Article Contributed by Kayleigh Alexandra
One thing is for sure – office life doesn’t suit everyone. For whatever reason, whether it’s your personal circumstances or simply down to preference, some people get more out of working from home. The distractions are minimal, the commute is non-existent, and you don’t even have to change out of your pyjamas if you don’t want to. There are lots of different job options for those who want to work from home, and while it doesn’t work for all career paths, there are several where you can make it happen. A lot comes down to what your skills are. Here are some of the top options to consider when searching for a job that can be done from home.
Sales and customer care
Got a phone? Access to Wi-Fi? That and the gift of the gab is all you need for a job in sales or customer care. You’re on the phone and computer for most of the day, so there is no need for you to go into the office. More and more companies are allowing their sales and customer care employees to telecommute nowadays, as it can easily be done from home and gives employees more flexibility.
While the level of expertise needed for this kind of job can vary depending on the company and products involved, as long as you are comfortable speaking to people on the phone, a lot of the knowledge required can be learned as you go along. Whether it’s tech support, resolving minor issues or taking payments over the phone, this is a viable option for home workers.
Copywriting and editing
Copywriters are always in high demand for marketing and advertising purposes, and one of the best things about this kind of work is that it can easily be handled on a freelance basis, rather than working in-house for one company. The joy of writing is that you can do it anywhere, whether that’s at home or even in a nice local cafe. As a freelance writer you can expect to write about all sorts of different subjects, whatever the client needs on that occasion.
More and more, copywriters are hired to write content for the web, which could be articles, guides and blog posts. As well as being a competent writer, it’s also good to have some knowledge of writing for SEO, which means including core keywords and variations of them. If you’re a quick writer and your output is good, you can expect to have clients coming back to you often with new briefs – just be sure you have time for them all, and set your freelance rates accordingly. This is a job that offers great freedom and flexibility, if you can manage your time effectively.
Running an ecommerce store
There are loads of great ways to earn an income online, and one of the best is to sell products or services through an online store. With today’s myriad platforms, tools and software, creating a professional online store is easy to achieve, without so much as a glance at a line of code. You can automate order fulfillment using a dropshipping merchant, which removes the need for you to store inventory and package/post it yourself.
Whatever you sell, the key to success is to effectively get the word out there by marketing yourself through all available channels, and to ensure that customers have a smooth, seamless experience on your website. Think intuitive navigation, one-click payments and super fast loading times. If you have a passion for a particular product, then running an ecommerce store could be the perfect stay-at-home job for you.
Home tutoring
The demand for good home tutors is rising rapidly. If you have teaching experience of any kind, then now is the perfect time to explore home tutoring as a potential career option. Increasingly, the school system is failing students who struggle with particular subjects and need extra help. Teachers are handling classes of 30 or more students, making it virtually impossible for them to give every student the full care and attention that they need. That’s why many parents turn to home tutoring to help give their children the extra support they need in subjects that they find difficult, whether it’s reading, writing, maths or music. This kind of work is ideal for those who have already trained as teachers but who want to switch to a more one-on-one role, or for those who want to supplement supply teaching work.
Home tutors can take this career further by helping to manage other teachers and educators, creating a network of professionals to cater to the demand – much like a home tutoring referral network.
Digital marketing
Do you know your way around SEO and marketing in the digital world? If you have previous experience working as a digital marketer and the proof that you can generate successful online campaigns, then digital marketing and SEO are great options for freelancers looking to work from home.
Whether you work in link-building, keyword research and optimization, social campaigns, site audits or Google advertising, there are many ways to generate a buzz online, and if you know how, then you have a potential successful career sitting right in front of you. All you need is a phone, a computer and internet access.
Transcription or translation
Transcription and translation services are much in demand, and are the ideal jobs to do from home as you ideally want as few distractions as possible. If you speak more than one language, it is entirely possible to make a very respectable income translating copy for international companies, where language barriers can lead to miscommunication.
Likewise, transcription work for things like audio notes, PowerPoint presentations and videos are highly sought after on websites like UpWork, allowing companies to outsource their transcription so they can focus on other business matters in-house. If you can type quickly and your spelling and grammar are spot on, transcription and translation work can be excellent work-from-home career alternatives.
Web design
The internet is here to stay, that’s for sure. And as more and more businesses, enterprises and organizations bring their businesses online, the demand for good web designers is high. Whether you already work as a web designer or are training in that field, the great thing about this kind of work is that you can do it from any location, as long as you have access to Wi-Fi and a computer. For this reason, a lot of web designers choose to work as freelancers, which means more flexibility and freedom.
As a freelancer you may find that some clients prefer for you to work in-house for the duration of their project, but this will not be the case all of the time. For the most part, web design is the perfect work-from-home gig, with the added bonus of allowing you to flex your creative muscles. Just be sure to set your freelance rates competitively.
Are you looking for the perfect work-from-home career? What aspects of working at home are important to you? Let us know about your own work-from-home experience in the comments.
About Kayleigh Alexandra: Passionate about writing for the startup and entrepreneurial audience, I have recently been part of setting up an exciting project at MicroStartups.org. We donate all our website profits to charities that help people reach their full potential. Find out more on Twitter.