So, I finally took a moment to correct the outdated information and added some new details too. Now, it’s a much more accurate reflection. To my knowledge, this is up-to-date info as of January 2022. Without further ado, let’s get on with the User Testing Review!

Chances are, you spend a lot of time online. You probably read the news, check your email, do some shopping and give status updates to friends and family via social media. And this familiarity with browsing the Internet and navigating websites can actually translate into some extra cash each month.

When you become a usability tester for User Testing you can earn a little extra money in your spare time just for your thoughts. Ready to learn more? Let’s dive into my User Testing Review. As far as work from home jobs, this is one of my favorite extra money makers!

User Testing Review Fast Facts

• Sign Up Process: Easy, Requires a Sample Test
• Pay Rate : $4.00 for 5-minute test, $10 for 20-minute test, and $30-$120 for live interviews
• Availability of Work: Varies
• Income Type: Supplemental, Less than $500 monthly

What is usability testing?

All sorts of companies want to know what we Internet users do while navigating their sites. They want to know what makes us click on certain links, abandon our shopping carts and our general likes and dislikes about their websites and apps. Why? Because it gives them the opportunity to improve points that are confusing and promote things that work well. This leads to greater customer satisfaction which turns into more money for them.

Why does usability testing matter?

According to Rocket55, user design is important “because it tries to fulfill the user’s needs.” Meeting user needs provide a positive experience and help build brand loyalty. And brand loyalty translates to recurrent sales.

Since companies want to constantly improve their bottom line, they will pay users for their thoughts so they can perfect their user design.

And that’s how usability testing companies (like User Testing) came about. These companies recruit people like you and me to “think out loud” while browsing websites.

Our thoughts are relayed to well-known companies, giving them valuable insight into our personal thoughts and experiences while visiting their online spaces. To date, companies like HP, Samsung, Wayfair, Adobe, CBS, Ford, and many more have used User Testing to create positive customer experiences online.

What does a usability tester do?

As a tester, you provide direct feedback so companies know exactly what your needs as a user are. This means you have to verbally relay your thoughts while visiting a website. Remember, companies want to know your thoughts both good and bad!

Confused? No worries.

Let’s take this User Testing review a bit further with a sample scenario. (Note: This is an actual assignment I’ve completed as a user testing).

Example User Testing Scenario

For example, let’s say Target wants to test out a new homepage design before publishing it. They hire Usability Testing to recruit real users so they can gather real feedback. You decide to complete this review, so you accept the task and get started.

The User Testing app or Chrome Extension will record your voice and screen as you navigate. For the test, you might have a scenario to keep in mind during the test. A scenario could be anything from “pretend you are looking to buy a new sheet set” or “act like you are shopping for items on a baby registry.”

As you compete the test, you will speak out loud about your experience in real time. Hate the layout? Let them know. Love the graphics? Say it. Not sure about navigation? Speak up.

You need to be honest and point out things you like as well as things that are frustrating and confusing. Remember, companies want to improve the user experience. Your honest feedback plays an important role!

User Testing Review: Requirements

There are a number of different companies offering usability testing jobs. Each of them operate a bit differently, but the premise is typically the same: record people’s thoughts as they complete tasks online.

My personal favorite usability testing site is User Testing. They’ve been around for a long time, are highly reputable and have never, ever been late with payments. I know this from personal experience since I’ve been a tester with User Testing since 2015.

But, before you jump in and sign up as a contributor make sure you meet their requirements. Check out the next section in this User Testing Review for all requirements.

Requirements for Testers

Before you jump into the User Testing waters, make sure you meet the criteria to become a tester:

1. Be 18 years of age or older
2. Have a PC, Mac, or mobile device with specific specs
3. Reliable internet connections (upload speeds must be at least 3MBps)
4. Microphone (here’s an inexpensive one on Amazon)
5. Able to add the User Testing extension to your Chrome Browser or download the User Testing app
6. Comfortable filling out a demographics info sheet
7. Capable of speaking thoughts out loud in English
8. Can accept payments online via PayPal

How to Sign Up as a Paid Tester

No User Testing review would be complete without talking about the sign up process. Fortunately, User Testing has a relatively easy one. If you meet the requirements above and you’re interested in becoming a tester, head on over to their sign-up page. Once there, enter your email address and agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Now it’s time to complete your sample test. Don’t panic!

The sample test is just to make sure you have a clear speaking voice, are comfortable talking out loud while browsing a site, and can actually provide valuable feedback and not just describe what you see on your screen.

You don’t have to install the Chrome extension if you take the test on a computer. However, you will need to download the User Testing app if you take the test on a mobile device.

If your sample test is approved, you receive an invite to become a paid contributor. Now you can claim tasks and earn extra cash. Woohoo!

How do I start taking tests?

You get notified of new tests by email. If you are interested in a test, act quickly! Tests expire once all the spots are taken. Keep in mind, you won’t qualify for every one. Many tests will have specific demographic requirements. If you don’t meet them, you can’t take the test.

User Testing Review: Other Considerations

As part of this User Testing Review I want to address other facts to know before you get started. Here are important considerations for aspiring testers:

1. You do not have to live in the United States.
2. PayPal is the only way to get paid.
3. A microphone is a must.
4. Taxes are not withheld from payments.
5. You do not have to pay to become a tester.
6. Live Conversations pay $1 per minute (30 min. = $30, 60 min. = $60, etc.)
7. Payments are sent 7 days after you complete a test.

That’s it! Remember to keep track of your earnings. US test takers are expected to pay taxes on all income (even side income).

User Testing Review Conclusion

To conclude this User Testing review, let’s recap and set expectations. This is an extra income opportunity only. You cannot rely on User Testing to provide any steady income. Remember, tests are released and expire once they get enough testers. Plus, you might not qualify as a tester if you don’t meet the demographics.

Have a question? Leave it in the comments below. I’m always here (and happy) to help!

Happily,

Ashlee

The post User Testing Review: Get Paid to Think Out Loud appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

The answer isn’t always easy to come by. The opportunities available to someone in the States will be different than someone in Nigeria. Even within the U.S. location matters! Some companies hire only in select states.

That’s why it’s hard, if not impossible, to come up with a list of worldwide work from home jobs. The truth is, there are companies that hire in many different countries, but not all.

So, I’ve set out to come up with this super MEGA list of 175+ international work from home jobs. I’ve also included websites that can be used for extra cash here and there like survey sites and usability testing.

But I need your help. Please let me know in the comments if a link is broken or you find a company does or does not hire where you are. Together, we can come up with a bigger, better, more accurate list of international work from home jobs. Go teamwork!

International Work From Home Jobs with Distributed Workforces

The first logical place to look for international work from home jobs are distributed workforces. These are companies where all (or most) employees work remotely. This means the CEO can be in Japan while a designer lives in Costa Rica and a dozen of customer service reps are scattered throughout the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Remember: These companies may or may not hire in your specific region. Although they are distributed, not all companies hire in every single country.

10up https://10up.com/careers/

18F https://18f.gsa.gov/join/

45Royale http://45royale.com/careers/

Acquia https://www.acquia.com/careers/open-positions

Aha! http://www.aha.io/company/careers/current-openings

Anexus http://www.anexusit.com/careers

Anomali https://www.anomali.com/company/careers

Apartment Therapy http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/jobs

Appstractor https://www.appstractor.com/careers/

Arkency http://blog.arkency.com/join-our-team/

Articulate https://articulate.com/company/careers

Audiense https://audiense.com/careers/

Auth0 https://auth0.com/jobs

Automattic https://automattic.com/work-with-us/

Axelerant https://www.axelerant.com/careers

Bandcamp https://bandcamp.com/jobs

Bandzoogle https://bandzoogle.com/jobs

Baremetrics https://baremetrics.com/jobs

Basecamp https://basecamp.com/about/team

Basho http://basho.com/careers/

BeBanjo http://bebanjo.com/careers/

Betable https://corp.betable.com/careers#jobs

Big Cartel https://www.bigcartel.com/jobs/

Bitovi https://www.bitovi.com/jobs

Black Pixel https://blackpixel.com/careers/

Bloc https://www.bloc.io/about

Bluespark https://www.bluespark.com/join-bluespark-team

Buffer https://buffer.com/journey

Canonical https://www.canonical.com/careers

Carbon Black https://lifeatcb.carbonblack.com

CareMessage https://caremessage.org/careers/

Chef https://www.chef.io/careers/

CircleCI https://jobs.lever.co/circleci/

Citrusbyte https://citrusbyte.com/careers

Clevertech https://clevertech.biz/careers

Close.io https://jobs.lever.co/close.io/

Codeship https://codeship.com/jobs

Collabora https://www.collabora.com/careers.html

Compose https://www.compose.com/jobs

Continu https://www.continu.co/careers/

CoreOS https://coreos.com/careers

Corgibytes http://corgibytes.com/careers/

Crew https://crew.co/hiring/

Customer https://customer.io/careers/

Datica https://datica.com/careers/

DataStax http://www.datastax.com/company/careers

Delighted https://delighted.com/jobs

Dgraph https://dgraph.io/careers.html

DigitalOcen https://www.digitalocean.com/company/careers/

Doist https://doist.com/jobs/

Edgar https://meetedgar.com/careers/

Elastic https://www.elastic.co/about/careers

Engine Yard https://www.engineyard.com/company/careers

Envato https://envato.com/careers/

EVELO https://evelo.workable.com

Eyeo https://eyeo.com/en/jobs/

Fastly https://www.fastly.com/about/careers

Fire Engine Red http://fire-engine-red.com/about/#careers

Fog Creek https://www.fogcreek.com/careers

Formstack https://www.formstack.com/careers

Four Kitchens https://www.fourkitchens.com/careers/

Full Fabric https://fullfabric.com/careers

Ghost https://ghost.org/about/

GitHub https://github.com/about/careers

GitLab https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/

GoHiring http://www.gohiring.com/jobs.html

Gridium https://gridium.com/about/working-at-gridium/

Groupon https://jobs.groupon.com

Hanno https://hanno.co/jobs/

Hashicorp https://www.hashicorp.com/jobs/

Heap Analytics https://heapanalytics.com/jobs

Help Scout https://www.helpscout.net/careers/

Heroku https://www.heroku.com/careers

Hudl https://www.hudl.com/jobs

Hypothesis https://hypothes.is/jobs/

Incsub http://incsub.com/careers/

InfluxData https://www.influxdata.com/careers/

InQuicker https://inquicker.com/about/careers/

InVision https://www.invisionapp.com/company#jobs

Jackson River https://www.jacksonriver.com/about/jobs

Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/careers

LaterPay https://www.laterpay.net/about#careers

Let’s Encrypt https://letsencrypt.org/jobs/

Lightbend http://www.lightbend.com/company/careers

Linaro https://www.linaro.org/careers/

Litmus https://litmus.com/careers

Lullabot https://www.lullabot.com/jobs

Mapbox https://www.mapbox.com/jobs/

Mediacurrent https://www.mediacurrent.com/about/careers

Mokriya http://mokriya.com/careers

Mozilla https://careers.mozilla.org

MySQL https://www.mysql.com/about/jobs/

Netguru https://www.netguru.co/career

Netsparker https://www.netsparker.com/jobs/

NodeSource https://nodesource.com/careers

Olark https://www.olark.com/jobs

Particular https://particular.net/careers/work-culture

PeopleDoc http://www.people-doc.com/company/careers

Persona https://www.percona.com/about-percona/careers#edit-submit-jobvite-careers

PhishMe https://phishme.com/company/careers

Platform https://platform.sh/company/jobs/

PrecisionNutrition http://www.precisionnutrition.com/careers

ReactiveOps https://www.reactiveops.com/careers/site-reliability-engineer/

Real HQ https://realhq.com/jobs/

Research Square https://www.researchsquare.com/company/careers

Right Scale http://www.rightscale.com/jobs

Rocana https://www.rocana.com/careers

Sawhorse Media http://sawhorsemedia.com/jobs/

Scrapinghub https://scrapinghub.com/jobs/

Seed https://seed.co/jobs/

SignEasy https://getsigneasy.com/jobs

Simple https://www.simple.com/careers

SimpleTexting https://simpletexting.com/sms-marketing-careers-with-simple-texting/

Stack Overflow http://stackoverflow.com/company/work-here

Stripe https://stripe.com/jobs

Surevine https://www.surevine.com/jobs/

SweetRush https://www.sweetrush.com/join-us/

Sysdig http://sysdig.com/jobs/

TeamSnap https://www.teamsnap.com/about/careers

TED https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/jobs-at-ted

Teleport https://teleport.org/jobs/

Tenable http://www.tenable.com/careers

The Wirecutter http://thewirecutter.com/jobs/

Toggl https://jobs.toggl.com

Toptal https://www.toptal.com/careers#remote-team

Tower/FourNova https://www.fournova.com/jobs

Transloadit https://transloadit.com/jobs/#working-remotely

Travis CI https://travisci.workable.com

Treehouse https://teamtreehouse.com/jobs

Trello https://trello.com/jobs

Twin Technologies http://twintechs.com/careers/

Udacity https://www.udacity.com/jobs

Upworthy https://www.upworthy.com/jobs

Vox Media https://www.voxmedia.com/pages/careers-jobs

WellMatch https://www.wellmatchhealth.com/join_us

Wildbit https://wildbit.com/jobs

Wolfram http://www.wolfram.com/company/careers/?source=nav

X-Team https://x-team.com/join/

YouCanBook.Me https://youcanbook.me/jobs/

Zapier https://zapier.com/about/

Freelance Websites for International Work From Home Jobs

No matter where you live, you can be a freelancer! That’s why I’m always quick to recommend various freelance websites to jump-start a remote-friendly career. If you haven’t had any luck finding international work from home jobs elsewhere, it may be time to give freelancing a try.

And, before you say you don’t know how to freelance or simply don’t have the skills to freelance, know you’re wrong. You can become a freelancer and find your profitable skill to sell (using what you already know!)

99designs

A great platform for designers, whether you want to design logos, websites or even tattoos!

Crossover

Work with the top 1% of worldwide talent for long-terms and steady freelance opportunities.

CloudPeeps

Expand your freelance business in a super support (and awesomely cool) freelance community

FreeeUp

Love all things ecommerce? You’ll fit right in as a freelancer here.

Upwork

This is the Mecca of freelance marketplaces, giving you a chance to earn wherever you live.

TopTal

Think you have what it takes to join the world’s top freelancers? This is the site for you.

Freelancer

Another freelance marketplace filled with gigs and even competitions you can win for extra work!

Guru

Get started as a freelancer in just 30 seconds, and find a variety of jobs posted (no matter your skillset!)

PeoplePerHour

A curated talent pool or freelancers, like you, with plenty of options to find international work from home jobs.

Fiverr

Instead of pitching your services, set up shop and sell gigs directly to clients.

Survey Sites for Worldwide Extra Cash

Let’s be honest, you’re not going to get rich from survey sites. But you can certainly earn some extra cash each month. The best part? There are a number of survey sites that offer opportunities to earn money online for people outside the United States! For a more comprehensive list (especially for those in the U.S.), check out my 20+ legitimate survey sites that pay each month.

Swagbucks

Sign up and earn extra cash for market research, video watching, and (of course) surveys. Serviceable areas include Australia, Canada, Ireland, UK, and U.S.

Global Test Market 

As the name suggests, Global Test Market is a market research company with a worldwide presence. Currently, they accept survey takers throughout 49 countries:

Toluna

As I type this, Toluna accepts registration from users in approximately 46 different countries. You’ll be able to see whether or not yours makes the list on the sign up page.

Harris Poll 

While there seem to be more survey opportunities available to U.S. residents on Harris Poll, there are chances for international survey takers too! To date, Harris Poll has members answering surveys in more than 30 countries!

Micro Jobs & Short Task Sites for International Work From Home Gigs

Like survey sites, you likely won’t make a full-time income from home with micro jobs and short task sites. Nonetheless, they can be used for steady sources of extra cash month after month. Your best bet to make the most is to sign up for as many that are available to you. The more sites you belong to, the greater your chances are to earn.

Mechanical Turk 

This mega marketplace of micro jobs, referred to as HITs, is brought to you by Amazon. That’s right, the world’s largest online retailer can also be a source of extra income each month. U.S. residents will have to register with Amazon Payments for tax purposes. Non-U.S. residents will have to provide tax information in order to receive payments.

ClickWorker 

ClickWorker is always looking for worldwide users to work on a number of different short tasks. Projects include everything from surveys to data categorization and even web research. You can choose to get paid weekly or on a monthly basis. To get started, you’ll have to go through assessments to show your skills.

CrowdFlower 

CrowdFlower contributors work on tasks from around the world. The better your work, the more you’ll earn. In fact, you can gain access to advanced tasks by becoming a skilled contributor!

OneSpace 

At OneSpace, you’ll gain access to hundreds of tasks that can range in complexity from simple QA to in-depth writing assignments. You’ll create a workstation, and claim projects on a freelance basis. The best part? You can receive payments for approved work the very next day via PayPal!

International Work From Home Transcription Jobs

A good ear and fast typing skills can lead to steady work as  a transcriptionist. You can start your own transcription business from scratch or sign up with one of the many companies that pay you to type from home.

How much you earn depends on the hourly rate of pay. Transcriptionists are typically paid by audio hour, that is for each hour of recording they transcribe (not the number of hours it takes them to transcribe it). So, let’s say you’re paid $20 per audio hour and it takes you 4 hours to transcribe a one-hour recording, you’d end up making $5/hour. Keep this in mind as you accept work as a transcriptionist!

AccuTran Global

Based out of Canada, AccuTran Global is always looking to contract with new typists. Assignments include general transcription, realtime stenographers, and voice writers.

CrowdSurf

CrowdSurf transcription tasks are claimed through Mechanical Turk. All tasks are short videos (15-35 seconds)  that need to be transcribed verbatim.

Transcribe Team

The average worker earns $132/month at Transcribe Team, but top earners can exceed $2,000 monthly. You can work as much or little as you’d like, so your earnings depend on you.

Rev

Video captions and transcription are the two main tasks available for worldwide workers at Rev. Read my full review of this remote-friendly company here.

Quicktate

QuickTate has projects ranging from short voicemail messages to long conference calls. The application process can be lengthy, but can lead to steady work via QuickTate and their iDictate platform.

TranscribeMe

Want to monetize your downtime? TranscribeMe can help you do just that. You’ll have to pass the exam before you can accept any paid tasks.

Scribie

Files are typically kept to under 6 minutes — perfect if you want to earn money in your free time. To date, there are more than 16,000 transcriptions from around the world working for Scribie!

Speechpad

At Speechpad, you get to select the projects you work on, and there’s never any minimum to claim each month.

CastingWords

All work is accepted and completed through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Each task comes with instructions on how it should be formatted. Make sure to follow these guidelines!

International Usability Testing Jobs From Home

Earn money just for speaking your thoughts out loud! I’ve used several usability testing sites over the years to make extra money online month after month. And, the good news is, many of these companies are open to testers from around the world!

UserTest.io

UserTest.io accepts testers in countries from Africa, Asia Pacific, The Americas, and Europe. All you need to do is record your thoughts as you’re browsing a website. That’s it. Accepted reviews will earn you $10 each.

UserTesting

Earn $10 for every 20-minute video you complete. Payments are issued via PayPal exactly one week after they’re completed. Users located in Africa, Middle East, India, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Caribbean, U.S., Canada, and Greenland are encouraged to sign-up and get testing!

WhatUsersDo

In as little as five minutes, you can get through the application process so you can start getting paid for your thoughts. You’ll receive an email invitation every time as test is available to take. You can expect 3-5 tests on average each month.

uTest

You never know what kind of usability tests will come up at uTest. A recent project called for cricket enthusiasts in India, South Africa, and Australia! The only way to discover the tests available to you is to sign up.

Userlytics 

The tests available to you depend on your demographics. The clients who submit usability tests can request specific testers based on their location, age, gender, etc.

International Search Engine Evaluation Jobs from Home

As a search engine evaluator you’re tasked with rating ads, search results, or even social media. To learn more about what a search engine evaluator does and how you can be a successful one, read my get-started guide for beginners.

Appen

Appen has a global network of workers that work on search engine evaluation projects. You could be their newest recruit! They’re not always hiring in all countries, but do have opportunities available worldwide and in more than 100 languages.

Leapforce

There are opportunities for global workers to take on search engine evaluation tasks at Leapforce. To get started, you select your country and language to see the positions available for you.

iSoftStone

All tasks are crowdsourced at iSoftStone. And there are often tasks available for international candidates. Check their hiring page frequently to see available opportunities in your country.

International Work From Home Jobs

Remember, just because a company is on this list doesn’t mean they absolutely hire in your country. The companies found here are known to hire internationally, that is you don’t necessarily have to be a U.S. resident to find work. Be sure to double-check whether or not they are hiring where you live.

But, if you’ve been looking for international work from home jobs and worldwide ways to earn money online, these companies should give you a head start in your search.

Do you know of a company with international work from home jobs? Have a lead you’d like to share? Please leave it in the comments below.

The post International Work From Home Jobs and Websites For Extra Cash appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

While you may dream of ditching your 9 to 5 in favor of more flexible work, quitting your day job isn’t always practical. But just because you can’t go all in as a an out-of-the-cubicle thinker right out the gate, doesn’t mean you should abandon your flex work pursuits entirely.

Instead, start a side hustle that lets you hold onto your office job as you build a business that lets you work on your own terms.

Hosting

A successful side hustle starts with a strong online presence. In many cases, this means an eye-catching website that sells your services or showcases your goods for sale. And behind every great site is a hosting company that keeps your website ‘live’ so that customers and clients can actually find you online.

For newbies, I always recommend BlueHost for all your hosting needs. With 24/7 support, a free domain name, and monthly hosting that costs less than a latte, you receive a ton of value for your buck. There’s also one-click WordPress install that makes it super easy to get a beautiful site up in a matter of minutes.

As an added bonus, BlueHost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you’re not happy, they’ll make it right or give you a refund. No questions asked.

Productivity

Although your day job likely requires you to show up in office, your side hustle allows you to work where you’re happiest. If you’re like me, your happy place is your home. And having the ability to work from home comes with a lot of perks. Coworker cats, no commutes, and a comfy wardrobe all come to mind. But as an at-home worker, productivity can sometimes take a backseat to other daily responsibilities.

To keep your side hustle on track, use a productivity tool. From online activity trackers to website blockers that keep social media at bay, there are a number of free productivity tools that help you make the most of the limited time you have to grow your side hustle.  

Expenses

When you start a side hustle — whether you’re a freelance writer, blogger, virtual assistant, photographer or anything in between — there are going to be business related expenses that get intertwined with personal finances. And, don’t forget about invoices that need to be sent out to customers, clients, or even advertisers. How do you keep your side hustle finances on track?

Invoice tracking software! By using invoice tracking software you can send out professional invoices, accept a number of payment methods, bill clients per project or by the hour, and even set reminders to follow up on any unpaid balances!

Think of invoice tracking software as your personal virtual bookkeeper that keeps your business and personal expenses separate so you can keep your side hustle on point.

Project Management

It doesn’t matter what kind of side hustle you have, everyone from bloggers to boutique owners will juggle multiple projects at once to stay in business. And if you’re a freelancer working with clients, you’ll absolutely need a way to manage your day to day activities so you hit your deadlines every time — no exceptions!

An easy way to make sure all the moving parts of your side hustle are headed in the right direction is to use a project management tool. Handy apps like Asana or Trello give you a chance to organize the many aspects of your side hustle and prioritize tasks. You can even create project to-do lists to see what needs to be done to get from Point A to Point B.

Some people swear by Asana. Others prefer Trello. You’ll likely find you favor one over the other. Whichever you choose, make sure to put it to good use as you work to build momentum in your side hustle.

Organization

Your computer will quickly get bogged down by all the downloads and projects you’re working on as a side hustler. This can quickly lead to a cluttered desktop and items getting ‘lost’ in the shuffle!

Instead of storing everything locally on your computer, put your side hustle work on the cloud. Not only does it keep your computer super organized, it helps you stay in business in the event of a computer catastrophe like coffee being spilled on your laptop or a PC that suddenly goes rogue. With cloud storage, you won’t lose any work (or money) because everything you’ve done is safely tucked away and easily retrieved from any computer.

You may already have access to plenty of free cloud storage without realizing it. If you’re an Amazon prime member you receive complimentary cloud storage with your membership. If not, Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial. 

Amazon isn’t the only place to find free storage for your side hustle. Dropbox offers a free plan that provides enough space to get your going. Whenever you need more, no problem, you can upgrade to a paid plan anytime.

Email Management

The average person receives 120 emails daily. Every. Single. Day. When you’re trying to balance a side hustle with your day job, you can quickly get buried by your inbox. Instead of letting your inbox dictate your to-do list, why not turn your inbox into your to-do list?

Now you can with the Inbox by Gmail App. With Inbox, you can turn emails into individual to-do tasks, pin important emails to the top, and ‘pause’ emails until you need them. Plus, you can create new tasks to go along with emails so you’re actually working alongside your inbox and not against it!

Of course, Inbox is exclusive to Gmail and G Suite accounts. If you’re not a gmail user (and don’t plan on switching), consider one of these 16 email apps to gain control of your inbox, once and for all!

Social Media Management

Social media networking helps deliver customers and clients to your virtual doors. But it also happens to be a major time suck. If your side hustle has you pinning, posting, tweeting, and updating on a daily basis in the name of marketing, you can end up losing precious hours that may be better spent completing projects.

To free up your time and give you a chance to step away from your computer, use a social media automation tool. When you take advantage of automation, you can sit down once a week instead of every day to schedule all of your social updates.

There are plenty of social media management tools to choose from. And the one(s) you end up choosing greatly depends on the social sites you use. For example, if you’re active mostly on Pinterest, you can’t go wrong with Tailwind. If your focus is Facebook and Twitter, Buffer is a great option!

Whichever social media automation tool you use, you can rest assured that you’ll spend less hours manually updating social sites and more time growing your side hustle.

Outsource Options

When in doubt, don’t be afraid to outsource! Balancing a side hustle with your 9 to 5 can be exhausting at times, and there’s only so much a single person can do in any given day. So, when your to-do list is a mile long and you feel like for every item you check off ten more are added, call in backup!

Today, you can send out a virtual SOS without breaking the bank. Outsource sites, like Fiverr, give you a chance to catch up on little things without spending a fortune. You can also join a monthly VA service, like Fancy Hands, to have a VA at your disposal whenever menial tasks rear their ugly heads. 

A virtual assistant can be used even for a few hours to help you hack through your overgrown inbox or simply tackle the little things that seem to take up way too much of your valuable time.

Get Started

The saying getting started is the hardest part is so true when it comes to launching a side hustle. Fortunately, when you have tools in place, like the ones listed here, you can launch with confidence already knowing you’ve got what it takes to get the job done.

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and set a goal and get started — anywhere. Just get started. Once you launch, you can organically grow your side hustle to a point where you can finally kick your cubicle to the curb — for good!

The post 7 Must-Have Tools to Balance a Side Hustle with Your 9 to 5 appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, the truth is, these jobs do exist.

For starters, freelancers get the opportunity to work on the projects of their choosing and for whom. They also get to set their own rates and work anytime, day or night. Independent contractors also have a lot of freedom in when they work, as long as they meet deadlines. You could even start your own online business that brings in a full-time income working part-time.

Come to think of it, just about every work from home job outside of employee-based positions come with complete flexibility and autonomy — how’s that for awesomeness?

But, getting up and started as an online business owner or solopreneur can take some time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s probably the most sustainable way to earn a living online, and gives you a chance to make a scalable income. But, if you’d rather test out the work-from-home waters, so to speak, consider one of these gigs first.

The benefits?

Every type of position listed below gives you the opportunity to work whenever you want. Plus, I’ve tried them all at some point in time and can say, with certainty, that these are beginner-friendly ways to piece together an income while working on your own schedule. Plus, it gives you a sneak-peek into what it’s like to earn a living online before jumping in and going solo — definitely a bonus.

1. Search Engine Evaluation

Search engines use highly sophisticated algorithms to give you the best results when you type something into Google or Bing. But since computers aren’t perfect (at least not yet, anyway) humans are needed to rate the relevancy of ads and search results based on queries.

That’s where Search Engine Evaluators come into play. Most of these gigs pay between $11-$15/hour and, you guessed it, are super flexible, allowing you to login anytime, day or night, to complete assignments.

• Appen
• iSoftStone
• Leapforce
• Lionbridge

If you are up-to-date on pop culture, comfortable navigating websites, and don’t mind repetitive work — search engine evaluation might be perfect for you. I’ve worked on smaller projects for both Appen and iSoftStone. And, honestly, I have nothing bad to say. The work was monotonous but, as promised, was flexible enough to allow me to work around my busy schedule — exactly what I needed!

2. Writing

There are a lot of ways to get started as a writer, even if you have no experience. Perhaps one of the easiest way to get going is to join what’s called a ‘content mill.’

Keep in mind, you don’t have to write for a content mill forever. I like to think of them as paid writing internships — you get to earn money while refining your skills. My favorite content mill is Textbroker because it pays once a week, provides feedback that helps you improve, and gives you a chance to work on higher-paying projects and team assignments. You can even work your way up to an online editing job.

But, I’d also recommend any of these content mills to jumpstart your writing career quickly:

• BKA
• Scripted
• Love to Know

Although I started out writing for content mills, I quickly outgrew them and started freelancing on marketplaces and sourcing my own clients — and that’s where the real money comes in! At my highest, I was earning about $5,000/month writing content for lawyers all while working my own schedule that revolved around raising a little one.

Freelance Writing Training

My blogger buddy, Elna Cain, has the best advice around for launching a freelance writing hustle. In fact, through her e-course, she’ll show you how to make your first $1,000 with your freelance writing side gig. If you’re serious about side hustling as a writer (and hope to go full-time), check it out.

3. Virtual Assistant

Typically, virtual assistant (VA) jobs aren’t that flexible. After all, most VAs help out busy professionals and solopreneurs, so being available during standard business hours is a must. However, there are two notable exceptions.

First up, Fancy Hands. I worked for Fancy Hands for six months. And, I definitely would do it again if I had to. But not all former Fancy Hands Assistants share my neutral point of view.

You’ll find some former VAs, like me, who don’t have anything bad to say. But, there’s others who weren’t so thrilled with their experience as a Fancy Hands VA.

Remember It’s a Side Hustle

Honestly, I think it boils down to how you use Fancy Hands to earn. If you’re hoping it will become a full-time job, you’re going to be disappointed. If you look at Fancy Hands as a super-flexible way to make money 24/7 — then I think you’ll be okay. There’s work almost always available, and you get paid every two weeks. I was able to make a part-time income consistently (between $200-$300/weekly).

The only way to know for sure is to give it a try. There’s no commitment, and you don’t ever have to take a minimum number of tasks per week. You can learn more about the position and get started on your application here.

Another flexible VA company is a company called Time Etc. This isn’t as flexible as Fancy Hands, but it only requires a minimum commitment of 3-4 hours a week. So, if you’d like to give virtual assisting a try, you might want to consider applying at Time Etc — you may be able to bump up your hours, if you like it and they need the extra help.

Virtual Assistant Training

While many of the companies you can contract with as a VA don’t always offer tons of flexibility, starting your own VA side hustle does. But, as a beginner, the thought of starting from scratch might be a little intimidating. Gina Horkey gets that. In her 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Course, she shows you how to build a scalable virtual assistant side hustle when you have no idea where to start.

4. Phone Mystery Shopping

Of all the flexible gigs I’ve held over the years in order to cobble together a living, phone mystery shopping was probably the most interesting.

The concept is super simple: You place a call to a business, ask some questions, document your experience and, bam, quick cash. I did shops with Perception Strategies. These were all medical-related. For example, I’d have to call a hospital under the premise I was bringing a friend in for a procedure in a few days. I’d have certain questions to ask like:

• “Where should I park?”
• “How long should we expect to be there?”
• “Do we need to bring anything in particular?”

And, while on the phone, I’d have to take notes about everything right down to the number of rings before someone answered and how long I was on hold, the names of people I spoke with, and even their tone.

At first, I was really into this gig. Each ‘shop’ would pay near $20 and would take, maybe, 20 minutes to complete — and while there wasn’t a ton of work to go around, I was getting a decent number of assignments each week.

But, I burned out after awhile because, quite frankly, I felt like a jerk calling in and pretending to be someone I wasn’t. And, more often than not, people on the other end of the line were often frustrated with me for calling into the hospital and asking a lot of questions and always pressing them for more answers, even if they said they didn’t know.

If you have a thick skin, you’ll probably find it no problem to keep up with the calls

In addition to Perception Strategies (who isn’t always hiring), you should check out:

• Call Center QA
• Intellicheck
• ARC

Phone mystery shopping is flexible, as long as you can make calls during business hours. And, if you have kids in your care or loud neighbors, no problem. These gigs don’t require complete silence.

5. Transcription

A lot of people use transcriptionists — authors, marketers, insurance agencies, doctors — to help put recordings into permanent written documents. It goes without saying transcription is a hugely in-demand service. If you can type fast, have a strong grasp of grammar, and an eye for the written word, you might just make a great typist (and can find plenty of work to keep you busy!).

There are a number of companies that routinely hire transcriptionists to work from home. And, since most of these openings are independent contractor jobs, you get the flexiblity to work when you want. Many times you can even choose how much you work!

Transcription Training

While contracting with a company that hires transcriptionists is an easy way to gain experience, it often comes with a much lower pay rate than if you struck out on your own. If you’re intimidated by how to go about starting a transcription hustle from scratch, you can’t go wrong with a step-by-step ecourse. My two favorite free mini courses include:

• General Transcription 
• Legal Transcription

Both of the mini courses are offered through Transcribe Anywhere and will give you a good idea if transcribing is right for you, before you jump in!

Side Hustle to Start

If you’re not sure yet what your work from home goals are try side hustling to start. I truly believe everyone should have a side hustle to contribute extra income, stash money for a rainy day or help pay down existing debt. And, when you’re new to the world of work from home, side hustling is a much easier (and less intimidating) way to get started! And these simple side hustles are a great way to try your hand at earning an online income. Once you get comfortable with this new way to work, you can always scale to full-time!

For even more extra money making ideas, don’t forget to check out my list of 101+ ways to earn extra money online!

Happily,

P.S. This post contains affiliate links. What are they and how do I use them? Read my disclosure statement for more details! 

P.S.S. Sign up below to gain access to the remote workers’ library where you gain access to exclusive freebies for out-of-the-cubicle thinkers, like you!

The post 5 Online Side Hustles I’ve Tried Over The Years (And You Can Too) appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

We’ve all been there.

But getting a second job outside the home isn’t always practical. If you have little ones at home, working day and night doesn’t make sense. If your day job is demanding enough as is, adding another structured job to the workweek wouldn’t, well, work.

So, if you need more money, like yesterday, what do you do?

Turn your attention online.

Benefits of an Online Job

Sure, an online job means you get to work in your PJs, but there’s a lot of other perks too. And if you’re goal is to supplement your current 9 to 5, you’ll especially appreciate these added benefits.

Flexibility

Granted, not all online jobs come with extreme flexibility. But if you opt to freelance or set up your own side hustle, you get to set your own schedule and work as much (or little) as you’d like.

Even a more traditional contract or employee-based online job can come with great flexibility. These companies often hire workers as moonlighters. This means you can keep a hold of that day job of yours while working flexibly on nights and weekends to make ends meet.

Autonomy

If you’ve ever been micromanaged, you’ll definitely enjoy the autonomy that comes with working remotely. When you’re in your home office, the only one lurking over your shoulder is your cat (or kid).

Of course this doesn’t mean you can sit idly and still collect a paycheck. But it does mean you don’t have to worry about contending with a manager or boss who always seems to be breathing down your neck.

Money & Time Saved

There are few things I like more than making money. But saving time and money come pretty darn close. When you take on a second job from inside the house, you immediately eliminate a long and costly commute. So instead of spending money on gas and wasting time driving to work, you can simply take the 10-second commute to your home office and start earning.

Where to Look for Second Jobs from Home

Where you look for a second job depends on what kind of second job you’re after. There are several ways you can go about this:

• Employee
• Freelance
• Independent Contractor
• Solopreneurship

Each of these options comes with pros and cons. And what may work for me, might not work for you. So before jumping in, carefully consider the benefits and drawbacks of each.

Employee Positions

Though difficult to find, there are companies that have flexible online jobs that come with employee benefits. Some of the pros of working an online job as an employee include:

• Set schedules
• Stability
• Potential perks (like benefits, discounts, PTO)

But the reliable pay and stable schedules come at a cost: Flexibility. Often, these online second jobs will require you to commit to a certain schedule well in advance. And it may even mean working mandatory hours — an impossible feat for those with kids or demanding day jobs.

Where to Find Work

Your best bet to find employee jobs is through Indeed. In just a few clicks, you can find dozens of real remote jobs, many of which will offer enough flexibility to work around your already jampacked schedule. Try it for yourself, simply type “remote” in the “where” box below:

what	where
job title, keywords or company	city, state or zip jobs by

Freelance

Freelancing is a surefire way to fit money making into just about any schedule. And the good news is, anyone can freelance. From writing to marketing and social media management, there are certainly no shortages of in-demand freelance services you can sell to top off your income every single month.

Some added pros of freelancing include:

• Setting your own schedule
• Picking the projects you work on
• Working as much or little as you’d like
• Choosing your own hourly (or per project) pay rate

But, like anything, freelancing also comes with its own set of cons. For starters, there’s no guarantee you’ll find any work. And, as a freelancer, you’ll have to track down your own leads and pitch to clients to secure gigs — something that can be time consuming!

Where to Find Work as a Freelancer

There are so many ways to secure work as a freelancer. You can use popular freelance marketplaces to track down leads. Or you could use email outreach to pitch your services. Heck, you can even start your own freelance website and start marketing yourself on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Really, there is no right or wrong way to freelance — do what makes sense for you!

Contract Jobs

There’s often a lot of confusion about contract jobs. A question I frequently get is, “Isn’t a contract job the same as freelancing?”

Nope.

Freelancing and contract gigs have some things in common (like being responsible for your own taxes). But where they greatly differ is how you get work.

As a contractor, you’re assigned work. As a freelancer, you source it on your own.

For example, let’s say you decide to get a second job online as a transcriptionist. You end up contracting with The World’s Great Transcription Company (TWGTC). As a contractor, TWGTC will assign you work and give you a due date, i.e., you’re assigned work every Monday that is due back Thursday morning. How you get the work done is up to you — as long as you turn it in on time, you’re good to go.

Where to Find Work as an Independent Contractor

Indeed and Craigslist can be really good sources of independent contractor gigs. But there are also a lot of companies that routinely hire contractors to work on a per project basis:

• Metaverse
• Wonder
• Fancy Hands
• Babbletype

Plus, a lot of online professions tend to be IC-friendly like:

• Proofreading and Editing
• Transcription
• Virtual Assisting
• Search Engine Evaluation

Keep in mind, some IC positions may only last for a certain time period — say a few months to a year. That means, once the contract is up, you’ve got to find another side job from home!

Solopreneurship

Of all the ways to hold down a second job from home, solopreneurship offers the greatest flexibility. Why? Because you’re in charge! Some undeniable benefits of starting your own second job from home include:

• Being your own boss
• Ability to scale your business (if you want)
• Opportunity for passive income
• Work when you want, where you want, as much as you want!

Of course, your success will be greatly determined by how much you put into your online side business. And, if you’re pressed for time, you may not be able to put as much into it at first. But you can grow your online second job on your own terms and at the right pace for you — it’s entirely up to you.

Guides to Help You Create Your Own Second Job from Home

• Start a Blog
• Launch a Niche Job Board
• Create Designs Online
• Write an Ebook
• Sell Your Knowledge as an Infopreneur
• Become a Jewelry Merchandiser

Seriously, there are a lot of ways to go solo and start your own second job from home — from scratch. I may be slightly biased, but this is hands-down my favorite way to earn.

Picking the Right Online Second Job for You

Before jumping in, take a minute to consider which of these jobs is right for you. For some, the stability of an employee job makes sense. For others, extreme flexibility that comes with freelancing may be key. And still some may thrive as an online entrepreneur.

Make sure to carefully consider the pros and cons of each and, when ready, start your search. As always, if you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. I’m here to help.

The post Online Second Job Ideas (and How to Pick the Right One for You) appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

And considering that more than 50% of workers take home less than $30,000 a year, that $900 can be a pretty substantial chunk of change.

So, before putting yourself into debt to get through the holidays or stressing about how much to spend on Black Friday, consider side hustling for the holidays (and beyond!).

Yes, it’s already a busy time of year but, once all is said and done, you’ll get through the new year financially fit without a bit of buyer’s remorse.

Stella & Dot

This time of year people readily open their wallets. Why not be the person that sells them something? When you join Stella & Dot as a jewelry merchandiser, you can.

As a stylist, you get your own personalized website, coaching support, and product discounts. Plus, you can sell both online and in person, earning as much as 35% commission on each sale made.

There are a number of starter kits to choose from tailored for full-time, part-time, and side-hustlin’ sellers. Even if you’re crunched for time, you can make it work. Successful stylists spend as little as 5-10 hours a week side hustling for Stella & Dot.

Call Center QA

Mystery shopping has been a longheld, tried and true way to earn extra income. But, back in the day, you’d use to have to visit stores, restaurants and shops in person. Not anymore.

Today, completing a shop is as easy as picking up the phone. At Call Center QA, you can sign up as a mystery shopper and start earning $5 for each call you complete.

Calls can range from asking an auto parts store what their hours are to phoning a hair salon about services (and everything in between). There are no minimum calls to make and you never have to worry about background noise — hooray for parents and pet owners!

UserTesting

If you’re comfortable navigating websites and are able to easily work your way through an app, you can become a usability tester. There are a number of companies that readily hire testers but my personal fave is UserTesting.

They pay $10 for each test you perform and often offer additional opportunities to earn. Online market research studies and focus group panels can earn  you as much as $100 for an hour’s worth of time — not too shabby.

Another bonus is the fact you do not have to record your face or use your webcam as a tester here. Instead, you just need to speak your thoughts out loud. Their easy-to-use screen recorder will capture your screen movement and your voice as you complete assigned tests. It’s an easy and fun way to make $10 for 10 minutes of your time.

BookScouter

If you’ve got a shelf full of books collecting dust, turn them into a pile of cash. All you need to do is download the free BookScouter app, scan your books’ ISBNs and BookScouter will tell you what they’re worth to various buyers like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Chegg, etc.

Even if you’re not a bibliophile, you can use the BookScouter app to find valuable titles at second-hand stores and garage sales.

If you’re looking for a booklovers’ side hustle (and even if you’re not) BookScouter makes it easy-peasy to make extra cash selling everything from bestsellers to textbooks in just a few clicks!

Turo

Your car’s not making any money sitting in your driveway. Why not put it to work instead? With Turo,  you can.

When you sign up for Turo, you don’t have to pick up strangers or drive others anywhere like you would with Lyft or Uber. Instead, you loan your car to others in exchange for cash. The best part? Turo has got you covered with their $1 million insurance policy.

You’re also in control of your earnings and can even set mileage limits per trip. It’s free to sign up and list your car on Turo — there are never any buy-in or listing fees. Payments are deposited in your bank account within 5 days — that’s it!

Rover

There’s a lot of holiday traveling. This means there’s also a lot of pets that need watching and walking. For animal lovers, this offers an opportunity to earn money each month with Rover.

When you sign up on Rover, you’ll create a profile, set your own rates, and start booking stays. Depending on your availability and resources, services can include: dog boarding, house sitting, drop-in visits, doggy daycare, and dog walking.

As a Rover sitter, you’re not alone. You’ll get tons of support and advice that will help you grow your business well into the new year and beyond.

Cambly

How’s your English? If you’re a native English speaker, you can use Cambly to make money just by having conversations with others.

You don’t need any professional tutoring experience. In fact, students use Cambly to improve their conversational English, not learn the finer points of structuring sentences and proper grammar.

Cambly is super flexible to use as a tutor — students “call in” and, as a tutor, you can choose whether or not to “answer” a call. If you’re available — great. If not, no problem.

Clear Your Clutter

The holidays bring about lots of cheer along with plenty of gifts and extra visitors. Before accepting anything new, why not get rid of some of the old?

With Amazon’s Trade-In Program, you can easily sell some of your old tech, gadgets, and goods for credit on Amazon. And while not as good as cash, you can still put a big dent in your holiday budget by paying for gifts with Amazon credit.

Old cell phones and other tech can bring in the most credit but other items are valuable too. Fortunately, Amazon makes it easy to see what they’ll buy back from you and your item’s value before you commit to letting it go.

Survey Junkie

I know what you’re thinking — “Not another survey site!” But hear me out — no two survey sites are created equal. Some are downright awful. But others can actually be a pretty good source of extra income and rewards.

One of my favorites is Survey Junkie. Why? First and foremost, they place focus on user experience. This means they keep their survey takers happy (and have the reviews to prove it).

What makes them stand out the most is the fact they offer same day payouts — no waiting weeks or even months to receive your rewards. Speaking of which, you can redeem points earned for cash or gift cards. Amazon, Sephora, Target and Groupon are their top retailers. So, sign up today to start wracking up points you can redeem tomorrow!

Even More Extra Money Ideas

‘Tis the season of overspending. Get (and stay) ahead of the game by adopting a side hustle or two or three!

But because no two side hustles are created equal, here’s a list of 101+ ways to earn extra money online. Between transcribing to teaching, mystery shopping and moderation, there’s really something for everyone.

Get Your Side Hustle Off the Ground

Looking for a way to start your own side hustle from scratch? Have a great idea for a business but don’t know how to get started? No problem!

Brette Rowley has got you covered. Check out The Side Hustle Starter Kit to learn how Brette launched her own business in 30 days and quit her 9 to 5 all while working with a tight budget. Hint: She was profitable from the very beginning! And she’s teaching you everything she did to get there. If you’re ready to follow your passions and get serious about your side hustle, this is the course for you!

This post contains affiliate links. I only recommend businesses, brands, products and services I know and love. You can learn more about my use of affiliate links by reading the disclosure statement. 

The post Balance Holiday Spending with a Side Hustle appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

If you’re a fellow bibliophile, you might be interested to know that you too can make some money on the side. How? Why, a booklover’s side hustle, of course.

Some of the best ways to make money are doing things you love. That’s why, if you can, turning a hobby or interest into a revenue stream is a favorable way to earn. Because, really, when you’re doing something you love, it never feels like you’re actually working.

Book Seller

Every time I’m in my local Goodwill, Salvation Army or other second-hand store, I always take a stroll down the book aisles. Sure, I like to browse  the titles looking for something for myself, but I’m also scouting for books to resell.

And it’s really easy to find valuable books for cheap that you know will sell for a profit. How? A free and simple app called BookScouter.

All you do is scan a book’s ISBN barcode and, voila, the BookScouter app will let you know how much it’s worth if you sell it on popular sites like Chegg, Abe’s Books, or Barnes & Noble.

When I lived by a university, I would alway go to a nearby Goodwill scouting for used textbooks — and it paid off. It wasn’t uncommon to find a textbook or two that ended up selling for $100 or more.

But you don’t have to live near a college to make money selling used books. Many titles from self-help to sci-fi can be worth something. That’s why it’s so important to use BookScouter. It will let you know what sites are willing to pay you for a particular title. Then you just have to go to the site, fill in the product details, and ship the book in — and, nine times out of ten, they’ll cover the cost of shipping. Within two weeks, you’ll usually receive payment through Paypal or check. That’s it. If you’re gonna be at the second-hand stores anyway, you might as well do a little scouting on the side!

Book Reviewer

After you read a book, you know you have an opinion — something that ranges from can’t put it down page turner to ho-hum predictable. But what you think to be the next bestseller may not be so great  to me, and vice versa. That’s why book reviews are so important — they give potential readers an insider’s glimpse of the goings on from chapter to chapter.

If you have previous experience critiquing books, Kirkus has freelance book reviewer positions available. These are project-based gigs. After you’re assigned a book, you have two weeks to submit your 350-word review. You can also find copywriter positions here that would be a perfect side hustle for the booklover. Most tasks involve writing promotional content for new books. However, some assignments may include writing book descriptions and back cover content.

Other places to look for gigs as a book reviewer:

Online Book Club – As “an internet community for book lovers,” you’ll get a chance to connect with new authors while also earning a few bucks and free books! Some reviews pay ($5-$60) but most assignments are only paid via free books. But if you’re a booklover, this may be payment enough

BookLook – Do you have a blog? Are there 30+ people following it? If so, you can apply to become a book reviewer at BookLook. As a reviewer, you’ll receive each book you review for free. This is a great way to build experience as a reviewer!

Any Subject Books – There are a variety of books available for review here. Payments vary depending on the length of the book. You don’t have to review a minimum number of books which makes this a great side hustle for the busy booklover.

eBook Author

If you read a lot of books, I bet you have the skills to write a book, too. It’s true. In fact, avid readers are some of the best writers. And with the soaring popularity of ebooks, it’s never been easier to pen your own fiction or nonfiction work and make some pretty good money while doing it.

In fact, you can easily write your very first ebook in just 30 days. Of course, if you’re particularly strapped for time, you can always take 45, 60, 90 days or more. But it’s not a stretch to think you could set aside some spare time every day to devote to writing an ebook.

What’s great about writing an eBook is you can use platforms like Kindle Direct Publishing to get your book up for sale quickly. And with a reach of million of worldwide readers, this can be an easy way to passive income success — after all, you write the book once and collect sales over and over again!

Other Side Hustles to Consider

Those who love to read are generally pretty fond of language and words. And this is great news for the would-be side hustler — after all, there are plenty of word-related ways to earn extra money from home.

Scoping

I bet this is a side hustle you’ve never heard of before. But really, it can be a great income generator for word nerds out there. But what is scoping, you ask? In a nutshell, scoping is editing transcripts for court reporters. You see, court reporters use steno writers to take down what is being said. Software is then used to turn their work into readable transcripts. But computers aren’t perfect (at least not yet). They miss subtle nuances, punctuation, wording, etc. — and that’s where a scopist comes into play.

If you’re a lover of language, you’ll equally love this side hustle. And the best part? The pay is great and the training is affordable. This side hustle can easily go from extra income generator to full-time wages. To explore scoping a little more, check out this free course over at Internet Scoping School.

Scoring

From helping elementary-aged children learn to read to critiquing high school students’ essays, there are quite a few ways to side hustle as a scorer. Again, as a lover of the written word, you’ll likely find it enjoyable to spend your spare time helping students improve their reading and writing skills. Some companies to check out include:

ACT – Remember the ACT? You can get paid to read and score student-written ACT essays. To be considered, you will need to have at least a bachelor’s degree and previous teaching experience. U.S. residency is also a must!

Brainfuse – As a Brainfuse Paper Reviewer, you’ll help students writing college-level papers. This can include reviewing essays and providing feedback to live one-on-one tutoring sessions done over a virtual whiteboard (no webcam or mic needed). To be considered, you’ll need to supply proof of a bachelor’s degree in any field.

ETS – ETS has both location-based and subject-specific scoring positions available. It’s best to check their job opportunities page to see current open positions.

Gradiate – You’ll earn $25/hour as a Gradiate Genius. This is mostly grading work and providing feedback that students can use to improve.

Literably – This is part transcription, part evaluating. You’ll listen to elementary students read out loud and note whenever they’ve made a mistake like omitting words or mispronunciations.

Measurement Inc. – You’ll need a bachelor’s degree in any field to work from home as a reader/evaluator at Measurement Inc. There are a number of different projects available, each with different pay rates.

Pearson – Pearson is one of the largest education companies around, and they often have a number of online evaluator positions available. Check out their scoring at home program to see what kind of projects they’re hiring for throughout the year!

WriteScore – WriteScore offers hand-scored essay services in the education industry. They will train essay scorers, but you’ll need at least a two-year degree to be considered.

Blogging

Review-based blogs can be a fun way to monetize your personal thoughts. And if you have a particular niche you absolutely love, you could solely focus on that. For example, if you love romance novels, set up a blog devoted to discussing and sharing some of your favorite reads. Or if science-fiction is more your thing, give readers your thoughts on the latest and greatest to familiar favs.

A book review blog could be monetized with affiliate marketing. For example, you could recommend titles for purchase via Amazon and earn a percentage of each sale through the Amazon Associates program. Remember, blogging as a side business is a lot of work but, when done right, can lead to full-time income for part-time work.

Proofreading and Editing

Do you spot spelling mistakes while reading everything from cereal boxes to billboards? Do you know what it takes to make good writing great? Well, then, you’d make a great editor or proofreader. And, honestly, that’s not surprising. Most diehard readers are often inherently great editors — it just goes with the territory.

Fortunately for you, there are plenty of ways to make money as a proofreader or editor. You could start your own proofreading side hustle, take a free introduction course to proofreading, or contract with one of 16+ companies as a virtual proofreader.

Booklovers’ Side Hustles

Reading is a great way to pass the time but it can also lead to extra money in the bank each month. With these booklovers’ side hustles, you can take your love of the written word one step further by turning it into a side hustle.

If you have a great idea for a side hustle but have no idea how to get it off the ground, head on over to The Side Hustle Starter Kit. Brette will show you how she launched her own side hustle in 30 days, quit her 9 to 5, and was profitable from the very beginning. If you’re ready to follow your passion and get serious about side hustlin’ this is the course for you!

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This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure statement to learn more!

The post Side Hustles for Booklovers: 30+ Money-Making Ideas for Bibliophiles appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

Sounds too good to be true? It’s not. But it does require a bit of planning to do it right. This ultimate blogging as a side business guide will give you the blueprints needed to start (and sustain) a successful blog.

Prep Your Blog

Before becoming a blogger, you need to put in a little prep work. The hardest of which is picking a niche. A niche is a well-defined (and profitable) subject you’ll blog about.

What’s in a niche? It could be anything, really. If you want to be a part-time blogger, choose a niche you love. When you write about the things you truly enjoy, you’ll never feel like you’re actually working. And, as a bonus, you’ll actually earn some money for sharing your thoughts on your favorite subject.

If you need a little niche inspiration, consider this, the most profitable niches fall into one of these three main categories:

1. Money
2. Relationships
3. Health/Fitness

Remember, these three categories are super broad. You don’t just want to be a “money” blogger. Instead, you want a really defined niche. For example, let’s say you enjoy a good bargain. Your favorite store to bargain shop is Target. You religiously check their weekly ad, online coupons, and Cartwheel offers to save big on everyday purchases to once-in-a-blue-moon splurges.

Great! On your blog, you could share your Target shopping tips and tricks — give shoppers alerts on sales, suggest stock up items, and provide markdown schedules on clearance. This very targeted niche (no pun intended) could fall into the broader “money” category while also discussing a subject matter you truly enjoy — Target shopping and saving (win-win!).

Niche Inspiration

Don’t worry if a niche isn’t immediately jumping out at you. And even if one is, take a day to think about it. Your niche will drive your blog’s content and, with it, the amount of money you make. You wouldn’t start a brick-and-mortar business on a whim — and you don’t want to hastily jump into a blog either

So, think about the three big categories (love, money, health) and start jotting down ideas. For a little inspiration visit the ‘For Dummies’ book people.

Check out their active categories. If they’ve written a book about it, that subject has the potential to be profitable.

The For Dummies people spend a lot of time and money researching potential niches — if it’s profitable they’ll publish a book about it. If it’s not, they won’t.

So, if there’s a subject there you feel could be a potential niche for you — you can also feel pretty confident it has the potential to be profitable.

Get Started

Once you’ve picked a narrow niche involving a subject you actually enjoy, you can move onto the next step: Setting up your blog. This step can seem daunting, especially if you’ve never been involved in the creation of a blog or website before.

But fear not! I’ve discussed this in GREAT detail in my No-Fail Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Blog.  In it, I reiterate the importance of picking a niche, help you pick a domain name and, of course, go through the process of selecting a host and installing WordPress. There’s even an included handy guide of free WordPress themes you can install to give your blog the perfect look without spending a penny.

This guide will show you everything (and I do mean everything) you need to do to go from blog idea to owning your own piece of Internet real estate. I promise, it’s easy. Just make sure you set aside an uninterrupted 20 minutes to go through the process, step by step. Once you do, you’ll be the newest member of the blogging community — welcome!

Prep Your Posts and Pages

Now that your blog is up, it’s time to get it running. The content you create for your blog will make or break its success — no pressure, right?

Don’t panic. Creating amazing, share-worthy content isn’t a matter of luck. There are many steps you can take to ensure everything you publish is as equally amazing as the next post.

Categories

Before you get to work writing content for your blog, you’ll need to create a roadmap. In the blogging world, your categories are what will give your blog content direction. All you need are 3-5 categories and 3 or 4 subcategories under each one.

For example, here at Work from Home Happiness my main categories are:

1. Work from Home
2. Freelancing
3. Side Hustles
4. Online Entrepreneurship

And under each of these broad categories, I have specific subcategories I talk about:

1. Work from Home
   1. Job Leads
   2. Company Reviews
   3. Extra Income Ideas
   4. Job Search Advice
2. Freelancing
   1. Pitching
   2. Selling Services
   3. Finding Clients
   4. Setting Rates
3. Side Hustles
   1. Beginner’s Guides
   2. Management
   3. Growth
4. Online Entrepreneur
   1. Blogging
   2. Passive Income
   3. Affiliate Marketing
   4. Infopreneur/Solopreneur/Creative Entrepreneur Ideas

Having these categories and subcategories helps me maintain focus and makes sure I stay on topic with my blog’s content. When someone visits your blog for the first time, you want them to know what it is you’re talking about. Having set categories and subcategories in place ahead of time will go a long way in helping you stay on point.

The Purpose of Categories

Pretend someone stumbles upon one of your blog posts on Pinterest. The article is an amazing how-to piece on repurposing an old dresser. The reader loves the article and decides they want to look around your blog for more amazing DIY ideas and home decor advice. But as they start looking around, they can’t find any related content. Instead, there’s an article about grocery budgets and another about what you did this past weekend — not at all what the reader was hoping to find. So, they leave — likely never to return again.

You want to hook your readers from the beginning — having a cohesive blog with well defined categories and subcategories does that. It lets readers know what they can expect from you from the beginning and never leaves them guessing about what you may talk about next!

So, before you sit down to write your first post willy-nilly — stop — write down your 3-5 categories and 3-5 subcategories and keep it handy for reference. You can jot them down on a piece of paper or use a Google Doc to keep track of them — just make sure you reference it frequently  to make sure you’re staying on subject!

Start Blogging

Now you have your name, niche, categories and blog set up, it’s time to add some amazing content. In the beginning, blogs look bare. That’s okay. A quick fix is to sit down and write 5-10 blog posts that you immediately publish. This makes it appear that your blog isn’t brand new (even though it is) and gives your new readers some material to browse through.

Create Your Content Strategy

Your personality will play a huge role in your blog’s content. Your posts may be funny, informative, slightly snarky, light-hearted — or any combination of writing styles. Some people will love your unique way with words and others will hate it — no problem. That’s the great thing about blogging — it gives you a chance to connect with like-minded people who appreciate your approach to your chosen niche

So, whatever your style and tone, make sure to keep it consistent. You don’t want to start off writing funny, pun-filled posts and then suddenly switch to serious, academic style writing. It’s confusing and will likely turn off readers you worked so hard to get!

Content Length

As a part-time blogger looking to earn extra money, you may be tempted to skimp on your post length. But I’m going to strongly recommend against teeny-tiny posts. Instead, focus on creating longform content. The exact definition of longform content varies. Some people say it’s anything more than 750 words. Others say a post needs to exceed 2,000 words to qualify.

For me, longform content is somewhere in between — I make it a point to write blog posts that hit at least 1200 words. Now before you start freaking out, thinking that number of words is akin to writing a novel — it’s totally doable. Just make sure you’re sitting down to write posts with ‘meaty’ topics. You want your posts to be a certain word count but you also don’t want them stuffed with fluff.

Create a Content Calendar

Now that you’re a blogger, you’re going to need an editorial calendar — especially as a part-time blogger. This will keep you organized, on track, and keep you from feeling burned out. After all, blogging as a side business should be a fun way to earn extra money, not a stressful time suck. One of the easiest ways to prevent blogger burnout is to create an editorial calendar.

Simply put, your editorial calendar will show, months in advance, which posts are going live and on which dates. When you have posts scheduled out in advance, you’ll never be scrambling last minute to come up with a post idea or, worse, throw something up on your blog just for the sake of posting.

There are a number of both free and paid plugins you can use. But you don’t necessarily need a plugin — you could keep track of your posts in Google, create a spreadsheet or even an old fashioned desk calendar — really, whatever works for you is fine! Just make sure you brainstorm topics, create content, and schedule everything out in advance. This means when you go to sit down to write once a week, you know that post won’t be going ‘live’ until a month or two later. So, if something happens and you can’t work on your blog during a busy week, no problem, you’ve created a content calendar that keeps going even when you’re tied up.

My personal favorite editorial and scheduling plugin is CoSchedule. It costs money each month — but there are several ways to save on your subscription. If you write a review of CoSchedule on your new blog, you automatically get a 50% discount!

Monetize Your Blog

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably pretty eager to learn how to monetize your blog so you can make extra income each month. And, it’s a good idea to start monetizing right out the gate so, as your traffic grows, so will your income month over month. Bloggers all create different strategies when monetizing their blogs — and as you get more comfortable with yours, you’ll likely make changes and tweaks to maximize your earnings, too.

But to get started, consider these common ways to make money as a part-time blogger.

Affiliate Marketing

As an affiliate marketer, you get paid a commission for referrals you make. Even if you have a small blog, you can earn big with affiliate marketing. It’s all about recommending the right products/services. If you were a fashion blogger, you would recommend your favorite clothing and brands. You wouldn’t, however, recommend tech products because your readers turn to your blog for advice on fashion — not electronics purchases.

Some bloggers earn $10,000+ each month with affiliate marketing. It’s not a stretch to think you too could earn even a fraction of that each month as a part-time blogger. For an in-depth look at affiliate marketing, including programs you might want to join, check out my post on how I went from $0 to $2,500 a month in affiliate income in just 5 months.

Advertising Out the Gate

I’m going to come right out and say it: Ads can be annoying. When you’re trying to browse a site and get bombarded with one pop-up after another or full-page ads that are next to impossible to X out of, it can be a major turn off. And that’s why, if you choose to use ads, it pays to use them sparingly. In other words, don’t plaster your posts and pages with a ridiculous amount of ads. Chances are, you’re not earning that much from them anyway and they’re likely preventing you from developing a loyal audience of readers.

As a beginner, Google AdSense and Media.net are good places to start. These companies use cookies to display relevant Google and Yahoo ads on your site based on your page’s content and/or your visitor’s browsing history. That’s why, when you’re on a webpage, you might see an ad for a product you just were looking at on Amazon.

Information Products

Many bloggers forgo ads altogether in favor of creating their own information products. An information product can be any type of digital creation available for purchase on your blog — eBooks, workbooks, courses, webinars are all smart ways to turn your knowledge into paid-for products.

As a part-time blogger, you may be particularly drawn to creating and selling digital downloads on your site since the income made is completely passive. In other words, you can get paid over and over again for doing the work once.

For a complete look at information marketing and how you can benefit from selling info products as a part-time blogger, check out my beginner’s guide to info marketing.

Getting Traffic

It doesn’t matter how you choose to monetize your blog — affiliate marketing, ads, information products — you’re going to need an audience to make some money. Keep in mind, you don’t necessarily need a huge following to see profits each month, but you do need to get people to visit your blog and interact with it by either making a purchase, clicking an ad or viewing a recommended product.

As a part-time blogger, you’ll rely heavily on social media to promote your latest posts and interact with readers. But social media can be a total time suck. And the last thing you want to do is spend all your free time promoting your blog by endlessly tweeting, pinning, and posting — it’s a surefire way to burn out quickly.

Instead, take a cue from pro bloggers out there and take advantage of automation.

Authentic Automation

Social media automation tools send social updates on your behalf so you don’t have to monitor your accounts 24/7. As a part-time blogger, this makes you look active on social media each and every day even though you may only spend a small chunk of time once a week on social media.

Now this doesn’t mean you should never login and check what’s going on with your social accounts. It does mean, however, that you can spend less time on social media and more time creating killer content and growing your audience (and income).

There are a number of free tools you can use, like Buffer or HootSuite, to start scheduling social posts. My go-to social scheduler is CoSchedule (the same plugin I use for my editorial calendar). CoSchedule lets me easily share old blog posts and keep track of what I’m sharing and how often. The best part is I only spend about an hour each week scheduling my social posts which results in about 50% of my traffic each week.

Pinterest

Pinterest is currently one of the most powerful tools you can use to drive traffic to your blog — regardless of your niche. When I just started out, I thought there was no way Pinterest made sense for a work-from-home blogger like me. After all, Pinterest was all DIY, fashion, recipes and pretty pictures, right? Wrong.

While Pinterest is very much a visual social platform, you don’t need to be in visuals-heavy niche to be successful here. Instead, make sure you create “pinnable” images for each of your blog posts that you can share on Pinterest. I use Canva to do this. It’s a free and easy tool you can use to quickly create vertical images that stand out on Pinterest. There’s even free templates you can use for inspiration.

Start Pinning

Once you have pinnable images, you’ll need to start pinning. The secret to success here is pinning around the clock. As a part-time blogger, it’s not practical to sit in front of your computer all day waiting to send out your next pin. That’s where automation it’s a huge helper — and traffic driver to your blog.

While Hootsuite and Buffer are great for Facebook, Google+, Twitter and even Instagram, Pinterest requires a little something extra. That’s why there are scheduling tools exclusively for pinning.

My two personal favorites are Tailwind and BoardBooster. Really, it comes down to personal preference on which you’ll like the most. Fortunately, you can try them both for free before you commit to one or the other. You can try Tailwind for an entire month for free by using this referral link and give BoardBooster a try by using this referral link.

Part-Time Blogging Success

Remember, you’re not likely to see blogging success overnight as a part-time blogger. But, you can create a killer content strategy combined with social media automation that helps your blog grow and, with it, your income each month.

Feeling stuck? Leave your questions in the comments below! I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. Don’t forget to sign up for the weekly Happiness Digest for extra tips and at-home inspiration. You’ll also gain access to the free resource library, created for out-of-the-cube thinkers like you

The post Blogging as a Side Business: A Guide to Earning Extra Money Each Month as a Part-Time Blogger appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

And regardless how big or small a business’s social following, it takes a lot of work to build an engaged audience and keep them coming back for more. Plus, there’s quite a bit of strategy involved in how to post and when, and what social channels a business should even devote their energy to in the first place.

Really, it can be a full-time job (and then some) just to keep up on social media. And just when you think you’ve got it down, bam, there’s an algorithm change that makes your previous social strategy ineffective.

How are businesses, brands, and bloggers keeping up? Well, many solopreneurs, small business owners, and companies outsource parts of their social presence to someone. And if you’re social media savvy, that ‘someone’ could be you!

Seriously.

While it might sound like a dream come true to actually earn an income tweeting, snapping, pinning, and posting, know this: Sharing memes, selfies, and social commentary on your personal profiles is a lot different than what will be expected of you as a professional social media manager.

But, the good news is, you can use your love of social networking as a solid foundation to help you launch a successful social media side hustle (say that ten times real fast). And, there’s such a high demand for this service, who knows, it could become your full-time job.

The Quick-Start Method

If you want to get started putting your social skills to work, like, yesterday, signing up with an already established company that offers social media jobs is probably your best bet. Fortunately, there are a growing number of companies that contract with the social media savvy, like you, to provide a variety of services.

$99 Social 

$99 Social is on a mission to help make social media management affordable for small businesses. Here, you can get hired on as a part-time content specialist. Which means you’ll mostly search for share-worthy content, write short intros for posts, and prep them to go live on the appropriate social channel. You can expect to earn an average of $12/hour once you get through 6-7 hours of self-paced training.

eaHELP Social Media Assistant

At eaHELP you’ll be part virtual assistant and part social media assistant. This means that while the bulk of your work will be social-related, you might also need to work on general administrative tasks, too. Assistants are matched to clients, so this work may not be as flexible as you’d like for a side hustle. But if the idea of working as a VA sounds like something you’d like to do, you’re in luck — there are more than 20 companies that hire virtual assistants to work from home.

Appen

If you love social media but want something that isn’t client focused (i.e., you don’t have to interact with others), consider becoming an Appen Social Media Evaluator. This is kind of like popular at-home search engine evaluation jobs but with a social media twist. You’ll rate the relevancy of various social updates and generally help make social sharing better for all of us — so, thank you for that

Lionbridge

Like Appen, mentioned above, Lionbridge also has super flexible social media jobs that don’t require you to interact with clients. Instead, you can become a Personalized Social Media Assessor. You’ll need to be a very active Google user — Play Store, G+, and Gmail are all musts. You’ll be using the information in your Google account to rate the relevancy of results.

Time Etc.

With a few hours to spare each week, you can become a side hustler over at Time Etc. and put your social media skills to work helping clients manage their online presence. Since this is a social-media-meets-virtual-assistant gig, you’ll work on administrative tasks in addition to social assignments.

ModSquad

Join the ModSquad, and you might get a chance to work on social media-driven assignments. I say might because at ModSquad, work is performed on a per-project basis. Sometimes there may be social media projects available — but there’s no guarantee. I’ve written a full review of what it takes to be a Mod and also included a handy guide to help you ace your application just in case this sounds like the perfect gig for you.

Crisp Thinking

Kickstart your social side gig as a moderator at Crisp Thinking and help manage user-generated content on various social channels. You’ll help respond to customer inquiries, moderate comments, and otherwise keep Internet trolls at bay — think of yourself as a social defender!

Remember, these contract positions aren’t always hiring — but it doesn’t hurt to try. And since you’ll be an independent contractor, you’re responsible for paying your own taxes and maintaining your work equipment (computer, internet, etc.) at your expense.

But, what’s great about contract positions is they give you a chance to flex your social media muscle quickly and can help you gain much needed experience if you want to branch out into a full-time role elsewhere.

Other Sources of Social Media Side Hustles

While the companies listed above are known for regularly offering social media side hustles, there’s other places worth checking too. The more gig hunting you do, the greater your chances are of finding something that’s a good fit for you. So, make sure you take your search into your own hands and check out these additional companies too!

Land Gigs on Upwork

Upwork is officially the mecca of freelance work. After combining forces with oDesk and then Elance, there are more than 12 million registered users who engage in $1 billion worth of freelance work each year!

With a properly set up profile and a perfect pitch, you can land as many (or few) social media gigs as you’d like — and believe me when I say, there is plenty of work to go around! Keep in mind, Upwork does take a percentage of your earnings (anywhere from 5 to 20 percent depending on the amount you’ve earned and duration of a project). And, you’ll have to face some pretty stiff competition in the form of your fellow freelancer in order to get gigs. But, there are seemingly endless possibilities to earn here — perfect for beginner social media side hustlers.

You probably won’t find instant success here with your social media side hustle. And that’s okay. Just be prepared to put in the work upfront so you can reap the benefits of steady gigs and stellar feedback that turns into repeat clients later on. Need a little inspiration? There’s a must-listen podcast episode over at Brent Jones Online that is 7 minutes of pure Upwork advice awesomeness to help you kickstart your new social side job.

Keep Your Eye on Indeed

If you’re not searching Indeed daily to find work as a side hustler, you’re seriously missing out. The best part is, you don’t necessarily have to login every day and manually search. You can set up an alert that keeps you up to date on any new social media gigs posted.

As a job search engine, Indeed scours the Internet to find job leads  — you just never know what you’ll find. There’s everything from full-time remote jobs with employee benefits to one-off assignments and contract gigs.

Check it out for yourself. Just type “social media” in the what box below and “remote” in the where box — you might be surprised at the number of social side gigs that show up!

what	where
job title, keywords or company	city, state or zip jobs by

Give Craigslist a Look

Craigslist isn’t all used cars and rentals, there’s actually quite a few work from home jobs to be found. Now keep in mind, with any home-based job search, you’ve got to be on the lookout for scams. And on Craigslist, you’ve got to be a little more hypervigilant than normal. But that doesn’t mean you should overlook this classifieds super site either.

In fact, some big-name companies like Amazon and Groupon are known to post their work from home gigs on Craigslist. The key is knowing where to look — ideally, you’ll want to check some of the largest markets like Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Austin, etc. Typically, if a company is hiring throughout the U.S., they’ll choose a select few markets to post their ads in and, nine times out of ten, it’s the large metropolitan areas they land on.

Then just select the “telecommute” option (screenshot below) once you’re on the jobs page and — voila —  a list of (mostly) remote-friendly positions right before your eyes  

You could also use a site, like SearchTempest, which will search all of Craigslist for you at once — a huge timesaver that yields more results, faster.

But, remember, use your best judgment before applying to any social media side gigs posted here. And always keep these things in mind:

• If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
• Don’t ever pay to work for anyone. Period.
• Perform due diligence — check out a company’s social presence and website.
• Google can be a big help — search “company name + scam” and see what comes up.

And, when in doubt, move on. It’s not worth falling prey to a scam for the sake of a side hustle!

Create Your Own Social Media Side Hustle

Last, but certainly not least, you could create your own social media hustle. What does that mean, exactly? In a nutshell, it means selling your services directly to clients with no middleman involved. This path requires a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit and a lot of hard work, especially when starting from scratch.

But, going this route often offers the greatest flexibility and gives you a chance to set your own rates, pick when you work, and select your clients. This is a great option if you want to scale your service business from side hustle to eventual full-time business. And doing this isn’t as daunting task as it may seem — especially if you take the right steps to get started the right way.

Pick Your Social Media Niche

First things first, pick a niche. I’m constantly preaching the power of a niche. And for good reason — it’s the quickest way to side hustle success, especially when just starting out.

If you’re not familiar with the term, a niche is a defined area that you specialize in. In terms of social media, a niche could be a particular social channel or a type of client.

Maybe you’ll only assist small businesses manage their Pinterest presence. Perhaps you’ll moderate comments and help find relevant content for lifestyle businesses to pots across all social channels. Or you could even help artists and crafters reach customers on Instagram. Really, the possibilities are endless.

But, ideally, your niche will be something you have an interest in and prior knowledge of. That way you can use your existing knowledge to hit the ground running and won’t burnout (as easily) when your side hustle involves something you truly enjoy doing.

Identify Your Services

Once you’ve picked your niche, you’ll need to figure out which services you’ll offer. Again, this will largely depend on the type of clients you work with and your existing knowledge. But, some services you may want to consider include:

• Comment moderation
• Content curation
• Social media marketing
• Graphics creation
• Automation set up (Tailwind, Hootsuite, Buffer, etc.)
• Advertising campaigns (Facebook ads, Promoted Pins, etc.)

It’s perfectly okay to start small and grow organically. So, don’t feel like you need to know how to create an effective Facebook ad campaign for product launches or know how to use every automation tool out there. You’ll have an easier time selling your services if you can demonstrate value to potential clients — so always go with what you know!

Make Your Own Social Presence Shine

If you’re going to convince brands, bloggers, and businesses that they’ll benefit from using your social media services, your own social media presence better be on point! And this doesn’t mean it needs to be squeaky clean and bland. A good bit of personality is expected on social media but you’ll also want to keep it clean. In other words, be mindful of what you share. Potential clients will definitely be checking out your own social profiles and you want to make a good first impression.

Network Like Crazy (aka Be a Social Butterfly)

I’m gonna guess that networking is second nature for a social media pro like yourself — and that’s great. You’ll put those outreach skills to good use as you make connections with potential clients. In fact, your own social contacts may be a good place to start putting the word out about your new social media side hustle.

And, don’t be afraid to send out cold/warm emails. It really is an effective strategy to start landing clients — quickly. I’ve written an in-depth guide of dos and don’ts of email outreach for beginners. You can read it and other guides created for out-of-the-cube thinkers, like you, by signing up for my Free Resource Library (form is at the bottom of the page).

Put it All Together

Picking a niche, selecting your services, and cleaning up your own social media presence are great ways to jumpstart your own social media side hustle. And to make the most of all your hard work, you’ll want to tie everything together. How? By creating your own service website — and it’s super easy. I’ve created a no-fail guide that will show you everything you need to do, step by step, to create a perfectly polished website that showcases your talent and sells your services for you.

And really, having your own site is an affordable (a few dollars a month) way to present yourself as a serious professional in the social media arena. Think of your own service site as your online business card — but elevated. It will display your contact information, yes, but it will also include what you do and why you’re great. It’s the one-stop shop clients can visit to easily learn more about you and serves as a point of contact to inquire about your work.

Tools of the Trade

As with any industry or side hustle, there are common tools of the trade you should know. For one, they’ll give you a leg up on the competition and two, they can help make your life easier by using them. While not an all-inclusive list, here are some social media tools to look into for both yourself and clients!

Canva

The non-designer platform to quickly and easily create stunning social media graphics. If you plan on offering images as part of your services, you’ll want to put Canva in your toolbox. It’s free to use and there’s plenty of pretty images and eye-catching templates you can use for inspiration. And there’ no software to download — you simply head on over to the website to start creating.

Automation

It’s no secret that most brands, bloggers and businesses heavily rely on popular automation tools to help them stay ahead of their social calendars. Which means, as a social side hustler, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with these tools too. But there really are a lot of them out there, so don’t drive yourself crazy trying to find them all. Instead, focus on a few of the most popular ones and learn those well. You can always add to your repertoire!

• BoardBooster (Pinterest)
• Tailwind (Pinterest)
• Buffer
• Hootsuite
• CoSchedule

This is just a short list of popular automation tools — there really are a lot of them out there, so don’t drive yourself crazy trying to find them all. Instead, focus on a few and learn those well. You can always add to your repertoire!

Social Media Training

If you’re looking to set yourself apart as a go-to social media expert, get certified! Hootsuite has an industry-recognized certification program that will help grow your side hustle while keeping you up to speed in the ever-evolving world of social media. Once complete, you’ll have the credentials to back up your expert-level social media skills!

Side Hustle Help

Need a little help getting your side hustle started? No problem. Head on over to The Side Hustle Starter Kit where Brette will show you how to launch a profitable side hustle from scratch.

Don’t forget to sign up for the Free Resource Library below where you’ll find tons of actionable guides to help you launch your new side hustle. As always, if you have any questions — please ask! I’m here to help: ashlee(at)workfromhomehappiness(dot)com

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please see the disclosure statement for more information!

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Bloggers usually have a lot of knowledge about a specific subject. Etsy sellers are typically talented artisans. And the millions of others paying their bills with online work could say the same — programmers, designers, writers, teachers, marketers all have training and experience that allow them to earn online.

But outside of these experience required online jobs, there are many other ways to take in an online income. And the good news is (almost) anyone can do them. So, if you’ve been searching for a way to make money online but think all the good internet jobs require tons of experience — think again! There are ways to make money online that just about anyone can do.

Search Engine Evaluator

You probably rely on Google (or your personal fave search engine) to help you find everything from local movie times to the best deals on new tech. And this reliance on search engines for everyday information means that they need to be pretty good at what they do. But the truth is, search engines are far from perfect. That’s why companies hire internet users, like you and me, to lend a helping hand as search engine evaluators.

Search engine evaluators are tasked with ‘teaching’ search engines the little intricacies that exist in language. For example, when someone Googles “apple sale” they’re probably looking for deals on Apple products like Macs, iPads, and iPhones and not a list of places to buy apples on the cheap. But search engines don’t instinctively understand pop culture references or current events like you and I do.

So, as a search engine evaluator, you’ll rate the relevancy of search results based on a search query. That’s it. You don’t need any experience. But you will need to know basic news, current events, and pop culture happenings in the country you’re applying in.

I did a small project with iSoftStone. And while it wasn’t my cup of tea, the work paid well and is certainly something I wouldn’t hesitate to do again. If this is something you could see yourself doing, check out this list of search engine evaluator companies to see who’s hiring.

Usability Tester

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time online and in apps browsing websites to find information, purchase products, grab your daily news, play games or otherwise entertain yourself while waiting in line. And you probably have an opinion about how well those apps and sites work. These opinions are quite valuable to the website owner or app developer. So valuable, in fact, that you can actually get paid to share your candid thoughts about what it’s like to use an app or website as a consumer.

And, don’t worry, you don’t need any kind of developer or QA experience whatsoever. All you need is an ability to speak your thoughts out loud while completing tasks. I’ve been a longtime usability testing at User Testing. Sometimes, I’ll get the chance to visit a website, pretend to make a purchase, and give my thoughts about my shopping experience and the overall checkout process. New website owners may ask for testers to give their unabashed first impressions of their site. Really, there are endless possible scenarios you may be tasked with as a usability tester.

So, if you frequent websites and are comfortable navigating various apps with little to no instruction, you’ll be just fine as a usability tester. Remember, you just have to be honest and provide real feedback — that’s it. Check out these companies that hire usability testers and you’ll be one step closer to earning money with this popular online job option.

Crowdworker

As far as internet jobs, there are no shortage of options to become a crowdworker. If you’ve never heard the term before, crowd working is an inexpensive way for companies to get work done quickly. This work is made available to a pool of workers and is claimed on a first come first serve basis. A lot of times, this kind of work is referred to as micro jobs and can be found on short task sites.

Crowd working tasks are usually quick and simple — think data entry, image tagging, and URL ranking. While these tasks don’t really pay much, they can be done when you have a free minute. That’s why crowd working is a great way to monetize your down time or sneak in a quick buck or two whenever you have a second to spare.

And since these tasks are super simple, just about anyone can do them! Amazon Turk is probably the largest micro job site out there — but it’s not the only one. Check out this list of short task sites to ‘join the crowd’ and gain access to thousands of mini internet jobs at any given time. If this sounds perfect for you, read through subreddits like UHRS Work and Hits Worth Turking For for tons of helpful advice from turkers like you

Telephone Mystery Shopper

I know online jobs that require you to pick up the phone aren’t exactly popular, but hear me out on this one. As a phone mystery shopper you simply place calls to an assigned shop, ask a couple of questions, and write up a quick report. You don’t need any special experience to be a phone mystery shopper but you should be able to communicate well both when speaking and writing.

This is a great opportunity for stay-at-home parents since shops can be done at any time during business hours and background noise isn’t an issue. So, if you have kids in your care or a noisy pet — no problem! As a phone mystery shopper you need to act like a real consumer, not a paid caller. And nothing sounds more real than a busy household in the background.

The amount you’ll earn per completed call depends on the company you sign up with. For example, Call Center QA pays a flat $5 per shop while Perception Strategies pays up to $20. To find out who’s hiring, head on over to this list of telephone mystery shopping companies and start earning money for being on the phone.

Call Reviewing

Speaking of being on the telephone, you can take advantage of internet jobs as a call reviewer and get paid to listen in and rate recorded phone calls. Sounds interesting, right? It can be! Most of the time, the calls you are listening to are sales calls. And you’re listening in to see if there was a missed sales opportunity.

For example, you may be asked to listen to a customer who called into a car dealership wanting to speak with a certain sales rep about a car they saw online. You’ll listen into see who answered the phone, whether the caller was transferred, if the caller was sent to voicemail or otherwise was unable to reach the sales person. That’s it.

There’s no particular experience you’ll need to get started at sites like Humanatic or Reynolds & Reynolds. But obviously being a good listener is a must!

Flipper

Buying items for cheap and flipping them online for profit is quickly becoming one of the most popular internet jobs out there! It’s a great option for just about anyone looking to make money online since you can work when you want and use sites like eBay and Amazon FBA to do most of the work for you. All you have to do is find the items to flip for profit.

One of my favorite ways to make money online is to find used books at my local thrift stores and sell them for profit. It’s not uncommon to find a few books that sell for well over $100. Thanks to the free and easy-to-use BookScouter App, you have all the information you need right in the palm of your hand — after scanning a book’s ISBN it will tell you how much sites are willing to pay you for that book.

But finding and selling used books for profit is just one way to make money as a flipper. You could also sell clearance items using Amazon FBA or make treasure hunting your job as a thrift store flipper.

Market Research

Let’s be honest: Not all online survey sites are created equal. Some have insanely complicated point systems that make it difficult to turn into cash. Others have not-so-awesome prizes or very few options to earn anything. And while there’s a lot of legitimate survey sites to be found, you might want to stick with a few that actually pay well and make it possible to earn extra money each month.

Vindale

My two favorite survey sites are Vindale and Swagbucks. I like Vindale because they actually pay you cash and you can request your earnings be paid out with a check or through PayPal. 

And, as you can see, they actually have some survey opportunities that are well worth it, like a payout of $6.42 for a quick 11-minute automotive study. There’s other ways to earn aside from surveys like watching videos, checking email and participating in panels. The opportunities available will depend on your demographic information. But once you sign up, you can start earning and even receive a $2 bonus for filling out your information!

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is one of the most popular survey sites out there. Why? Because they’ll pay you for doing all the random things you’re already doing on the internet! This includes shopping, playing games, watching videos and, yes, taking surveys.

To date, Swagbucks members have been paid out more than $100,000,000 in cash and rewards. Pretty impressive, right? You too can join the group and start making money for all your online activities. When you sign up, you’ll automatically get a bonus $5 to get you started.

Start Earning with Easy Internet Jobs

With all the no special experienced needed internet jobs out there, it’s never been easier to earn extra money online. If you’re looking for more ways to earn, check out this list of 101+ Ways to Earn Extra Money Online. And don’t forget to sign up for the Work from Home Free Resource Library for special freebies for out-of-the-cube thinkers like you!

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure statement for more details.

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