A Jumpstart Guide to Making Money from Home

10 min read

Who doesn’t want to make money from home? With more and more business being conducted online, the opportunities to make money at home are more plentiful. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy.

No matter how you plan to make money from home, it involves some level of effort or investment. That could mean financial investment, or it could mean you are sacrificing your time and energy. You will also need to be strategic and make sound decisions if you want to maximize your at-home income.

With that being said, what are the best ways to make money from home? There are dozens of different approaches you can take. The best method for you might depend on your skills, available time, and how much money you hope to make.

To start, we can look at some examples of side jobs to make money from home. Then, we will review how to make extra money from home by creating an online store. Both are viable options that may suit different individuals based on their personal strengths or circumstances.

How to Make Money From Home Part time or Full time

Start a blog

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable ways to make money from home is with a blog. Starting a blog allows you to focus on a subject or hobby that you are already passionate about. Monetizing your passion is a great way to make money without sacrificing much of your free time.

For instance, suppose you love baking. Starting a blog dedicated to baking does not require any major new commitments. You are simply taking the experiences you already have, and turning them into content online.

Read our simple guide to making money by blogging to learn more about the technical side of running a blog.

Become a virtual assistant

If you’re looking for at-home employment, there are several options available to you. If you are an organized person, becoming a virtual administrative assistant could be the perfect job for you.

A virtual assistant offers support to their clients by handling a range of administrative or professional tasks. They perform tasks like responding to emails, managing a travel schedule, or scheduling appointments. Working from home as a virtual assistant is an ideal part-time job for those with administrative experience or strong organizational skills.

Become a freelancer

There are tons of companies online that need freelance work from a wide range of different skilled workers. Freelance graphic designers, writers, proofreads, programmers, tutors, and more are all in high demand online. Any of these roles are great side jobs to make money from home, depending on your skill set.

If you have proficiency or experience in any technical area, don’t hesitate to market your skills or apply for freelance positions. It can be a great way to capitalize on talents you already have.

Test websites

With so many companies launching new websites all the time, somebody needs to make sure they work as intended. Many companies will pay people to test their websites and offer feedback on user interface and experience.

The best part is, this is a job that most people can perform. Most companies require candidates to pass a test before accepting them as website testers. Some basic knowledge of website design, SEO, and user experience are all helpful to have for website testing.

Social media management

Social media marketing is incredibly beneficial for all companies, especially small businesses. But a lot of small business owners don’t have the time or resources to manage their company’s social media presence alone. To address this situation, many small businesses outsource their social media management to somebody else.

If you have marketing or social media experience, this is a great way to make money from home part-time. Small business social media management is not often a full-time job. It typically requires only a few hours a week. However, it’s a great way to earn extra cash, and also helps grow a local small business that you believe in.

How to Make Extra Money From Home By Selling Products Online

Creating an online store is one of the most effective and real ways to make money from home for free. If it’s not free, it can be accomplished at a very low cost. Of course, the exact cost of opening and operating your online store will depend on what kind of store it is.

As you may have guessed, not all online stores are the same. There are a few different approaches you can take to selling products online without an existing business. Namely, you can resell products, create and sell custom items, or you can create a custom print-on-demand business.

Resell products

Reselling products is a good route to take if your goal is to make money with less of an investment. In addition, reselling products can be done either through buying products wholesale, or using dropshipping. With both methods, the only expense is paying for inventory which you will then sell. As long as you sell enough products (at the right price point), you can reliably make money.

Of course, making money with a dropshipping business or by reselling products does require some strategizing. You need to choose the right items to sell, create compelling product listings, and set a good price for each item in your store.

All of this requires careful research and planning to maximize the return on your investment.

Sell custom products

For a more hands-on approach to selling products online, you can make and sell custom items online. If this is your plan, setting up an Etsy store is an excellent way to make extra money from home.

This approach to selling products online requires more personal investment, but can also be highly rewarding. A little bit of marketing knowledge can also help transform your creative passion into a reliable revenue stream.

Not sure what to sell? Read about the best-selling items on Etsy for ideas and inspiration.

Print-on-Demand business

A custom print-on-demand business is similar to selling custom items online. But with print-on-demand, your business model is to fulfill custom orders for clients. The print-on-demand model is often successful for selling T-shirts online, but can also be used for things like stickers, posters, and signage.

Starting a print-on-demand business will require some level of graphic design skills. You also may need to invest in printing equipment or other tools. But a successful print-on-design business can be one of the best, and easiest, ways to make money from home.

Other products to sell

The above examples highlight some of the most common types of online retail businesses. However, these are not your only options if you are looking to sell things online from home. There are plenty of other niche examples of ways to make money from home by selling online.

For instance, you can start a home photography business, sell digital products (courses, software, digital designs, etc.), or food products. There is no shortage of opportunities to make money from home. If you see a market for any product, it’s worthwhile to try selling it yourself.

Building Your Online Store

An online store is one of the best side jobs to make money from home. But getting started may seem daunting if you have no experience with it. Luckily, Ecwid is here to help with all the tools you need to get set up.

Sell online

With Ecwid Ecommerce, you can easily sell anywhere, to anyone — across the internet and around the world.

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Jan 7, 2023

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.