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Looking for work for work-from-home jobs can be a little… frustrating.
Since the pandemic, the world has seen some changes in how remote work is considered, however, there are still caveats. Trends in remote work have shown less desirable pay. And in most cases, it isn’t the most fulfilling work – work that offers a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment at the end of the day.
If you are feeling down with your remote work search, don’t give up just yet!
Thankfully, we have so many ways to create our own legitimate work-at-home jobs today. There are likely many skills you already have, or could easily learn online, that can open the doors to that rewarding online career that offers the flexibility in scheduling and income that you are so desperately seeking.
1. Become a Freelance Writer

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that freelance writing is one of my favorite opportunities for those seeking a flexible schedule. In most cases, your work can be performed anytime and anywhere as long as you can meet your client’s deadlines.
Zip Recruiter says the current average annual pay for a freelance writer across the U.S. is $66,935 a year. That’s not too shabby for someone working from home while dictating their schedule and workload.
Despite what you may be thinking, graduating with a Journalism or English degree isn’t required for freelancing gigs. The most abundant work today is coming from small businesses and website owners looking to increase their online presence through blog posts, email newsletters, and the like. Most are more concerned with skills than past education.
Learn more:
- 200 ways to get paid to write
- Freelance writing jobs for beginners
- Writing jobs from home
- 200+ writing niches – (free download)
2. Become a Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assisting can include so many skills these days – many of which are on this list. It’s a very broad term for a freelance service provider. That being said, it can be a great option for those coming from an administrative or customer service background. Common service offerings include email management, calendar management, customer service, and social media. From there, skills can get more specialized and include blog management, video or podcasting services, and beyond.
Indeed says the national hourly wage for a Virtual Assistant is $23.87 in the United States. And that is a pretty good income for remote work. Those VAs offering more specialized skills certainly warrant a higher wage.
- How to become a virtual assistant
- Virtual Assistant jobs from home
- Skills you can offer as a virtual assistant
- Become a Podcast Virtual Assistant
3. Become a Remote Bookkeeper
Bookkeeping is another industry that has grown in popularity in recent years. Like many of the other career options on this list, the majority of clients open to remote bookkeepers are small business owners and entrepreneurs. Many of us like making the money but not keeping track of it. As an online bookkeeper, that’s where you can come in.
This is another industry open to those without a degree provided you have the know-how. A client’s income isn’t something to mess around with so you need to know how to enter income and expenses correctly, how to use the most popular online software, and what it’s capable of, and you should get certified in that software as well.
You can learn all of these things online. Bookkeeper Launch is my go-to course for this. I have heard so many positive reviews from members of my community who have gone through this course starting with zero bookkeeping experience. He’s an awesome teacher and will help you get your business up and running. Ben cites that many of his graduates earn up to $80 or more per hour. Get a free 3-part training here.
Learn more:
- Online bookkeeping jobs
- Learn bookkeeping
- Free 3-part training series – (this is a great place to start if you want to learn more about this booming industry)
4. Become a Proofreader
Maybe you are a grammar nerd, but not keen on becoming a full-time writer. You may be able to create a great living as a proofreader. And, like writing, this is a gig that can be done anytime and anywhere with an internet connection.
According to Glassdoor, the national average salary for a Proofreader is $44,267 in the United States. Not too bad for an industry that is attainable without a college degree. Your biggest client pool will likely be self-publishing authors, bloggers, website owners, etc.
Learn more:
5. Become a Social Media Manager
Social media is a thorn in the side of most small business owners. It’s constantly changing. Profiles need to be constantly updated. It’s another avenue on which customer service needs to be manned. It takes a lot!
This has caused a big demand for rockstar social media managers. And salaries reflect that according to Glassdoor’s $50,000 per year average.
The ability to provide results is often sought out over formal education. You can specialize in just one platform if you would like, or provide packaged services that cover the most popular networks. You choose when creating your own job.
Learn more:
6. Become a Pinterest Virtual Assistant
Becoming a Pinterest Virtual Assistant is a great example of a virtual assistant or social media manager “niching down.” This is a very specialized skill set being offered on just one social media platform. Pinterest assistants can offer such services as profile optimization, image creation, analytics, Pin optimization, Promoted Pins, and more.
Because this is such a narrow – and new – field, there isn’t a lot of income data available. The ladies at Pinterest VA Today give a range of $500 to $1,000 per month when working as a side hustle. If you choose to go full-time, your earnings can certainly reflect that.
Learn more:
- Become a Pinterest assistant
- Make money on Pinterest
- Become a Pinterest VA today – (The first course created solely for aspiring Pinterest assistants)
7. Become a Transcriptionist
The last freelance field I want to talk about today is transcription, which is listening to an audio file and typing it into text. This has always been a popular career choice among work-at-home newcomers, but jobs in this industry tend to pay those without experience really low. So, many great typists are taking things into their own hands and creating their own jobs with rates that reflect their skills and ambition.
Transcription is almost always production-based pay. That means you need fast fingers and great listening and grammar skills. The faster and more accurate you type, the more you can earn. Glassdoor cites an average of around $23,000 annually. Janet from Transcribe Anywhere gives estimates of $45,000 for a general transcriptionist and $60,000 for a legal transcriptionist.
Learn more:
- Transcription jobs
- Free webinar – (Transcription isn’t for everyone. Use this free resource to find out if it’s right for you.)
Still not sure about creating your own job?
Now, there may be “jobs” available in every one of these fields in which you would work for someone else. As stated at the beginning of this post, however, the pay is often far, far less. As a beginner transcriptionist, for example, it’s possible you will earn less than $8 per hour working for one of the companies that hire those without prior experience. The same goes for writing and virtual assisting. With many of the others, you don’t stand a chance to get in without prior experience.
That’s where creating your own job comes in.
Sure. Becoming a freelance service provider can be scary, but it can also be rewarding. For many, it’s the only way to truly get that freedom you are seeking. Still not sure? Take the following words of wisdom from Ciara Kamara, life coach, freelance writer, and blogger at Not for Sissies.
In the short run, a job will pay the bills and put food on the table but more than likely, a job won’t bring happiness, fulfillment, or even wealth. After all, it’s just a job. If you want to be happy AND work at home, you need to start a business. Let me tell you why. Today, I’m sharing 9 reasons why you need a home business—not just a job.
1. Businesses grow as you do.
Businesses are built on a specific set of skills. You don’t want to be stuck doing data entry forever for someone else. Pursue skills that will allow you to continuously learn. As your skills expand so too do the services you can offer. The more services you offer, the more valuable you become and the more money you can make.
2. Jobs End.
Job security is a thing of the past. No job is insulated from layoffs, recessions, and mergers. Once you accept that your job performance provides little to no indication of whether you’ll get a pink slip in the next layoff cycle, the more you realize you need to start relying on your own skills and savvy to get ahead financially and professionally.
3. Create Unlimited Earning Potential.
If you’re sitting here reading this with absolutely no clients and no clue where they’re going to come from, I get it. Been there. As your business savvy develops, the clients, revenue, and referrals will come.
See, the great thing is that your business can grow exponentially. If you’re willing to stick with it and keep learning, your business will grow indefinitely. You may only be able to work a certain number of hours a week but if you wanted, you could hire a staff and consultants At a certain point, you may even want to create evergreen courses that make you money while you sleep. By starting a business—even part-time—the only limit you have is how quickly you learn and implement your new skills.
4. Control Your Hours
If you have small kids, like me, finding time to work can be a challenge—especially if you already have a full-time job. By having your own business, there’s no one to tell you when to work and when to rest; ‘cause you’re the boss, woman.
You can work as much or as little as you need. That means, if you want to make a certain amount of money per month, you can front-load your projects each month to maximize your end-of-the-month time. And if you only want to work a few hours a week, you can do that too. You control your time and how much money you make.
5. Charge What You’re Worth
Have you ever taken a job that paid just enough to make ends meet? When you need a job like that, it’s a blessing to be able to take care of your needs, but what if you could charge what YOU think your time and energy are worth? That’s how coaches charge $500+ a month and how designers charge $1000+ to create custom websites. I met a woman recently who charges $6000 for a custom website. Her work is amazing and she truly loves her business. Wouldn’t it be great if you could LOVE your work AND make great money doing it? You need to start a business.
6. Choose Clients You Love
When have you ever gotten to choose your boss or your colleagues? If you started a business, you could do just that. Let’s be clear; I’m not talking about discrimination here. But as a business owner, you have the right to pick and choose who works with you.
For example, I’m a freelance writer and a coach, but I recently started blogging. As I was shopping around for website designers, I met with a lovely designer who kindly declined to work with me because my blog was relatively new and she wanted to work with more established bloggers. As a business owner, she was crystal clear about who her ideal client was, and I was not it.
7. Work Wherever You Want
One of the reasons I started coaching, freelance writing, and now blogging—oh my! —is that our family moves around constantly due to my husband’s job. So, I had to create a career that could be as flexible as my life.
Jobs, even work-at-home jobs, get a little antsy when you just up and move (or jet off on vacation). When you own a web-based business, not only do you have the flexibility to work anywhere but once you get a handle on stocking your pipeline full of your perfect client, you’ll have money too. Remember that unlimited earning potential? Yea, this is where it really makes life amazing. You can literally pick up and go anywhere in the world you. As long as there’s strong wifi, you can run your business.
8. Constant learning and development
At a job, you risk becoming stagnant. Doing the same thing every day can become boring and draining. Starting a business is anything but boring, especially at the beginning. There are always things to learn and new areas to develop. You can’t help but constantly absorb new information and develop new skills.
9. Love what you do
There is literally nothing worse than hating your job and having no alternative. Wouldn’t it be amazing to love—not just tolerate—what you do to the point that your work becomes pleasurable, fun even? If you want to own a business, you need to absolutely love what you’re doing. Otherwise, you may not have the willpower to overcome all the hurdles and stumbling blocks that may pop up along the way. When you own a business and you love what you do, literally nothing can stand in your way to success.
If you want to work at home, finding a work-at-home job is a great safety net but instead of relying solely on the job, use it to pay your bills and invest whatever you can into starting a business that will give you the quality of life you crave.
Best of luck! I can’t wait to hear about the things you will do.