Working online, whether it be to work from the comfort of your own home or to work while you travel, is an amazing way to make some extra income or become your full-time lifestyle.
If you plan to work while traveling, you'll face some hurdles but also some great rewards to be able to make an income while visiting amazing places.
These 6 jobs are specifically for those of you that are new to the online world or are looking to change your profession or add an extra side job to supplement your income. Most jobs will require you to do some training and invest your time to make them work but none requires years of experience or expertise to get started.
1. Online English Teacher
One of the most popular online jobs, especially for beginners, is to teach English online. A few years back when I first starting teaching English online as a side gig while teaching in South Korea, there were only 2 or 3 platforms offering this. Now, things have changed drastically!
I’d take a guess that there are easily 100 companies offering online English classes to children and adults. While it may seem like this makes the market saturated, I’d say it offers a great opportunity for those that may not have the qualifications to get hired by the stricter founding companies, like VIPKID.
Many top companies still cater to native English speakers with Bachelor’s degrees but that’s not always the case anymore.
Pros to teaching English online
Teaching English online is so popular for good reasons. Most classes require 0 prep work, only require you to teach 25-minute lessons and while you’ll need to be camera-ready from the waist up, pants are not required.
Cons to teaching English online
While teaching online can definitely feel like an easy job, sometimes it’s too easy in my opinion. When I taught often, there were days I would unluckily teach the same lesson 5 or 6 times back to back. This made things really easy but also boring since you can quickly memorize the lessons.
Here are 11 top online English teaching platforms with details on each requirement and how to get started.
We’re not a regular travel blog; we’re a collection of women living around the world, all with different backgrounds, jobs, desires, & nationalities. What do we have in common? A passion for life abroad. Each article is written from the 1st-hand perspective of a woman who has actually done or experienced what she writes about.
Learn more about the author by clicking her bio pic at the start or end of each article.
2. Virtual Assistant
Before you get stuck on the notion of being someone’s assistant, a virtual assistant (VA) has become an umbrella term to include a wide range of tasks and specialties.
As a VA, you typically own your own business and offer your services to other business owners. Some VAs specialize in one thing, like podcast management, Pinterest management, and social media management, while others offer a wide variety of services to their clients.
While working as a Pinterest manager specifically doesn’t make you a Virtual Assistant, many people, even with just 1 specialty, decide to use the term since it’s such a buzzword for businesses looking to hire. It also allows you room to grow if you’d like to add more services later on or change your specialty.
If you already have expertise in a skill that can be transferred to the online world, like writing, editing, or content creation, you can get started creating packages and marketing yourself as a VA. If that sounds like a lot to figure out on your own, many people now offer courses teaching you how to get started as a VA. I’m not a VA but do have a few friends who recommend the 90-day VA course.
Pros to being a Virtual Assistant
Since you run your own business, you’ll have complete control over who you work with and how often you’d like to work. You could set it up where you focus on one skill that you enjoy, like video editing, or you could offer a wide variety of tasks, meaning every day at work will look a little different.
Cons to being a Virtual Assistant
As a business owner, you’ll be in charge of finding your own clients. This can be tough for people who are not confident in sales and marketing to put themselves out there to find their own clients. There are some great platforms out there to find remote work, as a VA or as a creative.
Check out this article by a Virtual Assistant for more details on how to get started.
3. Life Coach
The perk about getting started as a life coach, is there are no real requirements, other than a desire to help others. The coaching industry isn’t regulated, so unlike becoming a teacher or therapist, you do not need to have a certain degree or training. Although, taking a course will definitely give you the confidence to sell your services.
Just like becoming a Virtual Assistant, as a Life Coach, you’re a business owner. You can also choose to specialize in one focus or remain without a niche and market yourself to a wide variety of people.
Pros to working as a Life Coach
Connecting with and empowering people all over the world is the biggest perk for most life coaches. Many have the desire to serve and help others and being a life coach allows them to do just that. Now that Zoom calls are the norm, you can work as a Life Coach from anywhere.
Cons to working as a Life Coach
As a coach, you’re your own boss so it’s up to you to market and sell yourself to new clients. This can be exhausting, especially in the beginning. Also, since the industry is not regulated, it’s up to you to gain the skills you’ll need to confidently help your clients.
Learn more about how to become a life coach and if it’s the right career choice for you.
4. Etsy Shop Owner
Owning a shop on Etsy could be a great option for someone that can offer a product. And it doesn’t even need to be a tangible product. Anything that can be delivered digitally can also be sold on Etsy. Keep in mind though, Etsy is more focused on art and unique goods.
If you’re more interested in selling your own courses, Skillshare is a great platform for beginners since it’s free to put your courses on their platform.
Shopify is another great platform to host an online store but the biggest difference between starting a shop on Etsy vs. Shopify is that Etsy is a search engine, meaning strangers can easily find your shop without you marketing it directly to them. Shopify, on the other hand, is not a search engine. If you start a shop a Shopify, you’ll be in complete control meaning you’ll also be the only one marketing the shop and getting sales.
This is the exact same logic behind hosting a course on Skillshare vs. Teachable.
Pros to Owning an Etsy Shop
If you focus on digital downloads, the products can be set to be automatically delivered to buyers at checkout. This means, your work is done once you’ve uploaded the products. It can be a great way to make some passive income.
Cons to Owning an Etsy Shop
Etsy is a search engine just like any others, so you will need to invest some time in getting your shop set up and making it keyword heavy for it to show up in the search. You’ll also need to put in some work to create your digital products.
For more tips on how to start an Etsy shop for beginners, this article is for you.
5. Graphic Designer
Working as a graphic designer sounds like a lot of fun to most people. It’s a way to let your creativity flow and getting paid to do so.
In today’s world, the term graphic designer gets throw around a lot. It can mean a lot of different things. For professional graphic designers, they might find themselves doing product packaging, book covers, and branding, to name a few.
For beginners, who don’t yet have the title, but have proficiency in digital design tools (think Photoshop, Illustrator, Affinity Designer, etc), you can start with illustrations, photo retouching, vector graphics, and infographics, for examples.
Professionals get hired by big companies, but for beginners, you can market yourself to bloggers, independents, and small companies by either making your own website or marketing yourself on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.
Pros to becoming a Graphic Designer
As a graphic designer, you have the freedom to work creatively. If you’re passionate about creating beautiful things, you get paid to do that. As a designer, you’ll most likely work on a wide variety of projects so no two days will be the exact same.
Cons to becoming a Graphic Designer
Unlike many of the jobs on this list, becoming a graphic designer comes with a big learning curve. You’ll need knowledge and skills in basic color theory, composition and of course, how to use the design tools. Once you get started, this industry also has a lot of competition so standing out can be tough.
Skillshare is a great resource for learning the basics of graphic design.
6. Business Owner
I saved the last one for the toughest, yet in my opinion, the most rewarding. Deciding to start something totally new is a lot of work. It’s a decision I wouldn’t take lightly. Most people choose this path by blogging. Others use their expertise to offer a variety of services and/or products.
The sky really is the limit here.
Pros to starting your own business
You are in total control of what you create and how you do it. This means working when you want and how you want. It also allows you to work for something that you’re passionate about and something that motivates you to get going on Monday mornings.
Cons to starting your own business
With every decision left in your hands, it can be very stressful, especially if this is your first business. You might not know where to start or how to monetize your idea. You’ll also most likely work much more than you did before.
The Creatives Platform offers a great course on branding and how to start your own business, with a focus on blogging and social media. It’s the perfect starting point for beginners.
There you have it, 6 great remote jobs for beginners. Now it's your turn to make it happen!
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