Looking for the best part-time online jobs to supplement your income, pay down debt or get ahead financially?
Good news. There’s never been a better time to find part-time or full-time online jobs that pay well.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, over 5 million Americans worked from home at least half the time.
That number skyrocketed during the pandemic, with millions of employers going virtual. And initial data shows productivity is as strong as it was in the office, if not better. In a recent study of 800 employers with remote employees, 94% said productivity was equal to or higher than it was before the pandemic.
Yes, working from home is here to stay.
So, what does that mean for you? Opportunity!
And in this guide, we will show you the best opportunities for part-time online jobs that pay well.
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What Are The Best Part-Time Online Jobs?
As America gets back to work, there will be more opportunities than ever to work from home. You can work for traditional employers like Amazon or Williams Sonoma or create your own path with a side hustle or small business.
Let’s dive in: Here are the 12 best part-time online jobs you can do today and make good money.
1. Part-Time Online Freelance Writer
How Much Do Freelance Writers Earn? Pay varies widely between $20 to $100+ per hour.
Freelance writing tops our list because it’s how I got my start working from home.
It’s a well-paying job that allows you to be your own boss.
And here’s the best part:
Freelance writing is in huge demand.
Think about it. Any business that wants to create or grow its online presence needs content. That means virtually every active website needs content.
That’s where writers come in. Writers create articles, sales copy, video scripts, product descriptions, white papers, social media content and more.
Another perk about writing online is the flexibility you can enjoy. You can work whenever and wherever you want so long as you meet your deadlines.
What’s more, you can scale your workload up or down depending on how much time you want to dedicate to your writing business and how much you want to earn.
The lower end of the pay scale is between $20 to $50 per article. I recommend never taking less than $50 to write an article longer than 1,000 words.
How Much Can You Earn freelance writing?
For higher freelance writing pay, it’s a good idea to specialize in an area of expertise.
For higher freelance writing pay, it’s a good idea to specialize in an area of expertise.Click To TweetFor example, someone with experience as a realtor or a mortgage loan officer could specialize in the real estate niche and write for real estate brokers, mortgage lenders, realtors, and investors.
Here’s where it gets lucrative:
Many freelance writers earn $1 per word or more with a year or two of experience.
That means you can earn $1,000 to write a standard 1,000-word article. Many freelancers can write 1,000 words in their area of expertise within a few hours.
If you want to learn a hype-free way to earn $1 per word freelance writing, check out Jennifer Goforth Gregory’s book, The Freelance Content Marketing Writer.
This book is on my desk as we speak and there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t refer to it.
2. Part-Time Online Blogger
How Much Do Bloggers Earn? $0 to $100,000+ per month..
Blogging is my jam! I truly love it.
I’m confident if you give blogging a try, you’ll love it too.
A blog gives you a place to help others by sharing your knowledge or expertise. It makes my day when I get a message from a reader who says I’ve helped them in some way.
There are so many good reasons to start blogging. But since this is an article about part-time online jobs, let’s discuss the income side of blogging.
When you start a blog, you’ll have the opportunity to create an income stream. More accurately, most bloggers have multiple income streams.
When you start a blog, you’ll have the opportunity to create an income stream. More accurately, most bloggers have multiple income streams.Click To TweetHere are a few ways bloggers earn money:
- Display advertising
- Affiliate commissions: Earn commissions by recommending products and services you already use.
- Selling your own products or services.
- Online courses: Many bloggers offer detailed courses for sale on their sites. Prices for course access range from $20 to $5,000, depending on the topic and the extensiveness of the course.
- Public speaking at conferences and seminars.
- Consulting and coaching
How Much Can You Earn Blogging Part-Time?
There are so many different ways to make money with a blog that it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact number for what you can earn. That said, here are a few ballpark figures to give you an idea of the earning potential of blogging.
- It’s not uncommon to earn .01 to .10 per page views for display ads. That means if your blog gets 100,000 pageviews you may be able to earn $1,000 to $10,000 per month.
- Many marketers target $1 per email subscriber as a benchmark. In other words, if you have 5,000 email subscribers, you could potentially make $5,000 per month by sending occasional promotions to your subscribers.
- Courses can be extremely lucrative. Many bloggers make over $1 million on course launches. The math makes sense. If you sell access to your course to 1,000 people at $1,000 each, that’s a million-dollar launch.
Blogging is a good online venture to start part-time because it will take time to build a following and earn significant money.
Many of the world’s top income-earning blogs began as a part-time venture before growing to become some of the most popular sites online.
3. Freelance on Fiverr Part-Time
How Much Do Freelancers on Fiverr Earn? Pay varies widely between $5 to $1000+ per gig.
What I like about Fiverr is that you can start making money on Fiverr right away. With a little work, you can make $1,000 a month on Fiverr.
If I was broke and needed to make money today, I’d post my services on Fiverr (I’ve done this).
Remember, you can post a gig to do just about anything from selling your own nutrition plan to optimizing social media profiles.
Pro Tip: While the competition on Fiverr is heavy, you can stand out by “niching down” your offer. Example: Instead of saying you will offer video editing, offer to edit professional wedding videos, travel videos, or another specialty you prefer.
How to Earn Money as a Part-Time Freelancer on Fiverr?
Chances are, if you have a talent, you can package it as a service and offer it on Fiverr.
Of course, the highest-paying gigs on Fiverr are for projects that are in the highest demand.
According to Fiverr Pro data, these part-time online services pay freelancers no less than $100 per project. It’s not uncommon for Fiverr sellers to earn $3,000 for in-demand services.
Here are some of the most lucrative gigs you can offer on Fiverr. [5]
- Website designing
- Video marketing
- Graphic design
- App development
- Chatbot development
- Search and display ad marketing
- Business copywriting
- 3D visualizations
To make more money on Fiverr, the first thing you need to do is to offer your services in tiers, such as Bronze, Silver and Gold. Offer your most basic service for $5, and package more valuable services and options into the higher-priced tiers.
4. Affiliate Marketing
How Much Do Affiliate Marketers Earn?
Like most websites, this site earns money from affiliate programs. Affiliate programs allow you to refer people to a business and earn a commission if they buy something.
What’s great is, just about every major retailer and merchant, from Amazon to Weight Watchers, now offers these programs.
Often, they use different terms like “partner program” or “associate program,” but these terms can be used interchangeably with “affiliate program.”
What affiliates like best is that you don’t have to sell anything yourself. Actually, you don’t have to do anything at all once the purchase is made.
All you have to do is use a link to refer people to a business you use yourself and truly believe in. From there, the partner company handles everything – from order fulfillment to customer service.
How to Earn Money as an Affiliate Marketer Part-Time
For your referral, you will typically earn between 5% and 15% commissions, although commissions are often higher for high-ticket items.
Referral fees are nice but always put your followers first. That means you should only recommend products and services you personally use or that you firmly believe will benefit others.
Affiliate earnings are a simple way that a new site can begin to earn income. As your following grows, so will your affiliate income. Many “super-affiliates” have followed this path on their way to earning $10,000 or more each month.
NerdWallet is a great example of a site whose primary revenue is earned through partner referrals for credit cards. Tim Chen started the site with $800 and it’s now worth a whopping $500 million.
NerdWallet is a great example of a site whose primary revenue is earned through partner referrals for credit cards. Tim Chen started the site with $800 and it's now worth a whopping $500 million.Click To Tweet5. Virtual Assisting
How Much Do Virtual Assistants Earn? $15/hour to $75/hour
Most new businesses need help but they aren’t ready to hire full-time employees. Instead, they turn to virtual support to handle just about any task you can think of.
As a virtual assistant, you are location-independent so you can work anywhere you want. Depending on your clients’ needs, you may be asked to do anything from answering emails and updating social media accounts to scheduling meetings and booking travel accommodations.
Think of it this way, businesses hire virtual assistants to handle many routine tasks so they can focus on growing their companies.
How to Earn Money as a Virtual Assistant Part-Time
The easiest way to get started is to visit Upwork, an online marketplace where businesses look for virtual assistants. I also recommend signing up for FlexJobs to find countless companies looking for flexible remote jobs that you can do anywhere.
If you are seeking a higher hourly rate as a virtual assistant, then your best bet is to start your own virtual assistant business.
If you want a blueprint to follow, I recommend Kayla Sloan’s 10k VA course. Kayla’s program teaches you how to become a virtual assistant and grow your VA business to 10k/per month in earnings.
6. Dropshipping
How Much Do Dropshipping Businesses Earn?
Did you know you can open your own e-commerce store without ever dealing with inventory or fulfilling orders?
This method of e-commerce is called dropshipping. And it’s one of the fastest ways to start making money online.
The popular shoe brand Zappos began as a drop shipping company and Wayfair built their business using this method.
And since dropshipping is so hands-off, many dropshippers scale their business by opening several different e-commerce stores.
How to Earn Money Dropshipping Part-Time
Step 1: Launch an e-commerce store listing a manufacturer’s product(s).
Step 2: A customer places an order on your site.
Step 3: The customer and order information automatically goes to the manufacturer, who then takes care of the shipping. You never even have to touch the product.
Of course, the manufacturer will take their share of the earnings. According to Fit Small Business, you can expect to earn 20% of the sales price of an item using this model. Still, as a source of mostly passive income, dropshipping is worth considering. The income is “mostly” passive because you do need to provide customer service to your buyers.
Dropshipping may require an initial investment to start. For example, you may need to set up your online store. Fiverr is loaded with freelancers who can set up your store for you and sync it to the manufacturer for a reasonable price.
You can use Shopify or another storefront to list your products online. Not only can people buy from your e-commerce store, but you can also sell on Amazon, eBay and other online marketplaces.
7. Teach ESL Classes (Even If You’re Not a Teacher)
How Much Do Online Teachers Earn? $1,000 per month to $4,100 per month.
Teaching English as a second language (ESL) is a gratifying way to earn extra money, even if you’re not a teacher.
What’s more, many ESL companies provide a follow-along program that helps you teach English to non-native English speakers.
The best part is, you don’t even have to speak a second language because the students are enrolled in “full immersion” lessons.
VIPKid is the most popular English tutoring site and Glassdoor rates it as a “Top 10 Best Place to Work.”
How to Earn Money Teaching English Part-Time
When you sign up for VIPKid you’ll give English lessons to Chinese students.
To qualify, you must have a bachelor’s degree in any major. Teaching experience is recommended but not required.
So how much can you earn teaching on VIPKid?
Currently, the site pays $14-22/hour. Earnings can vary from person to person because you can set your own hours and work as much or as little as you like.
Sign up for VIPKid here.
Here are a few more well-known ESL companies offering teaching opportunities:
RareJob – Teach English to Japanese students over Skype
Teach Away – This company offers at-home online teaching jobs as well as work-abroad opportunities.
ESL Base: Search online and international English teaching opportunities.
8. Help Google Improve Its Search Results From Home
How Much Do Search Engine Evaluators Earn? $1,000+
The best way to find this type of work is through Appen, a third-party company that partners with Google to rate their search results. These workers are called search engine evaluators or “Raters.”
Search engine evaluators rate websites, individual webpages, music, videos, images, and maps based on quality, relevance, usefulness and numerous other key performance indicators (KPIs).
How to Earn Money as a Search Engine Evaluator Part-Time
Getting started is fairly easy. You can become a Google search engine evaluator in three steps:
- Apply to Appen or another company that hires Google raters.
- Pass the qualification test given by the company.
- Complete all paperwork.
That’s it. Once these steps are complete, you can begin working to make the internet better, one Google search at a time.
Recommended: 14 Ways To Legitimately Make Money Online Without Investment
9. Become a YouTuber
How Much Do YouTubers Earn? From $0 to $1,000,000+
We’ve all heard stories of successful YouTubers earning millions – like 8-year-old Ryan Kaji whose channel generates over $20 million per year.
Sure, many of these uber-success stories are outliers. That said, they do shine a light on the potential of what you could earn on YouTube.
I follow several DIYers like April Wilkerson for house projects and ChrisFix for car repairs. I also like to improve my guitar skills by watching lessons on JustinGuitar and learning new tabs on GuitarJamz.
These YouTubers may not be raking in $20 million like Ryan but they are certainly bringing in solid income from their YouTube channels.
How to Earn Money as a YouTuber Part-Time
As the above examples show, you don’t have to be a famous YouTuber to earn money on the site.
Just pick a good niche, post content regularly (top YouTubers post videos several times a week), and engage with your audience.
While the amount YouTube pays depends on numerous variables, the rate usually lands between $3 and $5 per 1,000 views. While the advertising revenue is nice, many insiders say the name of the game is subscribers. When you have a lot of subscribers who see your videos regularly, you can make money in many ways.
Here are a few ways to make money on YouTube:
- Become a YouTube Partner: Once you have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time, you can qualify to monetize your channel and earn money from ads.
- Sell products or services: Use YouTube to introduce people to your business. Mark Wills’ channel is an excellent example of how to use videos to promote your products. Wills uses his channel to teach notary public skills while promoting his loan document notary course.
- Create sponsored videos for brands and advertisers: YouTubers with 100,000 or more subscribers can command an average of $12,500 for every sponsored post they create for an advertiser.
- Crowdsource or “fan fund”: Many YouTubers take donations from their fans using Patreon to support their cause, often in return for “insider perks” or early access to videos. Others use Kickstarter or similar platforms to fund a creative project.
10. Video Editor or Audio Mixer
How Much Do Video or Audio Editors Earn? $15 to $50+ per hour.
In another lifetime, I used to work at 20th Century Fox and NBC/Universal Studios doing video editing and audio mixing related work.
If I didn’t have so much fun blogging, I would still love to edit or mix; only I’d be offering these services for successful content creators online.
The market is huge, with 37 million YouTube channels and 850,000 active podcasts.
And despite such staggering numbers, these mediums are still relatively young with strong projections for the future.
How many of these content creators would love to turn over their editing work so they could focus on what they really love – creating content?
How to Earn Money as a Video Editor or Audio Mixer Part-Time
If you’re new to editing or mixing, I highly recommend downloading Adobe products – Premiere Pro for video editing and Audition for sound mixing. The courses at Lynda or Udemy can teach you these programs from beginner to expert levels. You can also learn a lot for free by watching YouTube instructional videos.
Create a portfolio on your own website or on Fiverr and set up a Fiverr gig offering your services.
Start sending out offers to creators who you think you’d like to work with. Make a list of 100 YouTubers or podcasters and send them a letter of interest (LOI). Start with influencers you already follow and support.
You can find tons of information if you Google “letters of interest,” but your best bet is to keep it short and simple (no one likes to read long emails).
Here’s a sample LOI:
——————————————
Hi (YouTuber or podcaster name),
I’m an avid follower of (YouTube channel or podcast name) and I love your content. I wanted to ask you if you need (your service). As you can see from my portfolio (link to your portfolio on your own professional site), I do quality work at an affordable rate.
Please let me know if I can help you take your editing/mixing tasks off your plate. Either way, keep up the great work.
Best,
(Your name)
——————————————
Do you think if you sent 100 letters of interest you could get a couple of offers for steady work? Yeah, me too.
Start out with inexpensive rates while you hone your skills.
When you’re ready, raise your rates. You should be working for no less than $50/per hour.
Take note, most clients prefer to work on a project rate. No problem – just determine how many hours you believe the project would take and multiply it by 50 (or whatever hourly rate you decide upon).
11. Customer Service Representative
How Much Do At-Home Customer Service Representatives Earn? $30,000 per year on average
If you want to make money from home right away, you can likely find a remote customer service position very quickly.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of companies seeking at-home customer service reps was growing at a rapid pace.
In fact, an Upwork study predicts 73% of all work teams will employ remote workers by 2028.
It makes sense – most companies that sell a product or service need customer service representatives to answer customer questions and address complaints.
Here is a sampling of just a handful of customers hiring remote workers to perform customer service work:
- Amazon
- Vivint Smart Home
- LiveOps
- DocuSign
- American Express
- The Hartford
- U-Haul
- Humana
- Nordstrom
- State Farm
- Williams-Sonoma
How to Earn Money as a Remote Customer Service Representative Part-Time
Fortunately, finding remote customer service jobs is rather easy.
There are generally two routes you can take:
- Visit the websites of your favorite companies and search their job listings for remote opportunities.
- Search the remote job listings at Indeed, SimplyHired, FlexJobs and ZipRecruiter. You’re sure to find at least a few remote jobs that interest you enough to pursue.
When you start your job, you’ll most likely receive a schedule and you can work either full-time or part-time.
12. Call Center Agent
How Much Do Remote Call Center Agents Earn – $28,000 to $40,000 per year.
Most call centers employ sales agents, telemarketers, and customer service agents and those jobs are also available for remote workers.
At-home agents could field incoming calls or make outbound calls to customers. Typically, call center experience is not required and most employers will provide training for new hires.
How to Earn Money as a Call Center Agent Part-Time
The steps to finding a call center job are generally the same as finding remote customer services jobs (see above).
Keep in mind, when you work from home, you’re going to need a workable but comfortable environment.
If possible, establish a workspace outside of the bedroom to avoid forming an unhealthy association with work stress, when it’s supposed to be your place of rest.
Create an environment as close to a professional office as possible to maximize your productivity and make sure you have a strong internet connection.
13. Programmer / Coder
How Much Do Remote Programmers / Coders Earn – $50,000 to $135,000 per year.
Programmers looking to ditch their commute can also look into remote jobs. The good news is, there are more remote coder positions than ever before.
Many companies responded to the coronavirus pandemic but allowed their workers to work from home. And a crazy thing happened: their productivity went up.
Many companies responded to the coronavirus pandemic but allowed their workers to work from home. And a crazy thing happened: their productivity went up.Click To TweetNow, many of these same companies are selling off some of their offices and fully committing to coding teams.
How to Earn Money as a Programmer / Coder Part-Time at Home
Stack Overflow lists many remote programmer positions. The same goes for We Work Remotely and FlexJobs.
You can also search on sites like Indeed for “remote programming” jobs. Conversely, you can do a standard search for “programming jobs” and then filter for telecommuting or remote gigs.
Maybe the best option is simply to approach your current employer and request to work remotely. Even if your boss only approves remote work one day per week, consider it a win.
Think of it as a trial run; if you can demonstrate your productivity remains the same or improves, your boss may be more comfortable expanding your remote situation.
Part-Time Online Jobs FAQ
Here are the most commonly-asked questions about part-time online jobs.
What is the highest paying part-time job?
The highest paying part-time jobs online are the ones where you work for yourself, such as a freelance writer, virtual assistant or freelance coder.
When you work for yourself, you’re in control of your salary. If you feel your skills are worth more than you’re currently charging, you can raise them without needing the approval of a boss.
Or, if you’re running a business such as a blog, you can earn more money simply by adding a new revenue stream.
What are the best part-time online jobs for students?
The best online jobs for students are jobs that take advantage of your existing skillset and deliver money quickly, such as:
- Social media manager
- Online tutor
- Search engine evaluator
- Freelance writer
What are online part-time jobs with no experience?
Most of the jobs listed on this page require little-to-know experience. Here are 10 entry-level jobs that fit the bill.
- Translator
- Customer service
- Tutor
- Proofreading
- Writer / Blogger
- Call center operator
- Data entry
- Research assistant
- Website tester
- Search engine evaluator
How do I work for Amazon from home?
Check out Amazon’s work-from-home jobs by accessing www.amazon.jobs and clicking on Remote Career Opportunities. This resource allows you to search for the specific job types and you can use the search filters to narrow your ideal job. Also, Apple is often hiring for work from home jobs.
What are the easiest online jobs?
It’s hard to recommend “easy” online jobs because what is easy for one person may be hard for another. That said, here are a few online jobs most people would find easy.
- Freelance + Your favorite skill (writing, teaching, social media, etc.)
- Customer service representative
- Tutor
- YouTuber
- Data entry
- Call center agent
How can I make $100 a day?
Choose a business, side hustle or part-time online job from this resource on how to make $100 a day.
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