How to Earn Money Online – 5 Tips for Work at Home Moms

If you have primary responsibility for your children, your work choices may feel very limited. If you have a partner you may be able to work unearthly hours cleaning or stocking shelves, but what if you want a job that will bring in decent money and give you some fulfillment to boot?

Fortunately, it’s possible to earn money online if you know what you’re doing. However, it’s an area that’s incredibly prone to fraud and exploitation, so tread with caution (and be aware of how to manage your online presence).

Below, we’ll look at five great ways to get the money rolling in, but first, let’s discuss some of the dangers associated with putting yourself out there.

Before We Begin: Be Sure to Avoid Scams

First things first: yes, there are sometimes real costs associated with starting a new business, such as paying for materials, franchises and permits, and possibly even marketing fees. However, you should never have to pay someone to sell or make their product for them, or pay huge ‘introductory’ or ‘tuition’ fees.

There’s a simple rule: if someone wants you to pay them purely to get involved with their business (unless they’re a franchise you can check out properly), it’s a scam. People often fall for it out of desperation – they think, If I pay the price I’ll get the information, materials, or money I need. You won’t.

Furthermore, if someone hires you, pays you too much, then asks for it back – beware! The money you return will be real enough, but the check they sent you may well bounce. This is a common trick that people have lost a lot of money to.

Also, be very careful about those you give your credit card or account details to – using Hiveage for invoicing, or getting paid through a proxy like PayPal, is a sensible route to take.

Finally, do your due diligence before you get involved with any franchise or similar setup. Check the company is real and sound, with no outstanding legal issues. Check out a business information database like Hoovers to see if they’re legit, and don’t part with any funds until you have a proper contract in place.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s look at how you can earn money online!

1. Become a Freelance Writer

The market for freelance writers is huge and varied, with a plethora of industries constantly requiring capable writers to create their content. While you may not have writing qualifications, there are plenty of sites out there that can help you gain experience, such as Guru, Upwork, and Freelancer.

You’ll also learn that papers, magazines, and blogs are often looking for writers with life (rather than technical) experience. Look for an outlet that fits with your existing hobbies, skills, or duties, and get in touch with the named contact. Nearly every website has contact details somewhere, though some seem more determined than others to hide them!

Let them know you’re interested, tell them a bit about yourself in a few short and relevant sentences, and ask if you could contribute. If they’re interested, you can go on to ask about fees. These likely won’t be high when you’re just starting out, but at least you’ll get that vital foot in the door.

To be in with a chance, you’ll need samples of your work to showcase your writing ability – so it helps if your spelling and grammar are good. Of course, you’ll also need a computer and a word processor such as the free Google Docs, and you could also do with a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat for those documents that come your way.

2. Sell Your Skills

Do you have transferable skills such as cooking, IT, or crafting? Nowadays, plenty of practical courses are done online – you just have to scope out what else is out there and find an unfilled niche. If you have valuable qualifications or a good degree, you could also teach academic courses from home over the internet.

One of the easiest ways to do this online is via video chat such as Skype. Using this, it’s easy to share a range of educational tools with learners – and millennials, in particular, are very comfortable with learning on mobile devices.

Finally, WizIQ is an interesting resource that can help you create a mobile learning experience using tools like its Virtual Classroom. Because you’re not restricted to your own country, you could potentially take on pupils from all over the world!

3. Become a Virtual Call Center Agent

Many big US-based companies, including American Express and Amazon, use what’s called ‘virtual agents’ to answer customer service calls, both full and part-time. For an idea of what else is out there, have a look at virtual agent job websites such as Working Solutions or Sykes.

For a job like this you’ll need to have excellent people skills, a computer with a high-speed internet connection, and a decent landline phone. You’ll also need to be able to work without distraction or background noise, so this may not be ideal if your kids are very young.

4. Sell Your Wares Online

Do you paint, knit, crochet, or make great cookies? There are hundreds of different pastimes that can be turned into money by selling your goods online.

You’ll have to do some careful costing – including materials, postage, and possibly product liability insurance, plus expenses such as electricity usage and your own time – to see if you can make it pay.

Online marketplaces such as Etsy, eBay, and Amazon’s Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) program are great ways of selling virtually anything online. With eBay and Etsy you post the items you’re selling, whereas Amazon FBA stores your goods and ships them out – though there are other options for manual storing and shipping. You also have to pay various fees including a sales referral fee, closing fee, and storage. Read through the terms and conditions on both websites carefully before committing.

Finally, if you’re using eBay or self-shipping through Amazon, you may want to restrict international sales if you don’t want to ship abroad. Make sure the process is set up the way you want it before you start!

5. Become a Transcriber

This involves listening to audio – which could be anything including interviews, lectures, or conference presentations – and writing out what’s been said, usually in your word processor of choice.

You can look for posts on sites including eTypist (for legal work), SpeakWrite, and ,a href=”https://www.rev.com/applicant/transcription/contactinfo” rel=”nofollow”>Rev</a>. eTypist requires a minimum of 60 words per minute typing speed and at least three years legal transcription experience. Rates for work will vary depending on your experience: SpeakWrite, for example, offers $0.005 to $0.006 per word, which averages around $300 per month.

Conclusion

There are a lot of potential jobs out there online for work at home moms – a post like this can only scratch the surface, but after reading it, you should be inspired to get out there and sell yourself!

Let’s recap our suggestions:

• Be careful not to fall for fraud.
• Consider writing articles or blog posts.
• If you have transferable skills, try teaching online.
• Look into virtual call center work.
• If you make goods, try selling them online.
• For those with good typing skills, try becoming a transcriber.</li>

Do you have any questions about finding online work? Let us know in the comments section below!