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Lately, I have been talking to a lot of moms that have been asking me about working from home.   I love working from home.   It allows me to homeschool (We homeschool part-time, as our kids attend a university-based Christian school.  They go to campus three days a week & homeschool two days a week).     

Working from home allows me to be with my family more.  As a teacher, I was gone all day long, but then I also had to help out after the school day had ended (reading programs, math games, sporting events, etc…). 

Now, I am on my own schedule.  I can work late at night after the kids are in bed, or early in the morning before they wake up.  I can be a full-time hands-on mom during the day or I can work if they are busy doing their work or playing.  

To help you try to find some ways to work from home (or even just to make a little money to pay for preschool or baseball or dance…)

A person kneading raw dough with flour on the table.

  1. Bake for others – My friend has a home business where she bakes cakes and makes meals for others.  She drives to their house and leaves it for them.  They have dinner every night.  She said that she makes enough for about four families at one time, so it isn’t too much work for her and it is a way that she can be home with her kids.  My friend makes more than $25,000 per year doing this.   
  2. Start a blog – You can earn a lot of money blogging, or at least receive free products.   It is a great way to earn money (through ads and sponsored posts) or to try out products for companies and write about them on your blog.  My husband and I are both full-time bloggers and we make a full income blogging.
    Learn how to start a blog in 2 minutes here.
  3. Make money with referral links! 
    What does this mean?  So, let’s look at my Potty Train in a Weekend book (any of my books, really).   If you buy it and like it, and then you share it with someone else, and THEY buy it, you can make 50% of that sale.  They did not pay more for the book, you are simply getting get a 50% referral fee.  You need to sign up to be an affiliate and share your link, but that’s all there is to it!  I have friends making $200 a month from selling it by posting their link on their Facebook page or telling others about it and then sending them their link.
  4. Become a Virtual Assistant
    You CAN work from home or a café in Paris without having to sell anything!
    Note: I’ve heard fantastic things about the training program called 90-DAY VA.  In 90 days, these ladies will teach you everything you need to know. They train you so you can do your virtual assistant work from anywhere in 90 days or less. You’ll learn the TOP SKILLS being hired for virtually, RIGHT NOW so you can get working right away. My favorite part is that they find jobs for their VA’s.   I’ve personally used the “hiring” side of 90-DAY VA to find Virtual Assistant’s that can do work for my company.    It’s a two-sided company… they train VA’s, but they also match people with VA’s (so they train you & then help you to find a job) 
  5. Find a website, like Fiverr.com, that lets people pay you to do odd jobs from home, like editing a book, designing a book cover, etc…
  6. Be a fitness coach! If you are passionate about your health and you want to share it with others, you can sign up to be a Beachbody coach and help others get in shape, too!  It is SO easy to join, and once you are registered as a coach, you can grab links to share BeachBody with others.  It’s a great way to help people transform their lives by taking care of themselves.  My friend makes $22,000 a month (I’m not exaggerating!) as a Beachbody coach.   
  7. Data Entry– There truly are legitimate data entry companies out there that will pay you to work from home but this is also one of the most common work from home scams you will see online. Do not pay for ANY data entry job. Data entry usually involves entering data from either a paper or computer image and usually requires you to pass a speed and accuracy test before being hired.  Most data entry work from home jobs pay per piece instead of by the hour. This means that the faster you are at data entry, the more you will earn per hour.
  8. Transcription– Many people confuse transcription and data entry jobs. The main difference is that when you work as a transcriber you are usually listening to an audio recording and transcribing it by entering it into the computer. There are several different types of transcription jobs. Some general transcription companies may hire anyone that can type quickly and accurately while medical and legal transcription companies will require more training and usually some experience.
  9. Virtual Assistants– Working as a virtual assistant can either be a home-based business where you market yourself online and are responsible for getting your own clients or you can also choose to work as a virtual assistant for one of the many online companies such as Zirtual. Virtual assistants do a wide variety of work kind of similar to an administrative assistant.  Some tasks that might be common for a virtual assistant would be online research, managing email, social media tasks, making phone calls, and file management.
  10. Online Tutors– Anyone with a background in education can qualify for working as an online tutor but many of the online companies also hire college students, industry professionals or anyone who is passionate or knowledgeable about a subject. Some companies such as Limu even hire tutors for different hobbies. Online tutoring companies may hire you as an employee but more commonly bring you on as an independent contractor allowing you to make your own hours. Pay can range from $9 an hour for those with less experience to $30 an hour for professors. Check with each company to find more information and qualifications.  You can even tutor in the evenings or on weekends (not online).   Just put the word out there!
  11. Virtual teachers– Those with a teaching degree in need of a work from home job will find that virtual teaching jobs are a good fit for your experience and passion. There is a wide variety of companies that hire online teachers for college-level classes but a lot of people do not know that there are virtual teaching companies out there that hire all the way down to the elementary level. The public school at home companies are growing in popularity offering a compromise between homeschooling and public school. These companies hire online teachers for all levels and subjects.
  12. Freelance Writing–  You can write for so many companies.  Even bloggers love freelance writers.  I often hire writers (or anyone) when they present me with a great story or idea that I know that my readers will love!   If it is something that makes life easier or encourages someone, I’m all in!
  13. Search Engine Evaluators– This is one type of work from home job many people have not heard of. Search engine evaluators work for third-party companies hired by the big search engines to evaluate search engine results and help them provide the most accurate listings for search terms. Companies that hire frequently for these positions include Leapforce, Lionbridge, and Appen.
  14. Telemarketing– While this might not be the most popular work from home job, some people really excel at sales and would be a perfect fit for these telecommuting positions.  Similar to virtual call center jobs, these positions require phone work but may include both incoming and outgoing phone calls. Positions usually offer a base hourly wage with bonuses for sales.
  15. Standardized Test Scorers– All across the country every year students are required to take standardized tests. The majority of the sections of these tests are graded electronically but many of them also have a written or essay portion that must be graded by hand. Companies like Pearson hire scorers to work from home grading these portions of the test. A teaching degree is required for some but many of them require a bachelor’s degree of any kind.
  16. Make things & sell them on Etsy.
  17. Take pictures for friends.   Now, I would not call yourself a “professional photographer” but I have a friend that took pictures for us for our Christmas card and they were beautiful.  She used my camera (I love our camera), but I simply paid her for her time.  It was amazing and the pictures were beautiful.
  18. Another example is Ebates: This is simply a cash-back website.  What that means is that before you make an online purchase, you will go to Ebates and you will click on their link to that same store.  Then you make a percentage back on your purchase.     So- if you are buying a $10 shirt at Kohls.com, you would go to Ebates instead, click on Kohls (on the Ebates website) and buy your $10 shirt.  Then, you would earn $1 back (or whatever it would be).  It will come to you in a check or to PayPal.   It is completely FREE to sign-up, plus if you refer someone, you make $5 if they make a purchase.   Double-win! ps- here is the chart of how much money you will earn if you sign up here because they are running a “BONUS SPECIAL” through March 31, 2015.  You make money on every signup.
  19.  Essential Oils is another one that I use and love.   I make a percentage of their purchase and $50 per sign up. Plus, everyone loves them!  Last month I made $1,600 on my essential oil sales.   You can even start a Facebook group for those interested in oils and sell only in that group.  It’s a great way to earn money while helping others.  It’s a win-win! 
  20. Sell your things!   Seriously- go through your house and get rid of 25% of your stuff.  Move it to the garage and then sell it!
  21. Clean!  Clean other people’s houses.  Another friend of mine does this for $25/hour.   She is very much a perfectionist, so I can only assume that she does a fantastic job!

    MORE POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

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    earn money from home - 15 waysYou can be a stay at home mom

This post was written with help of Alaina from Telecommuting Moms, a site dedicated to helping moms find legitimate work from home.

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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26 Comments

  1. While the whole concept of anyone being able to start a photography side business is a popular one right now over 70% don’t make it past their first year and are often in a worst financial state than what they started in due to realistic costs of starting something like this, even when it is just meant to be a little side business.

    1. Exactly…we have to remember that a lot of these things take skills and shouldn’t be shortcuts to make a quick buck. To be a tutor…remember, you are working with kids at all levels/ages…not anyone can do this. Photography…it’s an art…not just a good camera. I’m sometimes insulted when people claim to be professionals when all they’ve done is purchase a semi-pro camera..I’ve been taking using professional cameras since I was 7 – more than 30 years, taken courses, received payments for shoots and I still wouldn’t pass as a professional photographer. Anyway..nice suggestions…but take courses, get feedback from your peers, do a lot of research and then do what’s best for you.

  2. Do you have info on legitimate virtual tutor or online tutoring programs? I have been thinking about offering this service anyway but wasn’t sure how and was excited to see it’s already a thing…but was wondering if you have recommendations for good ones.

    1. Wyzant.com offers an excellent free advertising space… They have found me hundreds of hours of tutoring, make me look professional, and simply ask for a percentage of the amount I charge, which decreases as you tutor more. You can check out their site to see what other tutors offer in your area… And it’s not just limited to teaching academics… Sports trainers, music and other coaches can use the site as well.

  3. IDLIfe is a new company looking for people to sell their all natural products.

  4. If you decide to bake/cook from home, check into your state’s Cottage Food Laws. Most prohibit selling anything that needs to be kept heated or refrigerated, some require an inspection of your kitchen, and some don’t allow selling food prepared in your home kitchen at all.

  5. Don’t think transcription is really a viable option anymore. Voice recognition has taken over and lots of very qualified people have lost their job(s) over past few years. Sad to see the field gone and many of us making career changes.

  6. hi, all these are great advice. I love and interested in the first idea. I love to cook and would to know how to get into that from your friend. how she started and how she calculated her costs, to know how much to bill anyone who needs my services. thanks

  7. Hi, your list of things has prooced most c helpful; it opens up a “mindset” for seeking out financial opportunities that are actually in full view everyday.

    It’s amazing how, creativity and communication coupled with intention can make you a happier, positive and successful person.

    Thank you for your “out if the box thinking”.

    Jacqueline.

  8. How or who do you contact to be a standardized test scorer? Great idea. I did it with my mom when I was younger. Those pages have to be dealt with after the kiddos hand them in. The idea goes dead when there isn’t any other information to go with it.

    1. I have no idea- a friend shared it with me, but I’ll try to find out more.

  9. As for freelance writing, take it up a level by writing a book such as a children’s book or a non-fiction book on a subject you enjoy. Rather than go the traditional print route wherein you may receive a 10 percent royalty on sales, create an ePub that can be read with an iPad or Kindle. Going digital allows you to keep the vast majority of your sales revenue. By no means is this a quick income solution. For example, I am about 70,000 words into a home improvement magazine style ePub. With a low cost monthly subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud, I can use Indesign (software many newspapers and magazines use to design pages) that will output in proper format for say an iPad. Once created, each year can easily swap out photos and update text for a new edition just like major home improvement magazines do. Working part-time (retired so have some steady income) I’m spreading this project over 18 months. In the print world, I could never compete against the home improvement magazines; digital I control quality and can go in-depth to a degree a print magazine can’t.

    1. What a wonderful idea! Since having my two kiddos, I’ve often thought about writing a children’s book-I just never knew where to start. How is your magazine coming along?

  10. Oh and I need help I am confused about the blogging thing, and I don’t know how to start or get money from it and I don’t know how to start my own baking thing and I don’t want to accidentally make someone sick

  11. I found this article very well written and informative. I think, it is dream for everybody being his/her own boss but doing freelancing has some challenges with a lot of responsibilities. But with a right planning, freelancing could offers a lot of freedom and flexibility that a traditional job can’t.

  12. Great article. awesome. thanks. as you said I never heard of search engine evaluators, can you please write a post about it in detail. thanks.

  13. Becky,

    I LOVED these ideas. When I quit the 9-5 job, I did try a lot of these ways. They are all good.

    I am a freelance writer (and, a blogger now) and I earn a full-time income freelancing. It is amazing – gives me so much freedom and time for family. A few months back I started my blog which shares various work at home options for women.

    Online tutoring is great too. I have a heard a lot about VIPKID.

    Thank you for such an informational post.