Ranking the best work-from-home jobs

For freedom and flexibility, nothing beats working from home.

And today, it’s easier than ever to find good opportunities.

Why?

Because today, a growing number of businesses are 100% virtual—meaning, they don’t have a brick-and-mortar office. Employees work from home. Meetings are held in online meeting apps like Skype or Zoom. And everyone connects through online chat boards like Slack.

Which means you can have a fulfilling career, doing impressive work, and making great money… in your pajamas.

Today, I’m going to give you 21 work-from-home jobs that can give you a good income without you ever having to fight another rush hour or update your wardrobe.

Best of all, you can choose your own work style.

Most of these jobs can be done as a full-time employee or as a freelancer. So you can work from home and have a “regular” job or not—and build your own home-based business your own way.

If you want a regular job working from home, you’ll look for openings just like you would in a traditional job.

But if you want to launch your own freelance business, your process will be different depending on the type of work you’re looking for—so I’ll give you specific tips with each listing below.

Ready to find your best work-from-home job? Let’s get started…

1. Marketing specialist

If you’re a marketer, working from home isn’t a pipe dream. Most marketing is done online anyway, so it makes perfect sense to build the campaigns remotely.

All types of marketing jobs are available too. You can be an email specialist, conversion rate optimizer, funnel builder, or any other specialty. Every business uses these skills!

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Build a portfolio of marketing campaigns that show off your expertise and the results you generate.

Step 2: Build a website to promote your services and show off your portfolio.

Step 3: Start getting clients and working your magic for them.

Example:

• Lauren Holliday
• Dean Ifrach

Best place to learn:

• MIT open courseware on entrepreneurship and Sloan School of Management
• DigitalMarketer certifications

2. Virtual assistant

Virtual assistants can work from anywhere in the world for anyone in the world. Location is no barrier.

As a VA, you’ll do whatever odd jobs you’re needed to do, so there’s no real job description other than being available and having a good attitude.

Of course, if you’ve got skills that are considered valuable, you’ll have an easier time getting work. Probably most important are being tech-savvy and organized. But if you’ve got writing skills, graphic skills, or experience building websites, by all means, let your potential employers know. They’ll likely build your job description around your unique skills.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Pick your niche. In particular, think about the type of person or industry you want to work in, and the services you’d like to provide.

Step 2: Network, network, network. Getting clients may be more about who you know than what you know.

Step 3: Build a website and promote your services in social media.

Example:

• Amy Williams
• Regina King

Best place to learn:

• The VA Handbook
• International Virtual Assistant Association

3. Web developer

Every business needs a website, which is why the 10-year outlook for web developers is 15%.

To work from home as a web developer, you need to be self-motivated, detail oriented, and creative. You also need a solid understanding of HTML, JavaScript, or SQL, and multimedia publishing tools.

In some cases, you may also need a bachelor’s degree in computer programming or information systems management. With or without the degree, you’ll need to stay up to date on the new tools and computer languages.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Build a website that shows off your skills. Be sure to include a lead generation form, so you can connect with people who are interested in your work.

Step 2: Get clients and do outstanding work for them.

Step 3: Talk about what you do in your blog and on social media, so other brands are eager to work with you.

Example:

• Adam Coti
• Ranjit Pillai

Best place to learn:

• Website Setup
• Coding Dojo

4. Customer support representative

Successful businesses provide quality customer service. So they need people to answer phones, respond to emails, and manage live chat.

If your people skills are off the charts, this is a great work-from-home job. And if you are bilingual, you’ll be especially valuable. Since you’ll be the go-between, advocating for both the company you work for and their customers, it helps if you can speak to people who don’t speak English.

You don’t need a lot of training, but you do need to be a good communicator. You’ll also need to become an expert in the products you represent—so it helps if you’re a fast learner.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Build a website where you can promote your services and blog about customer support issues.

Step 2: Sign up at freelance job sites, such as PeoplePerHour and Remote.co. Make sure you highlight the skills that make you shine.

Step 3: Wow your clients and get testimonials for your website.

Example:

• PeoplePerHour
• Freelancer

Best place to learn:

• National Customer Service Association (NCSA)
• HelpScout blog

5. Tech support specialist

A more specialized type of support is tech support, which tech companies must give their customers.

A good tech support agent is able to translate confusing or hard-to-understand technical information into something that anyone can understand. If you’re good with tech and often find yourself helping other people solve problems with it, you’re probably a good fit.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Build a website that promotes your services.

Step 2: Sign up at freelance job sites, including PeoplePerHour and Remote.co.

Step 3: Wow your clients and get testimonials for your website.

Example:

• Flexjobs
• ZipRecruiter

Best place to learn:

• Microsoft Professional Program for IT Support
• InfoWorld

6. Direct sales

Another work-from-home opportunity is direct sales, also known as multilevel marketing.

This is a great option if you’re a natural marketer, enjoy people, and truly believe in the value of your products.

MLMs have been around for decades, but not everyone who gets involved gets rich from it. At best, it provides another stream of income. But to make money, you may be asked to sell all the time to everyone you know. And honestly, that can make good relationships go bad.

If you want a better way, check this out.

If you’re set on multilevel marketing, here’s a list of popular MLMs to consider. And here’s how to get started.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Find a company you like and sign up.

Step 2: Set up your sales channels, including a web page and social media.

Step 3: Start throwing parties and talking up your products. Your goal is to meet your sales and recruiting quotas so you can rise through the ranks quickly.

Example:

• Scentsy
• Pampered Chef

Best place to learn:

• The 50 Best Network Marketing Companies
• Network Marketing Works

7. Writer

It’s not easy to earn a ton of money as a writer, but if you love to write, it’s one of the most rewarding work-at-home jobs out there.

And there are lots of ways to get paid for writing. You can be an author, self-publishing fiction or nonfiction books. You can be a content writer or copywriter, writing articles, reports, and sales pages for businesses. You can also be a blogger, writing your own articles and reports, and monetizing your website with ads, affiliate products, and your own products.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Decide the type of writing you want to do and pick a niche.

Step 2: Build a website: to sell your writing services, you’ll need a promotional website; to sell your own writing, you’ll need a blog and sales pages.

Step 3: Use social media to attract fans who love your work. Use email marketing to update them when you publish something.

Example:

• Melissa Foster
• Wendell Berry

Best place to learn:

• Jane Friedman
• Smart Blogger

8. Artist

Making money as an artist is hard, but it can be done. And you don’t always have to be “practical” to do it.

Yes, you can work for businesses as a graphic designer. But you can also be a cartoonist, a painter, or a sculptor. The key is to find a niche and become good at marketing so you can attract fans who love your work.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Create a body of work that’s unique and cohesive.

Step 2: Build a website, where you can showcase your work and let people know how to hire you or buy your work.

Step 3: Network, network, network. Success comes from who you know and being in the right circles.

Example:

• Rebecca Tillman-Young
• Samantha Tidwell

Best place to learn:

• RTY Art Academy
• Jessica Serran

9. Editor/Proofreader

In today’s information economy, quality matters. Which is why businesses are eager to hire good editors and proofreaders to “fix” their blog posts, reports, and copy.

This is a great job for you if you’ve got an eye for detail and an in-depth knowledge of grammar, usage, and spelling.

And it’s easy to get started.

Step 1: Build a website that explains what you do and how you work.

Step 2: Get the word out on social media. You may also want to send personal emails to publishers and marketing directors in your chosen niche.

Step 3: Wow your clients so they keep coming back for more.

Example:

• Jody Calkins
• Right Touch Editing

Best place to learn:

• Copyediting
• Writers and Editors

10. Child care provider

Plenty of parents need childcare but don’t like child care centers. They want someone who will give their kids the feeling of being with family.

You can offer child care on a one-off basis, but you can also be “the” babysitter, offering regular care for a few families. You can also offer special care for date nights, mother’s day out, and other special events.

Be aware, if you’re really good at getting clients, you could easily start an agency. You get clients, then give the work to qualified babysitters who sign up with you. Everybody’s happy!

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: If you’re just doing babysitting, focus on getting clients. Put the word out that you’re available and have a meet-and-greet with new families to meet their kids.

Step 2: If you want to have a home-based child care center, get inspected and licensed by state and local regulators.

Step 3: Leave the kids happier than when they arrived, and let word-of-mouth bring you all the clients you need.

Example:

• Mom’s Best Friend
• Angel Sitters

Best place to learn:

• How to Start a Quality Child Care Business
• Child Care Services Association

11. Baker

Local restaurants residents alike expect great breads and delicious desserts—but most don’t have time or energy to make them.

If you bake, why not offer your services? You can take individual orders or set up standing orders (say, 3 cakes a day for a restaurant). Add in other services, like delivery or catering, and this could be a profitable work-from-home job.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Decide the type of baking you want to do and local businesses that might be interested in hiring you.

Step 2: Get the word out. Talk to the restaurant owners. Build a website. And promote your baked good online.

Step 3: Wow your clients and watch the orders come in!

Example:

• Katie Keul
• Wandering Whisk Bakeshop

Best place to learn:

• WebstaurantStore
• Bluprint

12. Telephone nurse

If you’re a registered nurse, you’ve got the basic skills to become a telephone nurse, offering triage services and case management for crisis hotlines, physician offices, trauma centers, hospitals, and outpatient care facilities.

Not a nurse? You need a nursing degree and a passing grade on the NCLEX-RN test. But the effort is well worth it. Telephone nursing is one of the best-paying work-from-home jobs you can get—offering as much as $70k and up.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Look for telephone nurse jobs on EveryNurse or freelance nursing positions on 83Bar and CareNet.

Step 2: To help you get freelance jobs, build a website and blog about your nursing know-how.

Step 3: Do a great job supporting your telehealth patients, and enjoy a good living while making a difference in people’s lives.

Example:

• EveryNurse
• com

Best place to learn:

• Nurse Buff
• American Telemedicine Association

13. Odd jobs

We live in a gig economy. Meaning you can make a living wage as a Jack of all Trades.

The key is to know your strengths and to manage your time. Find odd jobs that you can do at the same time—like Uber driving and house painting.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Decide what type of jobs you’d like to do.

Step 2: Sign up for freelancing and gig sites like TaskRabbit and Fivver.

Step 3: Do great work on every gig so you get good reviews and repeat clients.

Example:

• EasyShift
• Fancy Hands

Best place to learn:

• org
• Best Home-Based Business Ideas

14. Website tester

Businesses want their websites to work as well as they can. But they need help to know how to optimize them.

Enter the website tester, who performs simple tasks on the website—often while being recorded while doing the tasks—so the website owner can evaluate how well their site works.

You won’t get rich doing website testing. But you can bring home an extra $200 a month pretty easily.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Get a microphone and webcam and make sure you’ve got access to high-speed internet. Then sign up to as many testing sites as you can.

Step 2: Each day, review the assignments each site sends you, and sign up for the ones you like.

Step 3: Do the assignments and get paid the next day.

Example:

• UserTest
• Testing Time

Best place to learn:

• Scott Alan Turner
• The Work at Home Woman

15. Animator

You don’t need to be a Disney-level animator to create impressive animations. You don’t even need to be good at drawing.

What you do need is a good animation software like Animate CC (entry-level) or Autodesk Maya (professional).

It’s easy to get started.

Step 1: Start creating your own animations and publishing them on YouTube, where they’ll be seen.

Step 2: Create a killer demo reel. (This is the animator’s “resume.” You won’t get hired without it.)

Step 3: Network. Look for work on UpWork. Keep mailing your demo reel to studios.

Example:

• Rich Hinchcliffe
• Rubber Onion

Best place to learn:

• Bloop Animation
• Rusty Animator

16. Video editor

A great work-at-home job is video editor. Today, entertainment companies, businesses, and personal brands are creating more videos than ever—and they all need a skilled editor to help their videos shine.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Choose your genre or niche and look for ways you can stand out from other video editors in the space.

Step 2: Create a short demo reel (3 minutes max) that shows off your video editing skills.

Step 3: Network. Look for work on UpWork. Keep reaching out to prospects and production companies, showing them your demo reel.

Example:

• Phillip Gow
• Paul Shirley

Best place to learn:

• Larry Jordan
• Indie Film Hustle

17. Insurance agent

Insurance agents can make great money while helping people protect their health and financial assets. And it gives you lots of choices.

You can be captive or independent, working as an employee for an insurance company or for yourself. As an independent agent, you can work with all the best insurance companies, which means you can offer your clients the products that fit their needs best—and you get to decide how much, when, and where you work.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Decide what kind of insurance you want to sell.

Step 2: Learn the requirements in your state. Pas your state exam and apply to insurance agencies.

Step 3: Build a website with good lead generation, and start giving your clients the insurance they need most.

Example:

• Charles Green
• Pflugerville Insurance Agency

Best place to learn:

• Kaplan Financial Education
• Agent Survival Guide

18. Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers maintain business’ financial books, including payroll, accounts receivable and payable, billing, purchasing, and taxes.

The good news is you don’t need an accounting degree. But you do need to be comfortable with accounting software and double-entry bookkeeping.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Sign up to UpWork.

Step 2: Build a website promoting your services. Connect with prospects on LinkedIn. Network at local events.

Step 3: Get a few clients and wow them with your efficiency.

Example:

• Virtual Bookkeeping Services
• Backyard Bookkeeper

Best place to learn:

• The Accounting Coach
• American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers

19. Data entry specialist

If you’re looking for an easy work-from-home option that gives you an actual living wage, you need to consider data entry.

You will need a computer and high-speed internet. But beyond that, you simply need to be detail-oriented and accurate.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Look for remote data entry jobs on freelance job sites and job boards.

Step 2: Prepare a killer resume. And if you want to set up a freelance data entry business, build a website.

Step 3: Set up phone calls with prospective clients/employers, and show them what you can do.

Example:

• Cass Information Systems
• Flexjobs

Best place to learn:

• Real Way to Earn Money Online
• Dream Home Based Work

20. Consultant

If you’re an expert in something people or businesses struggle with, consulting is a way to leverage that experience to make a living from home.

The key is to be known within your industry and to have credibility as a go-to for solutions. Then you can work with individuals and businesses, guiding them, providing solutions, and helping them implement your ideas.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Build a website. Use blogging and social media to establish your expertise.

Step 2: Get some clients and make sure they achieve their goals. Add their testimonials to your website.

Step 3: Promote your process in a book, on stage, and in webinars, so more clients will seek you out.

Example:

• Ed Gandia
• Perry Marshall

Best place to learn:

• com
• Consultant Journal

21. Grant writer

Non-profit, fine-art, and research organizations all operate on funding. And that funding must be applied for through killer proposals written by grant writers.

That’s why grant writers can get paid extremely well—if you’ve got the right skills. Grant proposals are technical writing that needs to be engaging and persuasive. So you need to be able to weave storytelling and compelling research with tight deadlines.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Pick a niche and get to know the funders within that space.

Step 2: Build a website that promotes your services and shows off your track record. Use blogging and social media to talk about what you do.

Step 3: Look for grant writing gigs in job services. Consider volunteering time with a nonprofit to write your first few grant proposals and build a high rate of success.

Example:

• Professional Grant Writers
• Aaron Rome

Best place to learn:

• American Grant Writer’s Association
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy

What if you only want to be an employee?

No problem!

Here’s how you’ll find work-from-home jobs as a full-time employee.

Step 1: Google “[your specialty] jobs” for a quick listing of jobs near you. For more openings, check out Monster, Indeed, and Glassdoor.

Step 2: Send in an updated (and personalized) resume.

Step 3: Wow them in an interview.

Now you…

You’ve seen my top-21 list of the best work-from-home jobs. All are great opportunities, and most can give you a good income without you ever having to join rush hour traffic again.

Now I’d like to hear from you…

Which ones do you like best?

Have you found other opportunities that you like?

Let me know in the comments below right now.

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