May 29, 2024
Editorial GuidelinesKari is a writer for SideHustles.com. She previously managed a website in the privacy and digital compliance industry and...
Editor's Choice
Virtual AssistanceEasiest
Taking SurveysHighest Paying
FreelancingWhether you’re a stay-at-home parent, a doting pet owner, an off-the-gridder, or just a homebody, there are tons of reasons to eschew a 9-to-5 office job in favor of working from your home.
Luckily, there are now more ways than ever to earn an income from the comforts of your abode; it’s just a matter of finding the right gig (or gigs) for you. Here are our top 18 ways to make money from home.
If you have a keen eye and a love of reading, becoming a proofreader is a great way to make money from home. A proofreader checks written materials for spelling, grammar, style, consistency, and formatting.
If you’re not sure whether you have the level of skill required for this line of work, take a proofreader test to see if you’re up for the job.
How to get started: To find proofreading work, create a profile on a freelance job board. Look into these sites:
What kind of materials you proof, how much work you take on, and your rates will be largely up to you.
You can enjoy quality time with furry friends and make some steady cash by being an at-home pet sitter or pet boarder.
Sitters take on pets for an allotment of time during the day, while boarders keep pets overnight, sometimes for days at a time.
If you’re willing to take your work outdoors, you can also become a dog walker. There are plenty of dog-walking apps that offer a range of opportunities for walkers, so you can set your parameters near your home if you want to keep it all in the neighborhood. Many dog-walking jobs also go hand in hand with sitting, since many people need someone to both feed and exercise their animals while they’re away from home (e.g., on vacation).
How to get started: To become a pet sitter, you can sign up for various services, including:
You can also go all in and open your own doggy daycare business.
Show off your academic excellence by tutoring online from your own home. You can tutor in any subject that you’re knowledgeable about, whether it’s US history, algebra, economics, or chemistry.
Even if you don’t have a specialized education, you can consider becoming an English language tutor if you’re a native speaker. While having certifications like a TEFL will come in handy and net you higher pay, they aren’t required by many online tutoring platforms.
How to get started: There’s a myriad of online tutoring platforms that you can join, including:
We all have opinions, but only some of us are making money off of sharing them. You can be one of those people and do it right from your couch.
There are dozens of websites and apps that will pay you take surveys online. You may be asked about just about anything under the sun, although many companies will be eager to collect your thoughts on their products, services, and advertisements.
How to get started: We’ve reviewed quite a few of the largest survey-taking apps, including Swagbucks, InboxDollars, and Survey Junkie. You can find links to their reviews below.
Speaking of sharing your opinion, if you have a knack for words and something to say, you can start your own blog and write about anything you’d like.
Once your blog has gained an audience, you can monetize it through ads and affiliate deals. Alternatively, you can grow your blog to the point that larger sites want to acquire you and offer you a generous buyout.
How to get started: Becoming a blogger from home is incredibly easy now, with multiple platforms available for you to host a blog on, like:
Flexing your creative muscles and working with your hands is hugely fulfilling. If you’re willing to part with your creations, you can make some serious cash selling homemade goods from your home. Possible goods to create and sell include:
How to get started: There are many ways you can sell crafts and homemade goods online, including traditional marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, or Facebook Marketplace. You can opt for a niche site for selling handmade goods, like Etsy or Handmade Artists.
The fee structure will vary between marketplaces; for example, Etsy will charge you $0.20 per listing and take a 6.5% commission off the total sale cost. 1
If crafting isn’t your forte but you’re interested in selling goods, try your hand at reselling used items. This is often referred to as “flipping” products.
The goal of reselling is to find hidden treasures at garage and estate sales, flea markets, thrift stores, or on sites like Craigslist, and then sell them for a higher price than you paid, something after fixing them up or refurbishing them.
Focus on reselling something you’re knowledgeable about so you can spot the diamonds in the rough and set fair prices for your goods. Popular items for resale include:
How much this line of work will require you to leave your house will depend on what items you plan to flip and where you’ll try to find them. Your actual sales can be done entirely online, and if you’re willing to source items from online platforms, you can pursue this side hustle without ever leaving the comfort of your home.
How to get started: You can sell on traditional marketplaces like eBay, or use niche-specific sites like thredUP (for reselling clothing) or Decluttr (for reselling electronics).
Being a virtual assistant—or a VA, as you’ll often see it referred to—is a diverse and lucrative career path. While it’s a great way to make money from home, the job requires a lot of communication, so if you’re looking for an at-home gig because you’re an introvert and value your solitude, keep looking.
Virtual assistants can be tasked with a range of projects, but are most commonly in charge of:
How to get started: There are plenty of virtual assistant agencies and freelance platforms you can work with, like Upwork, Time etc, and Prialto.
If you have a skill that there’s a market for, you can monetize it. Register on Upwork, Fiverr, or another freelance marketplace to showcase your talent and make some quick cash.
Can you compose jingles? Draft logos? Consult on landscaping design? Program mobile apps? All of these—and countless others—are sellable services. Just be aware that platforms like Upwork and Fiverr will take a cut out of your profits (10% in Upwork’s case, and 20% in Fiverr’s). 2
How to get started: Just register an account on one of the sites listed above, create a profile, and start looking for jobs.
If you have specialized knowledge and experience, share what you know by becoming a consultant. This is a popular career and a very in-demand service. People often need consultants for all aspects of business and even personal endeavors.
What field of consulting you go into will determine the bulk of your daily duties, but most consultants provide the following:
How to get started: Many consultants choose to start their own websites and pull from their industry contacts to get off the ground. You can also cultivate clients through a consulting marketplace like Catalant, Zintro, and MeasureMatch.
Turn your social media obsession into money by becoming a social media manager. While this can be a full-time, in-office career, social media aficionados can also make big bucks from home and even on a part-time or freelance basis.
Social media managers typically:
How to get started: Check sites like Upwork, FlexJobs, LinkedIn, and Indeed to find remote social media work that matches your skillset. You can also take a proactive approach by reaching out to small businesses and inquiring about their social media needs.
The US is in the midst of a childcare crisis. Over half of the country’s population live in childcare deserts. 4 Demand for childcare is massive, and the workforce supply can’t match families’ needs.
If you love kids and are qualified to keep an eye on them, consider becoming an in-home babysitter or childcare provider—a job that can include being a babysitter, nanny, or daycare operator.
How to get started: While opening a daycare service will require you to meet more intensive qualifications and business guidelines, becoming a babysitter from your home is relatively easy. You can find a job through UrbanSitter or Care without holding specific degrees or licenses, but you’ll need to pass a background check, and you should be CPR and first-aid certified.
Developers are constantly designing, launching, and revamping websites and mobile apps. The owners and operators need feedback from real-life users on how they interact with different versions of these sites or apps.
This creates a unique work-from-home opportunity. You can actually be paid to use websites and apps, then share your opinions about the experience.
How to get started: There are many sites that offer usability testing jobs. To name a few:
If you have a way with words, turn it into money. There are several ways to make money writing that offer good pay, a ton of flexibility, and an excuse to spend the whole day in your room.
One of the easiest areas to break into is freelance writing. Freelancers handle all types of writing work: copywriting, journalism, academic writing, web content creation, and more.
How to get started: To find freelance gigs, you can use many of the sites we’ve already mentioned—like LinkedIn, Indeed, Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer—or check out writing-specific platforms like WritersWork and Contently.
Alternatively, you can work on writing your own book from home. Between 500,000–1 million books are published every year, or close to 4 million when you factor in independent publishing. 5 If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming an author, now is a great time to give it a shot.
It might not be the jazziest job on this list, but working as a data entry clerk pays the bills, allows you control over your schedule, and can be done entirely from home.
Data entry clerks are responsible for transferring information from one format to another. This could mean typing organizing information in a database, transferring files into a software program, or even manually scanning documents into files.
How to get started: You can look for data entry jobs on any job-listing site. Niche platforms you can try include People Caddie, ManPower, and Randstad.
Becoming a transcriptionist is a great way to make money from home—as long as you have the typing chops for it. If you can knock out an impressive words per minute, you can make decent money transcribing audio and video to documents.
How to get started: Places to look for freelance transcription work include:
If you’re all about keeping fit and want to spread your knowledge to others, consider becoming a certified trainer. Most people think fitness coaching is an in-person-only career, but online fitness training is rapidly gaining popularity.
How to get started: To become a fitness trainer, you’ll need to undergo a certification process through a program like the Online Trainer Academy.
Once you’re qualified, you can sell your services through sites like TrueCoach and Everfit. Many personal trainers also start their own websites and curate a list of clients that they can train from home.
Are you organized, friendly, and a lover of travel? Work as a virtual travel agent to exercise your customer service skills (and get inspired for your next dream vacation).
Virtual travel agents work entirely online, often on part-time contracts. You’ll help future vacationers make plans, bookings, and itineraries for their travels, organizing minutiae like travel tickets, hotel bookings, and restaurant reservations.
How to get started: There are over a dozen travel agencies hiring independent travel advisers and assistants who can do their jobs from home. Look into:
This list features the best side hustles you can do from home, but it’s by no means exhaustive. You can explore even more gigs below, many of which are also remote-friendly and can be done from your home office (or your bed or your favorite couch).
June 15, 2023
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