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How to Start a Successful Life Coaching Business

Last Updated:July 27, 2020

Do you love helping people get through obstacles to their dreams? Do you always have the right words for anyone who needs encouragement? Have you always wanted to start your own business from home? If you answered yes to all these questions, starting a life coaching business may be for you.

In recent years, people have increasingly been seeking the advice of life coaches as they strive to improve themselves, learn how to deal with the stress of modern life, and overcome adversity to achieve their goals.

But what exactly does becoming a life coach involve, and how can you make a career out of changing other people’s lives?

Today, you’ll learn how to start a life coaching business and make money doing something fulfilling.

What Does A Life Coach Do?

A life coach provides counseling, motivation, and guidance for the purpose of helping their clients achieve their goals for a particular aspect of their life: personal life, relationships, finances, career, business, and many others.

Being a life coach involves listening to clients to find out what they want to achieve, where they are currently, and what hindrances they’re encountering on the way to their goals.

With this knowledge, life coaches can help their clients set realistic goals, create a concrete plan, and learn how to deal with and overcome obstacles to their plans.

These hindrances can be one of the following: crushing debt, unhealthy habits and coping mechanisms, anxiety or any other mental health struggles, toxic relationships, unfulfilled or unacknowledged emotional needs, sudden life changes, such as illness, death, divorce, unemployment, retirement, and many others.

Unlike therapy that examines past behavior through counseling, life coaching focuses on the now and helps whatever a client wishes to achieve in the future. As such, the title of a life coach may change depending on the type of help provided, such as business coach, personal finance coach, health coach, and more.

How Much Can You Earn as a Life Coach?

Life coaches can make anywhere between $12.45 to $147.68 an hour (around $25,900 to $307,000 annually).

If this range seems too wide, that’s because a life coach has plenty of job descriptions, tasks, and other potential sources of income.

Life coaches who are full-time employees of a company can expect to make up to $32 per hour.

However, if you go your own way and start your own life coaching business, you can make at least $65 to more than a hundred dollars per hour, with business coaches making up to $300.

The more clients you take in, the higher your earnings are, which is true for most consultation type jobs.

Other side cash opportunities for life coaches include group coaching, workshops, speaking engagements, online courses, and other services.

Note that the incomes of those who coach remotely (via phone, e-mail, video conferencing, Skype, or other similar means) are often lower than those who work with clients in person.

What You Need to Have a Successful Life Coaching Business

If you’re going to run your life coaching business from home, the first thing you’ll have to set up is your home office.

Find a space in your house that’s quiet, with minimal background noise and foot traffic. In other words, setting up your home office in between your living room and the kitchen is a bad idea.

At the minimum, your home office needs to have a computer or laptop that can run video conferencing software, a noise-canceling headset, and a high-definition web camera

When you have your home office in place, you can now think about what else you need to actually succeed as a life coach.

Like most jobs that deal with helping other people, you need certain expertise and characteristics to turn your passion into a full-time career. Here are some of the requirements for success:

Training and certifications – You don’t have to have a bachelor’s degree to start being a life coach. However, you’ll need to invest time, effort, and a bit of cash for training and certification. If you’re able to get just one certification, get it from the International Coaching Federation (ICF), which is the only globally recognized credentialing program for life coaches and coach practitioners. To get this certification, you’ll have to enroll in an ICF-accredited training program, offered in many different places.
Patience – People have different timelines when adapting to change. Some adapt quickly, while others may have a learning curve when it comes to following new routines, accepting new ideas, or adapting new life-changing techniques you may recommend. As a life coach, it is your job to patiently guide a client through their action plan at their own pace.
Time management skills – To provide your life coaching services to multiple clients over the course of the day, plus to take care of he day-to-day tasks of a business, you need to be able to manage your time properly.
Passion and experience – A life coach must be passionate about what they’re doing. If not, it will be impossible to become interested in another person’s troubles and help them with their challenges. Of course, it is just as important to have enough real-life experience to provide solid advice to clients. Your own personal life experience will be your most important tool to get clients to pay attention to you.
Research skills – Every time you take in a new client, you’ll be faced with a unique set of challenges to work on. While you may be an experienced life coach who has helped numerous clients, you’ll still have to do extensive research, additional training, and combine two or more techniques in handling a particular case.
Communication and active listening skills – Life coaching always goes two-way. Your clients need to tell you all about them and you need to actively listen. When you know enough to help them, you need to be able to effectively tell them what they need to do to help themselves.
Goal-oriented – Most clients have a timeline in mind when signing up for a life coach’s services. While every person’s needs are different, it’s important to be upfront with a realistic timeline and strive to help the client meet their goals within that timeframe.
Empathy – Life coaching shouldn’t be all about business. At its core, your role is to help people. You can only do this effectively if you’re in tune with the feelings and emotions of your clients.
Authenticity – You don’t have to oversell your skills just to sign a client onto your services. People can see right through this. Always be authentic when doing your job as a life coach. Be honest about what you know, how much experience you have, and how you can expect to help them.
Perceptiveness and inquisitiveness – Some people may not be able to communicate their concerns properly or find it hard to open up to you as easily. As such, it is important that you know how to ask the right questions and how to interpret what they’re saying (and what they’re not saying) to learn as much as you can about the client.
Willingness to learn – Life coaching isn’t a static field. Every day there is more and more information about the brain, emotions, and our response to both stress and motivation. You must be willing to always be learning so you can improve your coaching styles and be able to adapt to each and every client.

Aside from being a great life coach, you’ll also need to learn how to run your own business. Do your best to learn as much about digital marketing, administration, and financial management to make sure you keep your business afloat.

Pro tip: Even if you believe you have most, if not all, the life coach qualities listed above, one of the best ways to determine if this profession is for you is to hire a life coach for yourself. The experience would help you understand the coaching process and even pave the way to start your life coaching business.

How To Start a Life Coaching Business

So now that you know what is expected of you, here’s how you can begin to build your life coaching business.

1. Find your life coaching niche.

Life coaching is actually a wide field. If your offer is vague and the results you promise are too generic, finding and retaining clients is going to be a pain.

You need to be able to find your niche so you can use your unique combination of expertise, experience, skills, and personality to be able to solve specific problems and deliver precise, time-bound results to a defined group of clients.

Here are some niches you might consider:

Businesses/Organizations
Career transitions/Job searches
Creatives (e.g., writers, artists, actors, etc.)
Executives (e.g., CEOs, presidents, etc.)
Academics
Health and Fitness
Leadership
Life vision and enhancement
Romantic relationships
Family
Spirituality
Financial
Aging/Retirement
Mental wellness

As a side note, many life coaches begin their careers as a blogger in a particular niche, and what makes them effective as life coaches is that they’ve already established a niche and built an audience base of people who are interested in what they have to say about that niche.

So if you’re already running a blog with plenty of readers and subscribers, consider offering life coaching services on the side.

2. Work toward your life coach certification and complete a training program (or a few).

As I’ve mentioned, the main certifying organization is the ICF, but there are other professional life coaching groups and associations. To get your credentials, you’ll need to complete a certain number of hours of training, as well as hours of coaching experience and a certain number of clients.

Legally, credentials aren’t required for you to offer life coaching, but having them goes a long way toward building your credibility with your clients, both current and potential. It shows you’re serious about learning more and doing your job better.

Also, networking through these groups gives you an advantage in that you get to learn best practices and know the most recent coaching trends and whether they’re a good fit for you.

The thing is you’ll have to spend for these training programs and credentials, but perhaps thinking of that money as capital for your business.

Here are some professional associations you might want to look into.

3. Practice and hone your life coaching skills.

If you want to get paid coaching experience, you can look for companies that have life coaching job openings so you can apply your training and sharpen your skills.

You may want to search online job boards first, such as FlexJobs, Indeed, or LinkedIn.

Examples of companies that hire remotely include Real Appeal (health niche), Vida (mental and physical health niche), AskMarsVenus (relationships niche), Tony Robbins (business niche), among others.

You can also find work in your local vocational counseling centers, abuse centers, family services facilities, and nursing homes.

Large corporations are also starting to hire in-house life coaches to help their employees set their career goals and achieve them.

Do note that because you’re affiliated with a company, you may not be allowed to coach clients on the side just yet.

You may think that this will delay the start of your life coaching business, but think of it as a worthy one, as you’ll become credentialed plus the experience makes you a better life coach.

3. Register your business.

To protect your private assets in case the business becomes bankrupt or get asked to pay damages or fines, make sure you apply for a business classification, such as a limited liability company (LLC), as well as business insurance.

You may think it’s an unnecessary expense, but actually being registered as a business helps your credibility, entitles you to tax breaks, and as I’ve said, protects your personal savings and assets.

4. Create your core coaching package.

Remember that your clients come to you for solutions to their problems that they cannot find by themselves. It is your job to find out what problems your target customer is having so you can show them solutions.

As you’re only beginning, it is advisable to start your life coaching business by creating one specific package for a specific market and become good at actually delivering results with this package.

The better you get, the more the word goes out, and the more clients you can get. This is the time to branch out and expand your client base.

An example of a package is 10 video call sessions with 50 minutes per session for $1,000, or two in-person sessions plus 8 video call sessions for $1,500.

Part of creating a package is deciding on the price, too, so do your product research and compare your packages with other coaches in the same niche.

5. Establish your online presence.

As I mentioned, marketing is an integral part of your life coaching business.

Plan and implement your marketing techniques continuously, whether it involves simple forum posting, or a more complicated lead generation campaign. The important thing is you work on it relentlessly.

Other examples of online marketing you could try to mix and match are email marketing, Facebook groups, guest blogging, paid advertising, and more.

6. Invest in continuous education and personal development.

Your life coaching business relies mainly on your own skills, you’ll have to include the cost of continuous training and personal development in your business cost.

Fortunately, there are plenty of webinars, online courses, membership sites, and other online resources to gain more knowledge and learn about coaching skills that you can use to change your clients’ lives.

Start Your Life Coaching Business Today!

Life coaching can be the most challenging, and yet fulfilling and life-changing careers one can ever follow.

Imagine having a business where you can earn a better-than-decent income that still gives you plenty of free time while changing and improving other peoples’ lives.

However, this path isn’t for everyone. It takes a certain kind of personality to be able to help clients help themselves by allowing them to be vulnerable and talking about their problems and deepest, darkest secrets.

And if this is you, then you’re all set with a life coaching business.

If it’s not, perhaps your career path is in our massive list of work from home jobs.

Do you have what it takes to start a life coaching business? Or would you rather work for a company as a life coach? Sound out in the comments below!

How To Become A Travel Consultant and Get Paid To Plan Trips

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Last Updated:July 24, 2020

Do you genuinely enjoy organizing trips? Does planning itineraries excite you? Does helping other people plan their trips give you a sense of satisfaction? If so, read on to learn how to become a travel consultant; this career may be for you!

In recent years, the boom of the travel industry and the improvement of technology has created not only more job openings, but also to new online job opportunities.

Aside from travel bloggers who share their personal travel experiences and actually earn through sponsorships and ads, travel-focused professions like booking agents, cruise marketers, and airline customer service jobs (among others) are now being offered as work-from-home opportunities.

That is, being a travel agent is no longer the only way to break into the travel industry and make money.

Today, we look at how to become a travel consultant: what they do, what the job entails, how to start your own travel consultancy business, and where to find travel consultant jobs to benefit from their training and experience.

What Does A Travel Consultant Do?

The main responsibility of a travel consultant is to create an exceptional travel experience for their clients.

To do this, you’ll need to pay close attention to each client’s likes, dislikes, travel background, hobbies, and interests.

Of course, it’s also your job to listen to what your client wants and needs to accomplish for each trip, whether it’s for business or pleasure.

You can then create a proposal with options for transportation, accommodation, tour packages, and other aspects of a particular trip, including the pros and cons of each option.

When your client has decided, it’s then your job to make all the necessary arrangements and reservations.

Plus, you need to be ready to assist your clients with any concerns or questions they would have before, during, and after each trip.

Building strong relationships with your clients is the focus of being a travel consultant, as repeat business and referrals through positive word of mouth are more valuable than one-offs.

While both are legitimate travel jobs, you might think a travel consultant is the same as a travel agent, but they’re different from each other.

Travel consultants offer a more personal service, as they create itineraries and book accommodations, facilities, tours, and experiences based on their clients’ preferences and personality.

They are more involved in decision-making, and they usually go the extra mile to make sure each travel experience is tailored to each individual client.

On the other hand, travel agents are usually tasked to book reservations for a customer who more or less already knows what they want.

Rarely any collaboration happens between a customer and travel agent and rarely is a travel agent asked for input in travel decisions by that customer.

You can also think of it this way: Travel agents book what their software says is available, while travel consultants book whatever would make their clients’ travel a pleasant, memorable one and go beyond expectations.

If you’re already a licensed travel agent, you might want to learn how to become a travel consultant. Not only does being a consultant pay more, but it’s also a more fulfilling, rewarding career choice.

Travel Consultant Job Requirements

Since you’re going to be working from home, you’ll need to set up an office at home, ideally somewhere quiet with minimal background noise.

An up-to-date computer or laptop, high-speed internet, a noise-canceling USB headset (performs better than wireless or Bluetooth ones), and a high-definition web camera for video calls are the basics you need to have in our home office.

Aside from your home office setup, here are the requirements to become a successful travel consultant.

A website – It’s always a good idea to set up a website as your portfolio and a means for people to contact you. If your time permits it, posting on the blog would provide you organic traffic from keywords like “travel planning service” or “(place) itinerary.”
Extensive knowledge in the travel industry – You need to know the ins and outs of the travel industry, including when to score low-priced airline tickets, a wide range of accommodation options beyond 5-star hotels, and other travel-specific considerations.
Real-world travel experience – While the job is mainly conducted online, either through emails or a hosted platform like UpWork.com, you still need to be well-traveled and not just on popular destinations. Having first-hand experience allows you to plan and recommend properly since you know how much expenses are “really” locally, or have been through popular and unpopular destinations.
Excellent communication and negotiation skills – Most itinerary planners also negotiate deals with hotels, travel agencies, and other companies. Of course, you’ll have to make sure you profit more from the deal to sustain your business.
Connections with the travel industry – This doesn’t just involve big hotel chains, airlines, and cruise companies. You’ll have to expand your connections to be able to bag deals, especially those that require prior booking.
Advanced marketing skills – Freelancing is tough, so it’s important to learn marketing techniques in this modern world. Aside from your website, you should also have an online presence on social media networks, forums, and more.
Technical skills – If you were born after 1980, you’re likely to be tech-savvy already. Bear in mind that you’re going to be working online and using different types of software, applications, and systems to book travel essentials.
Certifications – I know I said being a travel consultant is different from being a travel agent, but for you to be able to book certain accommodations and flights, you’ll need to have some travel agent certifications. Besides, it improves your credibility a lot. Check the programs offered by American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). Once you have your business set up as a sole proprietor, you can then apply for your International Air Transport Association (IATA) accreditation so you can book flights.

How Much Can You Earn As A Travel Consultant?

Generally, the average travel consultant salary can range between $27,000 to $47,000 per year, with the usual rate at around $30,000 per year. The biggest perk with this job is the number of travel deals you can receive, which you can either use personally or sell for extra income. However, because freelancing is a very fluid thing, this income could either go up or down, depending largely on the effort, time, and capital you plan to invest in this profession.

In some cases, you can charge a fixed amount per itinerary, or base your fees on the travel budget of your clients. The great thing about freelance travel jobs is that you have total control of pricing your services unless, of course, you apply for a full-time home-based travel agent job with a third-party company.

If you’re willing to invest in marketing your services, you can earn more by targeting potential clients through Facebook Ads, Reddit Ads, or even Google search.

How To Become A Travel Consultant

Being a freelance travel consultant can be broken down into the following steps.

1. Gather your requirements.

Setting up your home office and honing your communication, technical, and sales skills are the first steps to being your own boss.

Don’t be afraid to get some training if you think you need it. Whether it’s learning about geography and international travel, or improving your communication skills, you’re likely to find free online courses on sites like Udemy or Coursera.

2. Decide how you can provide the most value.

The most successful travel consultants are those who know exactly where their strengths are and what they can offer their clientele that no other travel consultant can provide.

The travel industry is huge; there are plenty of niches and sub-niches. It’s a matter of finding your own.

Some examples of different types of travel include corporate, leisure, luxury, budget, sports, adventure, sightseeing, foodie, student, backpacker, seniors, singles, couples, small families, etc.

3. Get some experience.

Despite the availability of training courses and programs online, nothing will prepare you for becoming a travel consultant than actually doing it.

Activate your social network and offer your services at a discounted rate to your family, friends, acquaintances.

Even better, apply for a job to companies offering travel consultant jobs. Get paid to train and practice, and you may even get some of your certifications for free. See the next section to find out where to apply.

4. Promote your services

When you feel you’re ready to start your business, build your website where your services are emphasized.

You can also add a blog with articles documenting your previous travels, providing useful travel tips, and listing the top places to visit in a city or country. The goal is for your website to show up on search results of people who are looking for what you’re offering.

You can even set up an appointment system on your contact page, in case casual browsers end up interested in your services and want to set up a conversation over the phone or through a video call.

Your social media should also be active in promoting your services and directing your followers to your appointment page.

Where To Find Travel Consultant Jobs

As I’ve mentioned, having plenty of experience as a travel consultant gives you more of an advantage when you start your own business.

Here are a few companies currently hiring travel consultants.

1. Enchanting Travels

Enchanting Travels is an award-winning tour operator providing customized trips based on their customers’ interests and preferences.

They continually have openings for remote travel sales consultants who talk to clients, find out what their ideal destination and experiences are, and create tailor-made proposals based on their knowledge.

2. Robert Half

Robert Half is a recruitment and consultancy company with plenty of remote job openings.

They are currently recruiting a
remote travel and lifestyle consultant to handle clients that take luxury trips multiple times a year, whether it’s for business or pleasure.

The catch is that while this is a remote position, you’ll need to reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.

If this position is no longer available, try to search for “travel consultant” in their job boards to see what comes up.

3. Travel Placement Service

This site is a job board that specializes in travel and hospitality jobs.

They currently have multiple openings for travel consultants: corporate travel consultants, luxury travel consultants, and travel sales consultants are just some of the openings currently available.

4. ADTRAV

ADTRAV prides itself on developing travel programs for their clients and providing excellent customer service.

They continually open remote full-time travel consultant jobs, especially for those who can work nights and weekends.

5. FlexJobs

If searching in the above companies doesn’t pan out, I highly recommend going on FlexJobs and doing a job search there.

Each and every company that has a job opening posted on FlexJobs has been thoroughly checked and verified, so you can rest assured that you won’t be scammed here.

The Bottom Line

Planning other people’s trips can be a challenging yet fulfilling profession.

What’s interesting about becoming a travel consultant is that since you combine blogging with freelancing for work, you won’t notice that you’ve been building a self-sustaining blog in the long run. And since people can make a full-time income with their blogs, it’s a win-win having both a passive income-generating blog and quick-cash-making freelance job.

Does working as a travel consultant appeal to you? Or do you think being a travel agent is a better fit? Weigh in on the comments below!

How To Become A Local Tour Guide And Make Bank

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Last Updated:July 23, 2020

Do you know your city inside and out, its hidden gems, and its deepest, darkest secrets? Do you love meeting new people, showing them around your city, and having them see it through your eyes? If so, then becoming a local tour guide may be a great way for you to turn your passion into profit!

Local tour guides show guests around and have them experience the local places, spots, shops, food, and adventures just like someone who has lived there all their lives would experience them.

Today, we look at what a local tour guide does, what it takes to be one, steps to offer your services as a local tour guide, and companies to join as a local tour agent.

What Does A Local Tour Guide Do?

Simply put, a local tour guide is someone who is intimately familiar with a particular city or region and is able to show visitors around.

While there are no specific educational requirements to do this job, there are plenty of good training materials out there.

The main requirement is that your heart is in the right place, and you’re 100% in love with traveling and spreading the love of travel.

A local tour guide may or may not also be a licensed tour guide. You normally need to be one if you’re planning to guide tourists in a museum or if you’re employed by the government, non-profit environmental organizations, and private companies with any nature-based industry.

These are the qualities you need to have to become a local tour guide:

Knowledgeable about your city – Even if it is your hometown, remember that your customers are paying you for more in-depth knowledge and they expect you to know everything about each and every destination on your tour.
Extraordinary storyteller – That said, you’ll need to present your knowledge in a memorable way. Catch the attention of your group while discussing a destination’s history, facts, myths, and so on.
Enthusiastic – The information you share might be interesting, but if your delivery is flat, your customers will sense it and they wouldn’t care about what you’re saying. Make them feel how much you love your city.
Responsible – You are leading tourists who are unfamiliar with your city; you need to be mindful of their safety and comfort.
Well-informed about different cultures – It doesn’t matter if you’re only touring locally. People from different cultures and backgrounds may be part of your tour, so it’s ideal to know the basics, or at least enough that you don’t inadvertently offend them.
Superb communicator – Ultimately, leading local tours means you’re going to be talking to people every day. Not only that, but you’ll also need to listen to them to know what they want and need. You should be able to do both.
Adaptable – You should be able to adapt to any situation quickly, especially emergency situations. This also means you should be able to get along with your tour group, as they have different personalities and different things they want to get out of your tour.
Physically fit – Long walks, running, and standing for hours are par for the course for local tour guides, so you need to make sure that you’re up to these physical demands.

Join a tour company or be your own boss?

If you’re hoping to become a local tour guide, you can either do it as a part of a tour company or as your own boss.

You can land a local tour guide position, tour manager, itinerary maker, tour guide supervisor, and so on with traditional travel agencies. These jobs are also available at theme parks, museums, cultural centers, and other tourist destinations.

Do note that except for managerial positions, most tour guides are usually only hired during certain seasons.

The main benefit of being employed in a company is that you won’t have to worry about organizing your schedules, finding clients, and marketing your services. This leaves you free to be the best local tour guide you can be.

On the other hand, if you start your own company, you will be in total control of everything, from the packages and itineraries, themes and gimmicks, etc. As such, all of the income will be yours as well.

However, you’re going to be wearing more hats as an owner and local tour guide, since you’d have to continuously network and market your business to fill in your calendar. It can be quite exhausting, to say the least.

I recommend you begin as a contractor or employee for another company to dip your toes into the industry, then launch your own service when you’re experienced enough to tackle all facets.

How To Become a Local Tour Guide On Your Own

With the advent of the internet and social media, it’s never been easier to offer your services as a local tour guide and start your own business. Here are the important steps to take if you want to become a tour guide.

1. Education and qualifications.

As mentioned, this job doesn’t have specific educational requirements, but if you can do some training or research more on the most interesting places and facts about your city, that will certainly help you become a better tour guide.

If you’re a history, geology, anthropology, archaeology, or something similar, you may want to apply to be a licensed tour guide, especially if your area has plenty of museums and other historic tourist destinations.

2. Decide what kind of local tour you’re going to offer.

If you live in a city with plenty of sights to see and adventures to undertake, it may be overwhelming when creating an itinerary that covers as many significant places as possible. Here are some ideas of different types of itineraries you can plan as a local tour guide:

Tours centered around teaching a new skill. Consider activities or experiences that visitors new to your town or city would be happy to learn that they don’t get to do every day.

Think samba dancing in Rio, or cheesesteak-making in Philly.

For example, if you live by a body of water, you could create a tour that teaches visitors how, where, and what to fish. If you live by a state park or preserve, you might offer tours that teach people how to spot and pick edible wild mushrooms.

Tours centered around historical events, people, or places. Old cities and towns are perfect for this kind of tour, as chances are that the history of that place is interesting.

Washington, DC is a good example of a historic place.

Tours centered around activities. If you live in a scenic place, try to create a walking or hiking tour that provides plenty of sights. Maybe even have an overnight camping tour.

If the thrills in your area are more of the urban type, maybe a tour of your local amusement park and shopping centers is more appropriate. Or maybe a ghost tour or abandoned buildings tour at night can thrill your audience.

Customized tours. You might also provide different itinerary options, with portions that swap out for others in case the client wishes to create his own customized experience.

3. Promote your services.

Use social media or go as far as creating your own website to advertise your tours. Harnessing both is better, of course.

It may also be a good idea to team up with some local businesses, where you might grab a discount or incentive in exchange for bringing in tourists. These businesses can also advertise your tours to their own clients, thus expanding your reach.

4. Set your price.

To be able to set your price, consider your time and effort in creating the tours, your add-ons such as meals, drinks, souvenirs, etc., and the local competition. Check online prices of similar tours to have an idea of how much to charge.

How Much Can Local Tour Guides Make?

If you offer a tour that is a good value for the tourist and take them places where traditional tours don’t go, you can easily charge $200 for 2 hours. Add in a few incentives like a guide book or complimentary appetizers and drinks, and you can charge even more.

When it comes to tours, you’re better off creating a quality tour that costs more money than a “value-priced” one that just about anyone can complete on his own.

You can easily earn more money if you are fluent in languages other than English (Spanish, Japanese, French, Mandarin, Korean and Italian are the top in-demand languages).

Tourists have disposable income and are looking more for an incredible experience that they can brag about back home than for a way to save money. So don’t be afraid to create some amazing experiences and charge premium prices for them.

If you already have a touring business setup and you’re looking to make more money from it, Matthew Newton’s Sell More Tours is a must-read.

8 Companies Hiring Local Tour Guides

As I’ve mentioned, starting with tour companies and studying how they operate can help you get the knowledge you need to go on your own.

The following companies can help you kickstart your local tour guide gig, whether you plan to do this on the side or set-up a full-scale tour guide business.

1. Rent a Local Friend

This website describes itself as “a community of people who love to travel and be in touch with different cultures.” You’ll need to send an application to join, but once you’re in, you’re automatically known as a “local friend.” Fill in your profile completely.

For $100/year membership fee, this company provides you with a personal web page and marketing help in exchange for signing up.

As a local friend, you can accept or reject a request from a client. If you do accept the gig, the clients pay Rent a Local Friend 30% of your fee, then receive the rest after successfully completing the scheduled tour.

2. ToursByLocals

To join ToursByLocals, you’ll need to pass two phone interviews, pass a background check and provide local legal requirements.

Once you’ve been accepted, you can create your services page and begin marketing your business.

This company doesn’t require upfront fees to join, even if they provide free training, marketing, payment processing, and a $3 million in liability insurance.

However, you will need to share 20% of your fee with them every time you complete a successful gig.

3. Context

Context provides private tours or small group tours with a maximum of 6 people in every major city across the globe.

Extensive knowledge of your city, local hot spots, and the biggest attractions are a must.

Most tours fetch between $100-$200 per hour, and that’s not including any tips you may receive from your group for doing an exemplary job.

Context’s dedication to sustainable tourism and making a minimal impact on local culture make them one of the most premier touring companies out there.

4. Withlocals

Withlocals works with individual freelancers who want to show their city and share their passions.

This Netherlands-based company follows the same process as ToursByLocals – you post an “experience” or customized tour, wait for clients, do the job, and then wait for your income.

Withlocals deduct their 10 to 20% fee from you every time you complete a job.

5. Shiroube

Shiroube (pronounced shi-ru-bé) is an international company boasting 5,000+ tour guides in over 3,000 cities.

This is a bit different than other companies.

Shiroube does not charge upfront fees, nor does it collect commissions for every job. Shiroube also doesn’t charge travelers any fees.

So how does Shiroube earn money? Apparently, the company worked out sponsorship plans with corporations to avoid charging people fees.

Everyone gets a free account by default. With this free account, you can create 3 ads to promote your local tour guide services.

6. Traveling Spoon

If your city or town is known for its cuisine and you’re an expert in the kitchen (whether you’re a professional cook or a next-level home cook), being a host for Traveling Spoon may be a great side gig for you.

You can go through the whole application process, even the interviews, online.

Once you’re approved, you can start hosting tourists. You get paid at least 8 hours before your guests arrive.

7. FREETOUR.com

FREETOUR allows you to create your own tour and share it with the world through their platform.

As the name suggests, the tours here are mostly free, with your guests paying you in tips. You still have the option of setting your tour as a paid one, with guests paying 20% upon booking and the rest when the tour is over. However, you’ll get way fewer bookings this way.

Think of free tours as a promotional offer for you to advertise your services as a tour guide so you’ll have existing contacts when you do start your own venture.

8. Showaround

This website connects tourists with locals who know their city better than anyone else.

When you sign up as a local to Showaround, you get to determine your hourly rate, your tour itinerary, and who you want to show around your hometown.

The more tours you go on, the more reviews you’ll collect, and the more you establish your reputation on the site and the higher you get ranked on their search algorithm.

The Bottom Line

Becoming a local tour guide is simple as long as you have the heart and right skills to do the job. However, like many freelancing gigs, the challenging part is marketing your service to your target audience.

With these 8 companies hiring local tour guides, you’ll receive free training on how to network, market, and expand your business.

And when you’re ready to scale up, I’d recommend you build your own website, so you’ll have your own, safe online space if any of these companies decide to close shop in the future.

You can also consider planning travel itineraries for other people or landing a work at home travel agent job.

Do you think you have what it takes to become a local tour guide? Does this seem like a business you can do? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

How to Land a Video Game Writing Job

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Last Updated:July 17, 2020

If you have a knack for writing on top of having a genuine love for all things video games, why not consider looking at video game writing jobs and combining your skills and passion?

The gaming industry has been steadily growing with the improvement of technology. Immersive gaming, esports, multifunctional video consoles, livestreaming, and mobile gaming are all projected to grow this year and beyond.

The global gaming market is expected to be worth $159.3 billion dollars, even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. By 2023, it is expected to breach the $200 billion mark.

With this growth in the gaming industry comes a growth in jobs in the industry, including video game writing.

Today, we’ll take a look at the two types of video game writing jobs, how to get these jobs, and what it takes to do these jobs successfully.

Two Types of Video Game Writing Jobs

Many writers would agree that as much as there are different kinds of writing jobs out there both online and IRL, there are also different writing specializations to fit anyone’s skill.

If you dig into the writing careers available in the video game industry, you’d see that the opportunities are mostly divided into two:

Writing FOR video games. These writers are involved in the development of the video game itself. These writers are awesome storytellers and would excel in adding words, stories, expressions to 3D graphics of the game.
Writing ABOUT video games. The other type of video game writing is from the perspective of a gamer or someone observing a gamer.

Both types of writing would require you to play as many video games as you can and learn about them as much as you can. If you’re not passionate or knowledgeable enough about video games, it’s going to show in your writing.

Jobs That Involve Writing FOR Video Games

If you want to be part of the team developing video games, writing for video games is the path you want to be on.

If employed with just one company, the average video game writer’s salary is $75,000 to 80,000 per year. Of course, studios with higher budgets tend to pay higher than average.

What tools will you need?

Story-based games can be exceptionally complicated with near-infinite possibilities of scripts and gameplay, depending on what the gamer chooses in the game.

Understanding how strings work. Scriptwriting a video game isn’t like any kind of writing. You’d have to collaborate with multiple talented people when writing a “text snippet,” or what game programmers know as a “string.” This string is saved in a text database, which everyone from designer, coder, writer, and even video game testers will use to perfect the game.
Knowing the ins and outs of gameplay. As a gamer, you need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your players. You know that the options given to your player, usually called “goals” or “missions,” are what lead you to the plot of a story. This type of skill cannot be learned by the book; it’s something you learn and experience from years worth of gaming to be able to get the point of a story across with the player and game mechanics in mind.
Practice with tools. Sites like Twine or Inform are great resources for you to use when practicing how to write creative non-linear fiction. There’s also an app called Episode that brings your story to life with ready-made graphics.
Learn the types of video game content you’ll write. You’re going to be training yourself with new ways of writing. For example:
- Flowcharts – These make it easy for you to visualize every possible option allowed to the player.
- Side quests/missions – This goes beyond the main story and may lead to a totally different story altogether.
- Character dialogues – You’ll work on the player dialogues (which would have multiple variations at a time) and dialogues of characters the player will interact with inside the game.
- Narrations and cut scenes – These sequences are often inserted before and after a level or a mission.
- Final storyboard – If you have experience with scriptwriting in films and TV shows, this is probably the most familiar task you’ll work on. This is only written once all other content has been created since it will include every plot twist and gameplay from beginning to end.

1. Narrative Designer

Narrative designing is a mix of game designing and writing where you come up with the foundational story, subplots, character bios and backstories, general lore, and everything in between.

It also falls on the narrative designer to document game worlds, levels, missions, quests, and the actions a player can take.

Overall, a narrative designer develops a story experience that a player should have and presents it to a team of graphic designers, animators, sound engineers, and others involved in game development.

You’re most likely going to work on a particular game on a per-project basis.

If you’re serious about pursuing this career path, there are courses offered in colleges, universities, and online schools like Coursera and

2. Scriptwriter

The focus of a game scriptwriter is the dialogue by the characters. The main responsibility of the scriptwriter is to ensure that the dialogue at any point in the game adheres to the game narrative.

They usually write in flowcharts to make sure they have scripts for every possible action done by the player and every possible scenario that results from that action.

It involves less interaction with your colleagues who are involved in the mechanics and gameplay. You’re more likely to work with the game director or probably even the narrative designer, who would be checking your progress and guiding you until you complete the project.

Jobs That Involve Writing ABOUT Video Games

On the other hand, if you want to write from an outsider’s perspective, that is, as someone who plays and enjoys video games, there are plenty of opportunities to write about these video games.

Think contributors to Gamespot, 1Up, Polygon, and other similar gaming sites.

Most of the time, these writers are gamers themselves, which makes them quite the pro when it comes to writing about video games.

Here are writing gigs that you might be interested in.

3. Write news and previews about upcoming video games

Use your writing skills to spread news and updates about soon-to-be-released video games.

No opinions needed here yet, so just pull out your 4Ws and 1H (who, what, where, why, and how), reporting news as they come in.

Previews are also made available by video game companies to the right writers (i.e., the popular ones) to garner publicity for their games.

4. Write reviews of recently released video games

Reviews are more personal.

You’d have to play the video game and experience the story firsthand before you can pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of a particular game.

There’s a special kind of writing skill to become a critic. Google the late, great John Peter Bain, more popularly known as ‘TotalBiscuit’ to know if you’ve got what it takes to become a video game reviewer.

5. Write tutorials about a particular video game

Game tutorials are challenging to write because you’d have to be a phenomenal gamer, or involved in the production of that game to be able to release a tutorial quickly after the release of a game.

If you’re not in a rush and prefer to write “the go-to tutorial of all tutorials,” then it’s totally up to you.

6. Write strategy guides for video games

Strategy guides are more focused on particular levels or scenarios in the game.

Players can’t get that all-important power up? Or can’t defeat a specific boss?

Help them do it.

Create a strategy guide for them and maybe even share some cheat codes to help other players just like you to complete that game.

As players would likely be searching online articles, it helps to be familiar with SEO so that your strategy guide comes up when players search the right keywords.

Work For a Company Or Go Freelance?

The cool thing about writing previews, news, reviews, and tutorials of a game is that you can eventually be your own boss by starting a blog and generating income from it, starting your own YouTube channel, writing an e-book, and following other passive income generating techniques.

Or you can find an online magazine like Gamespot and apply to become a video game writer.

You’d be surprised just how many websites are trying to get a piece of the gaming industry reporting pie.

If you land a job with any of these gaming media, expect an average salary of $70,000 per year.

Expanding Your Skill Beyond Video Game Writing Jobs

The video game designer job market is expected to grow by double digits over the next five years. Imagine how many games are scheduled to be developed, released, and played in that time.

The amazing thing about writing for the video game industry is that they are open to people wearing multiple hats, especially those wanting to make money playing video games.

A game designer can be the scriptwriter, the scriptwriter can be a game programmer, and so on. If you’re already a part of the industry, take this opportunity to learn other skills.

Not only will expanding your skillset help you become an inch closer to a video game director job (if you wanted to), but you’re also increasing your value to an employer.

Combine your passion for writing with a live stream, and you’ve got an excellent way to make money on Twitch as well.

Does being a video game writer sound exciting to you? Which one of these writing jobs interest you the most? Tell us in the comments!

100 Different Side Hustles to Fill Your Pockets with Cash

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Last Updated:June 12, 2020

In the past, when you looked for side hustles, you’d have to take in odd jobs like babysitting, car washing, newspaper delivery, lifeguarding, tutoring, shoveling snow, and a whole lot more.

Today, the internet has opened up a ton of side cash generating jobs – from those you can complete in under an hour (like answering surveys), to something a bit more complicated that requires advanced skills (like website development).

If you have some free time, you can make sure you have fast cash for an emergency expense that’s beyond your budget, or stow away for a rainy day.

Here are 100 easy ways to earn side cash without the need for a second full-time job.

Quick Online Tasks

If you’re constantly on the internet and you have a few minutes to spare every so often, there are quick and easy ways to make money with side hustles that won’t take too much of your time.

1. Answer short surveys

Third-party companies pay these survey companies to find out what consumers think about their products or services. Most get-paid-to-take-survey gigs let you earn points for every survey completed.

You can then choose to redeem these points for e-certificates, vouchers, gift cards, or real cash into your PayPal or bank account.

Tons of survey sites exist, but only a few legit survey sites are known to consistently pay its users.

2. Listen to music online

Listening to music seems too mundane to ever earn money from.

But there are a few ways to make money from this.

You can check out new music and earn points by rating and giving feedback on the artists’ work, or listen to Internet radio and get paid to subscribe or listen to ads, or let market research companies know what type of music you like listening to.

You’ll mostly earn cents per listened song, but this can add up quickly if you’re on the website for an entire day.

Here are just some of the ways you can get paid to listen to music.

3. Perform micro jobs at Clickworker

There’s no advanced skill needed for becoming a pro at Clickworker.com.

You have the potential to earn $5 to $20 per hour on easy tasks, but the competition is fierce and task availability may be few and far between.

4. Perform data mining or research for Microworkers

The quick jobs that Microworkers offer are more complex than surveys and filling out CAPTCHA forms. You’ll need a bit of internet marketing knowledge to perform assignments.

Get a chance to earn points from tasks like data mining or tagging, content evaluation, research, and more.

5. Play Online Games and more with Swagbucks

Swagbucks gives you $5 just for signing up. From there, you can earn SwagBucks (its virtual currency) from a wide range of activities such as playing games, online shopping, taking surveys, etc. The SwagBucks you collect are redeemable for coupons, gift cards, and other goodies.

6. Join Amazon as an mTurk worker

Common tasks in Amazon’s micro job site include image verification and tagging, as well as data gathering, verification, and processing.

You’ll be overloaded with a ton of tasks, so you have to install a few tools to keep mTurk assignments organized and free from scams.

The best thing about this platform is that there is plenty of work to be done, priced at cents to dollars a pop.

7. Sell photos taken from your phone

It’s an interesting concept—take a photo using your smartphone, upload it into the Foap app, and share 50/50 profit with Foap whenever your photo gets sold for $10 in their marketplace.

If you’ve got a flair for photography and eye for unique subjects, learn how to earn side cash with Foap.

8. Make money with memes

Is your meme game strong? Do you love spotting, sharing, or creating photos, videos, GIFs, or other content that most likely get reactions from people?

Running an Instagram meme page or a YouTube meme compilation channel are easy ways to make money from memes. Being a freelance meme maker can also put some cash in your pocket.

Here’s how you can earn side cash from memes.

9. Assess search engine performance

You don’t have to be a master programmer to assess if Google’s search results provide value to you (the searcher) or not.

You only have to check if ads posted on websites or search engines are relevant, or if the search results are actually relevant to the keywords you search for.

This job is rare but pays by the hour when available. Here are some search engine evaluator jobs you can apply for.

10. Join crowdsourced contests

If you’re a creative who’s up for a challenge and looking to constantly hone your skills, joining online contests gives you this opportunity plus the chance to earn rewards, gift cards, or cash for your trouble.

Crowdsourced contests are available for writers, graphic designers, video creators, data scientists, or even those who are awesome at idea generation or branding.

11. Download apps that offer rewards or cash

There are tons of apps geared at gathering information from users in exchange for discounts, rewards, or cash.

For instance, ibotta is an app that finds coupons and discounts for you, such that you pay less for items you were going to buy anyway. In exchange, they get to know a bit about your purchasing habits, such as where you shop and what you shop for.

Here are more apps that you can download and use when appropriate.

12. Perform data entry tasks

Data entry jobs are still sometimes used by scammers to get hold of people’s cash.

Since many are desperate to work from home in the past, they were duped into paying for a list of companies that offer data entry jobs. Now, the scams have evolved to ask people to pay to get a job.

If you ever encounter one of these websites, run away. You should never have to pay a legitimate company to work for them.

That said, here are legit companies that actually pay on an hourly or per output basis.

13. Install the Nielsen App to earn $50 yearly

The Nielsen Computer & Mobile panel is a platform to get connected with Nielsen Digital. By registering on this site and installing the app, you’ll be paid $50 every year. What’s great is that you’ll also have the chance of winning prizes, since Nielsen gives away $10k in prizes each month.

Writing Gigs

If you’re a writer or an aspiring one, these gigs may be the right ones for you. Here are some side hustles through writing.

14. Jingle writer

Do you think you’ve got the chops for making these jingles commercial? Got cleverly made-up jingles stuck in your head for weeks? Know what makes an earworm?

You can make some money from writing jingles for various companies and brands. In fact, if you turn this into a full-time job, it’s possible to make $10,000 per jingle.

15. Contributing writer

If you don’t have a steady, full-time writing job, writing articles for other blogs and websites can make you some side cash while you’re building your writing career.

16. Legal writer

It’s not easy for laymen to craft legal documents, so if you have a law background or a special passion curating legal content, use this knowledge to earn some side cash.

Sites like Quimbee (pays $25 for a quick summary) or LegalMatch (pays $10.50/hour) can help you if you’re starting out, plus you can explore other sites that offer legal writing jobs if you want to expand your reach.

17. Copywriter

Online advertising is one of the most effective techniques of targeting online customers, and is therefore big business.

If you know how to persuade and entice people to purchase, subscribe, or do other actions through your writing, copywriting gigs could quickly make you some money.

Sites such as Copify ($30 per 500 words) and Contently ($15 per hour) can help you earn some side cash. Here are more copywriter jobs you can apply for.

18. Editor/Proofreader

Correcting and improving other writers’ work may be more up your alley, and there is plenty of work to go around, as internet writers put out content at a high rate.

Those who have a passion for proofreading or editing, with or without experience, can get proofreading jobs.

19. Poet

It’s time to dispel the trope of the penniless poet.

If poetry is flowing through your veins, let it run wild and earn from them on the side. You’d be amazed at how many sites and magazines are willing to pay people for their poems. You can earn from $25 to over $1,000, depending on the policies of the site you decide to join.

20. Short Story Writer

Fiction writers need not feel out of place. There are legit literary sites that will willingly buy your short stories and other fictional works for $100 or more.

21. Online Dating Ghostwriter

Online dating can be tough, which is why many people hire others to “write” or “fix” their online dating profiles. If you’re an awesome writer who can turn any person’s voice and goals into words that are able to attract other people, then this gig may be for you.

22. Blogger

Of the rest of the writing gigs here, blogging is the one that can open up opportunities for you beyond writing.

You can talk about anything under the sun on a blog. From diary-like life experiences to business informative posts, everyone has something they’re interested in.

What’s amazing about blogging is that aside from allowing you to practice and hone your writing skills, you can monetize most of your interests, with some exceptions (nudity, guns, cigarettes, and so on).

Teaching Gigs

Educating people on certain subjects or demonstrating how to do certain tasks can bring in some cash. Here are some teaching and tutoring gigs that you can do.

23. ESL teacher

Some websites require you to be a native English speaker or have some kind of teaching experience, but most ESL tutor sites just look for people with a passion for teaching English.

This job is paid hourly (from $10 to $50+ per hour depending on experience), so the amount you could potentially earn depends on how much free time you’re willing to spend teaching.

24. Homework tutor

You can help students and earn at the same time if you’re willing to tutor someone with his/her homework.

The average fee per hour is around $20, but this rate could go lower or higher depending on your educational credentials (those with a teaching or master’s degree earn higher), the site you decide to join, as well as the subject/s you teach.

For instance, tutoring grade school students on their math homework would pay lower than tutoring high school or college students on calculus.

25. Personal trainer

Here’s another soul-fulfilling, money-making side gig for anyone with expert-level knowledge about diet, fitness, weight loss, and everything in between.

You can offer online one-on-one or group coaching lessons to people interested in losing weight. You can eventually turn this into a long-term business if you have the passion and the drive to maintain it.

Here’s how to become an online personal trainer.

26. Life coach

If you’re able to guide a friend or a few through their rough patches in life, there’s a good chance you can earn from being a life coach. Unlike therapists that require credentials, consider a life coach as a best friend whose main goal is to ensure you deal with your specific problem through the end.

You can get started with Vida (for health-related coaching), AskMarsVenus (relationships niche), or Tony Robbins (business coaching).

You can also check out our article on how life coaching gigs can turn into passive income if you like life coaching enough to do it long-term.

27. Video course instructor

Anyone with a unique idea, invention, or knowledge can earn money by sharing it with the world.

You can start a YouTube or Vimeo channel and upload short video lessons during your free time.

For more complicated topics, you can create a Udemy course bit by bit, either text-based or video, and then market your online course.

28. Technical writer

If you’re into technical subjects like software development, DevOps, production systems, and other related topics, you can earn from $50 to $100 on regular tutorials and even more for longer or more specialized pieces.

Check out sites like Digital Ocean, IONOS DevOps Central, Clubhouse, Honeybadger, and more. Many of the higher-priced gigs require technical writing skills, so this may not be suitable for everyone.

Graphic Design Gigs

Plenty of companies are offering jobs to graphic designers and visual artists. Here are some graphic design gigs that may be an easy way for you to make some side cash.

29. Branding and marketing designer

Plenty of companies have a need for a branding and marketing designer to help translate their companies’ mission, vision, products, and services into images.

From creating logos, banners, and hero images for websites, which take a few hours to make, to creating an entire WordPress theme complete with iconography, fonts, and background images, which can take a few weeks to months to finish, the possibilities are endless.

You can find this type of gig in freelance job boards like Fiverr, and especially on job boards that cater specifically to graphic designers, such as Behance, Dribbble, or 99designs.

The earning potential in this line of work varies depending on your skills and how much time you can spend looking for projects, possibly bidding on them, and doing the actual work.

30. Caricaturist

Here’s another gig for the artsy.

If you’re gifted with caricature skills and can easily turn any face or picture into a cartoon, you can earn somewhere from $20 to $500 on various projects posted on job boards, such as Freelancer, Guru, Upwork, and more.

31. Webcomic artist

Webcomics have been increasing in popularity in recent years, thanks to crowdfunding sites and social media.

Webcomic artists can now also earn side cash by selling merchandise with their webcomics printed on them. Passive income can also come from building a blog or offering your webcomics via a subscription service.

32. Custom artist/designer

For artists struggling to make enough income, there’s a special place on Fiverr.com for creatives like you.

You can custom-draw pets in Disney style for $15 to $45 per order, or paint a client’s portrait on canvas. You can also design personalized wall art, word art, or even jewelry.

This gives you the artistic freedom to conceptualize and create while earning some cash out of it.

33. Animator

Know how to do 2D, 3D, or stop-motion animation? You can easily make $50 to $500 per project, maybe even thousands of dollars, depending on the complexity and quality required from you and the overall size of the project.

You can find such gigs or jobs in Animation Jobs, Animation World Network, Animation Career Review, and Netflix Animation.

34. Tattoo designer

Tattoos stay on one’s skin forever. When one decides to have a tattoo done, they’ll want to have their vision turned into reality by a tattoo designer who knows what they’re doing.

You can offer your tattoo design services on job marketplaces, such as the ever-reliable Fiverr or 99designs, as well as on websites specifically dedicated to graphic artists who offer tattoo design and artistry, such as Tattoo Designs by Designhill, Custom Tattoo Design, or Tattoo Designs by DesignCrowd.

35. Print-on-demand designer

If you have a knack for designing eye-catching images for t-shirts, tote bags, hoodies, mugs, pens, pillows, phone covers, and the like, you can make that into a regular gig by joining print-on-demand (PoD) websites as a designer.

Here are some PoD sites you can join to help you get started.

Audio and Video Gigs

Written and visual content aren’t the only formats out there. In fact, audio and video content are equally, if not more, popular forms of content nowadays. There are plenty of audio- and video-related gigs that you can do to make some quick side cash.

36. Transcriber

Is your hand-ear coordination super-fast? Can you type spoken words quickly and accurately? Then maybe transcription gigs are a good fit for you.

Jobs are paid from $15 to over $100 per audio hour. Note that the industry standard for completing the transcript for an audio hour is four hours, but beginners might take longer.

Here are some companies offering remote transcription jobs.

37. Closed captioner

Closed captioning is the process of displaying the dialogue, sound effects, musical cues, and other audio information in text format on television programs and movies that assist the deaf and hard of hearing in comprehending what’s happening onscreen.

If you’re adding doing offline captioning, that is, adding closed captions to pre-recorded videos, you’ll have to be precise in applying the time codes so that the text is displayed at just the right time. Beginners can earn from $10 to $15 per hour.

By contrast, if you’re doing real-time captioning of live shows or events, you’ll have to be a next-level transcriber. Usually, the only ones who qualify are court reporters, who are able to drum out words at a minimum of 180 wpm. These captioners can earn up to $150 an hour.

Take a look at these companies that hire closed captioners.

38. Voice-over artist

Anyone blessed with a perfectly modulated voice and excellent diction and enunciation can work as a voice-over artist and read audiobooks, narrate commercials or documentaries, introduce podcast hosts, outline IVE phone options, and many more.

You can earn somewhere between $100 to over $500 just for a 5-minute voice-over project.

The complexity, application process, and payment depend on which voice-over site you join.

39. Singer

Unless you’re one of the lucky ones, having an amazing singing voice doesn’t automatically translate to fame and fortune.

Singing can be a pretty lucrative side gig, though. From singing a love song while a guy proposes to his girlfriend, to singing for a demo track, or adding backup vocals to an existing song, you can offer your services on various job marketplaces.

And if you’ve got the singing chops, there are plenty of side cash opportunities for you.

40. Musician

Similar to singing, being a musician doesn’t necessarily translate to fame and fortune.

You can still earn some quick cash, though. You can work as a session musician, or as a music producer or composer. You can even transcribe music into sheet music, guitar tabs, or a midi file.

Here are some more jobs online jobs for musicians you might be interested in.

41. Podcaster

Podcasting has increased in popularity in recent years, and as the audiences grow, so does the number of podcasts.

Think of a topic that is interesting to many people, and if you are articulate, witty, and charming, you can start your own podcast.

Podcasting is a fulltime job for some, but if you’re only starting out or have a day job, you can do this as a part-time gig first.

42. Viral video creator

If you’ve ever been the life of a party, or the subject of a viral video, you might be pleased to know that this can turn into a lucrative side job.

Because you’re the one crafting ideas and recording the viral video for your clients, you need to know what’s popular, how to turn your ideas into reality, and how to bring the house down with your performance.

Need ideas on how to earn from viral videos? Check tons of viral video gig examples here.

43. YouTube vlogger

Love taking videos of yourself, your life, your experiences, your skills? Upload as many videos on YouTube as you can, then apply for the YouTube Partner Program. Once you’re approved, you’ll be able to earn cash from views on each of your uploaded videos.

The good thing is that you can just take videos and upload them whenever you have free time. A committed schedule would be preferable, but it’s not strictly mandatory.

Web & Mobile Development Gigs

Website development is another field that offers many lucrative side gigs. Here are a few to get you started.

44. Website tester

You can get paid to test a website’s usability, search feature, layout, ad placement, and more. You can even review a site’s logo, design, and content, or discover bugs in exchange of a fee. There are over a dozen companies that pay to test websites from $5 and up.

45. Video game tester

For many people, testing video games is the job of their dreams. The competition to land these jobs is fierce, but they’re real if you know where to look. If this is something you’d be interested in, check this guide on how to avoid scams and discover which companies to stalk for video game testing gigs.

46. Web developer

For those with experience coding websites from scratch, using Shopify to build a secure online store, or mixing and matching WordPress themes and plugins to craft a unique website, there are plenty of online opportunities for you to make side cash quickly. You can even offer to take over a web dev project or create custom plugins for a site.

Internet Marketing and Social Media Gigs

Digital marketing is big right now and will continue to be in the foreseeable future since everything lives on the internet nowadays. This field offers plenty of fulltime opportunities, but also plenty of side hustles.

47. Email marketer

Email campaigns can be pre-written for future marketing use, so those with a flair for writing can find work as an email marketer on the side. It’s a lucrative gig (where you can earn $30 to $50 per hour) and you have the option of accepting one-off projects or a full-time contract.

48. Internet marketer for local businesses

With everything going digital, some brick-and-mortar companies are dying, not because their products are bad, but because they’re unable to compete with technologically advanced companies.

You can earn cash by helping local businesses build their online presence, understand how search engines work, take advantage of social media, and compete even in the online world.

49. Branding strategist

It doesn’t matter if you’re not yet adapted to modern internet marketing. As long as you have a marketing background and you know what it takes to build successful branding, you can earn side cash creating company taglines, product logos, business names, brand stories, and more.

The branding packages you can offer can be as simple as brainstorming business names for $5, or as complex as identifying company mission/vision, product color templates, logos, taglines, product description and more.

50. Website traffic consultant

Getting traffic to websites is a science. You need to achieve the right balance of paid advertising, organic traffic, and multiple marketing and SEO techniques to achieve traffic goals. Factor in the ever-changing rules set by search engine giants like Google to the mix and this job becomes super challenging.

If you know the ins and outs of internet marketing or search engine optimization, you can offer to help companies with their increasing organic website traffic. The commitment level or duration of the project is completely up to you.

51. Affiliate marketer

Probably the most effective way of earning cash daily is through affiliate marketing.

However, this requires hard work in the beginning, before you can actually call it a full-time online business. To succeed in affiliate marketing, you’ll need a blog, a topic you love, and a bit of guidance from experienced affiliate marketers.

52. Social media manager

If you’re a pro at all social media platforms, you’re already one step closer to making money online as a social media manager.

There’s quick cash to be made in this line of work, especially for brands that do not have an online presence yet, since you’d be creating social media accounts and gathering followers for each platform. The amount you earn, however, depends on the duration of the contract and the specific tasks assigned to you.

53. Social media strategist

A social media strategist is another social media job that involves assessing the current social media strategy of a company or business and sets relevant goals, draws up plans to meet those goals, and implements those plans with the help of their clients and social media managers.

This requires extensive knowledge of how social media works and how to analyze data.

Virtual Assistant Gigs

Virtual assistants are exactly what they sound like—they help companies or individuals from online instead of going to a physical office. Depending on the tasks assigned to you and the skills that you can offer, this can be a pretty quick way to earn some cash.

54. General virtual assistant

General VAs are personal assistants, secretaries, and office administrators all rolled into one, who work online.

The basic online skills that general VAs need to have include research, data entry and analysis, typing, email management, calendar management, bookkeeping, report making, and personal online errands. Thus, this kind of gig is great for people just beginning to work from home jobs.

Read more about how to become a jack-of-all-trades virtual assistant.

55. Travel agent

If you want to dip your toes in the travel industry, being a travel agent can be a great gig.

Travel agents plan and book business trips and holidays for their clients. Being a freelance travel agent can be an easy way to make money since you get to decide which clients to take and how much time you want to work per day.

This is a gig that has a great opportunity to become a full-time business as well, so this is a good first stepping stone.

You can learn everything you need to know about working as a travel agent here.

56. Travel itinerary planner

There are websites and applications that allow you to plan your own trip, but having an actual human who has gone to these places plan an itinerary is still preferable.

They have knowledge that no machine or app can ever match. Human itinerary planners can create highly personalized, specific itineraries, such as a 5-day family-friendly trip on a budget. Plus, you don’t have to book the trip; your clients can either take your itinerary to their travel agent or make the travel arrangements themselves.

Read more about how to offer custom travel itineraries.

57. Tax return preparer

Those with an accounting background with a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) can help other people prepare tax returns. It’s a great way to earn money during tax season without having to quit your day job.

58. Document translator

Companies or individuals who work with people in other countries will have a need for a document translator. If you know 2 or more languages, this can be a nice-paying gig for you.

We’ve listed some legit companies known to pay for translation work.

59. Customer service representative

If you’ve been in the customer service industry and have had experiences in taking calls, answering e-mails, manning live chats, and so on, you’d be thrilled to know you can jump in and join various companies, provide customer service and earn even while doing it as a sideline.

Payments range from $5 to $25 per hour, depending on the company or agent experience. Some jobs even offer commissions.

60. Online recruiter/headhunter

If you have a knack for being able to find job hunters with the right job openings in the right companies, being a freelance online recruiter may be for you. This is also one of those gigs that can turn into a full-time job or a business.

Work with a legitimate recruitment system and you’ll find yourself with a side gig that pays. Check out Recruiter.com, which offers recruiter training and certification.

61. Non-voice customer service agent

Customer service jobs that require you to talk to people over the phone demand a quiet workplace, a high-quality, noise-canceling headset and mic, and a personality that can handle it.

Unfortunately, not everyone has all of the above.

Fortunately, non-voice customer service jobs exist. You can work as a chat or email agent instead. Salaries range from $8 to $20 per hour depending on the company.

62. Post on Forums

Some companies pay people to post on forums and jump-start conversations within the threads. Believe it or not, many of the marketing forums you know started with paid posters. Today, you can still earn quick cash as a forum poster, especially if the aim is to build backlinks to a certain website.

Sell Stuff for Extra Cash

If you’re not interested in working for other people, one of the easiest ways of making extra cash is by selling stuff you already have or can source, items you created by hand, or digital products you think other people would need.

63. Sell things you don’t need anymore on eBay

eBay remains a popular buy/sell marketplace where you can discard your pre-loved items without leaving the house. If you’re not a fan of garage sales, then you can sell old clothes, vintage items, and other things you’re willing to let go of. For those interested in a long-term eBay business, learn how to start your own eBay consignment biz.

64. Sell crafts on Etsy

Those who have bouts of creative streaks and piled up projects in the garage shouldn’t just leave their homemade blankets, handmade lamp, and so on to gather dust. Instead, make quick cash by selling your art and crafts at Etsy.

There’s a ton of sub-niches in that lively artsy community, so it’s easy to build your own special space on Etsy.

65. Sell on Amazon

If you have products to sell but don’t want to have to quit your day job, you can become an Amazon seller with FBA fulfillment by Amazon.

This is also perfect for those who have no capital yet to fund a complete operation that handles shipping, customer service, marketing, logistics, and everything else.

66. Flip furniture

Flipping furniture can be an easy, lucrative gig if you have an eye for worn, damaged furniture and the skills to transform them into functional works of art.

Here’s how to start flipping furniture and making side cash without having to quit your fulltime job.

67. Sell meal plans

Whether you successfully lost weight by following a diet plan, have a medical background, or a fan of healthy eating, you can customize and sell meal plans to clients. You can even create and offer meal plans for specific conditions, such as diabetes, childhood obesity, or food allergies.

You can sell your meal plans on Etsy or your own website.

68. Sell Microsoft Excel spreadsheets

Microsoft Excel may not be the best spreadsheet software there is, but it’s certainly the most popular because of its flexibility. You can create templates for financial records, calendars, to-do lists, events planning, business planning, household organization, and so much more.

You can sell your spreadsheets on Etsy, SpreadsheetNut, or on your own website.

69. Sell lesson plans

Anyone with a teaching background can create lesson plans and sell them to other teachers who might not have the time to make one from scratch. Would you ever imagine that this kind of side gig can earn you a six-figure income? Read up on some success stories and discover how you can replicate these teachers’ success with selling lesson plans.

70. Sell mobile apps

Even if there are thousands of mobile apps already on Google Play and Apple Store, the app industry is still worth billions of dollars.

Aside from the ability to conceptualize applications that people are willing to pay for, app development requires advanced programming skills and business savvy to market the app after launch.

71. Sell WordPress plugins

Those who use and love WordPress can easily spot problems that need solving. If you find an issue that you think can be resolved with a plugin, create that plugin and sell it to the highest bidder. You can also seek custom WP plugin jobs via Fiverr.com for a guaranteed sale.

72. Sell artwork

Being a talented artist means being able to design various collectibles, such as vinyl stickers, canvas art, stencils, sewing patterns, jewelry, and other artwork. You can sell your own designs and then accept custom work when your popularity increases.

You can also design and sell seasonal items such as calendars, planners, posters, wall art, greeting cards, printables, and other season-specific items.

If drawing comics or cartoons is more your style, there’s always a market for pop art, portraits, anime, pencil sketch, or any other drawing styles.

Sell your art or commission services on artwork marketplaces such as DeviantArt, Imagekind, or Zazzle.

73. Sell hand-calligraphed items

Writing old school is in and lucrative, which is great because calligraphy is an expensive hobby: the inks, pens, nibs, markers, special papers, and other necessary tools all cost a pretty penny.

Hand-calligraphed items, such as posters with You can create posters with inspirational quotes, vinyl stickers with witty sayings, holiday cards, and many more.

Your craft is also very much in demand for weddings: invitations, place cards, bride-and-groom wineglasses, favor tags, thank-you cards, and sometimes even the menus.

Do it part-time for quick cash, or maybe turn calligraphy into a full-time job in the future.

74. Sell your fonts

If you know calligraphy and hand-lettering, you might be able to make fonts out of them.

Font makers can earn quick cash by selling their fonts to buyers directly. If there’s no buyer biting your bait, you can always go for font retailers such as FontShop.com, Fonts.com, or Linotype.com—all of which pay creators 50% with every font sale.

75. Sell WordPress themes

Make use of your Photoshop and advanced programming skills by creating WordPress themes. If you’re lucky and your WP theme fills a void missing in the WordPress space, then you’ll be able to sell the theme quickly. Note that unless you sell your rights to the theme, you’re going to handle customer service and helpdesk for your theme’s clients.

You can sell your WordPress themes on Themeforest, TemplateMonster, or Creative Market.

76. Flip domains

It may be 2020, but there are hidden gems yet to be registered as domain names. If you’re creative, have a knack for words, and know a thing or two about getting traffic to a newly built website, then flipping domains can still be a lucrative side gig for you.

77. Sell old stuff

If your house is filled with various stuff you no longer use, don’t automatically throw them in the trash. You can sell them on various websites, such as Decluttr (for phones and other electronics), Poshmark (for clothes), and BOXSMART (for boxes).

Here are other everyday things you can get paid to recycle.

78. Sell stock photos

Got an eye for photography? If your camera is your go-to gadget everywhere you go, there’s a good chance you’ve taken hundreds of photos that are worthy to be sold as stock photos.

Here are plenty of other ways to earn side cash from taking photographs.

79. Sell Pokemon cards

Pokemon has had a resurgence lately, so if you have any old but mint-condition Pokemon cards lying around, you might want to make quick cash off them. Here’s a guide on how to sell your Pokemon cards.

80. Sell baseball cards

If you’re more of a baseball fan than a Pokemon fan, there’s also a market for your baseball cards! Do your best to keep your baseball cards in marketable condition so you can get as much cash for them as possible.

81. Sell vinyl records

Vinyl records are also making a comeback, so if you have some vintage vinyl records in your basement or in the attic, it’s worth checking them out and finding out if they’re worth anything. Learn how to sell vinyl records here.

Simple Offline Side Hustles

I did mention that errands are the classic side hustles, but they are still quick ways of making money. Even if they’re offline tasks, you’re still aided by technology. Here are some examples.

82. Be a secret shopper

In mystery shopping, you have to physically go to a store and rate the store’s layout, how the staff handled customer service, upselling/marketing skills, store cleanliness, product knowledge of the staff, and other criteria listed on the job description.

Aside from cash (about $5 to $20 per job), you may also be gifted the product you “had” to buy from the mystery shopping assignment.

Here’s where to get the best secret shopper jobs.

83. Earn while you travel

Whether you’re on a quick run to your local grocery store or touring another country, you can download a couple of apps and take advantage of rewards they’re offering in exchange for luggage space (Airmule), or answering travel-related surveys and doing other travel-related tasks (Field Agent).

84. Deliver packages

A lot of car owners are using their cars as an Uber and making money from it.

But if you’re not willing to do ridesharing, how about delivering other people’s packages while on your way to work, to the school, to the grocery, or elsewhere you’d normally pass anyway?

Roadie and Amazon Flex follow the same concept—it lets people make money by delivering packages to destinations that are within your commute.

Roadie and Amazon Flex match drivers with packages, and these gigs pay somewhere between $10 to $50 for local trips and over $500 for long-distance delivery.

85. Deliver cars from one point to another

If you know how to drive and how to follow directions or a map, you can deliver cars from point A to point B. You can make $300 to $400 per vehicle you move. If you need to make some quick cash, this can be a good gig.

Here’s all you need to know about delivering cars.

86. Shop and deliver groceries

Grocery shopping can be a pain in the butt for busy people. So help these people by becoming a personal grocery shopper and earn some cash doing it. You can join websites such as Instacart and Postmates.

Instacart and Postmates are available in the major cities in all 50 states. The average take-home pay of personal shopper is around $15/hour, plus tips and bonuses. This can go up or down depending on the distances of your deliveries, how many deliveries you make, and the places your clients order from.

87. Remind people to take their meds

Pleio is a site that reminds its clients to take their medication and help out with basic prescription-related questions. You can be a GoodStart Mentor and earn an hourly wage from home while helping other people follow a good routine with their medication.

Everyday Stuff

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to earn some cash from the mundane things one has to do? That’s probably the quickest way to make money. Here are some everyday tasks you do that can earn you some side cash.

88. Watch TV

It sounds like a scam, but there are actually ways to get paid to watch TV or online videos the whole day. Check out our list of simple ways to make money from watching TV.

89. Eat

You can now get paid for indulging your taste buds. What a time to be alive, yes?

Read up on just some of the ways you can get paid to eat.

90. Walk

Almost all the ways to get paid to walk are fitness-related, but some of them involve walking to do some nearby errands.

91. Text

If you can hold your own in a text conversation, this might be one of the simplest ways to make money. Here are a few gigs to get you started.

92. Hang out

Yup, you can get paid to hang out… in somebody else’s house.

House-sitting is an underrated way to earn money. You’ll normally be assigned some tasks to do in the house, but it should be nothing more than what you’d be doing in your own house. You can negotiate your pay for extra tasks, such as pet-sitting and forwarding their mail.

Unusual Ways to Earn Extra Money Online

There is a place for everyone on the internet, even for the strangest, most unique jobs. Check out these unusual, but definitely real, ways to earn money online.

93. Model

Whether you’ve offered to model a product, dress up in cosplay, or pose for a professional photo shoot, there’s a company or marketing firm that may just bite. Just take a look at the hundreds of models-for-hire on Fiverr to see that both men and women can turn this into a money-making side gig.

94. Fortune teller

If you’re a professional palmist or fortune teller, you can offer your fortune-telling services online for as low as $5 for a quick psychic reading to over $100 (predicting specifics such as marriage or future employment).

95. Lose weight

Yes, you can get paid for losing weight or getting healthy. For instance, the app Achievement, but this one gives you points for walking, eating healthy food, and so on. Once you get 10k points, you can convert them into $10.

96. Recommend business names

If you’re good at making up catchy names or products, you can earn quick cash by recommending business names. You have to compete with other people for the best names though, so only join if you’ve got time on your hands and your naming game is strong.

97. Decide on a case

Online mock juries are used by attornies and jury consultants to gauge jury reaction to defendants, witnesses, evidence, and other aspects of a case that can affect the outcome of a trial so that they can formulate a convincing legal strategy.

You don’t volunteer to become part of an online mock jury, but if you register with companies that pay people to participate in mock trials, you can be chosen to join. Payment ranges somewhere between $10 and $50 per case.

98. Be a Friend

People move to other places in the country, and sometimes it’s daunting to explore a new city all by themselves. Or maybe people merely want some company during the weekends to do something together, like watch movies, visit an art gallery, picnic at a park, and other normally mundane activities.

If you feel you can be a good friend and companion, check out our guide on Rent-A-Friend and start getting paid to help others.

99. Cuddle

Lack of human contact and interaction has been shown to be harmful to our mental and physical health.

Some people resort to dating apps, while others pay professional cuddlers to simply embrace them and talk to them, with no other expectations and messy entanglements.

If you’re a hugger and don’t mind platonic touch and small talk, this can be an easy side hustle for you.

100. Sleep

Getting paid to sleep is not as easy as it sounds. You’ll have to have a physical exam, a psych exam, and other exams just to make sure you can participate in the sleep studies. You’ll also have to contend with having to wear equipment, possibly keeping a diary, and being isolated.

But at the end of the tunnel, you can get paid up to $6,000 for a 5-day study, and $10,000 or higher for a 30-day study.

Choose a gig and start making side cash!

Isn’t it awesome that the present work-from-home environment is so widely accepted by small to big companies that they make part-time, full-time, or freelance gigs available throughout the year?

I hope you can find something that fits your skillset from this huge list of online gigs and earn side cash whenever you need it.

How To Start A Podcast & Earn Serious Cash

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Published On: May 19, 2020

You’ve probably subscribed to a few podcasts, or at least listened to a few.

If so, you’re far from alone.

Over 90 million Americans listen to a podcast once a month, and the numbers are projected to grow each year.

As the audience grows, and so does the number of podcasts available.

Should you add to these podcasts and publish your own?

In today’s blog post, you’ll learn all the reasons why starting a podcast is good for your business and your brand. You’ll also get a step-by-step guide on how to start a podcast.

Why Start A Podcast?

You might be wondering if starting a podcast is even worth it, especially if you have a small online business with not a lot of capital or cash on hand.

But these are some of the reasons why starting a podcast for your business is a good idea.

Podcasting can increase your traffic.

Podcasting gives you the opportunity to reach out to new audiences who might not be fond of reading blog posts or watching videos.

When listeners subscribe to your podcast, they may recommend your podcast to other listeners who may be interested in what you have to offer.

These are new listeners that can potentially become new customers of your business.

Podcasting strengthens your relationship with your existing audience.

Widening your reach is important, but keeping your customers and your existing audience is just as, if not more, important.

A monthly or weekly episode of your podcast keeps your subscribers updated and invested in your content and your business.

Podcasting is a great alternative to video marketing.

In terms of digital marketing, video marketing is superior. Videos are indeed the content of the future.

However, not everyone is comfortable being on camera, or have the skills or resources to create high-quality videos.

In this case, something is better than nothing; podcasts are better than having no digital marketing strategy.

Podcasting is simple to start.

You can order the equipment today, get them tomorrow, download the software, and you can start right away.

Podcasting is popular.

Podcasts are a welcome alternative to written and video content, mainly because listeners can engage with audio content while multitasking.

When reading articles or watching videos, you have to set aside time and attention to be involved in the content.

Podcasting gives you a chance to add to your revenue stream.

The main purpose of podcasting for your business is to promote your own products and services.

But as we’ve tackled in another article here, podcasting can earn you some cash by itself.

You can earn some extra income from your podcast through affiliate marketing with products and services related to your business.

As your podcast becomes more popular, you can also get sponsorship deals.

How To Start A Podcast

Now that you’re (hopefully) convinced that podcasting is beneficial, let’s go over a general overview of what a podcast involves, as well as the steps on how to start a podcast.

Generally, a podcast involves these three main stages:

Record episodes using your equipment and your computer.
Upload episodes to a podcasting host.
Promote podcast episodes.

Within these three stages are several steps to complete and factors to consider, so let’s dive in.

Step 1. Validate your podcast idea.

Since you already have a business that has a niche, you have a great deal of your work already done.

Even though you have a niche, consider what your target audience is looking for in a podcast.

Do they want expert advice? Do they want reviews about products or services in your niche? Or do they simply want to be entertained?

And you don’t want to go through producing an entire podcast only to find out that no one cares.

You can validate your idea by doing a Google search for podcasts using keywords related to your niche.

Doing this gives you an idea of what podcasts are already out there, which ones are successful, which ones are less successful, and what kind of podcast your audience needs that they don’t seem to be getting currently.

Think about the format of your podcast. Would you prefer to do solo podcasts, interviews, case studies, or do it with a co-host?

Step 2. Think of a podcast name, cover art, podcast description, and theme music.

These seem like superficial things to worry about, but these are the first few things that audiences will see and hear.

If your cover art looks low-quality, and your title isn’t interesting, listeners who’re scrolling through a podcast directory will just skip over yours.

When choosing a title, write down some titles with your target keywords and include descriptive words that give listeners an idea of what they can expect from you and your podcast.

Another aspect you’ll need to carefully select is your podcast’s cover art. Unless you’re an experienced graphic designer, it’s more advisable to commission one than to try to do it yourself.

Good cover art is easy to read, has the name of your podcast, contains images related to your topic, and uses an aesthetically pleasing color combination.

Make sure as well that it conforms to requirements of the podcast directories where you plan to submit your podcast.

You’ll also have to submit a podcast description, which is a short summary of what your podcast is all about and why people should listen to it.

Make sure you include relevant keywords in your podcast description and write something that’ll pique listeners’ interest.

Your intro and outro songs also matter. Catchy music does wonders for listeners’ attention spans.

If you’re working on a budget, you can search for free music on Free Music Archive, but if you have a few dollars to spare, you can try Audio Jungle or Stock Music Site.

When you go through this step, remember that starting a podcast for your business is going to be pointless unless someone listens to it, and a lot of times, you only get one chance to give a first impression and convince your audience to listen to your podcast.

Step 3. Gather your equipment.

Professional equipment can cost a pretty penny; you can expect to spring around $1,000 or more.

If you’re only starting out, it’s better to keep everything simple. You can get a decent set up for less than $300 if you choose right, and you can upgrade to more high-end equipment once you’re earning more.

Here are the essential types of equipment you’ll need to start a podcast and what to look for in each one.

Microphone

You can’t get away with using your laptop microphone or the built-in microphone from your Bluetooth headset.

A quality microphone decreases background noise and picks up the most important sound in a microphone: your voice.

Analog microphones are generally acknowledged to be the best type of microphone you can use, but these can cost you hundreds of dollars.

Plus, you’ll need an audio interface to digitize the sound for your computer, which is an extra cost.

For a balance between quality and cost, look for a mid-range USB microphone. It plugs directly to your computer and sound quality is acceptable for podcasting.

Accessories that you can use to reduce popping sounds (such as those that are made when making P, B, T, J, C, or K sounds) include foam windshields that you can fit over the microphone or a mesh pop shield to place between your mouth and the microphone.

Headphones

In theory, you can use earphones when working on your episodes.

But headphones are recommended because most of them are noise-canceling, allowing you to better hear yourself and your interviewee if you have one.

It’s also recommended to choose headphones that are closed-back and snug-fitting but comfortable such that you can wear them for hours.

Step 4. Download the necessary software.

You’ll need software for recording your podcast and for editing the audio files. Some software can be used as both recording and editing software, but you can also use separate software for recording and editing.

The most popular software options include Audacity (free) and GarageBand (free, Mac only).

Step 5. Select a podcast hosting provider.

A website hosting provider hosts your website, while podcast hosting providers hosts your podcast.

The difference is that podcast hosting providers use media servers; that is, they’re specifically designed to store large media files and support the high bandwidth needed to stream episodes or download them to their devices.

Consider the following factors:

Pricing. How much can you afford to spend, and is it worth it for what you’re getting?
User-friendliness. Some hosting providers are easier to work with than others. It’s not worth anything if you can’t use the interface.
Embeddable players. You might want to embed episodes of your podcasts in your blog or website.

The most popular ones are SoundCloud, Podbean, and Libsyn.

Step 6. Plan your podcast episodes.

At this point, decide how long each of your episodes should be.

A podcast episode usually ranges from 30 minutes to an hour, but you should plan this according to your planned topics and how long you can realistically talk about them.

Unless you’re an experienced speaker who knows how to wing it without veering off-topic and staying within your time limit, planning your episodes is the smart thing to do.

But writing a script and just reading it will make you come off sounding like a robot to your listeners. Not to mention it takes hours writing a script for a single half-hour episode.

You want your listeners to feel less like you’re giving a sermon and more like you’re actually having a conversation with them, even though it’s one-sided.

For this, you’ll want to write down a general topic, then bullet points of subtopics. Also indicate how many minutes you want to allot per bullet point.

Take the time to provide an opening and closing spiel for your episodes as well.

While you’re actually talking, it helps to have a timer in your peripheral vision so you can pace yourself. If you don’t get it right the first few times, don’t fret; you can always take care of it during editing.

When planning the content, it’s also smart to plan how often you can upload a new podcast. Consider what kind of schedule you can commit to.

You don’t need to upload a new episode every day, but you do need a consistent schedule.

A weekly podcast is a usual frequency, but you can also opt for a twice-weekly, twice-monthly, or monthly podcast.

Step 7. Record your podcast episodes.

After you’ve planned your episodes, you can finally start recording them.

Set up your equipment: plug in your microphone and your headphones, fire up your recording software, and start talking.

Doing a solo podcast might seem awkward at first because it feels like talking to yourself. Talking to a photo of someone you can imagine as your target audience, even if it’s just a stock photo, can help you feel like you’re actually talking to someone.

If you’re interviewing someone remotely, the usual way to do this is via Skype, while being recorded by a software, such as Pamela for Skype or MP3 Skype Recorder. They both have free versions, but it’s more advisable to use the paid ones.

Step 8. Edit your podcast episode.

Editing audio involves splicing together the intro, audio clips, and the outro, as well as any other audio files you need to include, like sound bites, songs, or advertisements.

It also involves refining the sound and eliminating as much background noise as possible.

Your editing process will vary, depending on the software you’re using. Browse video tutorials specific to your software on YouTube or Vimeo so there are screen captures and complete audio instructions.

Step 9. Publish your podcast episodes to your hosting provider.

This is a short step: simply upload your finished episodes to your podcast. The particulars will vary according to your hosting provider.

Step 10. Promote your podcast episodes.

Once you’ve uploaded your podcast to your hosting provider, you can now start getting listeners to your podcast.

First, upload your podcast to directories. Here are the main podcast directories where you can upload your episodes:

Then, if you have social media accounts related to your business, share links to your podcast and podcast episodes to your social media followers.

Also, if you have an email list, it’s worth spreading the word to your email subscribers as well.

And if your business has a website and a blog within it, create a blog post featuring your podcast episode. This works better if you can have the podcast episode transcribed because your blog readers would tend to expect text content when they visit your blog.

5 Ways to Earn Serious Cash from Podcating

Here are 5 ways successful personalities get to talk about the things they love, work from home, and make a killing podcasting:

1. Sponsorships

The most common way podcasters earn money is through sponsorships.

However, only popular podcasters are able to attract advertisers, since the main factors sponsors look for are traffic and audience number. Of course, sponsors would likely check the niche of podcasters to gauge if mentioning their products/services on the show would translate to successful conversion rates.

Some podcast hosts, such as Blubrry and Libsyn, include ad opportunities to shows. You can also find a service that connects you to advertisers. Midroll is a good example of this, but note that these types of services take a cut from your earnings. Podcasters earn a lot more if advertisers contact them directly for sponsorships.

Ad rates for podcasts follow the CPM (cost per impression) model. The average rate of 1,000 downloads come at $18 per 15-second pre-roll slot, or $25 per 60-second mid-roll slot. This can go higher depending on the number of audience a podcaster has. For instance, if a specific episode earns 20,000 listeners, the sponsor would need to pay you $500 for the 60-second ad.

2. Affiliate Marketing

The best thing about affiliate marketing is that if done right, it could give podcasters a passive income.

Like sponsorships, podcasters have different ways of implementing this into their show. The easiest would be to join affiliate programs from known retailers like Amazon. But if your show can’t fit in Amazon products into an episode, it’s best not to force it and opt for another way instead.

Commission Junction and other affiliate advertising networks also host a wide range of products and services that podcasters could promote “on air.”

But it’s important not to promote anything unrelated to your niche, or else it might be too obvious you’re taking advantage of your listeners’ buying potential.

If Amazon isn’t an option and you can’t find items to promote from affiliate ad networks, your next bet is to create your own affiliate program. You can do this by seeking partnerships from companies that are somewhat relevant to your niche. You’d have to pitch the idea to retailers or other companies, so prepare your podcast’s stats.

Just like in sponsorships, anyone (whether a person or company) that partners with you would want to see large numbers, but impressive conversation rates are the reason they’d bite what you’re offering.

3. Selling Products

If running after sponsors isn’t your thing, you can sell your own products on your show.

It would be a lot of work, especially since you’re going to develop the product from start to finish before you could promote it on air, but the advantage of this path is that you’ll receive majority of profit instead of getting a tiny commission just like what affiliate marketing offers.

Another benefit of creating and selling your own products is that there are tons of options, from ebooks to courses, SaaS products, and even real products that can be shipped to a physical address.

You can even sell a set of videos, bundled as a paid subscription. This allows podcasters like you to create something within your niche that provides the most value to your listeners.

Once you’ve decided on the products to sell, you can now implement a sales funnel, where you give away freebies or discounted items, before showcasing more expensive products.

4. Offer Services

Podcasters with a huge following can easily offer services to its listeners.

This can be anything from one-on-one coaching, consulting, guest writing, speaking engagements, design, or any other services within a podcaster’s skillset.

The services that you offer may start small, but as long as you provide value to your customers, be prepared for word-of-mouth to double your paying customers over time.

For those who don’t feel comfortable teaching, you can simply offer flat fees for certain solutions. For example, writing a podcast script for a company, or setting up an individual’s podcast business, can be done on the side and doesn’t require a full-time commitment.

Think of your podcast as a marketing tool and develop strategies that would expand your podcasting efforts into other money-making endeavors.

5. Crowdfunding and Donations

Crowdfunding can be a smart way to begin your podcasting career, but it will only work if you already have an active community that would gladly finance your project in the form of pledges. Crowdfunding platforms like Patreon make the pledging possible.

You can also ask your listeners for donations. You’d be surprised at how many people are willing to give money in exchange for free information or entertainment that you’ve been giving them. Since a donation option gives your listeners the power to decide how much they’re donating, they’ll see this as their way to give back.

Just remind them about your donation button as often as possible.

Start A Podcast Today!

Hopefully, you’re convinced that starting a podcast can benefit your business greatly.

Here’s a recap of the steps to start a podcast:

Validate your podcast idea.
Think of a podcast name, cover art, podcast description, and theme music.
Gather your equipment.
Download the necessary software.
Select a podcast hosting provider.
Plan your podcast episodes.
Record your podcast episodes.
Edit your podcast episode.
Publish your podcast episodes to your hosting provider.
Promote your podcast episodes.

Planning to make a podcast soon? Or have you tried starting a podcast and want to expand your reach? Share your podcasting stories and experiences in the comments!

Is Amazon KDP Still a Good Business in 2023?

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Published On: May 19, 2020

Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) has been around since late 2007, but it was in 2010 to 2015 that many regular people were transformed into published authors overnight and actually made Amazon KDP their business.

Those who have been rejected by traditional publishers are some of the biggest fans of the program, but is it still worth the trouble in 2023 and beyond?

5 Reasons Why You Should Continue Your Amazon KDP Business

If you’re having doubts of joining the Amazon KDP community as an author, here are 5 reasons why it remains a solid business model:

1. The Niches are Expanding

In the past, it is common knowledge that fiction outsold non-fiction in the Kindle library. But the genres mostly focused on romance, mystery, and fantasy, so authors like Mike Omer (from the Spider’s Web series and “A Killer’s Mind” fame) stuck to these categories.

Today, many more niches are being put on the spotlight of the Top 100, from the how-to and self-help “aisle”, to the science fiction, young adult, adventure and even inspirational and women’s fiction.

Some of them are still pretty competitive, but since people’s interests are expanding to more categories, it means there are higher chances for your chosen category to be explored by a significant number of people.

2. Better Stats Lead to Targeted Book Goals

By 2018, there were 90.5 million e-readers in the U.S. alone. Imagine how many people have joined the fun and discovered the world of ebooks.

In 2019, the ebook industry earned a whopping $2.04 billion. It’s still definitely smaller than its print counterpart (which took in $22.6 billion revenues that year) though.

What’s interesting is that even if the use of e-book readers has been seeing a decline in recent years, there’s data to support that Kindle books are gaining fans thanks to hundreds of popular book series.

And publishers are raking in cash because of they are able to reel in readers with cheap (or free copies of their) first book, then earn from subsequent books of the series.

3. Removes the Need to go the Traditional Publishing Route

Many people who dream of becoming a published author are crushed when their dreams don’t turn into reality for one reason or another, such as:

Publishing house not interested in the story
Author has no connection to any publisher
Lack in marketing or networking
Authors who have awesome books, but are unsure how to present their work
and so on…

With the Amazon KDP route, the rules are totally different. First of all, since Amazon accepts publishers directly, there’s no need to shop around for a publishing house. You wouldn’t have to experience being rejected by publishers anymore.

While you do have to learn how to market your own ebook to improve sales, you can also outsource this task to agencies who specialize in these kinds of things.

4. Amazon KDP Newbies Welcome

This is my favorite thing about Amazon KDP – it levels the playing field between beginners and published authors, or famous people.

Regular people begin juggling real life with writing on the side, until they reach success enough to quit their day jobs. For example:

Samantha Christy used to be a Computer Systems Analyst and stay-at-home mom before she became the author of “Purple Orchids.” Her husband even quit his job a couple of years later to handle her taxes and other behind-the-scenes of Samantha’s publishing business.
Alexa Riley is the pen name of two friends (Melissa King and Lea Robinson) who has over 100 romance novels under their belts. Since 2014, these two ladies have been writing “cheesy love stories with a happy ending” non-stop.
Melissa Leong was a former business journalist who wrote vampire novel “What Kills Me” and got rejected by 20 publishers before uploading it on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing site. She tried to sell it for $3 a copy, but only got thousands of sales when she took it down to 99 cents. You’d think this was a bad thing, since Leong earned less than what she would have earned at $3 a pop. But her decision to reduce the price led to a spot on the Bestseller list, an ocean of fans, and even movie offers.

Aside from the actual writing and marketing authors have to do, there aren’t much obstacles beginner authors have to face in self-publishing with Amazon.

5. Unlimited Opportunities for Talented Authors

Melissa Leong isn’t the only one who had her life turned upside down (in a good way) through Amazon KDP.

Like her experience, many authors whose first book become best-sellers suddenly get a boost in creativity as their fans and sales increase, follow it up quickly with a second part, or another ebook with a completely different story/topic.

The opportunities doesn’t stop at Amazon too! Successful authors usually receive offers for TV or movie adaptations, calls for interviews with the press, features on magazines/blogs, consulting gigs, writing courses/coaching stints, and other opportunities that are found outside KDP.

The Future of Amazon KDP

You know that you can make money online with ebooks, but you’re unsure if it remains a lucrative business in 2020 and beyond. That’s a totally valid dilemma since writing ebooks are not an easy feat.

There will be flops, such as ebooks trying to cash in on the covid19 crisis when some of the best scientists of the world are still trying to learn about the virus. But if you do a little digging and research before you decide on the genre and theme of your ebook, the future of your Amazon KDP business can be bright.

Don’t believe blog posts from people claiming that you can only earn money from Amazon if you have a ton of ghostwriters who would do the writing for you.

If you have content you want to publish, as long as you follow Amazon’s guidelines, there is no limit to the number of ebooks you could release to the “world” and the amount of money you could possibly earn.

10 Work at Home Jobs for Moms with Young Kids

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Last Updated:April 30, 2020

Being a mom to small children at home and earning enough income to support your family at the same time seems far-fetched a generation ago, but thanks to the internet, there are now plenty of work-at-home jobs for moms you can apply to.

You may worry about trying to get a few hours to yourself with a newborn or toddler to take care of in between the feedings, baths, nap times, playtimes, and all the other activities you need to do.

But plenty of these jobs for work-at-home moms are flexible enough to adjust to moms’ hectic schedules.

In today’s article, we run down some legitimate work at home jobs for moms who can put in the hours but still need to be there when their kids need them.

Before that, though, let’s explore the factors that you need to consider when looking for this type of work.

What to Consider When Picking a Work-at-Home Job

Before you start looking for work-at-home jobs, you need to have an honest self-assessment of your current situation, lifestyle, capabilities, and other factors you have to consider.

First, consider your equipment. You’ll need a computer, preferably a laptop, and a high-speed internet connection to be qualified for most work-at-home jobs.

Specific jobs also require particular software or accessories. For instance, writers usually need word processing and spellcheck software, while data entry specialists usually need spreadsheet software.

Next, list down your skills and qualifications, including those that you didn’t necessarily get from school. For instance, you may have a Liberal Arts degree, but you may have a knack for cooking.

You would also need to truthfully figure out how much time and how much mental and physical energy you have you have to work.

How much time you have is determined by many factors, such as your partner’s schedule (if you have a partner), availability of childcare, your children’s feeding times or mealtimes, doctor’s appointments, and many more.

Evaluating your energy level is a bit more subjective and is highly dependent on how much focus and brainpower you have left after you take care of your children and do household chores.

Lastly, it’s important to take a job that will add value to you as a person; that is, find meaningful and interesting work that will hone your existing skills or teach you new ones.

If you can, find a job that can act as an outlet for your creative energy, as you badly need it at this stage of parenting kids.

10 Legitimate Work at Home Jobs For Moms

1. Online Teacher

Becoming an online teacher is a great way to keep your passion for working with kids and teaching others alive while staying close to home.

Another perk of becoming an online teacher is that there are so many options available to you in terms of which subject, age group (even adults!), what times of the day, and how long a class you want to teach.

Make sure you have the right qualifications for the subject and state or country you want to teach in.

Online teaching regulations in the U.S., for example, are still the same as those for a traditional teacher, so you’ll still need a Teacher’s License.

However, if you decide to teach English to students in another country, you likely won’t need a Teacher’s License, but being certified as an instructor for English as a Foreign Language is definitely an advantage.

The TEFL website is a great source for anyone who wants to teach English as a Secondary Language online.

If teaching English online is something you’re interested in, here are some companies to check out.

2. Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant performs many of the duties a typical assistant would—answering phone calls, managing schedules, answering emails, updating spreadsheets, etc.—but isn’t actually in an office.

The only possible downside to this sort of work-at-home job is that you’ll usually need to have a specific few hours to set aside each day without too many interruptions, and this may be hard to manage if you have really small children.

To find virtual assistant work, look for opportunities on company websites and on freelancing sites like Freelancer. I’ve also written about what you need to get ahead as a virtual assistant.

3. Virtual Bookkeeper

More and more companies, big and small, are turning to virtual bookkeepers to keep track of their financial records and taxes. Online personalities and remote organizations usually hire virtual bookkeepers as well.

If you have bookkeeping experience or are excellent with numbers, then this might be a great job position for you.

If you can get a foothold in this industry with a couple of clients then you can easily grow to make around $60,000 or more a year.

Virtual bookkeeping is a good option for moms who have a few hours a day open to devoting their attention to their clients.

I’ve found some companies currently offering virtual bookkeeper jobs here.

4. Transcriptionist

Plenty of industries have tons of video footage and audio files that need to be converted into written content.

The medical, legal, film, television, and many other industries have a constant need for transcriptionists. They either hire their own transcriptionists or dump their files on a transcription company, who will then hire transcriptionists to work on various files.

Transcriptionists are often assigned to transcribe video or audio content, reviewing reports and transcripts created by other transcriptionists, and proofreading and correcting errors. Most companies will require you to type 75 WPM or more.

The challenge in this type of job is that you’ll have to be able to find ways so you can hear your audio clearly. From noise-canceling headphones to audio editing software, there are various tools you can use to do this and transcribe your assigned audio files.

I’ve compiled a list of transcription jobs you can do from home.

5. Social Media Manager

The great thing about being a social media manager is that it is one of the most flexible jobs out there.

You can truly pick your own hours as scheduling software has made it easy to schedule posts to be published in advance.

Almost every company these days needs a social media manager and many opt to go for a freelancer because it’s much easier than hiring someone for the office. There are plenty of opportunities for this type of work-at-home job for moms.

The easiest way to find work as a social media manager is to look for opportunities on sites like Upwork and Flexjobs as well as apply on company websites.

6. Baker (and Blogger!)

Having a baker for a mom will probably result in some big smiles from the little ones as they get to lick off spoons and act as taste testers.

The big key here is to find clients to bake for.

It’s a good option to find a bakery to sell your goods to, as well as a few regular clients. You may have to hit a few farmer’s markets, holiday fairs, and bake sales.

The income you can earn as a baker might be small in the beginning, but you can steadily increase it by taking on more orders and regular clients.

Another idea would be to set up a blog and track and photograph the recipes you create. Grow a big enough following and you can turn your baking into a business worth seven figures!

(Any one else is addicted to Sally?)

If you’re really interested in going this route, we did write about how to sell baked goods from home.

7. Start a Homemade Crafts Business

There are plenty of major success stories out there from moms who started their own businesses by creating handmade gifts, products, and art.

Many people, including most parents, are increasingly becoming conscious of how the products they consume are impacting their families as well as the environment.

Online businesses that sell custom jewelry, natural cosmetic products, and homemade toys are seeing the big bucks rolling in.

The kicker: many of these online businesses are run by stay-at-home moms.

Any mom with a knack for creating crafty or gifts or products can definitely consider this as a legitimate work from home job. The beauty of it is you can create whenever you want during the day and leave the business side of it for when things have quieted down in the evenings.

Here are some examples of crafts to make and sell.

8. Life Coach

If you have a knack for helping people with their problems then perhaps you should consider becoming a life coach.

You can run the business from your home and book appointments with clients during the hours you know you have open.

Right now, it’s not necessary to become certified as a life coach – though you certainly can get certified if you want. There are some training opportunities out there as well that can help you get started.

Learn to Become is a great source for everything you might want to know about this potential career.

9. Writer

As content rises in popularity, companies and brands are constantly looking for content writers to help boost their brand awareness and marketing efforts.

If you have a knack for storytelling and have near-perfect grammar, freelance writing can be just the thing for you. Those who hire writers normally set deadlines for your work, and you can schedule your writing around your day so you can submit your articles on time.

Here’s how to find freelance writing jobs as a beginner.

Note that freelance writing is also a great stepping stone toward blogging, which is a great tool for earning passive income.

When you start your blog, you can write about pretty much anything that has an audience. You can write about your interests, your passion, your hobbies, heck, even your parenting journey.

10. Proofreader/Editor

Do you like reading more than writing?

And do you find yourself catching spelling and grammar errors quite easily in the text you’re reading?

If so, you might make a great proofreader or copy editor.

As companies and brands increase the amount of written content that they publish, the demand for proofreaders and editors to double-check that content and correct any errors is also increasing.

A giant list of proofreading jobs can be found here.

The Bottom Line: You CAN Be A Work-At-Home Mom!

Remember: You can chase your own dreams and work toward your financial goals while being a great parent.

Hopefully, this list of jobs for stay-at-home moms convinces you that this is possible and inspires you to get started today.

Looking for even more online work from home opportunities?

I’ve covered EVEN MORE stay-at-home mom jobs here!

Are you an expecting or stay-at-home mom looking for work? Which of these work-at-home jobs for moms on this list interests you? Let us know in the comments!

How to Make Money Woodworking from Home

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Published On: April 14, 2020

If you have the passion for creating masterpieces out of wood and you’re looking to start a home-based business, here’s a solid guide on how to make money woodworking from home.

Yes, you read that right. You can do everything from product creation to marketing your work from the comforts of your own garage and home office.

On this post, we’ll discuss how select Etsy sellers make a living just from several pieces of wood furniture and learn how to pick the woodworking projects that sell well.

Things You Need to Make Money Woodworking from Home

There are three important things you need to make money woodworking:

1. The Right Mindset

Unlike other online businesses, woodworking is a very labor-intensive business. Many woodworkers who begin to turn their passions into a business should be ready by the possibility of getting exhausted day in, day out. You should have the physical strength and stamina to operate power tools, lift heavy items, and just move about your entire work day.

The physical demands of this job means you should enter this business with the right mindset. Income comes only after you sell a project, so the fulfillment of completing a day’s work should be enough until payment comes in. Sometimes you get to finish three orders in a day, while other days you don’t get to reach halfway through a job.

As a woodworker, you’re the employer and employee. Sometimes, you’ll even serve as a marketer, customer support, and accountant all at the same time. Being someone with woodworking skills and wearing all kinds of hats involves the right mindset as well.

2. Equipment and Woodworking Skills

Woodworking and mechanical skills are a given, since it would be hard to earn from the projects you make if it takes you a month to make one pair of shelves, which you then sell for $50. On the other hand, a skilled woodworker could quickly make several shelves in a day.

You should also be good in math, can read blueprints, and have a natural ability to follow instructions. And because you’ll be needing numerous tools to create your products, you should have (or be ready to invest in) equipment such as:

Power tools

Table saw, hand planer, power drill, circular saw, and other similar equipment

Hand tools

These include quality-made hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers and other hand tools

Carving tools

If you’re offering carved furniture, you must also invest in knives, chisels, gouges, v-tools and more to do the job.

A PC and camera

You’ll need a camera to take product shots of your work and a PC to upload the photos, edit lighting and list on your chosen online marketplace. If your phone has a good camera, a phone could be an alternative for a camera+PC setup.

You should also have ample space (somewhere from 75 to 125 square feet) for adequate lumber storage and to move around and create the pieces you’re going to sell.

3. A Good Business Plan and Marketing Skills

You may be working from home, but you should still be following traditional business operations. As such, you’d need a business plan to see things through.

Some of the most important things you should include with your plan are:

Business goals – Whether you plan to sell “just one item a month,” or scale up your production to $500 a day, writing your goals early allows you to have a timeline to follow. Some useful advice before you begin?
- Spy on your competition
- Buy only the necessary tools. You only need the basic tools in the beginning. You can scale up your woodworking shop once orders begin to rain.
- Learn the numbers. Understand how pricing for handmade products are computed. Include cost of raw materials, your labor hours, electricity, and other considerations.
Audience building – Sooner or later, you’ll realize that you just can’t produce furniture to everyone. Even if you started making amazing dressers, pallet-inspired furniture, fancy coffee tables, and every other furniture requested by customers, it’s only natural that you’ll find the niche to focus on. For example:
- Reconstructing guitar bodies into dining tables, shelves, or other cool stuff. This niche known as furniture flipping is a hot niche.
- Cool wooden furniture for gadgets, such as a phone docking station
- Rustic furniture
- Custom-made furniture (only for the seasoned woodworker who has mastered almost all kinds of furniture projects)
Pick a Home base – Build a website, get a free blog up and running, create a business Facebook page, or join Pinterest, Instagram or any other platform of your choice. Pick one or all, but the important thing is to have an online “home base” where you can showcase your work. It would serve as your portfolio, “calling card,” and catalog in one.
Promotion – The most effective way to spread the word about your work is through past clients, but if you wish to be aggressive with marketing, you have options. Social media is powerful, but extremely cheap to use and if you decide to pay for sponsored ads, you can control your spending and gradually increase your ad budget as your finances allow it.
Supplemental income – Are you open to selling your designs? Sharing your methods to the world with a YouTube channel? Maintaining a blog with step-by-step tutorials of your work, or teaching woodworking to people (either through a course your wrote, or through one-on-one coaching) are also effective ways to earn more money

Sites To Sell Your Woodworking Projects

Aside from your “online home base,” you’ll need to get familiar with the following websites to be able to make money woodworking from home:

ETSY

Etsy is the number one online marketplace for everything handmade, so from greeting cards to custom wedding rings, pillowcases to furniture, you can find a vibrant community of buyers and sellers here.

There are thousands of members on Etsy, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. As a new seller, building your customer base and getting an edge over your competition may not take overnight. However, once your shop gets its footing, you’ll be able to enjoy the thousands of potential buyers already part of the Etsy world.

Another benefit of Etsy as a seller is that you should only $0.20 listing fee per product for four months and a 5% transaction fee.

Remember how I told you that you’ll need good pictures to showcase your work? Check out the presentation of Australia-based shop WoodYouBuy, which shine with jewelry organizers, entryway shelves, decorative furniture and gorgeous docking stations. The shop is run by husband-and-wife team Lesley and John and since joining Etsy in 2018, is about to make the 3000-mark sales.

Amazon Handmade

It isn’t as popular as Etsy yet, but Amazon is the largest marketplace in the world, so expect a bigger and more varied audience here.

The downside is you need to apply to become an Amazon Handmade seller and you pay 15% referral fee, but the good news is there is no fee for listing items. Sellers can create a custom profile to promote your other products.

A warning though: if you get popular on Amazon Handmade real quick, it could be challenging to supply the demands of customers if you’re just starting out and have no employees to help you create wooden products.

ArtFire

ArtFire is similar to Etsy, where items like craft supplies, and other woodworking goods are sold. There are several plans, starting at $4.95/month (with 250 listings) and up to $40/month (2,500 active listings).

Build Your Own Store

If you decided that your home base is an official website, you can accompany it with your own store.

The best thing about this route is that you can post pictures of your past work and do a ‘create-by-demand’ scheme similar to PoDs, wherein would-be buyers order items and only then will you create the piece.

For woodworkers with little money as startup, you don’t have to go with Shopify (that has a monthly fee). You can get a domain for $10, a hosting provider (as less as $3/month), and set up a WordPress store on your own.

The Best Advice to Make Money Woodworking from Home?

I have three:

First: There’s no project too big or too small, especially if you’re just starting out.

This is particularly true if you still haven’t found your niche, or you’re still trying to attract customers. You need to have a good mix of products available – from high-priced pieces to $10-dollar iPhone docks – to be able to yield the most revenue.

Second is to produce quality work.

It doesn’t matter if you’re only working on re-purposed pallets, or the most exquisite wood you can find. The secret to surviving this business is to product quality items all the time, even if you’re only making a simple book shelf for a kid’s bedroom, or a centerpiece table for the living room.

Lastly is to master the art of customer service.

As an online business, you won’t have much employees. And if you’re like many online businesses, you’d probably be wearing the hat of customer service rep as well. Know that you don’t need a course to be good at this – you just need to be professional, attentive to your customer’s needs and helpful enough to answer inquiries or resolve issues.

And if you stick to these 3 tips and keep passionate about the craft, you can be one of the many people who actually make money woodworking from home successfully.

How to Survive the Coronavirus Outbreak as a Freelancer

Written By:Halina Zakowicz

Published On: April 14, 2020

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a severe impact on freelancers, contractors, and the self-employed, as services like photography, coding, analytics, and marketing are being deemed “non-essential.”

Small businesses and companies are feeling the pinch of forced closure and/or shortened business hours, and are responding by cancelling projects or focusing only on their “internal resources.”

If your freelance work, gig, or side hustle has been affected by the recent coronavirus panic, how can you survive in these uncertain times?

Don’t panic!

The good news is that you are not alone in your concern. Other freelancers and companies have similar worries about their future.

Furthermore, many of these individuals and companies have created resources, job boards, and support networks for freelancers in need. There are even funds being set up to help out those freelancers who are in financial trouble.

Yes, companies are still hiring

As you may have suspected, the focus on working from home during the recent global health crisis means that some companies are in need of individuals who can work remotely and on short notice.
These companies may have had to shutter their physical doors for the time being and focus exclusively on production via digital means.

Consider, for example, the recent cancellation of trade shows and conferences. That means bad news for venues and caterers, but good news for freelance copywriters and coders who can quickly generate online seminars and presentations.

Find freelance and remote work

So, which companies are currently looking for freelancers and virtual gig workers?

AKQA is a large international advertising and marketing company that is not being slowed down by the coronavirus scare. It regularly hires freelance programmers, data scientists, copywriters, and graphic designers to work remotely.

Blend Media is on the lookout for immersive technology (AR and VR) freelancers and has different projects available on its platform. The site is currently suspending its platform use fee in order to attract new talent.

Freelancer has over 13 million users and lists a variety of jobs that freelancers can bid and work on, right inside the website platform. Once you set up your profile, you’re good to go.

Toptal is a job platform that offers top-tier clients and pay. Seasoned and experienced freelance developers, designers, financial experts, project managers, and product managers should definitely submit their resumes here.

VidMob is actively seeking out videographers, designers, analysts, and animators to create digital ads. This startup has physical offices, but at least half of its contractors and workers work remotely. The company has good reviews on Glassdoor.

We Are Rosie is an agency that boasts a network of over 5,000 members and matches its freelancers with marketing, media, content, analytics, creative, and other remote projects. The agency also offers benefits such as 401(k), healthcare, and weekly pay.

Job boards like FlexJobs and Remote.co are essential tools for new and even established freelancers. Both of these websites post numerous remote jobs and virtual work from individual companies and businesses. Remote.co is free to join and use, while FlexJobs asks for a paid membership subscription.

Need more ideas? This list of 95 work-from-home jobs should help you look for and find loads of legitimate online and remote work. Alternately, if you are tech-savvy, you could peruse this list of 23 companies that are hiring tech support specialists who can work from home.

Invest in yourself

During an economic downturn, it’s hard not to wallow in self-pity while watching Hulu and Netflix movies for the nth time. However, you could also look at this period as an opportunity to learn a new skill and/or invest in yourself.

A shift in your daily routine can also become a source of creativity and renewal. Consider the case of Isaac Newton: The forced closing of his workplace (the University of Cambridge), due to an outbreak of bubonic plague, led Newton to retreat to the countryside.

During this time, Newton was the most intellectually fruitful in his entire life and laid the foundations of his theories on calculus, optics, and the laws of motion and gravity.

To this end, there are many online resources that cater specifically to freelancers and others in the gig economy and can help you further your career- or start a new one.

Codecademy teaches coding courses for use in programming, mobile app building, and data science.

There is a 7-day free trial membership offered through the site. In light of the COVID-19 crisis, the site is also offering 10,000 scholarships to high school and college students until the end of the current school year.

Google Analytics Academy offers a crash course in SEO, metrics, audience segmentation, attribution, and data analysis via its online academy- for free! If you are involved in content creation/editing, or ecommerce, this course is worth its weight in gold and will help you boost your advertising and marketing efforts.

Mt. Freelance is offering a set of video lessons, normally priced at $257, for free. Topics include updating your website, social media marketing, and pitching yourself to prospective clients.

Start a new business

Affiliate marketing is a great way to delve into the world of niche products and earn commissions from your referrals. There are many individuals who make a part- or even full-time income through affiliate marketing. Best of all, there is no need to handle the actual product, package it, or ship it out. You only handle the marketing side of the equation, and the product owner does the rest.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is one way that many individuals earn side or even a full-time income from home. You can have your inventory sent to a distribution center, or you can engage in a dropship model where the goods are sourced from manufacturers and sent directly to buyers.

Business grants are another means by which you can assure your own long-term employment. If you are already dabbling in a side business, or just have a ground-breaking business idea, you can use this time to apply for a small business grant.

Are you more interested in owning an online business? Here are at least 50 different online business ideas to try.

Get financial aid and support from other freelancers

It’s OK to feel overwhelmed at times- and this is certainly one of them!

There are various support groups for freelancers and the self-employed that offer career, tax, and financial advice, as well as a compassionate ear. Some are even offering money for freelancers who are hurting financially due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Here are several resources that stand out:

Anti-viral work for freelancers and small businesses is a Facebook group started on March 11, 2020 that already boasts over 15,000 members and 1,000+ posts/day. They are based in the U.K. but list topics universally relevant to most freelancers. Some freelancers on the site even offer free job referrals and educational courses.

Carnegie Fund for Authors offers financial assistance to published American authors of at least one fiction or non-fiction work via a traditional publisher. Other authors, including journalists, dramatists, poets, and successful self-published writers, can apply to the Authors League Fund or PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund.

CERF+ Emergency Assistance offers monetary relief for legal U.S. resident artists in various media including wood, metal, fiber, and paint. Potential recipients must first fill out an inquiry form to determine eligibility, after which they complete an application.

Freelancers Union is setting up a relief fund for freelancers who are enduring financial hardship or a health crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic. Applications can be filed starting April 2, 2020.

Millo Mastermind is another Facebook group of 7,200+ members that offers support for freelancers and budding entrepreneurs. When you join this group, you get the following publication, “25 Top freelance job sites for finding real clients with big budgets,” for free.

Hang in there!

As the saying goes, “This too shall pass.”

While the current coronavirus situation borders on apocalypse, humanity as a whole has weathered far worse and survived.

We are a ‘can do’ species, and a month or two of downtime will not defeat us. In fact, by clicking on the resources posted above, and delving into new fields of expertise, you might come out of this current crisis even better than you did going in.

How to Make Money Dancing from Home

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Published On: April 7, 2020

Dancers are passionate, hardworking and disciplined, but often find it challenging to make money dancing.

If you’re a dancer and you rely solely on traditional dancing jobs, not only is competition for these jobs exceptionally fierce, the gigs themselves are few and far between and the money earned isn’t even worth all the trouble.

Like many jobs for artists, it can be tough to keep the passion alive if you’re unable to pay your bills.

The good news is that you have unlimited possibilities now with the internet, social media and other platforms that not only let you showcase your talent, let you earn real cash as well.

So if you’re willing to get creative and turn your dancing into a money-making machine, then read on…

8 Ways to Make Money Dancing

Let’s begin with the traditional methods of earning money through dance and discuss online opportunities that you can explore:

1. Perform for Events

Almost every event requires special talent like yours for entertainment. This event could be birthday parties, anniversaries, corporate events, and so on.

You can check dancing gigs on websites like Dance.net, which updates a listing of jobs you can apply to.

Another similar resource is GigSalad, a booking site that allows you to promote your dancing services and also find relevant jobs you could apply to.

Answers4Dancers lists dance gigs as well, but this requires a monthly fee.

It’s been around since 1999, and has a massive amount of information for budding dancers, so it could be worth it if you’re feeling a bit lost.

2. Offer Your Choreography Skills as a Service

If you’ve been dancing for years, there’s a good chance you know how to choreograph as well.

If you haven’t thought about offering choreography to other people, this is the perfect time to do so. TheDanceResource is a good resource to know industry standards, new dance techniques, and even meet like-minded people who could help with your career.

When searching through job boards, you’ll find jobs exclusive only to “choreographers.” Offering choreography as a service expands your portfolio and opens up more opportunities.

3. Teach Dance Lessons

You can teach dance traditionally face-to-face in a local studio, at your home, or at your client’s home. Doing dance lessons, whether you specialize in ballet or hip-hop, will never run out of fashion, so keep on teaching as long as you can.

If you’ve been doing this for a while and feel that you’re ready to expand, think about hosting group dance lessons.

Many studios are glad to support choreographers and will give you a slot on their calendars if you’ve got something to offer that they don’t currently have. Some companies that offer extracurricular activities to their employees may also let you teach their employees how to dance.

If both ideas above are not feasible, don’t give up just yet. You can rent a space and offer group dance lessons there.

And if your time cannot accommodate traveling to different locations, you can still teach online and make money dancing by either:

Building a membership website, where you send choreography lessons daily
Creating a master-class, a dance course that students can follow at their own pace

You can even “meet” with clients via video and still be able to teach dance as though you’re face-to-face.

4. Write Articles about Dancing

While writing may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially since you won’t be on your toes for this one, sharing your technical dancing knowledge can be lucrative as well.

Many dance publications like Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit, Pointe Magazine, and Dance Informa (among others) are always looking for writers to bring a fresh take on dance.

They may not post about writing opportunities, but you can always send an e-mail and pitch an idea for an article. Your idea must just be good enough to land a paid writing gig.

If you’re feeling quite shy with working with the big guys at these major publications, you can always write informally on your own blog and share your knowledge there.

5. Post Dance and Choreography Videos

If you want to dance non-stop and share your talent with the world, you can make money dancing just by posting videos of them online.

Plus, the online videos could also serve as your portfolio.

Go with YouTube and open an AdSense account. Every time you post a dance video, an ad will be shown.

When someone watches your video and does not skip the video, you get to earn a couple of cents per view.

Multiply this by hundreds of views, or thousands (if you blow up), and you can reap the benefits of going viral like the Jojo Gomez-choreographed and Tim Milgram-produced The Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons”, which has been viewed a whopping 45 million times since it was posted on July 2017.

The cool thing about YouTube is that AdSense is just one part of the income possibilities available there. (Here are other ways you can make money on YouTube).

6. Become an Affiliate Seller

As an affiliate seller, you promote other people/company’s products and earn commissions if the people who came from your website or YouTube channel clicked the link you shared and bought something from that store.

The commission rates would vary between stores. Amazon is the most popular, but bookstores, sporting goods stores, and other stores usually have affiliate programs.

(Click here to learn more about affiliate marketing).

7. Sell Your Own Products Online

If you’re getting some success with affiliate marketing and you want to bring your own products into the mix, you can always sell them online. You have tons of platforms readily available – Etsy (for handmade stuff, eBay (for second-hand items), Facebook Marketplace (for a varied mix of items), and so on.

Incorporating dance into the product would prove challenging, but you can always stick to easy merchandise like workout pants, tank tops, dancing books you’ve written, and so on.

8. Monetize Your Social Media Platforms

Aside from YouTube, you can also explore what other social media platforms has to offer. For example:

Pinterest – Take photos of yourself doing some ballet dance moves, turn it into a poster, and post it on Pinterest. The site is known for shareable photo content, so adding interesting photos to the mix could get people’s attention quick.
Instagram – This website is also all about photos, but it caters to short videos too! Promote your dance lessons, share a link to your website, and try other monetizing techniques known to work on Instagram.
Twitter – You may think that the character limit can be restricting, but a little bit of creativity can go a long way. See how you can make money off Twitter and your dancing skills.
Facebook – You can create a Facebook channel (which works mostly like YouTube) and see if you’ll find success there. If not, you can use a Facebook page to promote your business, share your dance videos, network for new clients, and interact with existing clients. There are numerous ways you can incorporate Facebook into your money-making plan – make sure it counts!

Do You Know other Ways to Make Money Dancing?

You don’t have to give up dancing if you can’t make ends meet.

By learning new skills and being open to what the internet, social media, and other technological advancements could do to your dancing career, you’ll embrace the many money-making opportunities available to you as a dancer.

Have you been making money dancing online and IRL as well? Did I miss any other way to earn from dancing? Feel free to share below…

10 Types of Work From Home Overnight Jobs

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Published On: March 20, 2020

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.