Many businesses start on a small scale, and often you start making your first money from home. You may not have developed that clever business idea that will take over the world yet, but still want to start your own business? Then this article is for you.
Start by asking yourself the question: What are you good at? What do you think is funny? If you find an activity with the two common denominators, the probability is high that you can also make a living out of it! Maybe you enjoy writing texts, following the stock market, testing products or something else.
You also don’t need to be stressed about having to register a business right away. Many future entrepreneurs have started their journey.
If you need a little help along the way, here we share our tips on things that will allow you to start making money online from the comfort of your home!
1. Become a virtual assistant
There are plenty of companies that do not need full-time assistants – but there is still the need to get a helping hand at regular intervals. You agree with your client on a certain number of hours per month and what you will help with. The duties vary, but may involve posting receipts, booking dinners, planning the calendar, sorting incoming e-mail, doing research on a certain topic, ordering flower delivery to business partners or the like. You often do not need to have any prior knowledge in the industry.
2. Transcribe audio and video files
Fast on the keys? Then you may have a transcription career ahead of you! You listen to an audio or video recording of a lecture, a business conference or a telephone interview and write down everything that is said.
3. Offer language lessons
There are plenty of people out there who need to learn a new language! It could be a school student, a new employee who has moved to a new country or a vacationer who wants to sharpen his language skills before the trip. Get a Skype account, offer your services – and you’re off!
4. Affiliate – send customers to the right store
Affiliate marketing is a results-based marketing method. You can e.g. have a website that tests and reviews speakers, and under each review is an affiliate link that sends the reader to the product page. If the reader chooses to make a purchase from the advertiser, you as a distributor get a piece of the pie. If the website gets enough traffic, you can earn big money from referrals, without having to do much yourself. A good passive income!
5. Make niche videos
Every day, over a billion hours of video material is viewed on YouTube. If you need help putting together an IKEA piece of furniture, need to learn how to program or want to hear a piece of music, chances are you’ll find the answer in a YouTube search. If you create content yourself, you have the opportunity to earn money from the ads that appear next to your video. However, the ad revenue is not very big, but if you get enough views, companies may be interested in sponsoring the video. Niche videos always work best! What can you teach that can be of use to someone else?
6. Translate texts
The world is becoming increasingly interconnected. National borders are beginning to blur and people both travel and move like never before. An increasing need to be able to reach out with one’s message in more languages than the national language has arisen. If you have several mother tongues or just a talent for languages, you can therefore be of great use in the work of translating texts, such as simple information materials, articles or books, for companies and organizations. However, if you want to work with translating educational materials or official documents, you must be an authorized translator.
7. Social Media
It happens all too often that you find a shop’s or a restaurant’s Facebook page or Instagram profile, which on closer inspection has not been updated for years or months. If you are a frequent user of social media yourself, you probably know how to manage it much better than the people behind the company! Go to small business owners in your area and ask to take care of their social media – to increase their brand awareness and find new customers.
8. Work as a telemarketer from home
Telephone sales is very much about communication and the challenge lies in building relationships and arousing interest in a product or service over the phone. It is easy to envision a large room with desks, booths and salespeople with microphones and headphones, but there are also companies that let their salespeople work from home. You usually only need a computer and a phone.
9. Take an online course
Maybe you’re great at baking muffins, playing the guitar or taking great Instagram photos? Then you should consider sharing your knowledge with other people online and earn a penny at the same time! There are many course portals that allow you to set up your own online course, with different chapters containing texts, images, videos and the like. It can feel overwhelming at first, but once the course is up and you’ve got your first participants, you can sit back and enjoy passive income!
10. Become a Graphic Designer
Do you have an eye for color and shape? Good! It is rare and not least a prerequisite for becoming a graphic designer. You can offer your services to both companies and individuals who want help in creating logos, illustrations, album covers, business cards, stationery, tattoos, posters, menus, catalogs or packaging. Here, only the imagination can set limits! Literally.
Services, networks and platforms for freelancers
By now you might have an idea of what you’d like to try. In some cases, you may already have contacts you can turn to – but how are you going to find your customers outside of your own network and outside of platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn? Well, there are actually quite a few services just for that. It is difficult to find a purely Swedish site that is updated continuously, but there are plenty of international alternatives.
Upwork
Upwork is one of the world’s leading providers of remote jobs. According to their own website, over 5 million companies have used the service and customers include Microsoft, Airbnb and GE to name a few. Upwork is looking for freelancers in everything from programming and administration to writing and sales.
Fiverr
Founded back in 2010, Fiverr has become one of the world’s leading platforms for creative services. Creators from all over the world gather here to offer their services in design, video editing and programming. The name originally comes from the fact that the website offered services from 5 dollars. You decide your own price and you keep the whole cake. Instead, Fiverr imposes a service fee on the buyer.
Teachable
Teachable allows you to create and sell online courses! You create a free account and build your own course by adding text, images, video, audio, presentations and other content. You choose yourself how much it will cost to complete the course, and for a small fee, Teachable takes care of both the payment system and technology solutions. It hardly gets smoother than that!
Etsy
Etsy is a well-known player in the maker movement! Here, independent sellers offer their unique products to customers all over the world. Whether you make greeting cards, paintings, clothes, embroidery, bracelets or books, there is a place for you here!