Month: March 2020

10 Types of Work From Home Overnight Jobs

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A couple of days ago I mentioned several ways you can get paid to sleep, but then I thought – what about the night owls amongst us? I can think of a lot of reasons why work from home overnight jobs have become popular amongst people from nearly all walks of life. These types of jobs offer a lot of flexibility.

Here’s why:

Say you’re a stay at home parent during the day but still want to generate an income for your family – working a couple of hours at night when the kids are asleep could be perfect for that.

Or, maybe you’re a bit of an insomniac who’s up all hours of the night anyway and you might as well spend that time making some extra money.

Whatever your situation, there are plenty of overnight work from home jobs out there that could be a fit for your skills and schedule.

Most of these will require at least a laptop and a steady internet connection, of course. I did some research and picked 10 types of overnight jobs that I think covers a wide range of skills and interests. But I tried to mostly stick to the ones that are easy to get into and don’t require a ton of experience in any particular field.

Take a look.

Types of Work From Home Overnight Jobs

1. Online English Teachers

In many non-speaking countries, English teachers are still heavily sought after and if you decide to go down this path then you can earn a sizable income from teaching classes for an hour or two every day.

You’ll likely have to plan lessons ahead of time as well and maybe mark homework or tests, which is extra time that some companies don’t pay for – so watch out for that.

Also, keep your time-zone in mind when picking a company or class.

In terms of qualifications, most companies require a TESOL/TEFL certificate and that you’re a native English speaker.

Here are 17 companies currently hiring online English teachers.

2. Hotline Operators

Operators have all sorts of responsibilities depending on the type of hotline you’re working for.

But whether it’s a suicide hotline or crisis intervention hotline, you’ll need to have patience, good telephone etiquette, and be able to help a distraught person in a calm manner.

Most hotline operators will have to go through training and also learn their specific company/field’s best practices.

If you don’t think you are emotionally ready to provide this type of service then you could look into other types of hotline operator jobs like in sales fraud.

3. Customer Service Agents

Some call centers need to be operational 24/7 and so customer service agents can work at night too, believe it or not.

International companies don’t always have call centers in every country they do business in, opening up an opportunity for you to join the “night shift” at a call center.

A lot of these companies, like Aira have home office technical requirements and standards that you would need to meet. You will likely also have to go through training and learn the company’s policies.

My full list of customer service jobs can be found here.

4. Social Media Page Moderators

Moderators are up at all hours of the night, answering questions and deleting inappropriate comments that break a page’s rules. And yes, this is very much a legitimate job now – it’s work that someone needs to do after all.

Don’t expect to become the moderator of a meme page or tattoo subreddit, though. If you want to get paid then you’ll get hired by a company that wants someone to moderate their social pages (which could include their own subreddit) at night when no one is in the office.

Sometimes, social media companies hire moderators as well. Facebook, for instance, planned to hire 3000 new moderators between 2017/2018. I have no idea if they ever actually did hire that many, though.

5. Video Game Testers

These people probably have one of the most fun jobs out there, but I guess playing games are still less fun when it’s work.

Studios and publishers periodically hire testers for the games they’re working on to get feedback on game mechanics, bugs, and so on. You will likely get a long list of things to look out for and will have to log any bugs you encounter and deliver a final breakdown of what you thought of the game.

Keep in mind that this is a very competitive space, and while you don’t need experience as a game tester to get in, it will certainly count in your favor.

Check out these 9 ways to get paid to play video games.

6. Online Tutors

Tutors can teach others a specific skill via online videos.

You don’t have to start your own tutoring business if you don’t want to either. There are places like Udemy and Skillshare that allow for a massive variety in the types of tutoring options available to you, from helping kids with math or college admissions to teaching an instrument or helping people learn how to do their taxes.

There are more traditional video call tutoring setups available as well through companies like Chegg.

See all the companies that offer online tutoring jobs here.

7. Transcriptionists

Transcriptionists are usually free to work at whatever time of the day they want so long as they deliver the transcriptions by the set deadline.

There are a few websites that specifically cater to this type of job, including GMR Transcription and Quicktate. Some companies have more requirements than others – GMR, in particular, is friendly to newbies although you’ll get paid less than someone with experience.

These 19 companies are currently looking to fill positions for online transcription jobs.

8. Virtual Assistants

VA’s who have clients in distant countries are pretty much assured of night-time working hours depending on the difference in time-zones.

The number of hours you’re required to work per day will depend on your client’s needs, but generally, this type of jobs is more geared towards someone who wants to work 4+ hours a night and so it might not be the best option if you’re just looking for some extra income after a full day job.

See all open virtual assistant jobs here.

9. Data Entry

This is another entirely viable work from home overnight job for night owls. This job doesn’t require that you work with people or between certain hours.

Data entry encompasses different forms of data (the type and volume depends on the company) that you will have to enter into a database or some sort of documentation platform.

This is one of the easiest types of part-time and full-time flexible jobs to get into as well, because it just requires that you have a computer and are able to type.

I found 17 companies that are currently looking to fill data entry positions.

10. Freelancing

Freelancers usually have some of the most flexible working hours depending on what they do and the clients they have.

Some of the jobs I’ve mentioned here fall under the “freelancing” banner, but I also wanted to mention freelancing in its entirety because most of the time you can choose your own working hours.

You also have jobs in pretty much every industry available to you, save the ones that are customer-facing or require physical work.

How To Find A Credible Overnight Job

While some places will offer work from home jobs that require you put in night-time hours (such as the call center option), most won’t specify any working hours and would be happy to let you work at night so long as you fulfill your responsibilities.

Your best bet for finding flexible jobs that you can do from home at night will be freelancing sites like Flexjobs and Upwork. But don’t overlook the many companies out there that don’t advertise on these sites. It will take a bit of digging but they’re not too hard to find.

Just always make sure to verify whether the company is legitimate by going through their website, looking at reviews, and typing their name + scam into a search engine.

I’ve also tested a number of companies that claim to offer legitimate work from home jobs but end up being scams myself. So feel free to search the name on IveTriedThat to see if anything comes up. Ripoff Report is another good place you can check, especially if the company has any sort of “sign-on fee”.

Sometimes legitimate companies do have fees that you need to pay upfront, but more often than not those are scams. Our rule is to never pay for access to a job or for the training required to do a job – if they’re not willing to provide that at no charge then they’re not worth your time.

The Bottom Line

Work from home overnight jobs offer legitimate opportunities to make side-cash from working for an hour or two at night. Of course, if you’re looking for full-time night shift work then most of the options I’ve listed here are just as solid in that respect too.

You might also have noticed that I didn’t mention any writing jobs here, and that’s because there’s such a big variety in terms of the types of writing jobs you could apply for. Not to mention a constant demand. If you want to turn your writing skills into cash then take a look at this list of work from home copywriting jobs.

5 Ways to Make Money as a Makeup Artist

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It isn’t a 9 to 5 job, but you can make money as a makeup artist and have total control of your free time.

Traditionally, you can earn a median annual salary of $66,000 (based on data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics), but this is just for a single job. Since makeup artists can create numerous income streams, their income has the potential to grow much more than 66k.

You have two routes: bring your makeup trolley everywhere you go and actually give another person a makeup, or go online and talk about cosmetics. The best thing about this is that you don’t have to choose.

5 Ways to Make Money as a Makeup Artist

You can make money as a makeup artist whether you focus online, offline or both.

Here’s how:

1. Do Makeup for Events

Providing makeup services for other people is the most traditional way of earning through cosmetics. Because not everyone knows how to blend foundations, create shadows and match lippies to the dress or eyes, makeup artists get to earn huge amounts during events such as:

  • Weddings, bridal showers, engagement parties, and similar occasions
  • Prom, junior prom, graduation, and other formal school events
  • photo sessions: may this be solo like Boudoir, family pictures, class picture day, and so on
  • Parties – from birthday parties to girls’ night out, debuts or Quinceañera, and other similar parties may also require makeup services
  • Special events like charity balls, award ceremonies, and other similar events
  • Commercial work – You may get contracts to work as makeup artist for TV shows, ad agencies, music videos and other industries

The amount you could earn from doing makeup for events largely depend on how much your rates are.

Because your job is freelance, you have to consider your own hidden costs such as transportation to the venue, makeup expenses, taxes, etc. and include them into your rate.

Once you decided on your hourly rate, you can now choose from setting package prices, using by-person rates, or any other pricing structure.

2. Teach Applying Makeup

Teaching is a very lucrative discipline no matter what you’re specialization is, but if you’re good with makeup and have the portfolio to back it up, you can make money as a makeup artist teacher.

You have total freedom in the type of makeup lessons you’re going to offer. Some examples would be:

  • One-on-one makeup lessons. Either visit the client’s home, or you meet at your studio.
  • Group lessons. You teach a group of people with certain makeup techniques, such as “day-to-day no makeup look.
  • Professionals. You teach other would-be makeup artists about the trade, from computing hourly rate to choosing the best makeup products to use.

Because these makeup lessons vary, the lesson fees would vary as well.

Generally, teaching professionally (with fellow makeup artists as your students) would cost higher since you’re sharing trade secrets and potentially creating your own competition with every lesson.

If you have the credentials or name to attract a bunch of students, you can also look for a teaching gig at the local Cosmetology School near you.

Imagine how impressive this would look as part of your portfolio.

3. Test and Produce Makeup

One of the most traditional jobs as a makeup artist is working at the hair salon, day spa, or the local store’s makeup counter.

If you love testing makeup products and is looking for ways to gather experience without breaking your budget, these gigs will surely help you gain the knowledge and practice hours you’d need to hone your skills.

Another way to make money as a makeup artist is to produce your own makeup line. This will probably be exclusive to makeup artists who have a lot of experience and plenty of following. If your career is in the level of brand ambassador, you can find white label makeup and produce your own line.

It isn’t going to be easy, but if you have the market and knowledge, the rewards would totally surpass any other way you could make money as a makeup artist.

4. Write Makeup Reviews

Here’s another way to test makeup and get paid from the experiments.

You can write makeup reviews for a third-party company (and get paid per review with a flat fee, or commissions for every referral).

You can also post all the reviews on your website to get 100% of the future revenues. This is a passive income type of earning, so you have to have a ton of patience with the returns.

If you have a good following on Instagram, you can also share your makeup reviews there and make use of any of the income-generating possibilities on Instagram.

5. Make Money Doing Makeup Tutorials on YouTube

Creating makeup tutorials for YouTube is probably the most popular way you make money as a makeup artist these days.

And for good reason. YouTube earns billions of dollars each year and has made ordinary people millionaires from different parts of the world.

Here’s how you can make money with your YouTube channel:

  • AdSense – As an AdSense publisher, all the videos you upload to YouTube will have relevant ads that could earn you money whenever viewers watch the ads. Although the earning per ad view is very small (a few cents per view), this adds up if you have numerous videos on your channel.
  • Affiliate marketing – With affiliate marketing, you mention the makeup on your tutorials, add a link to Amazon (or any other online store) on the video description and earn commissions when the ad-clicker buys anything from that store. Like the Adsense ads, the more videos with affiliate links you publish, the higher your commissions could potentially become.
  • Sponsorships – Partner with makeup brands, promote their products on your YouTube videos and earn a pre-agreed upon amount either per video, monthly, or any other payment structure. Note that this isn’t for beginners, since brands usually go to YouTubers with plenty of subscribers already.
  • Direct selling – If you have your own makeup line (or other products within your niche), you can sell them directly by showcasing them on your YouTube videos.
  • Market your makeup/event business – You won’t earn directly from promoting your brick-and-mortar business, but the exposure those YouTube videos you put out into the world could lead to jobs doing makeup for events, regular contracts for agencies, and other opportunities.

If you need more help with any of these techniques above, I’ve talked about them more comprehensively with my ‘How to Make Money on YouTube’ post.

The Bottom Line

You see, you don’t have to be stuck working a 9 to 5 job if you’re a professional makeup artist. You can expand and grow your own career by mixing and matching the opportunities above.

I recommend you take both quick-cash (doing makeup for events, teaching gigs) and passive-income generating “jobs” (writing makeup reviews or doing makeup tutorials online). Both of these opportunities will give you financial freedom after working at it for a year or two.

Get Paid for Your Jokes: Legit Ways to Earn From Humor

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Do you love making people laugh? Do people describe you as witty or funny? Why not use your sense of humor to earn some cash and get paid for your jokes?

Your comedic skills partnered with writing skills can earn you some cash by writing and sharing your funny stories, one-liners, and other hilarious jokes with the world.

There are a few ways to do this, so here’s where to begin!

Websites That Will Pay You for Your Jokes and Other Humorous Writings

I mentioned a few of the sites that pay you to write funny in my massive writing gig post, but if you really want to dig deep and turn your humor into a real-money-paying “funny business,”  then this list of websites could help you get started.

1. Funds for Writers ($60 per accepted article)

If you have funny stories about being a freelance writer (or even not-so-funny ones), you can share your story or wisdom with other freelancers.

Funds for Writers like story pieces with “a dash of humor,” “a positive note,” and “a happy ending.”

All submissions should be submitted through email hope[at]chopeclark[dot]com. Payment is through PayPal or Venmo.

2. Cracked ($100 to $250 per accepted feature article)

Although the print mag retired in 2007, the web version is still alive and well.

They often accept Pictofact and Photoplasty submissions from contributors, but you can also pitch feature articles to them by emailing Cyriaque Lamar at workshop[at]cracked[dot]com. Accepted articles pay between $100 to $250 based on the length and the number of articles you submit.

3. The Funny Times ($75 per accepted story)

Ray Lesser and Susan Wolpert, the duo behind this 35+year-old magazine, call themselves “publishers and troublemakers.”

Story submissions can be about anything under the sun: from food to pets to death to religion and even politics and relationships. The duo says “Not much is off limits, so do your best to make us laugh.” Stories should be about 500 to 700 words.

4. Writer’s Digest (pays 30 to 50 cents per word)

This writer resource is pretty popular, which means it can be a challenge to get published here.

Target the section of this magazine called “Inkwell,” which is the lead story that kicks off the magazine. If you’re lucky to get a spot with hundreds of competition, you’ll get paid for one-time print use and electronic publishing in perpetuity. If they ever have to reprint your article, you’ll get paid 25% of the original fee you received for each reprint.

5. The Imperfect Parent (starts at $25 per accepted story)

For parents with funny stories about their kids, parenting, and family life in general, this website accepts the stories that focus on the lighter side of parenting.

Editor Preston Carlson recommends taking a shot at “Parody, humorous takes on parenting, satire, an ‘open letter.’ Take your pick.”

6. Mother.ly (Payment varies)

This is another parenting site, but unlike the one before it, Mother.ly is a bit more “personal” and accepts essays written in the first person.

Submissions should be around 700 to 900 words, focusing on motherhood.

7. Reader’s Digest ($25 to $100 per assignment)

You can submit quotes, jokes, gags, or funny stories and become a part of the history of this 1920-launched magazine.

8. Chicken Soup for the Soul ($200 per story)

This publication is known for heartwarming stories, but it also accepts hilarious real-life stories and funny poems.

The maximum word count is 1,200 words.

If your submission gets chosen, you’ll also receive 10 free copies of the book where your work is published.

9. Saturday Evening Post (Payment varies)

Launched in 1897, the Saturday Evening Post has been publishing its magazine for decades.

If you’re sharing something funny, email your submission as a Microsoft Word, RTF, or PDF attachment to editors[at]saturdayeveningpost[dot]com and indicate “Attn: The Lighter Side” on the subject line.

10. The New Yorker (Payment varies)

If you have a knack of writing satire and fiction, The New Yorker will love you for your submission.

You’ll have an amazing audience if your work is accepted, so make sure to follow Daily Shouts for more guidelines.

11. Weekly Humorist ($20 per accepted article)

This satire magazine accepts pieces 1,500 words or less.

The articles can be in list form, open letters, topical, absurdist, fake-news blurbs, and so on.

12. The Offing ($25 to $100 per submission)

If you have a funny poem, story, or joke, this literary magazine accepts humorous pieces for the humor section called “Wit Tea.”

Note that each website has its own voice and writing guidelines.

If you’re a fan of the site, you’re probably aware of the content style by now. If not, make sure to backread and familiarize yourself with their articles.

Sometimes, no writing opportunity will be posted, but if you send a pitch and your idea is pretty unique and match their style, you can be given a lot in upcoming issues.

13. The Rumpus: Funny Women column (Payment varies)

The Rumpus is an online magazine that is a place for budding writers to share their work. Funny Women is a column in this magazine especially for woman or non-binary writers.

Submit your evergreen pieces with short conceptual humor (650 to 1,000 words) and get paid between $10 to $25 depending on the length and quality of the piece.

14. Functionally Dead ($50 per accepted submission)

Functionally Dead is a left-leaning culture and comedy zine. If your humor fits the zine, email your pitches to functionallydead[at]gmail[dot]com with “Submission” in the subject line.

15. Hard Money ($30 per published article)

More satire? Hard Money is a financial news satire website. Their editor-in-chief looks at pitches (5 pitches max per submission) and will get back to you if they’re interested. When you write the article and it gets published, you’ll get paid.

16. Sasee Magazine (Payment varies)

Based in South Carolina, Sasee Magazine is a women’s lifestyle magazine constantly on the lookout for non-fiction content from freelance contributors on topics relevant to women, including humor and satire.

Email submissions in plain text format to editor[at]sasee[dot]com and include the month(s) of consideration in the subject line.

17. McSweeney’s Internet Tendency (Payment varies)

McSweeney’s Internet Tendency has been publishing comedy and satire article submissions for the past two decades. Submit your piece to websubmissions[at]mcsweeneys[dot]net and wait to hear back from their editor.

Other Ways to Get Paid for Your Jokes

Writing for these websites, as you’ll soon find out, is good for side cash and some publicity.

But unless you get hired as a full-time staff writer, it’s extremely difficult to turn this into a regular income.

Maximize your earnings by dipping into other niches:

Join humor writing contests. Winning a humor writing contest can earn you a significant amount of cash. For instance, the Slackjaw Humor Writing Challenge 2021 had a grand prize of $1,000.

Aside from the cash, it’s your chance to get publicity, as well as feedback for your jokes from comedy fans and writers.

Sell your jokes to greeting card companies. Several greeting card companies that pay for submissions accept jokes and funny rhymes to include in one of their cards.

Write jokes for established comedians. You’ll need to know a comedian personally or have a connection to them. You can negotiate for a pay rate per joke, or have them buy a set of jokes that fit a theme or a specific topic.

This is a great training ground if you’re aiming for a career as a stand-up comedian so you can find out if your jokes are landing with a live audience or not.

Write jokes for a comedy show or sitcom. This is not an easy gig to land, but if you have the right connections in a network or a streaming media company, writing one-off jokes can be your foot in the door to a comedy writing career.

Create a comedy comic strip. Even if you don’t have the drawing skills, you can still write a comic strip. Partner with an artist with whom you connect mentally and can take your vision from mind to paper (or screen).

Stand-up Comedy, Pranks, and Skits on YouTube

If writing jokes in the shadows isn’t your cup of tea, consider going the traditional route of becoming a comedian.

Norm Macdonald, Jim Carrey, Kevin Hart, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, and many other popular comedians spent years performing in obscure comedy clubs in far-flung places before they got their shot to stardom through Comedy Central or Saturday Night Live.

However, the internet has made it possible to reach an audience even from the comforts of your own home. Just look at celebrity impersonator ShaneDawsonTV, parody songwriter/performer Bart Baker, skit-comedian Nigahiga, and other famous people who shared their humor via YouTube and made bank.

Start Your Own Humor Empire

You can mix and match all the methods of making money with being funny.

For instance, while doing stand-up at local bars and doing your fair share of real-world experience, you maintain a YouTube blog to showcase your other jokes.

If performing isn’t your thing, you can submit as many funny stories as you can with third-party websites. While doing this, you can build your own website, share your ideas there, and hopefully attract a following.

Comedians like Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias has done stand-up, TV sitcoms, hosted a comedy series, lent his voice to several animated characters for different films, and even landed his own shows on Fuse and most recently on Netflix.

The funnyman even has his own merch: he was the first stand-up comedian to have and sell out his own Funko Pop!

Are You Ready to Get Paid for Your Jokes?

The cool thing about having a good sense of humor is that there are unlimited opportunities available for you these days. You can choose to write jokes for a living, perform, or do both.

Whichever route you decide to take, isn’t it awesome to be paid real cash for spreading laughter and bringing good vibes to the world?

Have you tried to get paid for your jokes to one of the websites we listed? Are you inspired to work toward a career in comedy? Share it with us in the comments!