7 Methods of Online Work

I did an article forever and a day ago talking about my continuing hunt for freelance work via the internet. That article seems to be really popular and in the time since then I've found some tentative success. I say 'tentative' because the reality is that I could lose this work very, very easily. Having only logged back into Tuetego after quite a while, I found a few articles about making money online which were very interesting but it did get me thinking: what other methods are there?

I've limited myself to 7 methods. Let's get into it.

Experience and Legitimacy

The biggest issue that a lot of people (myself included) have with job hunting in general is experience or rather a lack of experience. My own skill set is mostly based in the fields of Journalism and Creative Writing. I also have a 150 hour TESOL certificate so that's something. Unfortunately, however, the fact that I have the qualifications doesn't actually mean much as I have little to no experience. This makes finding work - just in general - much harder than it should be.

My epilepsy and autism (yes, I'm on the autism spectrum), make it harder for me in particular because I don't do well under extreme pressure and can't do several things at once. Working online takes away some of the pressure of a workplace environment by allowing you to work in the comfort of your own home. This is a good start but then the dreaded experience monster rears its ugly head. Looking for legitimate online teaching work is hard; most places require that you have at least a few years of classroom experience of some kind - at least from what I could find.

Which brings up the next thing: Legitimacy. For every legit online company/site, there are two or three illegitimate ones. The worst part is that it's not always easy to tell which places are genuine and which are the frauds. This fact has led me to be VERY careful what I sign up for - even when I do sign up, it's only after major research.

That doesn't mean that there isn't legitimate online work; in fact it's quite the opposite. There's plenty to do but you have to be careful - as I've already mentioned.

Variety

I think I'm going to do a few articles on making money online but for now let's just look at a few things that you can do with little to no experience.

1. Writing articles for websites. There are plenty of websites that allow you to write and content and get paid for it. Whether it's a company or your own personal blog; you can write articles and make some money out of it.

2. Photography. Yeah, apparently this is a thing; you take a photo and then sell it to a stock photo site (i.e. Shutterstock). Obviously it's a bit more complicated than that but that's the core idea.

3. Selling your own products/services. This is probably the hardest thing on this list. It requires a heck of a lot of marketing and promotion. Unlike a lot of the methods listed here, this is something I've got some minor experience with. I started promoting my services as an English Tutor and Editor on social media and with business cards and posters. I can't say it's really paid off, I've gotten some tuition work which is great but it's not going to last forever.

4. Videos on YouTube. This less reliable than some of the other stuff here but it is possible to make money doing videos on YouTube.

5. Product Testing & Affiliate Marketing. Essentially, a company will send you a product to test and promote. Payment methods here will vary so make sure to do your homework.

6. Microtasking. There are several sites that will list certain, small tasks that you can do and get paid for. I've done this myself and quickly lost interest as the pay is typically only a cent or two and that's AFTER you've provided proof and had the job approved. The advantage here, apart from the obvious one of staying at home, is that the work is pretty interesting and you can do several tasks in a day without an issue...as long as you have saint-like patience.

7. Transcription. This is something that I've just recently started doing so I can't say just yet how viable it is. What I can say is that it's very interesting. You listen to an audio clip and type what you hear. Sounds simple enough, right? Well...not really; the places that do transcription work are typically pretty strict so you have to be extremely careful about not missing anything in the audio. On the upside the pay is pretty decent.

Final Thoughts:

Online work seems to be the way forward in terms of business and the sheer variety of work means that there's something for everyone. The problems come from locating genuine places of employment amidst a sea of illegitimate places. I'll reiterate what I said earlier: DO YOUR RESEARCH!

I'm definitely going to do more of this line of content (online work) - documenting my thoughts and experiences as best I can. In the meantime, thanks for reading!

Image Credit: Hacker Noon