Working on the internet - 10 ideas for serious job

 

 

Thanks to the Internet, it is now possible to have a secondary - or full-time - job within your own four walls, or just beyond.


Working on the internet - 10 ideas for serious jobs

Unless you are a freegan follower and have found a way to live entirely off the grid, you probably need some kind of regular income to survive. The traditional way to make money, of course, is to have a job.


You work for a company or you start your own, and the work you do earns you money, which you spend on things like a mortgage, rent, food, clothes, utilities and entertainment.

Most people usually work from the headquarters of their company, a physical space where all the members of this organization come together to exchange ideas and organize their efforts.

But many people have found ways to earn money from the comfort of their own home, thanks to the internet. Some of these jobs are more suitable for those looking to earn a little extra money, while others can lead to full-time jobs and great success.

Many online jobs require you to be your own boss, which calls on your sales, marketing and customer service skills.

However, some companies hire people to work from home, which means that you can either take a salary or give them a percentage of what you earn.


We've put together a list of our top 10 ways to make money on the Internet, in no particular order.

1. Sell items on eBay
2. Blog
3. Rent your house or car
4. The freelancing
5. Social media manager
6. Financial services
7. Customer service
8. The tutoring
9. Sell online courses
10. Sell handmade products.

1. Sell items on eBay

Most people today are familiar with this concept: You have items that you don't necessarily need but that others are willing to buy, and you can put these items up for auction on eBay or other online auction sites. Just gather your belongings, create a seller profile and start selling.

It sounds simple, but it takes a little practice to successfully sell. To get buyers interested, you need to create compelling and legitimate product pages for the items you sell.


It's also important to set reasonable minimum bids to make sure people will buy. And don't forget to offer customer service that will allow you to get positive feedback and communicate with buyers to let them know that you are reliable.

The more positive feedback you receive, the more willing people will be to do business with you. And this means, of course, more money. (eBay takes a 10% share of everything you sell, plus 35 cents for any item listed for sale beyond the 50 free listings you receive per month)


You can be the best garage salesman of the 21st century or evolve your side business on eBay into a full-time business.


In fact, many people start by selling things they no longer want at home, and then start looking for items to resell, for example in second-hand stores. It's about finding the right niche (maybe antique vases) and building a trusting relationship with your regular customers.


As with everything online, the competition is fierce and you will have to fight to survive, but many people manage to do this.

2. Blog.

 

If you have a special passion for something and you have a lot to say about it, blogging can be a profitable way to pour out your uninterrupted stream of thoughts.


The key here, as with many other services on the Internet, is to be consistent (in this case, blogging several times a week), sell advertising and use your blog as a platform to promote other businesses.


After creating a personal blog, many authors sign up for advertising services such as Google AdSense, which display those familiar sponsored links that are often seen at the top and sides of websites.


The more readers of your blog click on these ads, the more money you earn from the advertising service. This works well if you are a casual blogger and just want a little extra pocket money.


But if the blog is constantly interesting, well-written and it really takes off, you can be approached by companies that want to reach your fan base with graphic ads around your blog, which will make you more money.


You can also sign up for affiliate links. Affiliate links allow you to receive a share of any product sold through a link from your website to the advertiser's site.


So, if you write a blog post and place a hyperlink to a product on it, if a reader clicks on that link and buys the product, you get a percentage of the sale. FlexOffers is just one of the places where you can sign up to get links.

A travel blogger can start by documenting the strengths (and weaknesses) of their travels around the world.

He embellishes his text with video clips, numerous hashtags and, of course, appropriate links to social media. From there, they can decide to organize guided tours of the places they have visited, give lectures or create e-books with travel tips and sell them from their site.


They can even conduct workshops to teach others how to make money with a blog.

 

3. Rent your house or car.

 

Nowadays, there is an application for almost everything you can imagine. And many of these companies offer ways to make money using your own property or time.

Uber is the heavyweight of the ride-sharing world. With just a few clicks, people who need transportation can call drivers at any GPS-marked location for easy pick-up.

Drivers have to pass a background check, but after that you are ready to transport passengers day and night. If you provide exceptionally friendly service, your passengers can give you a nice tip at the end of the ride.
And this is indeed your goal, because it may be that you work many hours, do not receive any benefits and are faced with the potential dangers of picking up complete strangers and driving them around the city.


Airbnb allows owners to rent spaces to anyone who needs to be accommodated. So, if you are a landlord, you can rent one or two rooms to strangers, even if the house is still occupied.

You can also rent your entire property to tourists who want to visit Paris but don't want to stay at the hotel.


But be very, very careful before planning your livelihood around Airbnb - the company is facing backlash in some cities, where residents are lobbying to ban short-term rentals.

There are many other short-term jobs that you can do on the Internet. Do you know how to assemble IKEA furniture or repair houses? Place an ad on TaskRabbit.

These sites all tend to work the same way: In general, you are allowed to offer your services for free, and the application takes a share of what you earn.


You can set your own schedules. In some companies, you can set your own prices; in others, the company decides the prices. You can read the reviews of people who have worked with these companies to find out which ones are the most suitable for your time.

 

4. The freelancing.

 

Freelance work is in some ways similar to blogging. On the one hand, you can work from home most of the time. But there are some important distinctions. In the case of freelancing, you usually sell your writing to another publication rather than publishing it on your blog (although some bloggers do both).
Many freelance positions cover specialized topics for online publications and may require in-depth knowledge of the topic. You can specialize in writing about food, health, business, or just be versatile.


Seasoned journalists, who may not have specialized knowledge, but who know how to conduct interviews and do research to gain this knowledge, make a career as freelancers for various newspapers and magazines. However, you will get more work if you can showcase your expertise or experience in a particular niche.

To get started, you may need to write for free. Many small websites are looking for help to write for free. Once you get a few excerpts, you can show them to someone who offers paid work.

Check out generalist job boards like Indeed.com or the "About" section of your favorite publication to see if they are hiring and what the requirements are.

 

5. Social media manager.

 

Whether it's Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat, social media is a trend that's here to stay. Whether large companies or small businesses of all kinds, all business owners need to understand the basic principles of social media, otherwise they will get lost in it.


Many large companies have entire departments dedicated to social media management, but many small and medium-sized companies do not have the time to do it themselves. They prefer to entrust many of these tasks to people who better understand the challenges and benefits of Twitter and other similar networks.

You already know that your smartphone allows you to view (and post) reviews on just about every product and service on the planet. These reviews - and the way companies treat them - can make or break a business.


After all, when was the last time you intentionally bought a product that received a single star? 

Savvy social media managers know that there are a plethora of ways to gather great feedback from customers, and that there are also many ways to gather negative feedback.

They understand that in many ways the web is a double-edged sword, which can boost profits or lead to the ruin of public relations.


To be successful in this field, you need to understand the ins and outs of different social media platforms and how they intersect, not only technically, but also culturally.


Savvy social media managers know who uses Snapchat and who uses Facebook. They know how to craft engaging messages for their shareable content and take good photos and videos. They also understand metrics (why a particular post got such a number of clicks) and are good at multitasking.

 

6. Financial services.

 

Financial services include accounting, tax return preparation, account keeping and salary processing. These are services that few people want to use, but for their own peace of mind, they are often willing to pay an expert to help them balance their accounts and cope with the complexities of tax legislation.

And today you can accomplish most of these services with the help of specialized software. For companies, this means that fewer people need to be hired to take care of these tasks. For individuals, this means that they can do it themselves and use an online consultant if necessary.


These cost-cutting opportunities for consumers mean money-making opportunities for you. You can create your own website or work with an existing online services group to advertise the financial services you offer. Then you can correspond with customers through this website and by email.

First, make sure that you are trained or experienced in the services you intend to offer. If you offer accounting services, you must have a degree in this field, while a tax preparer may simply have completed a short course.


Having a niche (like entertainment accounting) will help you stand out from the crowd. In addition, make sure you know if you need government licenses to offer certain services, and avoid presenting yourself in a false light or working illegally so as not to be prosecuted for fraud.

Although this is an Internet-based activity, it is likely that you will have to leave your home at least from time to time to meet with clients or to build a network in order to get more clients.

 

7. Customer service.

 

For any business, customer service is a real concern - and time-consuming. Many companies support their products through customer service.

Usually these are people who answer phone calls from customers, as well as by e-mail or online chat.

In the latter case, the customer clicks on a link requesting to chat with a live person, and a customer service representative responds to the request and speaks with the customer through a chat window. For customer service by e-mail, the customer fills out a form on the website or sends an e-mail directly to a particular address.


Since these services only require a reliable phone, internet connection and browser, companies are increasingly inclined to hire home workers.


This can be a great opportunity for someone looking to work when the kids are at school or are in bed.

Customer service companies like Alorica offer email and live chat support, in addition to incoming and outgoing phone calls. Other companies, like Amazon, hire home agents directly. The pay rate may be low, but companies usually offer bonuses if agents achieve certain goals.

There are also home-based positions for booking agents, sales agents, travel agents and virtual assistants (who perform executive assistance work for people or companies). You can find jobs in all of these fields by checking out a large job board like Indeed or Monster.

 

8. The tutoring.

Every year, students in elementary schools, middle schools and high schools are under increasing pressure to get good grades and prepare for higher education. For some children, this means getting help from a tutor to fill in the gaps in understanding in certain subjects.


Since most families have a reliable high-speed Internet connection at home, Internet tutoring services are growing. When applying for these jobs, you usually have to take tests in your chosen subjects and undergo a background check.


Although you can create your own online tutoring service, sites like Superprof have already done the work for you in terms of marketing. These sites connect thousands of children (and adults) with tutors every week, in your country and abroad.


However, they can also determine your hourly rate or take a share of what you charge, which allows you to decide whether it is better to work for them or self-employed.

While many jobs on the internet offer flexible hours or multiple shifts, tutoring services may require you to be online for a specific amount of time or reward you for it. This encourages tutors to be available during periods when demand is highest.

 

9. Sell online courses.

 

You can go further in your pedagogical knowledge and, rather than signing up for a tutoring service, create your own online course and charge participants. The online learning boom has spawned an online course industry that could be worth up to $325 billion by 2025.

Classes can be academic in nature, creative (how to make candles), technical (how to learn Python) or business (how to grow a business).


If you're running out of ideas, check out a site like Udemy, which has over 10,000 courses. In general, either you pay a monthly fee to the platform that hosts your activity, or it allows you to host for free in exchange for a share of the training fees.

To be successful in this field, you need to be able to break down complicated topics for a general audience, and be able to create a video or PowerPoint presentation for your topic. (There are many prefabricated models on platforms designed for this purpose).


You also need to have good marketing skills so that potential students can find your course and be interested enough to enroll in it.

But don't worry, there is a lot of information on the Internet to help you manage the business aspect of this business, whether it's advice on creating a business plan, choosing the title of your courses or motivating your students.


You can even pay for an online course that teaches you how to sell online courses.

 

10. Sell handmade products.

 

Earlier we mentioned using websites like eBay to sell things you don't need. But you can also use websites to sell your original creations.

Some websites like Etsy aim to connect artists who create handmade objects with customers who appreciate and want to buy their handmade products.

If you are like most people, the word "handmade" probably makes you think of traditional crafts like knitting, crocheting, needlework, quilting, painting and sculpture. But handmade items do not end there.