Work from home jobs are on the rise and social distancing is only accelerating this trend. If one thing can be said about the benefits of the Internet, it is that it can offer countless opportunities you may not find out there in the physical world. This is especially true nowadays when jobs are being lost due to the pandemic. There are opportunities out there in the form of online jobs and remote work.
A fourth-quarter 2020 survey by Upwork, a job marketplace for remote workers and freelancers, estimates that nearly 57 percent of Americans are working from home at least some of the time, with 42 percent of that group working remotely full time.
Working from home offers a lot of benefits too.
- A typical employer saves around $11,000/year for every employee who works from home half the time.
- Additionally, employees save up to $4,000 per year working from home half the time. This number increases substantially when you factor in living in a less expensive area to work remotely full time.
Second, we live in a world of convenience, and more people are staying home these days.
All it takes is an Internet connection, and you can order food, stream Netflix, order products with Amazon’s two-hour delivery, and enjoy modern conveniences most couldn’t dream of a few decades ago.
Here are some of the most common work from home jobs you can easily do online.
- Digital Marketer
With more and more individuals starting their own brands online, they are no doubt in need of a digital marketing specialist. From setting up advertising campaigns, SEO analytics, and PR communications to generating social media strategies, email advertising, and mobile marketing, this job will need a wide variety of skills. Fortunately, there are countless tutorials, resources, and e-courses on digital marketing which you can take advantage of. If you have a blog, you can easily use that as a testing ground you can later put on your resume. Some tools you’ll come across and be expected to know about: Ahrefs, Google Analytics, Mailchimp, WordPress, Google My Business. As you can imagine, the demand for digital marketers is skyrocketing.
2. Help Desk And Desktop Support
Offices have closed, but the need for support hasn’t stopped. Whether it be help for software or for online purchases, there will always be a need for someone to ask for help.
For instance for office-related tools you may need experience with document conversion and management, how to set up a web conference, be aware of remote computer access tools, and be able to manage ticket platforms like Zendesk.
3. Proofreader
A proofreader ensures written content is free of grammatical, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors. If you have attention to detail and are familiar with the AP Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style, you can make an average of about $18 an hour proofreading for advertising agencies, websites, public relations firms, and textbook writers. This work is extremely flexible and can be done on your own schedule provided you meet the deadline for proofreading the document.
3. Consultant
There are countless people who are making their knowledge and experience work for them. Anyone with specific skills, professional experience or even just a hobby or passion can turn what they know into a viable business as a consultant or an online instructor and coach. If you know your stuff, consider sharing it with others online.
Whether your niche is project management, bookkeeping, leadership, music, art or business, you can offer your expertise in the form of consultations.
Promoting yourself would start on platforms like LinkedIn for credibility. You could create a blog to show off your expertise. Then once you get a possible lead, you can book meetings online via Zoom. The only requirement is having a niche you are knowledgeable about!
4. Web developer
Web developers create and design websites for personal or commercial use. They can put their skills to use in publishing, advertising, management consulting, computer systems design and other fields.
Employment growth through 2029 is projected at 8 percent, which is much faster than the average growth rate for all occupations of 4 percent, according to the BLS.
5. Editing, Copywriting and Proofreading
Now we lumped all three of these into one listing, though it can be broken down individually. Some companies may only need someone to proofread industry-specific content or may need someone to draft web copy and articles. In yet other cases, editing may be needed to fix articles, text, or blog posts.
If you can navigate the editing tools in Microsoft Word and have a reliable PDF to Word converter, you’re probably well-equipped to work with whatever content companies need you to work with.
Sites like Fiverr and Upwork are great places to start looking for such jobs as you can pick up some quick one-off gigs to start gaining experience.
