According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the proportion of U.S. workers who worked from home at least some of the time was about 25% in 2017 and 2018. In other words, roughly one in four employed Americans works out of a home office.

There’s more. Well over half enjoyed flexible scheduling that allowed them to stop and start work at their discretion. As competition for millennial talent heats up and advancing innovation enables remote work in an ever-widening collection of white-collar (nonproduction) jobs, employers are offering ever more flexible work arrangements that allow many employees to perform their duties from just about anywhere.

Whether your goal is to build a sustainable passive income stream or simply earn a few extra bucks to complement your part- or full-time income, all you need to work from home is a computer, a quiet space, a strong work ethic, and a willingness to follow these straightforward guidelines for working from home more efficiently.

• What are the Best Ways to Earn from Home?
• Which is the Fastest way to Earn Money?
• How can I get Paid to Write?
• How much do I Need to Invest to make $500 a Month?

What are the Best Ways to Earn from Home?

1. Blogging

Blogs aren’t just venues for bored people to share their thoughts about anything and everything. They can also be a legitimate source of income.

Read Also: Blueprints and Roadmaps you can Learn to Earn from the Comfort of your Home

Your blogging journey begins with an idea. This is an early make-or-break decision for your blog – if it’s not entirely unique, your idea must at least be sharper and more compelling than your competitors’.

You should know your blog’s subject matter cold – ideally from personal experience or formal training – and have no trouble writing fluently about it. Over time, you’ll tighten up your writing process and produce great content in less time, probably with help from these speed blogging tips.

Next come the nuts and bolts: choosing and buying a Web domain, hosting and designing your site, and planning content. While this is a lot of work to put in before publishing your first post, resist the temptation to cut corners. You’re laying the foundation, hopefully, for a long-term endeavor. Once you’ve created a quality site and built a following, there are plenty of ways to make money from your blog.

2. Online Surveys & Focus Groups

Your opinions are more valuable than you might think. Countless companies pay handsome sums to learn more about their target audiences’ motivations and preferences.

Online Surveys

You can take online surveys in the comfort of your home whenever you please – during working hours, over lunch or dinner, when you have a free moment in the evening, or in the sleepless wee hours.

Time Investment

Though your answers must be honest and make sense, you don’t need to devote your full attention to online surveys – music to multitaskers’ ears. And you can invest as much or as little time as you like. Individual surveys can take anywhere from a couple of minutes to 20 or 30 minutes to complete, and you can do as many or as few as you want in one sitting.

Earning Potential

Online surveys won’t make you rich. If you sign up with multiple survey companies and diligently complete your allotted tasks, you can earn a bit more than minimum wage – perhaps $10 an hour. But that’s nothing to sneeze at, particularly if you’re able to accomplish other tasks while you’re logged into your survey accounts.

Reputable Online Survey Options

The online survey landscape is pretty crowded. These are among the most reputable and potentially lucrative opportunities for U.S.-based consumers:

• Survey Junkie. Survey Junkie is a popular online survey site with lots of survey-taking opportunities. You’ll earn points for each successfully completed survey and can cash out your account balance once it reaches 1,000 points ($10).
• American Consumer Opinion. American Consumer Opinion sends users one screening survey per month and roughly one full-length survey per quarter. Screening surveys pay less than full-length surveys – no more than $0.50 apiece. Full-length surveys can pay up to $50 apiece.
• Opinion Outpost. Compared with American Consumer Opinion, there are generally more opportunities on Opinion Outpost. However, the overall earning rate is lower.
• Swagbucks. Swagbucks offers multiple opportunities to earn extra income online, including paid surveys. Narrowly targeted, time-intensive surveys can pay pretty well, but some of the more basic opportunities – which take only a minute or two to complete – pay next to nothing.

Other opportunities abound, but be sure to do your due diligence before signing up. Be wary of companies that require you to pay to join their panels.

Online Focus Groups

Online focus groups are closely related to online surveys, and in some cases, the same companies administer them. Like in-person focus groups, online focus groups require more time and concentration than online surveys.

Configurations vary, but you generally have to join a panel and engage on a certain number of issues per week or month. Online focus groups are often more selective than online surveys – if you don’t meet specific demographic or income criteria, you may not qualify.

The upshot: The pay is much better, as are the opportunities for prizes and free stuff. With effort, you can earn $500 and possibly more per month in cash or in-kind awards.

3. Virtual Tutoring

Virtual tutoring is a more personal way to earn money by sharing your subject matter expertise. Unlike online courses, which are available to dozens or even hundreds of paying customers at a time, tutoring sessions are usually one-on-one affairs. However, you can have as many students as your schedule allows.

As with online teaching, to maximize your chances of success as an online tutor, stick to subjects you know well. Use a reputable and high-visibility venue, structure your sessions sensibly, price your services in line with the market, follow scheduling best practices, and promote yourself enthusiastically (or choose a platform that does so on your behalf).

The best places to find online tutoring jobs are platforms that focus specifically on tutoring, such as Education First, VIPKid, and Chegg. Both pay set hourly or per-session rates based on tutors’ chosen subjects – for instance, computer science tutors generally earn more than English tutors. Chegg starts tutors at $20 per hour and claims prolific tutors can earn upward of $1,000 per month.

Before you sign up, make sure your computer meets your chosen platform’s system requirements – you’ll need a reasonably fast processor and real-time video-chatting capabilities. In most cases, you’ll also need to earn a TEFL certification which can be done through Premier TEFL.

4. Downsize & Declutter

Before you roll up your sleeves and monetize your personal or professional skills, why not earn some money by cleaning up your space? Selling your unwanted stuff is a great way to downsize and declutter your life while earning some income on the side. If you’re transitioning to full-time work-at-home status, that income could help you create a proper home office or allow you to maintain your lifestyle during lean times.

When it comes to at-home income, selling your unwanted stuff is the definition of low-hanging fruit. Even if you’re intentional in your purchasing habits, you likely have possessions you can do without. Examples include old kids’ clothing and toys, sporting goods you no longer use, out-of-fashion wardrobe accessories, electronics, valuable but nonsentimental keepsakes such as watches and jewelry, old furniture, dusty tools and outdoor equipment, and perhaps even big-ticket items like a motorcycle or second car.

There are several ways you can sell your unwanted stuff.

Digital Options

Depending on the amount of effort you’re willing to give and your preferred sales model, these digital sales platforms are worth considering:

• EBay. EBay is one of the most popular websites in the world. That means it’s an excellent way to attract lots of eyeballs to your unwanted items, fast. Initially designed as an auction site for DIY sellers, it’s now primarily a venue for fixed-price – and often heavily discounted – sales by professional merchants. As long as you include high-quality photographs and thorough descriptions in your product listings, you can likely break through the noise. EBay’s fee schedule is complex, but as a general rule, expect to lose 10% of your final selling price to the site’s commission.
• Amazon. Many people don’t realize that Amazon is a haven for third-party sellers cleaning out their attics and garages. If you plan to sell more than 40 items per month on Amazon, consider registering as a professional seller. You’ll need to pay a roughly $40 monthly subscription fee, a referral fee that usually ranges from 6% to 20%, and a per-item closing cost for media items. You won’t pay the per-item selling fee, however. Alternatively, you can register as an individual seller. The fee schedule is the same as for professionals, except you do have to pay the selling fee and don’t have to pay the subscription fee.
• Craigslist. Craigslist is the scrappiest of the major online resale options. Its major perk is its enticing profit potential, thanks to the total lack of listing and selling fees for most items. The disadvantages are many and include potential safety risks and higher chances of nonpayment. If you do choose Craigslist, keep your wits about you and use the buddy system.
• Trade-In (Resale) Marketplaces. There are plenty of other places to sell your stuff online, especially if it’s electronic. Popular and reputable online resale marketplaces include SellCell, Gazelle, and MaxBack. Major retailers such as Best Buy have extensive trade-in programs as well, as do national carriers such as Verizon and AT&T. Decluttr, a hybrid option, cuts out the middleman and claims to deliver better value for unwanted tech items.

Hold a Yard or Garage Sale

Prefer to do things the old-fashioned way? Sell whatever you can’t or don’t want to offload online at a garage sale instead.

Follow these tips for a successful garage sale:

• Set a Popular Time and Date. Most garage sales happen on weekends, and for good reason – that’s when most people are out and about. To maximize your exposure, consider a three-day event over a long weekend. If you live in a cold climate, wait until the weather warms.
• Make Sure You’re Legal. Before setting up your sale, make sure it’s legal to do so in your community. There’s a good chance you’ll need a permit, but getting one is usually a formality and rarely requires a substantial financial investment.
• Advertise Locally. Advertise your garage sale in appropriate local venues: your city’s Craigslist page, community social media sites such as Nextdoor, your local newspaper (online and in print), and any relevant local publications, such as neighborhood print newspapers or magazines.
• Put Up Signs. Don’t assume every prospective buyer will find their way to your place using a navigation app. Put up signs directing people to your address in visible locations around your neighborhood, ideally on main roads leading to your street and multiple street corners in your home’s immediate vicinity.
• Research Costs and Set Fair Starting Prices. Before setting prices for each item, research your local Craigslist website and nearby yard sales to get a sense of how to price them. Remember that many buyers will try to haggle, so set prices a bit higher than your bottom dollar but not so high you’ll scare off first bids. Roughly 10% to 15% higher is a good rule of thumb. Consider bunching low-value items, such as old CDs, into lots of five or 10.
• Accommodate Multiple Forms of Payment. Many deal-seekers carry cash, but you want to accommodate every potential buyer. So in the days leading up to the event, consider purchasing a point-of-sale system that can accept credit cards. Square is a popular and relatively cost-effective option. It doesn’t cost anything upfront and bundles credit card processing fees into one relatively low fee: 2.6% plus $0.10 per transaction, for a net of $97.30 for every $100 charged. It’s a small price to pay to capture the ever-growing cashless consumer demographic. On the day before the sale, visit the bank and grab $100 in small bills and coin rolls to ensure you’ll have enough change for buyers who do prefer cash.

5. Freelance Writing

Countless Americans, from high school and college students to retirees, earn extra income from freelance writing. If you have a way with words, writing blog articles and Web copy is an easy and fun way to pad your full-time income.

If you aspire to become a freelance writer, follow these steps:

1. Create a Home Office Space. First things first: You need a professional setup that helps, not hinders, your prospecting activities and writing work. If you don’t already have one, set up a home office – anything from a spare bedroom to a corner of your living room – with a comfortable chair, spacious desk, ample lighting, and physical storage space for papers. Buy a reliable laptop with a reputable word processing suite, like Microsoft Word, and video chat capabilities via Skype or a cloud-based phone system. Strongly consider investing in a printer. Upgrade to the fastest consumer Internet package your Internet service provider offers. Purchase a lightweight cloud accounting program such as Quickbooks or sign up for a free version. You’ll need it once you have more than a few clients. Note that many business-related expenses qualify for tax deductions.
2. Start With Freelance Copywriting Platforms. You can find work on dozens of reputable websites, from general-purpose freelance platforms like Upwork to writing-only portals such as Textbroker. These gigs don’t pay handsomely – starting writers earn little more than $0.01 per word on Textbroker, for instance. And the writing is often monotonous: lots of product descriptions, ad copy, press releases, and throwaway blog posts. But they’re great for getting your foot in the door, learning what editors expect from freelance writers, and becoming a better writer overall.
3. Build a Portfolio. Unless you’re very lucky or a credentialed expert in a sought-after niche, such as law or accounting, your first freelance writing gigs probably won’t come with a byline. But that doesn’t mean you can’t add your early work to your writing portfolio with permission from your clients. The more pieces you produce, the more variety you’ll have to show clients down the line. As your portfolio grows, use a professional website or content marketing platform like Contently to present it publicly.
4. Become a Query Machine. Once you’ve gained confidence on freelance copywriting platforms and built a modest portfolio, look for companies that actively advertise for writers – both traditional publications and companies with obvious content needs, such as PR firms. Do some research on crafting and personalizing query letters, which is an art form in itself. Then, start sending out queries to blogs, magazines, dailies, and other content-hungry organizations that fit your writing style and knowledge base. If you’re looking for byline work, each query should include a clear pitch for a single article or article series. For behind-the-scenes gigs, such as ghostwriting ad copy or press releases, condense and communicate your value proposition. Don’t sweat nonresponses. This is a numbers game, and more queries than not will be ignored.
5. Be Consistent and Professional. Even if you’re just trying to earn a few extra bucks per week, approach your freelance writing gigs with the same consistency and professionalism you’d apply to a career-track position. Clients respect diligent, reliable writers who do what they say they’ll do, when they say they’ll do it, and regularly produce work that exceeds expectations. If you keep up your end of the bargain, clients should reward you with more work. As you get busier, you can safely leave the ones that don’t appreciate your efforts in the dust.
6. Know What to Charge (and When to Charge More). Setting freelance writing rates is notoriously challenging. The value of your work depends on many factors, including your writing style and quality, your niche, your subject matter strengths and professional credentials, your research skills, your production speed, and your ability to work on deadline. As a rule of thumb, licensed professionals (such as lawyers, CPAs, and physicians) can charge more than nonexperts with above-average writing skills. But don’t assume your earning potential is static. As you gain skill and familiarity within your niche or with individual clients’ needs and your professional visibility improves, you’ll become more valuable to current and future clients.
7. Protect Yourself With Enforceable Contracts. You don’t have to be a lawyer to draft an enforceable freelance contract. You just need to find a legitimate freelance contract template and modify it for your use. It’s fine to use a client-provided contract as long as you review it thoroughly, ask piercing questions if necessary, and seek an attorney’s advice when in doubt.

6. Freelance Editing and Proofreading

Freelance editing and proofreading naturally follow from freelance writing. While not every writer is a born editor or proofreader, the skills often go hand in hand.

Freelance Editing

Once you’ve worked with a few different editors, you’ll likely get a sense of the skills and duties required for the job. Then, it’s just a matter of finding the right editing gigs.

As a new editor, start small. Look for part-time or project-based copy editing jobs. If possible, leverage existing freelance writing arrangements. For instance, if you know one of your freelance clients uses contract editors to clean up writers’ work, approach them about taking on those responsibilities directly.

Once you’ve outgrown your existing client base, look to online job boards such as Upwork, as well as media-specific platforms such as Mediabistro. Common types of online editing jobs include:

• Copy Editor. Copy editors ensure written copy is polished before their bosses hit “publish” and often serve as the main point of contact with contributing writers. Though it’s not exceptionally well-paid, copy editing is often a springboard to more lucrative editing or production opportunities.
• Assistant Editor. Assistant editors supervise copy editors, photo editors, writers, and other support staff involved in producing digital publications. Larger blogs and online-print hybrids generally have at least one assistant editor on staff. These gigs can be part- or full-time. They’re typically intermediate between copy editing and managing editing jobs.
• Managing Editor. Managing editors supervise and direct editorial teams, including lower-level editors. These jobs are harder to come by and require more of your time, but temporary arrangements look great on your resume. If you lack much formal editing experience, start with smaller blogs and niche publications with modest budgets and limited content needs. Some publications don’t have enough work for a full-time editor, making it feasible to string together a handful of part-time editing gigs or try out a single position to see how it suits you.
• Photo Editor/Web Editor. Photo and Web editors create or edit visuals that appear on websites and other digital media, such as white papers and corporate reports. This line of work is a great way to exercise your visual skills and become more familiar with layout and editing programs such as Quark, WordPress, and Photoshop. These gigs often require basic to intermediate coding skills, so they’re great for freelancers who want to expand their expertise beyond the written word.
• Manuscript Editor. Looking for a longer-term engagement? The self-publishing boom has created an unprecedented demand for manuscript editors – specialists who help writers organize and sharpen book-length works before publication. Depending on your clients’ budgets, manuscript editing can be lucrative, though it’ll likely take time to build your reputation to the point that you’re working with accomplished writers. Entry-level opportunities abound on reputable freelance platforms and with niche publishing houses.

The prerequisites and best practices that make freelance editors successful are broadly similar to those freelance writers need. A suitable home office is important, as is aggressive networking, a strong work ethic, a clear understanding of your value, and a hunger for self-improvement.

Freelance Proofreading

Freelance proofreaders draw on the same skills and competencies as freelance writers and editors, but their career paths are distinct. The best way for someone new to the freelance proofreading game to get started (even with prior writing or editing experience) is to invest in a proofreading course to establish credibility with potential employers. Proofread Anywhere is a great example. With free introductory modules, there’s no obligation if you decide the gig isn’t for you.

Though the niche is surprisingly varied, proofreading jobs generally fall into two broad categories: general proofreading and technical proofreading. The former covers non-technical, relatively unspecialized media like blogs and books. The latter covers transcripts and other technical materials; court reporters, for instance, are seasoned technical proofreaders.

Which you choose depends on your innate strengths as a proofreader and what you’re hoping to get out of the job. Technical proofreading is harder to break into but typically pays better; general proofreading is more competitive but easier to launch.

7. Pet Sitting

Fun and rewarding as it can be, pet sitting is a business like any other. Successful pet sitters – those operating legit doggy day cares out of their homes – invest in local marketing, commercial insurance, formal accounting, organized recordkeeping, and perhaps even legal services (to manage contracts and reduce liability).

You can juggle all these obligations yourself, or you can outsource much of the heavy lifting to a pet sitting platform like Rover. Think of Rover as the Airbnb of pet sitting – a scalable platform that handles a lot of the behind-the-scenes work of running a profitable home-based enterprise without micromanaging your work. Rover claims its pet sitters earn up to $1,000 per month, though actual earnings vary by client volume and the amount of time you put into the business.

8. Remote Accounting

If you prefer clients who won’t shed all over your house and you have an affinity for spreadsheets, a virtual bookkeeping business could be just what you need to earn a stable income without leaving the house.

Because bookkeeping is a competitive industry that rewards skilled professionals with solid reputations, the surest way to break into the business is to invest in a credentialing course. For instance, Bookkeepers offers three different tracks (“communities”) for bookkeepers at various stages of learning the trade and building their businesses. Learn the ropes with Bookkeeper Launch, then progress to Bookkeeper Lab and Bookkeeper Elite – if you have what it takes.

9. Retail Arbitrage

“Buy low, sell high” is an expression more commonly heard in the noisy bullpen of an investment bank or brokerage house than the relative quiet of one’s home office. But there’s one type of arbitrage – the art of selling assets for more than you paid without adding value – that’s perfect for at-home workers.

That would be retail arbitrage, one of the top careers for self-employed introverts. Practitioners of retail arbitrage buy products for pennies on the dollar at auctions, from online retailers, even at garage and yard sales, and then sell them online at sometimes-substantial markups. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is the most popular platform for U.S. sellers, but other options work too.

10. E-books & Audiobooks

Even the most diligent freelance writers get bored and disillusioned after a while. If you’re tired of writing Web content or blog posts on a contract basis, or you simply want to expand your horizons, consider tackling long-form projects that exercise your creative muscles and carry substantial passive income potential.

You can make money with audiobooks in a couple of different ways:

• Recording Your Work. If you’ve already written a book, you can leverage an entirely new revenue stream by turning it into an audiobook. It doesn’t have to be your voice on the recording. In fact, unless you have voice acting or radio experience, it’s better to hire a trained voice actor. Reputable platforms like ACX typically have low production costs and innovative royalty-sharing arrangements that maximize rights-holders’ (writers’) income potential.
• Recording Others’ Work. If you’re a trained voice actor or narrator, or you think you have what it takes to break into the niche, you can use ACX and other outlets to find audiobook recording jobs. You’ll need to audition for each role, but once you land a gig, you’ll earn money two ways: at an agreed per-hour rate for the actual job and a shared royalty arrangement with the rights-holder and others involved in the production. If you’re a union actor (SAG-AFTRA), you’re required to charge a minimum fee (variable, but above $200) per finished hour (roughly two studio hours). On a 10-hour audiobook, that’s a minimum payday of $2,000 before royalties.

Though seeing and hearing your name in print is a worthy accomplishment in and of itself, selling audiobooks probably won’t make you rich. In most cases, your royalty-sharing arrangement will amount to just a few dollars per download.

A lot depends on the extent to which you promote your audiobook and how visible it is on platforms such as Audible and iTunes. If you’re lucky, a successful audiobook can generate a five-figure annual income stream. More obscure titles might earn just a few hundred bucks per year.

Which is the Fastest way to Earn Money?

These ideas fall into three main categories: doing tasks, selling items, or claiming “found money.” The categories can overlap sometimes. Here are the best ways to make money fast in 2020:

1. Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is my favorite way to make money online in my spare time. You could earn up to $45 for a 20-minute survey. But most assignments on this survey site pay between 50 cents and a couple of bucks per survey.

Survey Junkie’s platform tells you how long each survey would take before you get started. So you can decide whether the survey is worth your time. Your earnings will depend on how much time you’re willing to give!

2. Vindale Research

Unlike many other paid survey websites, Vindale Research shows your compensation in cash (instead of points), making it easy to see exactly what you’re earning. You can expect anywhere between 25 cents and $50 for paid surveys, depending on the time requirement, topic, and demographic criteria of the survey.

And surveys aren’t the only earning opportunities with Vindale either. This platform has more task variety.

3. Deliver for Postmates or DoorDash

If you live in a city, you’ve probably noticed people spending less time in stores. The delivery industry is on the rise, so take advantage and get paid! Use your spare time (or even your lunch break) to side hustle for extra cash.

Can you really earn that much? YES. By delivering for Postmates. Seriously – you could make $500 this week by completing 50 deliveries. Food delivery is on the rise, too. DoorDash, GrubHub, and many other apps have really taken off.

There are 3 easy steps: drive to a restaurant, pick up the food, deliver to the customer…get paid. It’s that easy! You’re limited only by time if you live in a well-populated area.

4. Teach an Online Course

You can make money teaching anything as long as you know a little more than someone else. Are you good at guitar? Pick up some extra cash by helping others master their passion for music. Are you artsy? Teach someone how to design, craft, or master lettering. Are you into fitness? Teach someone how to get fit.

In 2020, it’s never been easier to teach something in person or – even better – online. Why is online better? Because you can use a platform like Teachable to develop an engaging, interactive course, and then earn easy, passive income thereafter.

Say it again for the people in the back! Put in the up-front effort to build a meaningful course based on your unique skills and experiences, and then collect checks for months (or years!). The ROI on your time could mean you’ll never Google “how to make money fast” again.

5. Fiverr

On Fiverr, you can connect with people who need your freelance skills. No matter what your side gig happens to be — from data entry pro to voice-over artist — Fiverr offers a transparent platform to connect with the market.

Freelancing lets you make your own schedule, but it may take longer than a couple of days to develop a steady client base.

6. Babysitting on Care.com

This tried-and-true money-maker isn’t just for teenagers anymore. Sites like care.com help you connect with people who need professional child care or even pet sitting services. You’ll need to start an account and prove your credentials. If you can connect with a few clients, you could have yourself a part-time job.

7. Sell Jewelry You Don’t Want

Have jewelry from a previous marriage, an old high school class ring, or other items that you no longer wear? Sell it on Worthy.com, a jewelry auction site.

Anyone can sell jewelry online, including diamond rings, gold, platinum and gemstone earrings, bracelets, necklaces, watches, and other valuable jewelry. They’ll even provide you with a GIA certified appraisal completely free.

Have gold or silver items that you no longer want? At over $1,600 an oz for pure gold, you could be looking at some serious cash! Sell at sites like: CashforGoldUSA, they’ll even throw in a $50 first-time bonus!

8. Sell Your Crafts on Etsy

Do you have a passion or hobby for making things? Are you crafty? It is so easy to sell things online in 2020 and make an extra $500. Why? There are platforms such as Etsy, which make it easy to connect your product with potential buyers.

Are you into quilting? Do you make jewelry? Do you like making surfboards? Sell your goods online by opening your own Esty shop!

9. Start Selling on Amazon

A lot of small businesses sell items through Amazon. What an amazing way to connect to buyers around the world. Individuals can also become online sellers. Your books, CDs, clothes, collectibles, dishes, appliance parts — you name it — could find a new home through Amazon.

People with a strong sense of entrepreneurial spirit like to buy items at a low price and then sell at a higher price. This takes some commitment, but you can generate a decent side income.

10. Freelancing on Upwork or Mechanical Turk

Whether you’re a virtual assistant, a freelance writer, or a graphic design pro you can find freelancing work on Upwork or Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform.

You’ll need an internet connection and some free time. Unfortunately, these jobs don’t always pay much, but you can choose only the jobs you want. Mechanical Turk often pays with Amazon gift cards.

How can I get Paid to Write?

Freelance magazine journalism

Ever read a magazine article on a topic close to your heart and thought ‘I know more than that writer?’ You don’t need to be a professional journalist to contribute freelance articles to publications. You can turn your specialism/hobby/all-consuming interest into a money-spinner by writing pieces for magazines. Niche titles are often happy to commission experts to write clear, knowledgeable features on specialist subjects. 

Write content for blogs and websites

Everyone has an online presence and there’s money to be made in writing content. People Per Hour and Fiverr are two of the best-known sites where you can post a freelancer profile offering your services as a content writer. Be specific about the skills you have to offer, aware of the going rates for the kind of work you’re looking for and be realistic that it’s a highly competitive marketplace.

Enter writing competitions and win

You only have to check this website every week to see that the writing world is full of competitions with generous cash prizes. The yearly Writing Magazine competition guides feature half a million pounds in writing prizes. Someone has to win them and why shouldn’t it be you? 

You have to be in it to win it, though, so polish your best work, regard the entry fees as an investment, not just in the chance that you’ll win but in becoming a better, more fluent writer, and get your entries in. You can’t lose, either – if you enter all Writing Magazine’s short story competitions in a year, for instance, you will have accomplished 24 new short stories in 12 months – a fantastic achievement (and enough for an anthology, which you could self publish).

Write online articles

What Culture pays £30 for a published list. Cracked.com pays for humour articles. WOW! Women on Writing pays for pieces relating to writing and publishing. That’s just three. Whether it’s Vice, TechRadar or Buzzfeed, check out the guidelines on your chosen website – and bear in mind that although not all the top-tier sites are paying markets, getting your content there will do wonders for your profile and hopefully sales if, for instance, you’ve got a book out that relates to the content you’ve written.

Bear in mind too that magazine brands require a constant stream of content for their website and although online budgets are generally lower than print budgets, there may be a fee, particularly if your piece isn’t part of the promotional activity for a product of your own.

Self-publish your book

As an indie author, you can self-publish your book on Amazon and if you’re commercially minded and marketing-savvy, there’s a good chance of generating income from book sales. Successful self-published authors are usually prolific, write within commercial genres and are at home using social media to market their books.

Earn cash for fillers and snippets

Some publications, especially chatty leisure titles such as Take a Break, Readers’ Digest and That’s Life but also the Guardian’s Family section, encourage reader contributions and pay small sums or offer prizes for letters and fillers: top tips, recipes, jokes, true-life tales and other snippets. Other publications may not offer cash, but have excellent prizes for star letters

Write a bestseller

OK, we admit this one isn’t guaranteed to work. And we’re well aware that there’s no formula for success, or we’d be following it ourselves. But why leave it to all those other authors? Why shouldn’t you, at least, have a go at writing a book that strikes a chord with a wide readership?

Write the best book you can, get it out there, and see what happens. You might be the next James Patterson or JK Rowling. Most likely you won’t be, but you will be a writer who has completed a book and got it out into the world. Just don’t spend all your royalties at once.

How much do I Need to Invest to make $500 a Month?

The actual amount of money you’ll need to invest to create a $500 per month dividend portfolio depends on the dividend yield of the stocks you buy. The dividend yield calculated by dividing the annual dividend paid per share by the current share price. Think of it as a return on investment number. For $X you invest, you receive Y% in dividends back.

Read Also: How to Make Money From Home in The US

For regular stocks, the usual recommendation is to look for stocks that have a dividend yield in the range of 2.5% to 3.5%. Granted that was the benchmark prior to the global craziness of 2020 so that number might flex slightly while the markets gyrate. And then it will be up to you if you’re ready to jump into a market while it’s moving a lot.

To keep the numbers relatively simple through this example, let’s use a 3% dividend yield. Since most stocks pay 4 times per year, you’ll need to invest in at least 3 quarterly stocks where each stock pays $2,000 in dividends per year so you’ll receive $500 per payment.

Dividing $2,000 by 3% results in a stock value of approximately $66,667. Your total portfolio would be valued at around $200,000 in this example. Ultimately not a small amount of money, depending on where you’re starting.

Finally

There are tons of work from home jobs that already exist. And, in today’s world, there are more and more jobs online, and this trend is expected to continue well into the future. Some work from home jobs involve you working for someone else, or you may be able to even start your own business like we have seen in this article.

And, yes, you may even be able to earn a full-time income from home. So, if you are looking to start making more money or if you want a new career path that lets you earn money from home, this article is especially for you.