

Fiverr

Fiverr is a hugely-popular freelance gigs site, and a vast amount of work is done through this platform every day. There is certainly a great opportunity to win proofreading work here.

On Fiverr, you offer a gig that you think buyers will find interesting. You can add all kinds of upsells and extras to bump up the value of your gig to several hundred dollars a day. Some proofreaders are making a killing on this site, and you can, too!

3. Writers and Blogger Job Boards

Although these job boards are mainly concerned with writing and editing jobs, you can also pick up some proofreading work, too. These sites are great for finding clients who are directly involved in the media world. 

ProBlogger

This is one of the most popular resources for blogging jobs, and proofreading projects are often posted here.

This site connects you directly with potential clients, so you don’t have to worry about paying commissions to the platform. Some quality jobs are posted here, so make it a top priority. 

BloggingPro

Here’s another jobs board that you should keep a regular eye on. You will find a variety of interesting jobs posted hre.

The number of jobs posted here may be on the lower side, but they can be of good quality. Many proofreaders have picked up regular clients here. 

Journalism Jobs

Having been around for a couple of decades, Journalism Jobs has established a good reputation in the industry. You can find some good gigs for proofreaders posted here.

Try refining your search by state to find jobs that are geographically close to you. Even though the work is generally all done online, this may still give you an advantage.

MediaBistro

This is another site that has been around for a long time, and which has a great selection of jobs. You can certainly find a few proofreading jobs here.

Jobs are aggregated from a wide selection of job boards, so you get a wide variety of jobs to choose from. Some big clients hang out here, so make sure you get involved. 

PitchWhiz

This platform exists to connect freelancers with publications that need their services. And that includes proofreading. 

You can choose to sell your work or your time - whichever works best for you. You have an opportunity to contact commissioning editors and pitch for work. 

4. Content Mills

Content marketing has become a big deal, and that has resulted in an explosion of platforms designed to connect content creators with buyers. There are dozens of these, and they all provide opportunities for proofreaders.

Take some time to visit the most popular of these content mills and identify the ones most likely to offer work to proofreaders. Some of these could provide you with enough work to keep you very busy.

5. Online Advertising

If you have a budget for marketing, the quickest way to find clients is simply to advertise for them. You could literally start running ads today, and have a new client by the end of the day. 

The obvious place to start is with Google Ads. These allow you to connect with clients who are searching for proofreaders right now. You only pay when someone click through to your website. The cost per click can be high, but it’s well worth it if you pick up a few good clients. 

Facebook advertising is another option. Here the cost per click is generally lower, but you can’t target buyers of proofreading services directly. You need to get creative and find ways to reach potential customers.

6. Regular Jobs Sites

One of the best ways to find proofreading jobs is to check the ordinary job boards. You will be surprised at how often good freelance projects are posted on the big ones. 

Indeed

This massive jobs aggregation system always has a huge number of jobs for proofreaders, and many of these can be done remotely.

The interface is a very simple one, but the site works very well. It certainly delivers in sure numbers, and you need never be short of work if you get good at using Indeed.

Monster

Do a search on this site for ‘online proofreading jobs’ and you are likely to get well over 1000 results. So you are spoiled for choice when it comes to opportunities.

One way to get ahead is to download the Monster app and check for jobs on your smartphone. That way you can stay informed of the latest jobs and get your application in first.

SimplyHired

You can also find a good selection of proofreading jobs here. SimplyHired is another big jobs aggregator that brings you lots of opportunities.

This site has the advantage of a modern user interface that makes it easier and more intuitive to use. That makes it simple to identify the proofreading jobs that are right for you. 

FlexJobs

All of the jobs offered on this site are designed with flexibility in mind. So it's perfect for finding freelance proofreading jobs that you can do from home. 

You can stand out from the crowd by taking some of the skills tests, and adding your resume. There is a great chance of picking up good work here.

LinkedIn

This site is often overlooked by proofreaders seeking work, but it can be a goldmine if you learn how to use it well. One advantage of using this site is that it has a more professional feel overall, and rates of pay tend to be higher.

Finding work is a skill that is well worth learning, as it can pay huge dividends.  

7. Outreach

Another great way to find proofreading jobs is simply to reach out to potential prospects and show them what you have to offer. You can do this more or less for free, and geneate a lot of valuable work. 

This can be as simple as using Google to identify companies that may need the services of proofreaders, and contact them by email. To get the best results, don’t email to the general email address or contact form found on the website.

Instead, use LinkedIn and a service like Hunter to find the email address of the person most likely to hire proofreaders. Then send a personal email that demonstrates what you can offer. 

You can get even better results if you are prepared to pick up the phone and call. In a world where most people rely on email and online chat, engaging someone in a phone conversation makes you really stand out. 

8. Professional Societies

Another way to build relationships with potential clients is to join some relevant professional organizations. Although you probably won’t be able to pitch for work directly, these are great for building contacts. 

Once you get to know more people in the industry, you may find that work comes your way naturally. After all, people prefer to hire proofreaders they know, like and trust. 

Editorial Freelancers Association

As the largest and oldest national professional organization of editorial freelancers, this is a good place to start. Members include:

• Editors
• Writers
• Indexers
• Proofreaders
• Researchers
• Desktop publishers
• Translators

 The society offers a job listing service, which can help you find work right away. You can also get a listing in the directory, so that hiring editors can find you easily. 

The Society for Editors and Proofreaders

This is a professional society that numbers a large number of proofreaders in its membership, creating a valuable and useful community.

You get a listing in the society’s directory, which can be a great source of proofreading work. You can also take part in workshops and training to improve your professional proofreading skills. 

ACES

This society is an an international members’ alliance of editors working in digital media, traditional print media, corporate communications, book publishing, academia, government, and beyond. 

Members work at local papers, websites and large companies, or are freelance professionals united by a love of language and precision. Networking here can produce some great proofreading jobs.

9. Local Organizations

Just because you want an online proofreading job, it doesn’t mean your clients need to be located far away. In fact, many hiring editors prefer to work with someone close at hand. Even if you rarely meet, they are comforted to know that you could meet if necessary. 

A good place to start is your local Chamber of Commerce. There you may meet many local executives who need proofreading services for their businesses. You can also attend any relevant Meetups in your area, or join local organization such as:

• Rotary Clubs
• Lions Clubs
• Toastmasters

Any of these can provide you with great local contacts. You should also join business networking groups such as BNI - these organizations are dedicated to helping you further your career. 

Google Alerts

This is the last option on our list, but is probably the first you should take action on. That’s because it’s the easiest to do, but also the one most likely to produce instant results. 

All you need to do is set up Google Alerts (free) for phrases such as

• Proofreader
• Proofreading
• Editor
• Editing 
• Copy editor
• Line editor
• Academic editor
• Book editor

To focus the results more precisely, you might also want to add keywords such as:

• Freelance
• Remote
• Telecommute
• Contract
• Part time

Winning the Job

If you are applying for proofreading jobs through the specialist proofreading jobs sites, you may be asked to undertake a test to prove your ability. This should not be difficult to pass, as long as you concentrate and take care. 

However, if you apply for jobs on more general job boards, there will probably be no test to take. In this case it’s a good idea to have a sample document that you have proofread. You can share this with your prospective client  and show them the errors you spotted, and the corrections you made. 

If you don’t have any client work you can use, just create a document and demonstrate the kind of errors you would pick. Google Docs are great for this, as it’s easy to highlight errors, annotate the document with your comments, and then share with the prospect. 

If you already have clients (even if they are not proofreading clients) be sure to leverage these. Ask them to give you a testimonial, and to speak directly with your prospect if required. 

A Proofreading Career

Follow all of these steps and you should be well on your way to building a very successful career as a proofreader. You can look forward to work that is interesting and enjoyable, whilst also benefiting from a good income and a wonderful lifestyle. 

There is everything to play for, so start working on your roofpreading (sorry, I mean proofreading) career today!

Discover proven strategies for creating a work-from-home career fast, even if you’re broke and clueless. Start now and make $$$$$ p/m.

The Era of the Home Business

Oh, you are so lucky to be alive right now! Because there has never been a better time to start and run a home-based business. You have a wealth of options at your disposal, and any one of them could become a big earner for you.

For most of history, running a home-based business has been a very limited option. If anything, it was a way of making a little extra cash on the side. And if your home business took off, you were forced to take the traditional route of getting premises, having staff on site...and all that regular business stuff.

Not any more. Nowadays, people are leveraging the Internet to build amazing business that can easily be run from home, or from anywhere in the world. Digital nomads are building empires while trekking up mountains and sailing to far-flung islands.

And if your business needs more staff, you can simply hire a virtual team - often at rock-bottom rates. You can have wonderful business that makes millions of dollars a year, and run it all from your laptop.

The opportunities for starting an online home business are amazing...so be sure to make the most of them!

The Pros and Cons

Before we dive into all the possibilities, let’s start by weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of starting your own business. There are a few downsides to be aware of, so let’s look at those first:

• There is a risk that you could fail
• You need to put time and effort in
• You lose the security of a day job
• No paid vacations or sick leave
• No company benefits
• It’s hard to make this work

These are issues to be aware of, for sure. And they are the reason why 99% of people will never take the risk of leaving their day job. They prefer the security of a modest salary to the opportunity to make millions and live a wonderful life.

If you feel that way, too, that’s fine. But seeing as you’ve read this far, you are most likely part of the 1% who can see past these problems to the far greater benefits.

The lifestyle and future you can create through an online home business is not just great - it’s amazing! Get this right and you can enjoy:

• True financial security
• The freedom to live anywhere
• A fun and rewarding career
• The chance to build something amazing
• More time with your family and friends
• A short working week
• Flexible working hours
• Fulfilment and happiness
• The freedom to do what you want

For me, the pros far outweigh the cons. I have been running online businesses for many years, and can’t imagine making a living any other way. 

If you feel that you have what it takes to me a home business work, then you are already halfway to success. So let’s take a look at some of the options available to you in the world of home-based online business.

Home Business Options

In my time traveling as a digital nomad, I have met countless people running all kinds of businesses. Often they have business models I had never heard of before. 

So there is no limit to what you can do. Feel free to invent a whole new of doing things and making money. But to get you started, here are the top 20 categories that most online ventures fall into.

These categories are not clearly defined. In fact, they often overlap. For example, bloggers may also do affiliate marketing and create online courses. Many sellers offer their products on Amazon, but also have separate dropshipping stores for the same products. 

There is no right or wrong - do whatever works best for you and makes money. If it makes a buck, it’s a good business to be in. If it makes millions of bucks, so much the better. 

Freelancing

We’ll start with freelancing because it’s the easiest and quickest way to make money online. Even if you have no money whatsoever to invest, you can find clients and start making money.

To build a freelance career, just think about the skills you can offer to potential clients. You can leverage any expertise you have in fields such as:

• Writing and editing
• Web and graphic design
• Illustration and drawing
• Programming
• Link building

Getting started can be as easy as drawing up a list of potential clients, and sending them a short email outlining how you can help. A single reply is all you need to set yourself on your way to building a fantastic freelance career. 

Another huge advantage of freelancing is that the income can rack up rapidly. You only require two or three clients to start making thousands of dollars a month.

Your overheads are minimal, so this is hands-down the most effective way to get an online business off the ground. There are many different ways to find freelance jobs and start the money rolling. 

Consulting

Consulting is a close cousin to freelancing, but here you are providing advice and strategic help, rather than producing deliverables. 

Consultants can earn very good money indeed. Even a modest consulting practice will clear over $10,000 a month, while a bigger venture could do ten times that and more.

There are many different types of consulting work, but these are the most likely options for a home-based online business:

• Search engine optimization
• Online ads management
• Conversion rate optimization
• Social media management
• Public relations

Charge clients according to the value you offer to their businesses, rather than according to the hours you work. Be sure to ask your customers for referrals, to help you grow your business fast at minimal cost. 

Remote Tutoring

This is another job that’s easy to get started. For example, there are literally millions of people who are looking to learn English as a second language. If you are a native English speaker, you can offer to help.

You can earn a good hourly rate teaching English over Skype. The number of potential clients is endless, and there are many places where you can promote your services. 

Blogging

Without a doubt, blogging is one of my favorite ways to make money online. There are thousands of bloggers making a full-time living from their blogs, and there’s room for many more.

Don’t let anyone tell you this market is saturated. All worthwhile markets are competitive, but that should not stop you diving in. This is a huge and growing market, and there is every opportunity for you to carve out a profitable niche. 

Bloggers make money in many different ways:

• Running ads on their blog
• Earning affiliate commissions
• Selling products
• Selling services
• Running sponsored posts

...and so on. Every blog is different, and many use a mix of these monetization options. Although it takes a while to get a blogging business off the ground, there is the potential to keep on growing your business until you hit substantial levels. 

You can start a blog for next to nothing. Getting everything set up is easy if you use WordPress, and you can soon have the foundations of a blogging career that is fun and exciting.

Many bloggers use the freedom that blogging gives them to travel the world. They may write travel blogs to discuss their adventures, or blog about some other passion. 

If you want an online home business that is fun and exciting, then is a great way to go. 

Creating Online Courses

One of the most profitable ways to make money online is to leverage your skills to create and sell online courses. People have built fantastic businesses on a vast range of topics. 

You can get started with free training on creating online courses, then build things out from there. If your course offers real value, you can charge anywhere from $500-$1000 for your course...or perhaps even more! So there’s no limit to your income.

One of the most popular strategies for marketing online courses is to use Facebook ads to drive people to a free webinar. The webinar offers free training which is of real value, but also offers you a chance to pitch your product. 

Affiliate Marketing

As an affiliate marketer, you earn a percentage of the sale price when you refer customers to an online retailer. Your website becomes a salesperson on commission.

While many bloggers use affiliate marketing to make money, there are also lots of professional affiliates who do things differently. And some of these guys make a heck of a lot of money.

Super affiliates typically buy traffic (website clicks) in large volumes. They may use Facebook ads, native advertising or buy from any of the many traffic exchanges.

The big advantage of this approach is the opportunity to scale very quickly. Once you have found a winning campaign, you simply buy more traffic to expand your campaign and make more money. 

You need a marketing budget to get this business going, but you can get a return on your investment quickly. If you want to scale up fast, this kind of affiliate marketing may be for you.

Print on Demand

Huge advances in technology have made it practical to create certain kind of products as customers order them. This is particularly true of merchandise such as:

• T-shirts
• Baseball caps
• Coffee Mugs
• Phone cases 
• Duvet covers

It’s now easy to get started with a print-on-demand store, and the potential in this sector is huge. The market is experiencing rapid growth as the technology improves and costs come down.

Consumers love the fact that they can get amazing custom-designed products for very affordable prices. As a result, some print-on-demand store owners are making over a million dollars a year.

If you have creative ideas, then this will be great for you. The ability to come up with fresh design ideas is what sets you apart from other store owners. The more creative you are, the more you can earn. 

Dropshipping

Dropshippers act as a middle man (or woman) in the sale of products online. As a dropshipper, you will set up a store selling a range of products, and then promote your store online.

However, you never buy stock in advance. This means that you don’t have to pay upfront for a ton of stock, and you don’t have to worry about warehousing it.

When a customer places an order, you contact your supplier and pass on the details. The supplier then ships the product to the customer.

The big advantage of dropshipping is its simplicity. You can be up and running very quickly. Your store is easy to run, and the supplier does a lot of the hard work. 

On the downside, you don’t have the benefit of volume discounts for placing large orders. That can erode your margins, and make it harder to turn a profit. 

Amazon FBA

We all know that Amazon is the 800-pound gorilla in the world of ecommerce. The company generates billions of dollars in sales per month, and the numbers just keep on growing. 

The good news is that you can leverage this enormous selling power by joining the Amazon FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) program. You ship your products to Amazon...and then Amazon sells them for you.

This has proved to be a highly-successful model, as this screenshot shows.  

If you are ready to sell physical products, and want Amazon to do the marketing for you, them Amazon FBA is the business model you have been looking for.

eBook Publishing

To see the potential in the eBook publishing sector, you only need to consider that unlikely bestseller, Shades of Grey. This was first self-published as an eBook, before taking off and selling 10 million copies in one summer alone.

Thanks to Amazon’s KDP publishing platforms thousands of authors and small publishers have succeeded in turning books into a successful online business. Now you can turn a Word document into a published book in minutes, and start making money right away.

If you are an author - or aspiring author - yourself, you can use KDP to launch your books and make money. Alternatively, you can become a publisher and hire others to write the books. 

Either way, you can use Amazon advertising to promote your books in the Kindle store and propel them up the bestsellers’ charts. Many people are making hundreds of thousands of dollars a month doing exactly this.

Unlike with traditional publishing platforms, Amazon pays high royalties of up to 70%, and pays you like clockwork every month. Those are very good reasons for giving DKP a try!

YouTubing

If you are looking for a fun and enjoyable business, then creating a YouTube channel needs to high on your list of options. You could even become a YouTube celebrity, famous all over the world. 

This is a business you can start with practically no investment. All you need is a smartphone to get you started. Then as you start to become established, you can reinvest your profits into quality video equipment.

Get good at creating and promoting your videos, and you will be well on your way to becoming a successful YouTuber.  

Although most of your income is likely to come from the ads that run against your videos, you can earn money in other ways, too. You may be able to persuade people to sponsor your channel, or you can sell items such as merchandise through your videos.

Top YouTubers make millions of dollars a year, so there is certainly potential for you to succeed in the market. Video will continue to grow in popularity in the next few years, so the opportunity is getting bigger.

Online Coaching

How much money is in online coaching? Just ask Russ Ruffino from Clients on Demand. His company teaches coaches how to make money, and his customers make lots of it. 

With coaching programs priced from $3000 to $10,000 - or sometimes much more - it’s easy to see how the numbers stack up. You only need a few customers a month for your income to go through the roof. 

A great model for this business is to use ads to drive prospects to a webinar. The free webinar provides lots of value, and shows how you can help. Then you encourage people to book a call with you, where you close the sale over the phone.

Online coaching has seen phenomenal growth in recent years, and there is no sign of things slowing down. There is definitely the potential to build a multi-million dollar business in this sector. 

Flipping Websites

You can run a successful online business without ever running a website yourself! There is a lot of money to be made in buying and selling websites through platforms such as Flippa.

To make a living doing this, you need to get good at understanding the true value of an online business. So you need to appreciate the quality and value of a site’s:

• Search engine optimization
• Monetization methods
• Conversion rate optimization
• Traffic sources
• Sales funnels

...and so on. Once you are expert at this, you are well positioned to spot websites that are being undervalued by the seller. You can snap them up at bargain prices, make a few quick changes, then sell them on for a big profit.

You don’t even have to buy and sell completed websites. Many people make an excellent living flipping just the domain names. 

The number of people buying websites is growing, and prices are going up accordingly. This means the potential for handsome profits is increasing year by year.

Podcasting

There has been an explosion in the podcasting sector in recent years, as more and more people discover how valuable podcasts are as a business tool. 

Both Pat Flynn and John Lee Dumas use their podcasts as the anchor of their entire businesses, and both are making dizzying amounts of money as a result. Check out their income reports and you will see that it is normal for them to clear $150,000 plus in a single month.

Podcasting is another business you can start with minimal investment, and grow to a substantial size. A $50 microphone is good enough to get you started, and you can scale things from there.

With tens of millions of people listening to podcasts on their smartphones, the podcasting industry is continuing to grow. So this is still a great time to carve out your niche in the podcasting world. 

Selling on eBay

As one of the earliest ecommerce businesses, eBay has a long pedigree. And a couple of decades on from the start, people are still making good money on eBay.

For sure, you can use eBay to clear out your attic and make some spare cash. But the real money comes from sourcing products and selling them on eBay for profit.

With many sellers now focusing their attention on Amazon, this is a good time to explore the possibilities on eBay. The eBay economy is huge, and you can sell almost anything in this market.

Lead Generation

All around the world, millions of businesses are looking for customers. They need need a sales pipeline of leads who could turn into customers. And that has turned lead generation into a huge industry.

There are multiple ways you can generate leads for clients. You can get good at search engine optimization and social media marketing. Or you can use Google Ads or Facebook Ads to find prospects.

Either way you can sell leads on at a high price. You can make a lot of money selling high-value leads to professionals such as:

• Insurance brokers
• Lawyers
• Mortgage brokers
• Financial Advisers
• Real Estate Agents

Selling Crafts

If you are a natural in the craft world, you can make a very good living online. The days when you could only sell your products at local craft fairs are well behind us. 

Nowadays, you can sell to the whole world through platforms such as Etsy. This means you can now find markets for even the most specialized and unusual of products. 

App Development

With billions of smartphone users around the world, there is a huge demand for apps. And the good news is that you don’t need an expensive software development team to create them.

There are now several app development platforms which are designed to help you make useful apps at a low cost. You don’t need much in the way of technical knowledge, and you have the opportunity to create a bestseller.

The top apps in the Apple Store and on Google Play sell in the millions. Even if you only make a small profit per download, this can still add up to massive amounts of money.

Online Trading

Thanks to today’s amazing online tools, financial trading has become a business in a whole new way. You can take advantage of very sophisticated trading platforms to make money trading stocks, options and other financial instruments.

Prudence is advised here, as it’s easy to blow all your money if you take foolish risks. But if you trade sensibly, you can make an excellent return on investment, all from the comfort of your own home. 

There are many different approaches to online trading as a business, including:

• Day trading
• Swing trading
• Buy and Hold
• Options Trading
• Forex trading

However, you should stay well away from binary options, which are a much more dangerous form of trading. If you invest money into binary options, it’s unlikely that you will ever get any of it back.

Creating Online Marketplaces

One thing the Internet is great at is connecting people with very specific interests. Because of this, there is a real opportunity to create marketplaces in clearly-defined niches.

Cookly was founded in Bangkok by two young entrepreneurs who found it hard to locate cooking classes in South-East Asia. So they built a platform to solve that problem, and now have a fast-growing business.

Just think about what interests you - your hobbies and pastimes. What niche offers you an opportunity to build a platform to connect buyers and sellers together?

How to Scale and Exit

So there you have it - 20 great ideas for building a successful online home business. You can use any one of these to create a fantastic business you can run from your own home.

Initially, you will probably run the business yourself, with a little help from family and friends. But as your business grows, you will need to take on additional staff to maintain growth.

Nowadays, you don’t have to have full-time employees cluttering up your home, and you don’t need to move out into office premises. Instead, you can build a virtual team that runs from anywhere in the world. 

You can hire staff on any of the major freelance marketplaces, and manage them using online project management tools such as Basecamp. If you need additional funds to fuel your expansion, you can use crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter to get the money you need.

Although running an online business from home is fun, your long-term objective should be to remove yourself from the running of the business. Aim to replace yourself step-by-step, so the business relies less and less on your presence.

Eventually, you should reach the stage where you can hire someone to take on the CEO role, while you step back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. You are then in a good position to exit your business, using a platform like Empire Flippers to sell your business to a willing buyer.

A few years from now, you could be lying on a beach on a tropical island, reflecting on what a great idea it was to start your own home business. So don’t delay...start the ball rolling today!

Bootstrapping 101: How to quickly launch and scale a profitable online business from scratch, even if you have no money to invest.  

What You Will Learn

• How you can start a business today, even with almost no money to invest
• The right kind of startup to go for to ensure rapid results (and the type to avoid)
• How to scale and grow your new business to amazing heights (step-by-step plan)

How to Bootstrap Your Business

So you want to start a business, but you’ve got no money? Yeah, being broke sucks. But you shouldn’t let it stop you. 

I started my first ever business by picking up the phone and cold calling. No investment required. Many years later, I started over by launching another business with zero dollars investment. 

So I know it can be done. And over the years, I’ve learned a lot about how to bootstrap a business and grow it from zero revenue to a seven-figure income. 

There’s more than one way to start a business, of course. But if you are looking for simple, step-by-step process to follow, I’ve got your back. Here’s a tried and tested system that requires zero investment, but could genuinely put you on the fast track to seven-figure revenues.  

My only assumptions are that you can access the Internet, and that you are open to finding a business model that works.  

So let’s get right into it. Here’s a step-by-step guide to bootstrapping, scaling and (eventually) selling an online business.

1. Choose Your Business Model

So what kind of business are you going to run? That’s the first choice you need to make, of course. And if you are starting with zero money, you need to flexible about the model you run with. 

Broadly speaking, we can divide your choices into two main options:

• Selling products
• Selling services

Selling Products

Seeing as you have no money to invest, you can rule out selling physical products. They require upfront investment not just in the product, but also in warehousing, shipping, insurance, etc.

Digital products are generally a whole lot cheaper to manage, but they do require some funding. Apart from the cost of production, you will need to invest in marketing. And whichever way you do it, that will end up costing you money. 

So let’s forget about selling products, and focus instead on offering services. 

Selling Services

As soon as we switch to thinking about selling services, the numbers start to make a whole lot of sense. In the short term, you can create a business that is based on selling your own time, skills, expertise and knowledge.

All of these are valuable assets that you can offer to customers for a relatively high cost. For example, it’s a lot easier to make money selling coaching programs at $10,000 a go than selling widgets at $10 per item.

There are many different ways you leverage your skills, knowledge and expertise to make money selling services:

• Freelancing
• Consulting
• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Creating courses

Better still, it’s possible to start a business in any of these areas without spending a cent. You don’t need to invest in a product - because you ARE the product! And as we will see below, just about any of the above can be marketed for free.

What’s more, there is an opportunity to scale quickly. Getting your first few clients is the hardest part. After that, you can scale and grow as your marketing and closing skills improve.

Recurring Revenue

Where possible, look for a model where you can make a recurring revenue. Let’s say, for example, you decide that you are going to create videos for clients. That’s certainly a service that is in demand, and there is the potential to grow a profitable business.

But the way you approach this model will make a huge difference to your profits. If you decide to specialize in, say, wedding videos, you are limiting your options. Most people only get married once, so there is no recurring revenue. You have to keep on investing in finding new customers every month.

A better option would be to position yourself as a specialist in creating and managing YouTube channels for businesses. Now you are looking at a whole different market. Most companies understand that in order to get traction on YouTube, you need to publish new videos every week. 

This gives you an opportunity for long-term, recurring revenue. Each time you pick up a new client, your monthly recurring revenue (MRR) increases...and that means your profits explode.

So the fastest way to build a new business from scratch is to create a high-value service with monthly recurring income. 

2. Find Prospects

Great, so now you have a viable business model. The next step is to find potential buyers. Remember that as you are creating an online business, you are not limited to prospects in your own city, or even your own country. You can work with clients from all over the world. 

And thanks the Internet, it’s easy to find companies that would make hot prospects. There are many different ways you can compile a list of prospect companies, such as:

Doing a Google search, putting your search phrase in quotes (“search term”) to ensure you get on-topic results

• Combing through business directories
• Checking out industry associations and organizations
• Searching LinkedIn
• Using resources such as CrunchBase and AngelList

Pro Tip: If you can scrape together just $10 a month, then Fundz Pro is a great way to reach companies that have just received funding. You get alerts as soon as startups get money, which means they can afford to invest in your services.

Another powerful options is to look for companies that you can partner with. Let’s use our video production company as an example. For this business, you might decide to partner with marketing agencies who don’t have an in-house video department (which is most of them). You can help them by providing an additional service for them to offer to clients, and they can send you lots of business. 

This is a quick way to ramp up your business. One partner with a lot of clients could put a ton of business your way. 

3. Generate Appointments

The next step is to generate appointments, which you can do by simply emailing them. However, don’t waste your time using the general email address or contact form on the website. That approach is almost guaranteed to fail.

Instead, you need to get personal. Head over to LinkedIn and search for your prospect company. Then scroll through the list of contacts to find someone who would be a good match for your services. For example, a Content Marketing Manager may well be interested in our video production services. 

But you don’t want to get in touch by LinkedIn, as your hit rate will be too low. You need to find your prospect’s email address. There are a number of services that can help you with this, but my favorite is the Snov.io Chrome extension- their free plan is all you need to get started. 

Once you have extracted an email address, craft a short, personalized email designed to open a conversation. Don’t try to do a hard sell at this stage - you just need to open the door to further discussion. If you don’t get a reply, within a week, follow up using a different subject line. 

When a prospect responds and engages in a conversation, you can suggest booking a discovery call to discuss things further. Use a calendar app like ScheduleOnce to manage your appointments. This could be audio or video - let the prospect decide. While Skype is the most popular way to connect, Zoom is fast becoming the preferred option for video calls. 

4. Negotiate a Deal

In order to negotiate the best deal, you need to be in a position of strength. And that means:

• Having a great service that the prospect won’t want to miss out on
• Being able to demonstrate your expertise and ability to deliver
• Understanding the true worth of your service, and charging accordingly
• Factoring in all the costs you will incur in delivering the service

Not being desperate; there are endless prospects out there, so you can turn bad deals down

Every deal should be a win/win for both you and the client. Once you have agreed a deal that works for everyone, get a signed contract that confirms everything you have agreed. 

In particular, beware of scope creep. Your contract should clearly define what you are expected to deliver. If your client moves the goalposts and expands the scope of the project, then you will need to charge more money. Failing to manage scope creep can turn a lucrative project into a loss maker.

5. Over Deliver

We live in a very competitive world where buyers have many options. If you fail to deliver what is expected, there are many others suppliers they can choose next time around. 

But that’s not all. In this connected world, underperformance on your end can lead to bad reviews. And in a social media driven world, bad news travels fast.

You can turn this negative into a positive by aiming to over deliver on every project. Go the extra mile to ensure that your client gets a fantastic return on investment. This will lead to positive reviews and recommendations, as well as repeat business from your happy client.

Don’t be shy about asking your clients for recommendations and referrals. If you have done a great job, they will be more than happy to help. And there is no easier prospect than one who has been referred to you by a satisfied colleague.

6. Minimize Churn

A recurring revenue service business has the potential to be a real profit machine. But that is only possible if you are able to minimize churn. 

Churn is the rate at which you lose customers month by month - and it’s an incredibly important metric. Just reducing your churn by modest percentage has a compounding effect that massively increases your profits. 

Test out the numbers for yourself to see how a 10% reduction in churn could transform your business - the results can be mind-blowing!

Reducing churn is largely about delivering quality service, of course. But there are other factors to work on. You should pay particular attention to:

• Improving onboarding
• Managing customer expectations
• Dealing with problems proactively
• Owning up to your mistakes and fixing them
• Ask for feedback and respond to it

7. Manage Your Money

One of the leading causes of business failure is not a lack of deals, but a failure in cash flow. In fact, a staggering 82% of businesses fail for this reason. If you can’t make payroll at the end of the month, you are out of business - no matter how much revenue has been booked.

In any service-based business, cash flow really is king. For this reason, you need your clients to pay at least half of the monthly service fee (plus other expenses) up front. Ideally, you want them to pay 100% up front. 

You also need them to be reliable payers. If you find yourself chasing the client hard each month to get your money, maybe it’s time to find a better client. Don’t feel bad about firing clients who don’t pay on time. You need them like you need the proverbial hole in the head. 

8. Keep on Marketing

Many small businesses get trapped in a boom-then-bust cycle simply because they fail to keep on marketing. This is what happens…

1. A big project comes in, taking up all your time
2. You stop marketing while you work on this project
3. The project comes to an end
4. You have no projects in your pipeline (because you stopped prospecting)
5. Now you are desperate for work...any work!
6. You accept any project that comes along, at any price
7. You stop marketing while you work on this project…

And so the cycle repeats. You are trapped in an endless circle of low-quality, low-value projects, and your business never grows. 

The solution is to keep on marketing, no matter how busy you are. You get more work than you can handle? That’s great. Now you are in a position to cherry pick the most lucrative clients. And when the business continues to come in, you are ready for the next step…

9. Remove Yourself from the Business

If you are doing all the work, you don’t have a business - you just have a job. You need a clear strategy to make the transition from self-employed freelancer to business owner. 

Eventually, you want to be in a position where other people do the work - while you rake in the profits. You want to be the principal shareholder, not the head cook and bottle washer.

As soon as you start bringing in more work than you can handle yourself, outsource the projects to others. Nowadays, you can find great people to handle most kinds of work on freelance platforms like Upwork and Freelancer.

Now you should step back from doing the day-to-day work altogether. Your role is to be the project manager who keeps everything running smoothly. But even that is only a temporary transition.

As the business continues to grow (because you are still marketing, right?), your next move is to hire a project manager - so that you can take another step back. Now you can focus on being the CEO, looking at the big picture and working on growing the business faster.

10. Have an Exit Strategy

From the day you start your business, you should have a game plan in mind. You need to know how you will exit your business at some point in the future. Having a clear strategy for how you achieve will help generate a much higher final sale price for your business. 

Service-based businesses are notoriously hard to sell. That’s because they generally don’t have any assets beyond their employees. When employees quit (which they can do at any moment), the value of the business evaporates.

You can combat this by productizing your services and creating a model that generates reliable, recurring revenue. There’s sound advice on how to do this in Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow.

Taking Action

So there you have 10 steps to starting a new business with little to no investment. But the most important step of all is simply taking action. 

To succeed in business, you need to be proactive, and you need go out and get results. Nobody is going to make success happen for you - you need to have the drive and initiative to make it happen. 

It won’t always be easy. There will be days when you want to just crawl under a rock and die. Sometimes you will long for the security of an employee’s monthly paycheck. 

But if you stick with it, you can create something special. Few things in life are more rewarding than seeing your own business venture grow and prosper. So work on your business step by step, and you can look forward to exiting with a bank balance that will change your life forever.

Get on the fast track to a work-at-home job that gives you financial freedom and the lifestyle of your dreams. Find a job you love online today.

The Best Places to Find Home-Based Work

Let’s be honest - working in a day job sucks, right? Who in their right mind wants to commute through rain, sleet and snow twice a day? Especially when that’s for the privilege of being a wage slave stuck in a cubicle, a worker on a factory production line or a hamburger flipper at Ronald’s place?

Not me, that’s for sure.

That’s why I struck out on my own - initially as a freelancer, and later as an online business owner. Both careers gave everything I wanted from my work life:

• The financial freedom to enjoy life
• Flexible hours I could work around my family
• An interesting, rewarding career
• The chance to be my own boss
• More time spent with family and friends
• As much vacation time as I wanted
• The opportunity to control my future

Work You Can Do From Home

Nowadays, there is no shortage of jobs that can be done from home. If you can offer any kind of service, there is sure to be a market for it somewhere. 

All you need is a laptop and an Internet connection, and you are good to go. Some people even work from home using their smartphone or tablet - getting started really is easy.

Although there are many different ways to make a good living online, here are some of the most popular online work-from-home jobs:

• Writer/Editor
• Proofreader
• Web/Graphic Designer
• Social Media Manager
• SEO Consultant
• Online Ads Consultant
• Programmer
• Link Builder
• PR Consultant
• Blogger
• Online Seller

...and so on. But don’t feel limited by this list. Those are just ideas to get you started. Leverage whatever skills you have to build the home-based career that suits you best. 

I am so glad I escaped the rat race, and have no desire to work a day job ever again. If you, too want to enjoy the freedom of a work-at-home career, then you are in the right place. We are going to take a deep dive into the best places to find online jobs you can do from home.

Let’s start with the low-hanging fruit - the online marketplaces that specialize in connecting freelancers with potential clients.

Using Freelance Marketplaces

There’s no doubt that the major freelance marketplaces offer the quickest and easiest way to connect with paying clients. UpWork alone has around half a million clients, all ready to pay hard cash to people like you.

The upside of using freelance marketplaces is that you can sign up today and start applying for jobs right away. The downside is that competition can be fierce, pushing rates down. But don’t let that put you off. You just need to get good at focusing on your area of expertise, and working your way up to the higher paid jobs. 

There are lots of freelance marketplaces to choose from, but these are the most popular sites with the highest number of online work-from-home jobs:

1. UpWork

Following its successful IPO, UpWork has become the undisputed king of the freelance marketplaces. If you want access to the greatest variety of new freelance gigs, this is the place to start.

You can join UpWork for free and start applying for jobs immediately. If you are prepared to pay just $10 a month, you can upgrade your account so that you can apply for more jobs.

Whatever your niche, you will find that UpWork has a non-stop supply of projects. But to have a good chance of securing gigs, you need to complete your profile and upload a portfolio of previous work. If you keep applying for gigs, you will soon earn your first job and be well on the way to success.

Freelancer

Freelancer.com is the Avis of the freelancing world - they’re No. 2, so they try harder. When you sign up with this site, you get immediate access to a whole range of jobs and projects instantly.

You can improve your chances of picking up work by taking some of the many skills tests offered on this site. This gives you a chance to demonstrate your expertise, and can give you a head start over other freelancers. This is a great site with plenty of work on offer to keep you busy. 

Whatever field of freelancing you specialize in, you will find work that suits you here. And if you haven’t picked a specialty yet, this is a good place to narrow things down.

Guru

One of the original freelance marketplaces, Guru.com has a tradition of offering higher-quality work that commands higher fees. They aim to make it easy for employers and freelancers to connect, collaborate and get things done.

With over a million projects completed, and over $250 million paid to freelancers, it’s clear that this site has real potential. You can be paid by the hour, by the task, or according to project milestones.

Many freelancers are delighted with the results achieved. Writer Russell Lee says:

“Guru's services have allowed me to find more freelancing work as a writer than any other website. It is easy to communicate with clients through their message system and their SafePay feature ensures that all funds are secured prior to any work being done. I would recommend Guru to any freelancer who is looking to find new clients online. “

Peopleperhour

This site has paid out over $100 million to freelancers, so it’s clear that there is plenty of opportunity there. The rates of pay are generally good, and many people prefer this site because there is less competition.

In addition to bidding on jobs that are posted, you can also post ‘hourlies’ - gigs that you are prepared to undertake for a set rate. This provides you with an extra way of making money. This site offers work in many different categories including:

• Admin
• Design
• Development & IT
• Marketing & SEO
• Social Media
• Translation & Tutorials
• Video, Photo & Audio
• Writing

Toptal

This marketplace is a great place to find high-paying gigs, but you have to be good to succeed here! Toptal aims to recruit the top 3% of freelancers, so that hiring companies are guaranteed to get quality work for their money.

The big advantage to you, if you make the cut, is that 97% of your potential competitors are eliminated right out of the gate. And that means rates remain relatively high, and the work is likely to be more interesting and rewarding. 

As a result of this specialist approach, TopTal attracts some great clients such as Airbnb, ZenDEsk and Pfizer. This is a great site for raising your profile as a freelancer.

Solid Gigs

Here’s a site with a very different approach to bringing you work-at-home jobs. The SolidGigs team scours the web each week to find the hottest freelance and online jobs.

Subscribers are then sent a weekly roundup of all the top jobs - or you can log into your account and check them there. There’s a small fee, but you will save a huge amount of time and energy that would otherwise be spent combing the web for jobs. 

ServiceScape

You may not have heard of ServiceScape, but over a quarter of a million projects have been completed on this platform, and it earns a rating of 4.90 out 5 from customers. 

Not bad!

This site specializes in editing, writing and graphic design services. Many of the clients are from academic organizations or institutions, so this is good place to pick up quality work. 

Freelancers are rated by clients, and getting a good rating will help you secure better paying work from the most discerning clients. 

MediaBistro

With clients such as Bloomberg, Dow Jones and HBO, MediaBistro has established a great reputation in the industry. If you are looking for a job in the media world, then this is the place to look. 

Here you can find great jobs in:

• Marketing
• Advertising
• Publishing
• Sales
• PR
• Digital Media
• Television
• Design

...and more. A whole section of the site is devoted to freelance jobs, many of which can be done from home. 

Leveraging Job Boards

You can also find many work-at-home jobs on the general job boards. Just refine your search by adding keywords such as ‘freelance,’ ‘remote,’ ‘home based’ or ‘work from home.’

Here are the best job boards to try:

Monster

As the biggest of the dedicated job boards, this site really does have a monster selection of jobs. 

The best way to keep up to date with the latest jobs is to download their app to your smartphone. Then you will be able to get first grabs on the best projects as they are posted. 

Indeed

Indeed is a jobs aggregation site on massive scale. Here you will find many thousands of fresh jobs posted regularly. Get good at filtering these, and you will never be short of job opportunities. 

The site looks very plain and basic, but it gets the job done. You are connected directly with hiring companies, and have the chance to pick up paying work fast.

Flex Jobs

This site aims to bring you the best remote and flexible jobs, plus a better way to find them. With FlexJobs you can find hand-screened jobs that are ideally suited to remote, part-time, freelance and flexible working. 

FlexJobs users are generally very happy with the experience they have enjoyed using this site. Natasha from Maryland says, ‘FlexJobs is one job search that gets it!’ 

Luke from Ireland commented, ‘Amazing experience! The job came into my inbox, I applied and by the next day I had an interview and was offered the position. Could not have been better!’

Writers' Job Boards

If you are interested in freelance writing jobs, there are number of online job boards that specialize in bringing you this kind of work. 

Freelance writing is a great option, because you don’t need previous experience of specialist equipment. If you are able to write at a moderate level, you can make a career writing articles, blog posts, sales posts and other content. 

Here are some boards that regularly post great jobs for writers:

• Freelance Writing Gigs
• Problogger
• Blogging Pro
• Solo Gigs
• Journalism Jobs

Hunting for Gigs Online

Freelance marketplaces and job boards are great places to start your job search, but there are many other ways to find work. Get good at leveraging a range of online resources and you can really ramp up your earnings. 

Here are some of the best places to find work that you can do from the comfort of your own home. Be sure to check them out and see how you can use them to advantage:

Fiverr

This is a great site for offering your services - especially if you can come up with a new angle that people will find interesting. 

As the name suggests, the site was originally designed to offer small gigs that earned just five bucks a time. But the model has changed now, and you can get paid hundreds of dollars for services if you provide real value. 

Linkedin

As the social network for business worldwide, LinkedIn is a great place to find jobs. Whatever kind of work interests you, this is a great place to make the right connections. 

You can search for jobs, or sign up for job alerts. But that’s just the start. If you learn how to use LinkedIn to advantage, you can find opportunities that are not advertised to the public.  

Craigslist

There’s no doubt that Craigslist is an oddity. This is a classified ads marketplace that thinks is still 1999! The design may crude and basic by today’s standard, but Craigslist is still hugely popular.

All kinds of jobs are posted on the various city sites, and many of them can be done remotely. So check out the Craigslist websites in major cities, where the highest numbers of jobs are posted.

You can search under ‘Jobs’ and ‘Gigs’ - and also post your resume to promote yourself further. A lot of people have found great home-based jobs through Craigslist.

Gumtree

This is another classified ads site that has a lot of jobs on offer. Go to the jobs section and then click on Location. There you will find a section for ‘Homeworking’ jobs.

New jobs are posted in this section every day. So be sure to check back regularly to see what has been posted recently. Some interesting and unusual jobs are posted here, and some of the pay very well. 

Angel List

Startups need to get a lot of things done fast, and they often don’t have enough full-time employees to handle the workload. So they frequently use freelancers to fill in the gaps.

The Angel List features a lot of jobs with startup companies, and many of these positions will be handled remotely. Startup companies are used to building virtual teams, so your location becomes irrelevant.

Join Facebook Groups

You may be surprised to learn that Facebook groups are a great source of online jobs, but they are! Groups such as the Cult of Copy Job Board are a great souce of high-quality work with limited competition.

It’s worth spending some time experimenting with searches in the Facebook groups section to find groups that are relevant to you. However, you should only respond to job requests. 

Spamming the group begging for work will get you banned real quick!

How to Get Proactive

So far we have looked at ways of finding jobs that are being advertised publicly one way or another. But there are thousands of other businesses who are willing to hire home-based workers, even though they are not advertising for them.

To find this kind of work, you need to get good at proactive marketing. It takes some effort, but you will get a huge return on your investment. 

By taking this approach, you eliminate almost all competition for the available work. You may be the only person being considered for the job, which puts you in a better position to negotiate good rates. 

There are many ways to promote your availability for work. Let’s take a look at some of them:

Build a Website

Nowadays, this is pretty much an essential requirement. If you are to be taken seriously as a professional, you need to have an online presence to show potential hirers.

Fortunately, it’s easy to launch a quality website. You can start a blog in about ten minutes, and with a little bit of work you can create an impressive online presence.

If you have previous work you can show off, be sure to include a portfolio section. Create a ‘Work with Me’ page that outlines the services you offer, and why people should work with you. And remember to include contact form so that prospective clients can get in touch!

Then get busy promoting your new website on social media. You may be surprised to find that you pick up a client or two in the first few days. It happens!

Ask for Referrals

Have you done home-based work for other clients in the past? If so, you have a potential goldmine to tap into. 

Referrals are one of the best ways of growing your business, yet few people take advantage of them. Don’t make that mistake, or you will miss out on a whole lot of cash.

Contact your previous clients and ask each of them to give you contact details of three people they know who could use your services. Then follow up with each of those prospects, being sure to mention your mutual friend. 

This is a very powerful technique that really gets results. 

Use Cold Email

One of the easiest ways to pick up work is to simply email potential clients out of the blue. And it’s not only easy, it’s free!

Do a Google search to identify lists of companies who could be interested in the services you are offering. Visit their websites and collect their contact details. 

The send each one a short email offer that outlines how you can help. Don’t ask for work - instead show how you can add value. 

This works best with smaller businesses where the business owner is likely to be checking email personally. You may be surprised at how quickly you start generating positive replies. 

Get on the Phone

If you really want to get immediate results, there is no better way to do this than picking up the phone and calling prospects. Good old-fashioned cold calling still works like a charm, if you are prepared to do it.

In a world where most people contact each other online, making an actual phone call really makes you stand out from the crowd. You can talk to your prospect person-to-person, rather than relying cold, unemotional electronic messaging. 

Yes, cold calling requires some nerve and the ability to stand rejection. But the results you will get make it all worthwhile. 

Buy Advertising

If you have some budget for marketing, you can find clients by advertising for them. Just think...right now there are clients searching for people like you to get things done. 

You can buy advertising from Google Ads and start reaching prospects immediately. You could post an ad right now and have your first client within the hour.

Google Ads put you and your business right at the top of the search results, which is amazing. But the opportunity does not come cheap. Because you are competing for the top spots, ads can get expensive.

Nevertheless, you only need to pick up one big client to make the investment worthwhile.    

More Tips and Tricks

So now you have a whole lot of great ideas you can use to find online work-from-home jobs. But we’re not done yet…

Here are some more proven tactics you can use to find great projects. I have personally used all of these, and they have brought me some of my highest-paying clients:

Scan the Press

The best time to contact companies is when things are changing. And scanning trade magazine and trade websites can tell you a lot about what is going on. This information can be very valuable. 

For example, if a company is hiring a new full-time writer, for example, that means that have writing work that needs to be done, and not enough people to do it. 

It may take a couple of months before a new full-time hire can start working. So there is a great opportunity for you to fill the gap on a freelance basis.

Also look out for startups that have raised a new round of funding, or agencies who have just won a big client. Both have a need to get work done fast, plus cash in the bank to pay for it. Get in touch and profit!

Get Good at Networking

One of the best ways to pick up great clients is hone your networking skills. If you live anywhere near a decent-sized city, there will always be events you can attend profitably.

Check out Meetup.com for meetings happening near you, or join your local Chamber of Commerce. You can also make great contacts at Rotary Clubs and Lions Clubs.

Business referral clubs such as BNI are also a great source of business. The whole point of these clubs is for members to help each other find clients. Get involved - but be sure to give as much as you take. That’s what makes these clubs work!

Speak at Events

A fantastic way to showcase your skills is by speaking about your specialist subject. There are always opportunities to speak at local events, or you can simply create your own events. 

If you are nervous about speaking in public, don’t let that put you off. It’s a perfectly natural reaction, and can be resolved by joining your local Toastmasters club. 

There you will meet a supportive community of people just like you, all committed to improving their speaking skills. Within months, you will go from nervous newbie to confident professional. I know, because I’ve done it!

Take the First Step

So are you ready to rock and roll?

By now, you can’t be in any doubt about the size of the opportunity. There are tons of high-paying, fun, rewarding work-from-home jobs out there waiting for you.

All you have to do is take action. Make the decision to change your life today, and you could be enjoying a new and better lifestyle very, very soon.

Enjoy!

Need extra money fast? See how people like you are cashing in with fun, high-paying side hustle gigs that anyone can do, anywhere.

Top Side Hustle Ideas 

It’s so frustrating when you have a full-time job, but you still find yourself stretched financially. Life can be a struggle, and there always seem to be unexpected expenses.

tWhen the money is going out faster than it is coming in, a good side hustle really has a big impact. An extra $1000 a month can make the difference between:

• Being in the black, rather than being in the red
• Enjoying a weekend restaurant meal, instead of a $1 burger
• Putting money aside each week, instead of selling your car
• Living a stress-free life, rather than worrying about bills
• Keeping your home, instead of being forced to move out

So there’s a lot at stake. Finding the right side hustle can be a life-changing experience. In this article, we’re going to focus only on side hustle gigs that almost anyone can do. That is, we only discuss side hustles that:

• Can be done from almost anywhere
• Require no previous experience or qualifications
• Need zero or minimal investment
• Will start making money quickly
• Are suitable for most people to undertake

So you won’t find anything here about starting an ecommerce business or becoming a highly-paid consultant. Those are great options for making money, but they are not really side hustles. They require a big commitment of time, money and effort...and it could be months before you make any cash.

That’s not what a side hustle is all about.

Here we are focused only on quick and easy ways to make money. All of these options can be done in your spare time at evenings and weekends. And they all have real potential to put money in your pocket this week.

There are so many different side hustles you can do nowadays, and new ideas are cropping up all the time. Thanks to new apps and online innovation, there are always fresh ideas to try.

How Much Can You Make?

Every side hustle is different, and the income from these gigs can vary widely. But all the jobs listed here could realistically make you at least $1000 a month. 

Many of them have the potential to generate much more income. In fact, it’s entirely possible that your side project will blow up into a full-time business, eclipsing your regular income.

When that happens, you have the option of quitting your job and doing your side hustle full time instead. So it’s a good idea to choose something you find interesting, and which you would like to scale. 

However, if you are content just to earn a little extra income on the side, that’s fine, too.  

So...are you ready to make some money? Let’s dive in and see how you can profit from the best side hustle opportunities. 

1. Driving

As long as you have a car and a driving licence, you are in a great position to make side hustle money as a driver.

Ride-sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft are always looking for extra drivers, as demand for their services is going through the roof. So if you have some free time in the evenings and at weekends, you can make some decent money.

You can make extra cash by picking up a passenger on your morning or evening commute. Or if you really want to make good money, get on the road at times when demand is high - and so are payment rates.

If you are prepared to work at peak times such as New Year’s Eve, you can make a killing!

2. Delivering Orders

Another way to make money driving is to become a delivery driver. There are now a number of app-based services that allow you to get paid for delivering packages or meal orders. 

This option is great if you would rather not have strangers in your car. And it also means you don’t have to worry about keeping your car clean and tidy. Here are the most popular services for you to try:

• UberEATS
• DoorDash
• Amazon Flex
• Caviar

3. Taking Online Surveys

This is a tried and tested path for making extra money that has worked for millions of people worldwide. 

The advantage of this method is that it is very easy to start. You can just sign up with a site such as Swagbucks for free and start getting paid to:

• Answer surveys
• Watch videos
• Play games
• Shop online

4. Picking up Trash

This one sounds too easy to be true, but it works! Believe it or not, you can actually make over $100,000 a year just for picking up trash.

How does this work? There are all kinds of professional property management companies who need to keep the properties they control clean and tidy. They need someone to go around picking up the trash and keeping things presentable.

You can arrange lucrative contracts with these companies, and take this problem off their hands. Then you literally get paid good money going for a walk in the evening. You just pick up the trash as you go!

5. Teaching English

Here’s an easy way to make money from a skill you already have...speaking English! 

Around the world, there are hundreds of millions of people learning to speak English. The demand is huge in fast-developing countries like China. But don’t worry...you don’t have to travel. You can do all of this from home.

All you need is the ability to chat to people, using a video chat app such as Skype. You can do this from your laptop, or even using your phone.

Rates for this kind of work average around $20 per hour, if you choose the right clients. You can sign up with a platform such as VIPKID and start making money right away.

6. Working as a Brand Ambassador

This side hustle is not only a great way to make money, it can be a whole lot of fun, too. The job of a brand ambassador is to promote the client company either locally, or within online communities.

You may get paid to organize events such as networking dinners, or to attend local events and conferences. You will also be asked to promote the brand online by engaging with customers and prospects online. 

You will typically get paid around $1000-$2000 a month for perhaps 10-15 hours of work. All of this work can be arranged around your other commitments. Many of the world’s biggest brands make use of brand ambassadors, so there is lots of opportunity. 

7. Writing Articles and Blog Posts

As the volume of content published online has exploded, so has the demand for freelance writers. There are now many content platforms actively seeking freelancers to write articles, blog posts, reports and other materials.

You don’t need any experience or qualifications to start. You just need some enthusiasm and the willingness to learn fast. You might earn lower rates for your first few gigs, while you gather positive feedback. But then you can raise your rates and make very good money.

To get started, check out our list of sites that offer freelance writing jobs. There are so many to choose from that you can hardly fail to make good money. 

8. Dog Walking

Here’s another simple side hustle that’s easy to start and requires no investment. There are sure to be career people in your neighborhood who need someone to walk their dog during the day. Plus there will be elderly or infirm people who need some help. 

Dog walking becomes a breeze when you sign up with a service like Wag! The dog owners get a report that shows where you walked the dog, and you get guaranteed payment. 

Meme from Seattle says:

“WagWalk! has been a HUGE lifesaver. I don't have to feel guilty leaving my pup while I'm at work. My dog adores her dog walker and seeing their adventures via a report card is an afternoon highlight!”

9. Flipping Domains

Did you know you can buy a website domain name for ten bucks and sell it for millions? Sounds crazy, but it’s true. LasVegas.com sold for $90 million, and Cars.com went for an astonishing $870 million. 

Even Facebook has to pay a fortune to buy Facebook.com from the regular guy who had registered it for peanuts. 

While those glory days may be over, there is still very good money to be made in buying and selling domains. You can flip expired domains, or get good at grabbing valuable new domains as they come onto the market. 

You can literally get started with just ten dollars to buy your first domain, and then scale things up from there.

10. Displaying Ads on Your Car

How about an extra $500 a month for doing next to nothing? If you are a two-car family, you can make that $1000.

All you need to do is agree to display ads on your car. Sign up with a service such as Wrapify and you could find yourself displaying ads from cool companies like Google, Lyft and 24-Hour Fitness.

11. Home and Pet Sitting

When people are away from home, they need to know that their home and their pets are being well cared for. That’s where you come in.

There are many services designed to help you offer services for home sitting and pet sitting. You can do this locally to earn some extra cash, or you can use this opportunity to travel the world. 

As well as earning good money, you can get the chance to stay in some amazing homes, such as mansions, farms and beachfront houses. It’s a great way to earn and live the high life, too! You can get started right now.

12. Blogging

If you want a home-based side hustle that’s fun and has huge potential, then blogging may be for you. It’s easy to start a blog, and you only need to spend a few bucks to get going.

Yet if you work hard at this, you can make a whole lot of money. In fact, there are many bloggers making six-figure incomes just blogging as a side hustle. You will typically earn money from any (or all) of the following:

• Advertising
• Affiliate programs
• Sponsored posts
• Online courses
• Coaching
• Consulting

You do need to pick up some online marketing skills to succeed at this, but that’s easy to do. As your skills improve, your income will increase. Before long, you could be making a life-changing income. 

13. Social Media Marketing

Do you know how to use Facebook and Twitter? If so, you have what it takes to become a social media manager. 

There are tens of thousands of companies who need to work on their social media presence, but don’t have the time or expertise to do it. You can help them out, and make a nice side hustle income at the same time.

14. Working with TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit is a clever app that connects side hustlers with all kinds of work that needs to get done. 

You can help clients with:

• Mounting & installation
• Moving & packing
• Furniture assembly
• Home improvement
• Heavy lifting

...and a whole lot more. You need to be vetted before you start, but you are then ready to start working. You set your hourly rate, and you get matched with suitable clients and tasks. 

You can find yourself doing all kinds of interesting projects with TaskRabbit...who knows what might come up next!

15. Doing Gigs on Fiverr

The great advantage of working on Fiverr is that you can turn your most unusual skills into profit.

All you need to do is decide what kind of service you can offer online, and set up the gig. You will be amazed at how even the most obscure-sounding gig ideas become popular. 

Use your imagination to come up with something different. There is an opportunity for you to make at least $1000 a month doing this. 

16. Publishing eBooks on Amazon

This is a great side hustle that can easily become a full-time business. You can turn any Word document into an eBook and publish it instantly on Amazon’s Kindle publishing platform. 

You can also create printed books almost as easily and double your income. It’s all free, and you could be making sales within hours.  

17. Writing Resumes

Did you know that some of the most popular Google searches are all about how to write a resume? Every month, hundreds of thousands of people seek help with this important task. 

And you can help them. Start your own resume writing business and you will soon be in the money. The demand is huge, and the work is easy. This is a great side hustle that can easily make you $1000 a month, or perhaps a whole lot more.

18. YouTubing

Did you know that the top YouTube celebrities make tens of millions of dollars a year? While you may not make it into that payscale, you can certainly make a nice side hustle income from a YouTube channel.

You can create a channel around your skills and expertise, or you can create a channel that’s just for fun. You need to commit to making videos on a regular basis, but you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment. In fact, you can get started with just your phone. 

You can have a lot of fun doing this, and get paid as well. You will make money from the ads shown with your videos, plus perhaps from sponsorship of your channel. 

19. Charging Electric Scooters

Here’s a new side hustle that is taking off in a big way. More and more people are using electric scooters to get around. But when the scooters run out of juice, someone has to collect them and charge them.

That’s where you come in. You work with a company like Bird and take on responsibility for scooters in your area. Getting started is easy:

• Sign up for free
• Take an online video course
• Get your tools in the mail
• Start making money

20. Become a Virtual Assistant

The demand for virtual assistants is booming, so this makes a real possibility for a side hustle gig. Thousands of companies are looking for assistants to help with a range of tasks, from doing admin tasks to online marketing. 

There are many sites where you can find virtual assistant jobs, and some of them pay very well. Look for jobs where you can leverage your existing skills to maximize your income. 

The Best Side Hustle for You

So there are plenty of options - but which side hustle is right for you? There’s only one way find out...try a few and see which is right for you.

You may even end up with 2-3 different side hustles, each of them making you $1000 a month or more. Go for it and see how much money you can make!

Discover thousands of freelance writing jobs that pay high rates for fun, rewarding work. Never be short of paying gigs again. Ever.

All Freelance Writing Jobs

Freelance writing is one of the most interesting, enjoyable and rewarding ways to make a living online. And it can be one of the most profitable, too. Top writers make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. 

Some even make millions.

But to succeed and make money, you need to be able to win freelance writing jobs when you need them. It’s one thing to call yourself a writer and sit in a trendy cafe looking cool with your Apple MacBook and a Frappuccino. Putting hard cash in the bank every week is something else all together.

The ability to find and secure freelance writing gigs is what separates the professional from the amateur. If you want to ‘walk the walk’ rather than just ‘talk the talk,’ you need to get good at winning work. 

To find out more about getting set up to go solo, read our Definitive Guide to Finding Freelance Jobs and Making Money. That will give you a solid base to build your business on. 

If you have chosen writing as your preferred option, then this blog post has all the info you need to turn ambition into reality. Here you will find a huge, hand-curated selection of the very best places to find freelance writing jobs online.

Even if you have no experience, you can win freelance writing jobs and make great money. Here’s how one freelance writer launched her freelance writer career - making $5000 fast.

Writing Job Boards

There are a number of great job boards which are dedicated specifically to jobs for writers, so let’s start with those. Many of these offer a great selection of gigs in all areas of writing. 

You can get a great headstart on your online freelance writing career by signing up with a few or these sites, and checking back regularly to see what’s come up:

The Freelance Writing Job Board

This job board has been active for over 20 years, so it’s clear that these guys know what they are doing. This long history means it has had plenty of time to build up a reputation and attract great clients.

This site collates jobs from another major job sources, such as Craigslist. It provides a valuable service, and many writers swear by this site as a great source of work. 

The claim to be the #1 source for writing jobs. Whether that is true or not, they certainly have a great selection that can deliver quality clients. 

iWriter

Thanks to a recent site overhaul, iWriter now has one of the slickest and easiest to use interfaces of any of the freelance writing jobs sites. This makes it a top pick for finding freelance writing work.

They claim to create more online content than any other writing services on the planet. That’s quite a claim, but they certainly have the ability to back it up. 

When you write for this site, you get rated by clients. The higher your rating, the high the rates you can earn on the site. Although you might have to start out at the low end of the scale, you work your way up to earn good money.

Contena

This is a great place to find a curated list of freelance writing and editing jobs. You will find a lot of fresh jobs posted here in various writing-related categories. 

Although this is pay-to-play site, the rates are modest and the return on investment is high. To get the best results, sign up for email job alerts, so that you know when fresh jobs are posted. 

All Freelance Writing

Active since 2006, All Freelance Writing allows you to sort potential writing gigs by dates and pay ranges. You get a blend of jobs posted directly to the site, plus jobs sourced from third-parties.

This site is very useful if you prefer to work for higher rates. You can immediately screen out projects that don’t meet your pay requirements, allowing you to focus your time on serious prospects.

Online Writing Jobs

Here’s a great resource for finding all kinds of writing gigs online. From blogging gigs to detailed research projects, all kinds of work comes up. 

There is also an opportunity for experienced writers to create content directly for the site itself. You can pitch your idea for an article, and will get paid if it is accepted. 

Freelance Writing Jobs

This site has a freelance job board that is updated regularly, and can be a good source of quality writing gigs. 

The site is run by freelance writers who understand what writers are looking for. In addition to all the jobs, you can also find great resources for freelance writers here.

Writers Weekly

If you fancy a trip down memory lane, this site will take you straight back to the 1990s. The design may be outdated, but you can still find some good jobs here. 

Check out the Markets section to see what is available. You might be surprised at what you can find.

Daily Posts

This site is aimed at clients who are fed up with low-quality written work produced by content mills. They aim to raise standards and produce quality work for customers.

Canadian Freelance Writing Jobs

As the name suggests, this site is focused on freelance writing jobs based in Canada. However, many of these jobs can be done from anywhere in the world. 

The design is rather dated, but you can still find some good gigs here. Keep an eye on it, and you might find a first-class client.

TextBroker

This site is for clients who want custom content that is fast, affordable and scalable. That means they need plenty of good writers to fill this requirement. 

You get access to thousands of projects, and a real opportunity to turn your writing skills into cash. Over 100,000 orders are completed through this platform every month, so there is plenty of work available. 

Contently

Success on Contently starts with creating an online portfolio in order to connect with clients. There is a steady demand for good freelance writers on this platform, and you can pick up some high-paying gigs here.

You may not get jobs overnight here, but patience pays off. When clients do find you and check out your portfolio, there is an excellent opportunity to get a long-term client and some very interesting work. 

The Barefoot Writer

Barefoot Writer Magazine is dedicated to helping you make money from home as a writer. They want you to land freelance writing gigs that facilitate your dream lifestyle. 

To achieve that goal they:

• show you the writing opportunities that are hot right now
• connect you to experts in the world of writing
• help you pursue paid writing in a way that suits their goals

You can get a subscription to their print magazine, or you can join their Writers’ Club and get involved in the community that way. This is a good way to find gigs that pay up to $300 per article. 

eByLine

If you want to work with big brands that can pay high rates, then this site may be a good match for you. Here content creators get matched with major companies who need creative help. 

It helps if you have an established background in writing, especially if that background is in journalism. You can pick up some great gigs here for clients who could become profitable, regular customers. 

Freelance Writers Den

This is a closed community, but it’s well worth waiting for the opportunity to join when it opens for enrolment. Many writers swear by this site as the best way to get started as a freelance writer. 

Member Kat Tretina says:

“My first three months as a freelancer, I made $400 a month. I just finished my 2016 taxes, and I made well over $100,000 freelancing! Considering that last January and February I only made $1,500-2,000 a month, I’m pretty amazed — and I owe a LOT of it to what I learned from the Den!”

Morning Coffee eNewsletter

Make yourself a nice cup of Joe and scroll through a list of great new jobs at your leisure…

That’s the promise of the Morning Coffee eNewsletter, and it delivers on its promises. This newsletter has been published for over 20 years, and it’s just as popular as ever. This is a simple and easy way to keep on top of potential projects. 

Enago

This company specializes in helping authors get manuscripts publication ready. They have an ongoing need for editors and writers in fields such as:

• Medical and Clinical Sciences
• Life Sciences
• Physical Sciences and Engineering
• Economics and Business Management
• Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

If you have any experience of academic publishing, peer review and editorial writing, you may find some great work here. 

Blogging Job Boards

ProBlogger

This is a well-established job board that is free to use for freelancers. You can find all kinds of blogging-related jobs here, but the emphasis is very much on writing gigs. 

The site is easy to navigate and fresh jobs are posted regularly. You can narrow your search down by keyword to make it easier to pin down the best jobs for you.

This board can be competitive, which tends to force rates down somewhat. Nevertheless, it’s a proven place to find jobs for writers, editors and proofreaders. Definitely one to check on a regular basis. 

BloggingPro

Not to be confused with ProBlogger (above), the BloggingPro job board is updated regularly with paid blogging jobs, writing jobs and other kinds of freelance work. 

Although this site does not feature as many jobs as some other boards, there are some excellent jobs that crop up here. This is a useful board to check once a week or so to see if any plum jobs have come up.

Copypress

CopyPress is looking for talented bloggers who can write educational, interesting, and unique blog posts on a wide variety of topics.

Selected writers will be added to the roster of working writers and offered blogging projects when a campaign comes up that matches their skill level. High-quality writers who continually provide awesome blog posts (that require minimal editing) will be offered consistent projects.

Creative/Media Job Boards

Journalism Jobs

Here’s another jobs site that has been around for a couple of decades providing very good service. Although the board covers all kinds of jobs from the world of journalism, the majority of gigs posted here are for writers.

You can refine your search by state if you want to work with clients in a specific location. You can also used the advanced search option to get results that are exactly right for you.

Whisper Jobs

Despite the unusual name, this site is a great place to find writing jobs in the media world. You can find editorial jobs in both the print and digital worlds, plus editorial internships at magazines and websites. 

You won’t find a whole lot of jobs posted here, but there is less competition for jobs, too. So it’s well worth checking in once every so often to see what you can find. 

Krop

A wide range of creative jobs are posted here, and it’s a good place to look for work where other writers may not be seeking opportunities. 

The writing jobs featured here are more likely to be advertising copywriting, rather than editorial, but they can be high-paying jobs that will open up real opportunities for you.

MediaBistro

With a wide selection of media jobs curated from all over the web, MediaBistro is a sound source of all kinds of writing jobs.

This site has been around for a long time, and it has established a solid reputation within the industry. So you can expect to find some quality jobs here that may lead to bigger things. 

PitchWhiz

Here’s a platform that connects freelance journalists with editors and publications.

This tool is ideal for any editorial freelancers, such as writers, copy editors, proofreaders and photographers. It provides an opportunity to sell your work or your time. You can contact commissioning editors and publications, monitor your communications and pitch your ideas.

Freelance Marketplaces

Upwork

This is the obvious place to start for anyone looking for freelance work today. As the biggest freelance marketplace in the world, it has plenty of jobs available for freelance writers. 

The system is easy to use, and you can start bidding on jobs right away. But take the time to create a strong profile first, and be sure to add some items to your portfolio.

The reverse-auction nature of Upwork means that ‘commodity’ job prices tend to spiral downwards. The solution to this is to position yourself as a specialist in a field that commands higher rates.

When you start winning jobs, you need to deliver excellent service in order to get good feedback. This will help you get more interest from potential clients, and so win more jobs at higher prices.

While some writers complain about the low rates they earn on Upwork, other writers make well over $100,000 a year through this platform. It’s all about your approach. 

Remember that Upwork makes its money by taking a percentage of your earnings. Be sure to allow for this when setting your rates. 

Freelancer

As another major player in the world of freelance marketplaces, Freelancer is another sites you should check out. There are tons of jobs for freelance writers posted here.

The trick with this site is to take advantage of the various tests which are offered. You have to pay a few bucks to take the tests, but it’s well worth the investment. You are then able to showcase your talents as a proven professional, and you are more likely to win work. 

This is another job site where bidding strategy is important. However, you can also get jobs out of the blue. If a potential client likes the look of your profile, you may be contacted directly to take on a writing job. 

Guru

Guru has been a major player in the world of freelance talent recruitment for over two decades. This is a quality site that has a lot of outstanding jobs for writers on offer.

The platform has evolved over the years, and it easy to use. You can find plenty of jobs here, and many freelance writers have built their entire careers on clients found through this site. 

PeoplePerHour

Although not as well known as the biggest freelance marketplaces, this platform is a very popular jobs platform with plenty of freelance work on offer. 

Based in the UK, this site features jobs from all over the world. Nearly all of these can be done online. As well as applying for job that are posted, you can also offer your services according your skills. 

Fiverr

Fiverr is an enormously popular freelance jobs marketplace. However, it works in the reverse way to most freelance jobs sites. Instead of clients posting projects, it’s the freelancers who post gigs they are prepared to do.

In the early days, the idea was to offer gigs that you would do for just five dollars. But the model has evolved, and now you can make hundreds of dollars per gig.

iFreelance

This site is less active than some others, but it is worth checking out every so often. 

A wide range of jobs are posted here, and many of them are for writers. This works in the same way as most freelance jobs sites, and provides some good options for finding freelance work. 

Content Platforms

With the huge growth in the importance of content marketing, we have seen a massive increase in the number of platforms devoted to content creation. These exist to connect writers, designers and other creative professionals with potential clients. 

Most of these have plenty of opportunities for writers, as writing still lies at the heart of content development. 

Verblio

This site is very choosy about the writers it takes on. This makes it harder to get approved, but also means that you can get some great work if accepted. 

• They are looking for writers who offer:
• Impeccable grammar
• Strong research skills
• Show-stopping content writing chops
• An understanding of modern content marketing and SEO
• A professional and collaborative communication style
• U.S. citizenship & a valid Social Security Number

ClearVoice

This site aims to be good at matching brands with freelancers who can help them. 

The brand company posts the project and says what they are prepared to pay. The system then matches the client with the perfect freelancer for the job. 

But that’s not all. Freelancers can also pitch ideas to clients. So with a bit of creative thinking, you can drum up work out of nowhere. 

Quietly

Here’s another site that aims to match freelance writers with clients who need their services. The service is professionally designed and presented, and offers some great clients to work with.

The editors from the site collaborate with you, and help to ensure that the very best quality of work is presented. That means you get happy clients who will use you again and again. 

Skyword

Skyword is also making waves in the world of content creation and marketing. This platform will help you find work as a writer or journalist, working with big brand companies who need to spread the word about the products and services.

They claim to be the experts in scalable content marketing, and have big ambitions in this field. The company is growing fast and has lots of potential. 

Copify

This site aims to provide clients with quick, quality content written by qualified, approved writers. If you think you fit that description, then you can sign up and get started. 

To qualify, you need to be a native English speaker. The company has separate sites for US, UK and Australian writers. 

DotWriter

DotWriter is a growing online community of professional content specialists committed to providing the best opportunities to web content writers. You get the chance to promote your online writing skills and grow in this industry. More importantly, you can sell your articles to the right buyer and get timely payments.

If you are a professional content writer with unlimited talent, but limited opportunities to display your work, this is the place for you to create unique articles and showcase your writing skills to buyers from all over the world. 

Constant Content

This content platform is trusted by thousands of online and offline businesses, including Uber, The Home Depot, eBay and many others. This is one of the largest platforms connecting freelance writers with paying work. 

All you have to do is create your profile, add a professional bio and showcase your writing skills. Then you are ready to connect with brands and make money.

Onsite

If you like simplicity, then you should check this site out. Onsite is designed with a bare bones interface that makes it fast and easy to navigate. 

You can find some good writing and content creation jobs on this site if you hunt around. You may also find other freelance opportunities that interest you.

Article Document

This company has the mission of helping you to write content, monetize your brand and get paid. Your content is published under your exclusive byline, and shared with the world. 

You can undertake paid assignments and earn good money for your writing work. As a result, you can make a decent living from your passion for writing. 

Crowd Content

Want to work for Best Buy? Then sign up as a writer with Crowd Content. They are looking for writers and editors who can help them create a large volume of content. 

You get the opportunity to work with some big companies here, so you can make a regular income from your writing work. 

BKA Content

If you can write at least 2000 words a week, BKA Content wants to work with you. This company hand picks writers to ensure that they have the right skills, work ethic and attitude to add to their unique company culture.

They say that while making money is important, there is more to quality writing than just making dollar bills.  Your writing is essentially an extension of your personality, your experiences and your state of mind.  When you’re happy and having fun, you’re much more likely to produce work that you will be proud of.   

Express Writers

Express Writers is a content writing agency that works with many different companies around the world. 

It’s easy to get started here, and there is plenty of work on offer.  

Editor Group

Here’s another content platform that provides writers and editors for companies worldwide. They have a wide range of jobs available. 

Clients are very happy with the service received. Andrew Stevens, Chairman of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre says of the Editor Group:

“I’ve found them to always be well-informed, reliable and a pleasure to work with. I’ve been delighted to work with Editor Group over the past few years as I’ve delivered speeches and prepared sophisticated thought leadership material.”

Content Writers

As the name suggests, this service provides writers who can create content. Once you have signed up, you will be notified by email when you have been given an assignment.

Your work is reviewed by editors, to ensure that high standards are maintained. If you can deliver good work consistently, you can make an excellent income through this platform.

Content Cavalry

This platform aims to create content that:

• Educates
• Informs
• Entertains
• Inspires

The company does a lot of writing work for clients, and needs writers to get the job done. Get in touch to be part of their success. 

Scripted

Scripted aims to offer copywriters and freelance writers who can power the content of companies looking to ramp up their online presence. 

Prices are set out clearly, so that clients know exactly what they are getting up front. Equally, you as a freelancer know what you will get paid. Smart matching technology aims to line up the best writer for each job. 

Media Shower

This content platform covers a range of writing niches, but seems particularly strong in fintech. So if you have experience of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, this could be a great site for you to check out. 

You need to make an application and only good writers are accepted. But if you can get on board, you can expect regular work in interesting markets. 

Writer Access

This site claims to be the fastest-growing site in this sector, with a small army of writers helping clients. 

They also have over 25,000 clients paying for projects, so there is a lot of opportunity. All writers are vetted and rated by performance and reviews. 

Twago

Although this cite is more Europe-centric, there are still lots of opportunities for freelance writers. 

Clients sign up, post their jobs and wait for responses. If you can provide a compelling reply, you are in the running to win the job. 

WeWorkRemotely

This site claims to be the largest community of its type on the web, with over 2.5 million visitors per month. The site is dedicated to jobs that can be done from anywhere, and that makes writing jobs a priority. 

WeWorkRemotely is used by some of the world’s biggest companies to find freelancers, so you can get some great work here. You can select the categories of job that interest you, and get alerts sent to you by email. 

Zerys

Content marketing platforms are definitely all the rage right now, and here’s another one that has plenty going for it. 

There are over 11,000 clients active on the platform, so there is lots of work on offer. You can sign up for free, and immediately start finding work. 

Content Hourlies

Here’s another content platform that connects writers with brands needing material. 

The rates are not fantastic on this site, but you can make good money if you are a fast writer. Add it to your list of possibles. You never know, you might just pick up a great client here.

Societies for Writers

There are many different professional societies, associations and networking groups you can join as a freelance writer. Many of these provide an alternative way of finding jobs 

These groups are great for referrals and recommendations. You can make excellent connections that lead directly or indirectly to paying writing gigs. It’s well worth joining several and making the most of the opportunities they represent. 

Of course, these societies have a great deal of value beyond the job-seeking potential. They can be invaluable in helping you promote and build your writing career. 

The Society of Professional Journalists

This society is an online community where journalists talk about a whole range of topics. Naturally, finding work is one of the main topics that comes up.

You can start out by checking the society’s job board to see what vacancies are on offer. This alone can make it well worth joining the society.

However, there is also immense value to be had from immersing yourself in the discussion threads and seeing what you can learn. 

American Society of Journalists and Authors

If you are based in the US, you may find a lot more value in this society. More of a traditional, offline style of community, this organization has been around for a while. 

You will find a wealth of resources on offer. These range from help with finding jobs to financial assistance for writers in need. 

The Society of Authors

Another traditional society with a proud heritage, the Society of Authors is a UK-based trade union for writers. With a history that goes back to 1884, it certainly has plenty of experience in representing writers.

As well as being an activist body, this society is dedicated to helping writers build their careers. There are online discussions where you can talk about various issues, including finding work. 

Editorial Freelancers Association

The members of this association are professionals who play roles in the publishing process, including:

• Editors
• Writers
• Indexers
• Proofreaders
• Researchers
• Desktop publishers
• Translators

The association is dedicated to helping members find work opportunities, and many of these are for writers. A customized list of jobs is sent to every EFA member, encouraging you to connect and win work.

The website also gives you a rate breakout tool. This is an invaluable tool that shows you what rates you can earn, helping you to get the best rates for your efforts. 

Authors Guild

Here’s another society with a long history, protecting writers since back in 1912. The guild is particularly focused on ensuring that writers get fairly compensated for the work they do. 

As far as finding writing work is concerned, the Guild can help there, too. You can network with other members and the company, which can lead to interesting and profitable writing assignments. 

General Job Boards

You may be surprised to find that general job boards can actually be a superb source of freelance writing gigs. In fact, many people post writing jobs on these bigger boards, perhaps looking to get a broader response. 

In addition, there are many jobs which are suitable for freelancing, even though they may not be advertised as such. The key here is to get good at searching and filtering. 

Take advantage of the advanced search function and search using terms such as:

• Freelance
• Remote
• Part time
• Contract
• Temp

Get good at this and you can find a wealth of jobs that other writers may never find. You can pick up some real gems this way.

Indeed

If you want to search the highest number of jobs, then you need to start with Indeed. This is a massive jobs aggregator that accumulates thousands of new jobs every day. 

Whatever kind of work you are looking for, you are sure to find it on Indeed. The interface may seem bare bones, but you can’t fault Indeed on the sheer number of jobs listed. 

Monster

This site is called Monster for a reason - it really does have a monster number of jobs. A ton of fresh jobs are posted on a daily basis, and you will never be short of opportunities to apply for.

It’s a good idea to download the Monster app and check jobs that way. You can sign up for alerts and ensure that you always get first stab at the jobs that become available. 

SimplyHired

Here’s another massive jobs aggregation site, gathering gigs from all over the web to give you opportunities. Definitely one to add to your list to check regularly. 

SimplyHired has a modern interface that is easy to use and understand, as well as being mobile friendly. That makes it a great site to browse, looking for interesting jobs and projects. 

FlexJobs

This site is a good match for writers, as it specializes in jobs which offer flexible hours. Writing is a good fit with this requirement, so it’s well worth checking out.

Although you need to pay a modest fee to join this site, what you get in return is a wealth of potential jobs. The jobs are of high quality, so you won’t waste your time on dead-end leads. 

The site is well organized with categories and subcategories connecting you to all kinds of freelance writing work. This is another site where it’s a good idea to take the skills tests, so that you stand out to potential employers. Create a resume, too, to get clients on the hook when they stumble across you. 

Glassdoor

This site has shifted focus over the years. Although it wasn’t a jobs site originally, it seems that the founders discovered that jobs is where the demand is!

What’s great about this site is not just the huge range of jobs, but also the information you can get about potential employers. That means you can go in with your eyes open, and work with companies that you are a good fit with.

Angel List

As Angel List is a site targeted at startup companies, you might be surprised to find that it’s a great source of freelance writing jobs. But the fact is that startup companies need to get a lot of things done, and these often involve writing. 

To find work here, you need to get good at working the system. Scroll down to the bottom of the home page and click on ‘Browse Jobs by Role.’ Click on ‘Marketing Jobs, ’ then ‘All Marketing Jobs’ - and you will find yourself amongst the gold. Many of these jobs can be done on a freelance basis.

Outsourcely

Outsourcely claims to offer clients the easiest way to meet remote workers from 180+ different countries. There is a wide range of work on offer here, including some good gigs for writers. 

Clients seem very happy with the service they get. Steven J Husak, 

CEO of Continents Apart says:

"I work with Outsourcely because I can pay a flat fee to find great, qualified remote employees rather than having the people I hire getting ripped off by companies that take half of their earnings. Outsourcely is a valuable tool for any entrepreneur."

Other Job Search Options

LinkedIn

This is the jobs board that pretends to be a social network. 

Freelancers often overlook LinkedIn, and this is a big mistake. There’s no doubt that LinkedIn is one of the world’s biggest job boards...making it an essential addition to your list of opportunities. 

Start by creating a LinkedIn profile - and not a half-hearted one. You need to go all the way and create a full-fledged profile that is rich in keywords, recommendations and relevant information.  

Once your profile is set up, you are in good shape to start searching for jobs on LinkedIn. You can search for jobs directly, or join relevant groups and track the discussions. There is a wealth of opportunities here for you to make the most of. 

Cult of Copy Job Board

If you are a copywriter, then this board is a good source of work. The Cult of Copy Job Board is actually a Facebook group, which makes it a little unusual.

What makes this group wonderful is the number of quality writing jobs posted here on a regular basis. The jobs range from content marketing and email copywriting, to sales page copy and blogging.

Some well known copywriters post here, as well as some high-level online marketers. Be sure to check back regularly for new jobs. 

Reddit Writing Job Board

There’s more to Reddit than just talk. The Writing job board is a useful tool that can help you find a writing job, or put you in touch with contacts who can bring you work.

Check out the board and you will find many different companies hiring freelance writers for various projects. The best way to find work here is to get involved in the discussions and make yourself known. 

Providing feedback in the threads is an excellent way to get noticed and have an impact.

Craigslist

Still a powerhouse in the world of classified advertising, Craigslist is an ongoing source of jobs for writers and other professionals. 

You should search through both the ‘jobs’ and ‘gigs’ sections, using keywords such as ‘remote’ or ‘freelance’ to narrow your search down. You need to search each city site separately, but this is still a great way to find work. 

Freelanced

The site design looks like something from 15 years ago, but this site does have value. As a social networking site for freelancers, it is a very interesting and useful community. 

There is a useful jobs section, where you can check out all kinds of opportunities. You can see exactly how much money is on offer, and how many freelancers you are competing against. 

SkipTheDrive

As well as helping you to skip the drive into work, this site also makes it easy to find good work-from-home jobs. Filters are used to display only the most relevant jobs to you, and you are able to search for free.

Searching for ‘writer’ brings up a list of interesting job possibilities. You can also get email alerts when new jobs in your field of specialism come up.

Rat Race Rebellion

This site has been around for many years, and is well established as a reliable place to find quality work-from-home jobs. 

Performing a search for ‘writer’ usually pulls up some interesting jobs and projects. This is a great site because of the sheer volume of home-based jobs and projects. 

Virtual Vocations

This site offers only telecommuting jobs, all conveniently gathered in one place. There are lots of jobs for writers, all of which can be done remotely.

Jobs are collated from all over the web, bringing you a wealth of suitable jobs to apply for. You can choose a subscription according to your needs, and start finding work right away. 

Working, Not Working

If you are looking for copywriting work, this site is great option to check out. They claim to number Google, Apple and Facebook among their thousands of clients, so you can be sure of getting quality work. 

You shouldn’t be surprised, then, to find that you have to be among the best of the best to find work on this site. The only way to get in is to be nominated, or to get your application personally approved. 

Once in, you get instant access to these top-notch clients. Get accepted today, and you could be working for Airbnb tomorrow. Rates tend to be on the higher side on this site, so you can be sure of getting quality rates for the work you do. 

Sales Folk Jobs

Sales Folk is a website that specializes in writing great sales email copy for clients. They are always looking for good writers to join their team. So if you have experience writing quality email copy, this could be a good source of work for you.

This company is bootstrapped, profitable and hungry for growth. They are usually looking for email writers, general copywriters and content marketers.

CloudPeeps

Trusted by over 20,000 companies in 150 countries, CloudPeeps aims to connect talented creative professionals with clients. 

Although writing is not the main focus here, there are many clients looking for help with content marketing. This is a great opportunity for you to hop in and offer to write blog posts, advertorials and other pieces of written content. 

The site is growing fast, so this is one to stay in touch with. 

The Muse Jobs

This is a large jobs site with a broad selection of work. 

You can refine your search to ‘work from home’ jobs, and define ‘writer’ as a keyword. That brings up an interesting selection of jobs. 

ListVerse

Want to make a quick $100? Then try writing for ListVerse. This site is a pioneer of the ‘listicle’ blog post format, and they have turned it into an art form.

All you have to do is pitch them an idea. If they like it, they will commission you to write it and pay you promptly by PayPal. 

Winning Freelance Work

Clearly, there are lots of places where you can find work. Thousands of freelance writing jobs are posted every day, creating enough work to keep you busy throughout your entire career.

The difficult is winning work against sometimes stiff competition. But don’t despair...it can be done. You can win freelance jobs if you position yourself correctly. 

Leverage any skills, experience or specialisms that may help you. If necessary, bid low on projects to start with, in order to build up some feedback. Then increase your rates as your success grows. 

There is every opportunity to build a six-figure career as a freelance professional. Start signing up with these sites today, and you could win your first freelance writing gig before the end of the week. 

If you need money fast, here are some proven ways to get cash in your hand in double-quick time. Check out these supersmart ways anyone can generate oodles of cash  in a hurry. If you need to make at least 100 bucks in the next day or so, here’s how to do it the easy  way.

Money in a Hurry

Yeah, we get it...life is full of unexpected dramas, right? And these can really mess up your finances. Maybe your washing machine has broken down and you need emergency money to fix it. Or maybe you picked up a speeding ticket and now you have to pay the consequences...literally.

There are hundreds of things that can go wrong in our lives, and they often require extra cash to fix it. Somehow, the money you have just isn’t enough to get you to the end of the month. The good news is that you can fix it. There are lots of ways you can make extra money in a hurry and put your problems behind you. Let’s check them out…

1. Claim Your Unclaimed Money!

Here’s an easy one to start with. Did you know that you may have unclaimed money, just waiting around for you to collect? You may be surprised that billions of dollars are just lying around, waiting for their rightful owners to come back and get them.

Maybe you started a savings account a few years back and then forgot all about it. You could have placed a deposit in your utilities account and never used it. There are all kinds of ways you could have forgotten money lying around. So go through your financial history and see where you may have money left over. You can also check out Unclaimed.org for more insights into the money that is yours. 

2. Make Money as a Freelance Writer

If you can write at sixth-grade level, you have all the skills you need to start making money as a freelance writer. This is a valuable skill, because there is a huge demand for writers worldwide. Thousands of people are looking for good writers to produce content for their blogs, websites, sales videos and a host of other purposes.

The good news is that you can often get paid at least half of the money upfront - so you can start today and make money on your first day. Sign up with the big freelance marketplaces such as UpWork.com and Freelancer.com. They have tons of work available, and you can start making money right out the gate.

3. Get Cash Back

Check out Dosh.cash - you are going to love it! This site is offering free money to new users...what could be better than that?

To get your share of the dosh, download the app and connect your credit and debit cards. Then use these wherever offers are available, and you will soon see cashback money piling up in your account. Then you can just withdraw the money straight into your regular bank account. Easy!

You also get $5 for every card you link to the app, plus an additional $10 for every friend you refer. So if you can get a few friends and family members on board, you can make cash real fast.

4. Get Paid to Take Surveys

There are lots of companies who are prepared to pay you to take surveys. They need to know what members of the public really think about their services, and they will pay good money to find out. 

You can sign up with services such as Survey Junkie and start making money right away. All you need to do is fill in a short form, giving the company your feedback. You get paid for every form you fill in. Payment can vary from a few dollars for a short, easy form to $50 or more for a more in-depth survey. The payments really add up if you do this for just a couple of hours a day.

5. Sell Your Junk

Without a doubt, the quickest way to raise money in a hurry is to sell stuff you don’t need anymore. If you spend an hour or two clearing out your attic, garage or basement, you are sure to find forgotten exercise machines, clothes that don’t fit you anymore and toys the kids have grown out of.

These can all be turned into hard cash, and getting rid of them will free up space in your home, too. You can just put a sign up in your yard and start a garage sale. Or you can list the items on eBay or on Craigslist. Whichever way you do it, you will end up with less clutter and more cash. 

6. Join Swagbucks

Sign up with Swagbucks and you could soon be in the money. You get rewarded for undertaking all kinds of actions that help out various companies. Better still, you get a $5 bonus just for signing up, so it’s worth getting on board. 

You can get paid to complete surveys through Swagbucks, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You also get cash back for online shopping, searching the web or watching videos. Each of these comes with a $5 bonus to get you started, so you can pick up some extra cash very easily. 

7. Walk Dogs for Cash

Here’s another quick cash generator. There are bound to be professionals in your area who need some help with pet care. If they are busy at work all day, they need someone to walk their dogs on a regular basis. And that person can be you.

If you can arrange to walk several dogs at the same time, you can really increase your income. And of course, you get some great exercise doing this, as well as making cash in hand. So get started today - go and knock on some doors in wealthy neighborhoods. You are sure to find people who would love to have someone take the dog-walking chore off their hands. 

8. Become a Proofreader

If you can read, then you can become a proofreader and make good money! With so much content being produced today, the demand for proofreading services is exploding. Sign up with a service such as Proofreading Services and you can expect to make good money for straightforward work. 

To get cash fast, look for jobs that pay at least some of the money upfront. Once you have some experience, you can raise your rates and increase your income. Reliable proofreaders are always in demand, so this is a great career option. 

9. Profit from the Nielsen App

Help out with research and get paid for easy work...that’s what’s on offer with the Nielson app. The company that tracks TV ratings also collects data on a whole range of other subjects. That includes Internet research, and this is where you come in. 

Nielsen will pay you $50 a year, just for keeping their app on your phone. As you surf the web, the app collects stats about your online usage and sends the data to Nielsen. Don’t worry, it’s all anonymized, so no-one knows what websites you are visiting. The app is designed so that it doesn’t slow down your phone, so there is no reason not to do this.

10. Get into Child Care

Here’s another easy way to generate cash in your local neighborhood. Look for busy parents who need help with looking after their children while they are at work. This is great if you have children yourself...you will hardly notice having one or to extra people in your home - yet the extra cash can make a big difference.

This is a great way to make money fast, but you do need to check out the regulations in your neighborhood. You may need to be licensed, or to undergo a police check before you start. But it’s worth the effort, because you can make great extra money. 

11. Lower Your Bills

Have you ever discovered that you are still paying for a service you stopped using months ago? It’s so easy to waste money on things you don’t need anymore. Fortunately, you can fix this with the Ask Trim app. 

You just link your bank to the app, then it starts analyzing your spending. It may find subscriptions you need to cancel, negotiate your bills or find you better deals on car insurance...and a whole lot more. Within a short time, you can save $100 to spend on other things.

12. Make Money on Fiverr

Fiverr.com is a great site for earning cash. You can sell almost any kind of service on this very popular site and get paid good money for doing so. You just need to be creative about the kind of service you offer. 

People run Fiverr gigs for the most extraordinary things. You could get paid to sing ‘happy birthday’ in a funny voice or to distribute flyers in your area. There is no limit to the ways you can make money on this site. And as soon as you finish the job, Fiverr pays you instantly. 

13. Invest in Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are really hot right now, and their price often shoots up dramatically in a single day. So if you invest in the right currency at the right time, you can make an absolute killing. 

Of course, there is always risks with investments, and you could lose money, too. But at least you won’t fare as badly as the guy from Wales who threw away his cryptocurrency wallet by mistake - an error that cost him over $75 million dollars! There is money in crypto if you look after your money carefully.

14. Tell Your Friends About Ibotta

Ibotta is a rewards program in the shape of an app. It specializes in helping you get cash back at grocery stores. It’s a great app that can help you save money and keep your every day shopping costs down to a minimum. 

But there’s more to Ibotta than that. You also get paid $10 for each new user that you refer. And if you refer just three new users, you will get credited with a whole $100. So this is definitely a good one to check out if you want to make $100 fast. 

15. Get $100 for Writing a List

Well, this one sounds just too easy. Write a list and get paid $100...how does that work? It works because of Listverse. This site specializes in articles that are based on lists of 10, and they are always looking for new ideas. 

All you have to do is put together your list idea and send it over. If they like, they will send you $100 by PayPal for the rights to publish it. You get your money right away, and you can do this as often as you want. 

16. Get up to $50 a Pop at Vindale

The guys over at Vindale Research are always looking for people to help with their consumer research projects. If you have some spare time, you can get paid good money to help out with all kinds of survey and other projects. 

You get an initial $2 just for signing up but that’s only the beginning. You can get paid up to $50 for easy work helping out with research initiatives. You get paid through PayPal, so you have access to your money right away. 

17. Cash in with eBates

eBates is one of the best-established rewards and cashback sites, so you know you are in good hands when you sign up. Because this is one of the biggest players in the market, they have a huge array of offers that may be of interest to you. 

You get a cool $10 just for signing up, and you can soon pile up a lot of extra cash credit in your account. You will be amazed at how much you can save on everyday items using an app like this. 

Start Today, Have Cash Tomorrow

We all know that the bird in the hand is worth so much more than the two in the bush. When you need cash fast, there is no point in looking at investment schemes and other plans that will bring you money next month or next year. You need cash in your hand right now!

Now you have all the information you need to make this happen.  All you have to do is get started. Pick the option that seems best for you and take the first step. Better still,  get two or three cash-generating ideas on the go. You will be surprised at how quickly the cash rolls in when you take action and get things done. 

Good luck!