We all could benefit from a little extra pocket cash every once in a while. Whether you need to pay off credit cards, fix your car, or beef up your savings, a thicker cash flow can really help when you're facing a financial crunch.
Looking to step into the gig economy? Here are eight ways you can earn some cash while working from home.
Affiliate Marketing: Earn a commission by promoting products and services from other companies. The beauty of affiliate marketing is that over time, it can become passive income. That means you can earn money without having to do too much heavy lifting—or any lifting at all, really. When you start out, be sure to track where your sales are coming from, test the user journey of each product you plan to promote, and view yourself as helping consumers as opposed to selling to them.
Transcription: Listen to audio files and type out what you hear—that’s transcription in a nutshell. Most transcription work falls into three categories: medical, legal and everything else. Professional transcriptionists typically use transcription software and a foot pedal to control audio playback.
Article Writing: The Internet isn’t going to write itself— that’s where freelancers and contractors come in. Check out job boards like FlexJobs.com and Remote.co to find postings for contracts and projects that you can contribute to. LinkedIn is another great place to find opportunities to earn extra cash or even advance your career.
Data Entry: Many companies hire remote workers and contractors to take on data entry projects. For many of these companies, if you can type at least 50 words a minute, you stand a good chance of snagging some work. Projects like coding, transcription or database entry are pretty common data entry projects. It’s also common (though less so now, thankfully) to come across a data entry scam here and there. Be sure you know you are signing on with someone credible.
Customer Service: Customer support has taken on a whole new meaning in the new decade. You can provide support on the phone, via email, through an online chat or even in text. This diversity is what allows it to be such a perfect match for remote work. Call center agents who work from home often enjoy flexible schedules and less distracting work environments.
Administrative Support: Clerical work, scheduling, filing important documents and taking notes—there is not a lot that administrative assistants don’t do. Even then, many companies are shifting these positions to remote and contract, especially those who do not need full-time administrative support.
Document Scanning: A simple way to earn more money is by capturing printed text and images in a PDF document, otherwise known as document scanning. A job that epitomizes “wash, rinse, repeat,” document scanning is an easy at-home job that you can do when you are looking to boost your income.
Social Media Evaluator: Many companies simply cannot spend the right amount of time monitoring their online presence and brand reputation. A social media evaluator is someone who examines social media accounts and either responds to followers or watches for unsatisfactory associations with your brand. It’s likely you will do a bit of both.
When you start bringing in some extra income, you’ll feel your financial stressors start to melt away. Plus, when you explore one of these above at-home job ideas, you'll be able to utilize flexibility and convenience while working in a relaxed environment.