You know that there are people out there who are their own boss. They work in their pajamas. Their morning commute is from their bed to their laptop. They can work around their family’s schedules. Does that sound attractive?
What does it take to work online? Well, as far as equipment goes, all you really need is a computer and a reliable internet connection. If you are a blogger, you may want some more specific requirements that make a good laptop for a writer to help you optimize your workflow. More importantly, however, it takes a quiet place to work and some serious discipline.
If you are likely to forget to put in your hours because you were binge-watching your favorite series on Netflix, then online work may not be for you.
There are websites right now that want to hire you. Some of them will pay you enough to make a living. Others might be a way to pick up some extra spending cash.
Unfortunately, there are other websites out there that claim to want to hire you but will never pay you anything. Beware of any website where you have to pay money or hand over a credit card before you can start working.
Before you start entering your personal information to a website, make sure that there are real people making real money on it.
Do you have a service to offer? What are you great at? There are real people out there who want to give you their money to work for them.
They just don’t want to hire you full time. We found a few places that can help you find the people who want to pay you money. You can also make money blogging.
Here are some websites where you can make money:
These are not “rebate” sites or ways to make a few bucks by taking advantage of bank offers. These are actual ways to make money by working online
- Upwork: Upwork is a website that connects freelancers with clients who need their skills. Clients post jobs that they need done along with how much their budget for the work is, and freelancers who feel that they are a good match for the job bid to get hired.
- Most jobs are work that can be done online like writing, translating, graphic design or programming, but some are “real life” jobs, like acting as someone’s personal assistant. Contrary to other sites on the list, once you establish a reputation on Upwork, you may be able to earn a decent living.
There is a fair amount of competition to find jobs on Upwork. Taking the time to create an effective profile and learning how to craft job proposals that will attract clients is an important part of getting started there. Fortunately, the site has a forum and tips to help with this.
- Amazon Mechanical Turk: Unlike Upwork, you are unlikely to be able to pay your rent by working on Amazon Mechanical Turk. On this site, small “Human Intelligence Tasks”
are posted. These tasks are “HITS” as they are known on the site can be anything from completing surveys to transcribing small audio clips.
Most hits pay in cents, but many only take minutes to complete. This is a great way to make a few extra bucks a week if you are saving up for something.
- Fiverr: Fiverr is similar to Upwork in that it connects freelancers with a variety of skills to clients who are willing to pay them.
- In Fiverr, however, freelancers post the skill they are willing to perform (like writing a blog post, or designing a logo) and potential client can hire them. Jobs on Fiverr are called “gigs” and the base price is typically $5 (hence the name.)
- Textbroker: Textbroker is a site specifically for people willing to provide ghostwriting services. Unlike the above three sites, where ratings are based on client’s review of services provided, ratings on Textbroker are based on an analysis of a writing sample that must be submitted before working on the site. The more stars a writer has, the more earning potential there is on the site.
This site has a more anonymous feel to it. Author’s pick up “orders” based on their subject matter and word count, and clients have three days to request revisions or reject the content before payment is released.
- Rev: Rev is a website that provides translating, transcription, and captioning services at low rates for clients. This is good news for freelancers, because if you have translation and typing skills, they are willing to train you to complete jobs on their site.
- It takes some time to get started on their site, and you do have to go through a screening and training process before they will allow you to work for clients. The pay is typically under a dollar a minute, but it can be enjoyable work and your schedule is completely up to you.
These sites are free to join. Both Upwork and Fiverr offer “premium” memberships to freelancers for perks like extra opportunities to apply for jobs and enhanced customer support.
It does take at least 24 hours for the sites to verify that you are a real person, and you may have to submit a photo identification before they will send payment.
One thing to keep in mind is that providing high quality work and customer service are key to maintaining the type of reputations needed to earn a decent living on these sites.
On Mechanical Turk and Textbroker, there isn’t much interaction between client and freelancer, while real names are used on Upwork.
A benefit of using these sites is that they guarantee payment. As long as you adhere to the guidelines of the sites, they will collect money and deposit in your Paypal bank account.
Another benefit of using the sites is that the work is readily available. Finding the client base available through the sites could cost freelancers both time and money better spent elsewhere.
While gaining access to these sites is easy, it may take some time to make steady income on them. There’s also a learning curve to figuring out which jobs are the right ones for you.
It is, however highly likely that through a smart combination of the websites and some hard work that within a few months, you will be able to start making a steady stream of income online.
Do you have a service to offer? What are you great at? Whether you’re an experienced writer or someone who wants to try something new like language translation, there are real people out there who want to give you their money to work for them.
Having experience certainly helps — especially if you’re going to land the best projects in the translation industry — but if you are eager enough, there are plenty of guides online on how to get translation jobs without experience. Compared to writing, translation requires fluency in at least two languages (I’m quite sure it’s not that simple, but it is the primary requirement though), and it takes quite some time to develop.
Firsthand insight is often invaluable, so do not be reluctant to ask your friends who are in the same field you want to get in.
Featured image : truelancer.com
