The holiday season is approaching, which means you’ll be making some big purchases in the near future. You may be looking for a way to make extra cash to help cover the costs — but watch out for job and work-from-home scams while you’re job-seeking.
When the pandemic began scammers used it to target victims. Tap or click here to see why COVID-related scams skyrocketed. Now, thieves are changing targets and starting to focus on job seekers. Some cybercriminals are even using man-in-the-middle attacks or other methods to intercept job offer emails, so watch out. You could be the target of a job candidate lure if you aren’t careful.
There are still plenty of legitimate ways to make money working online from home, though — you just need to know where to look. We did the heavy lifting for you and put together this incredible list of legitimate ways you can make money at home and on the go this holiday season.
You can make money typing for other people. For instance, a doctor or local hospital may not have the staff or time to transcribe everything they write down.
You have the time and, with some equipment like earphones, you can start transcribing for money. The best part about transcribing, like other jobs listed here, is you can do it from home on your schedule.
Privacy, security, the latest trends and the info you need to live your best digital life.
Tip: Look for work on sites like Daily Transcription or through other job sites like Indeed. There, you can search specifically for medical transcriptionist positions or run more of a generic search for transcriptionist positions in various fields.
Are you a good writer? Do you have a knack for good grammar or spinning complex content into easy-to-understand language people love to read?
You can quickly start making money as a freelance writer. You can check sites like JournalismJobs.com, Indeed and freelancer.com. You can also visit Upwork to view listings for freelance writing jobs, along with other options.
Do you like to write? Are you good at catching people’s attention online with nice photos and zippy phrases?
Start a blog and, once you have a following of a few hundred or thousand people, you can make money with advertising. You can quickly create a blog on Google’s Blogger, for instance.
Note: If you’ve ever wanted to publish your own blog, now’s the time. Check out Kim’s eBook, “How to Start a Blog & Make Money,” where she covers blogging from A to Z. That includes getting your work in front of people and how to make money.
Tap or click here to get Kim’s eBook, “How to Start a Blog & Make Money” now on Kindle.
Here’s a job you might not have heard of: Search engine evaluation. One way companies find out how well their websites are working is by hiring evaluators to give them feedback.
A good place to start looking for evaluator jobs is Appen, formerly known as Leapforce.
You can make up to $30 an hour as a virtual assistant, which is essentially a secretary who works from home. You can find employers looking for full-time or part-time assistants on sites like Zirtual.com, FlexJobs and Upwork.
There are doctors, dentists and many other companies that will hire you to answer their phone. You can often do that from home — find jobs on Indeed.com and other job sites.
You’ve sold items on sites like Facebook Marketplace and eBay. It’s easy if you have products around the house that people want to buy and you’re the type of person to take the time to photograph items, write descriptions and, sometimes, talk about them in person with potential buyers.
Not everyone is inclined to do that. So, they’ll hire you to do the selling for them on sites like glassdoor.com.
Want to be a secret agent? No, not like James Bond. You can become a mystery shopper and make money by helping stores make sure their shelves are stocked, items are marked correctly and other tasks by signing up through Field Agent.
RELATED: Looking for extra cash? Don’t get taken in by secret shopper scams
If you have skills in various areas and want to get out of the house, check out TaskRabbit. There, you can find jobs for furniture assembly, helping with moving and packing, cleaning, heavy lifting or as a general handyman.
You may have noticed that people who seem to be relaxing at home are answering your phone calls. You can, too, although your employer will most likely not want you to sound like you’re just hanging out at home.
Get started at sites like workingsolutions.com or running searches through Indeed.
If you don’t have ride-share apps like Uber and Lyft on your smartphone, you should. You never know when you’ll be far from home or your hotel without a way to get home.
Just tap the app and a driver who knows the neighborhood will be there in minutes. Of course, you could be the driver who’s making the money by visiting Uber.com or Lyft.com. Apply to be a Lyft driver here and for Uber, click or tap here.
Everyone uses social media, but only some people have the knack for attracting a big following. Is that you?
You can make a career out of this or extra money if you don’t have the time for full-time work. Get started on sites such as Jobsinsocialmedia.com.
Another easy way to work on your own schedule without being stuck in the house is by helping with pets. For instance, you can become a dog walker to help residents in your area by searching listings at Wag! And you can check for dog walking jobs and pet sitting at other sites like Rover.
Everyone could use help with technical support questions. If you have the expertise to help people with those tasks, get paid for it. Check out some listings on Indeed here.
If you need some extra cash, you can share your book smarts with kids who are still in school. You can help students of any age brush up on subjects in which you excel.
Did you know you can make a career of teaching online? If you have the education degrees required to teach in public schools, private schools or college, there is no shortage of online schools that could use your help. You’ll find listings on a number of sites, including TeachAway.
You’ve built up a lot of knowledge over the years. We all have.
But if you have an area of expertise, perhaps something you’ve done professionally, you’re an expert compared to everyone else. People want your knowledge, whether they’re college kids working on a thesis, an investigative journalist working on an article or a TV news anchor who needs a crash course on a topic.
You can get paid for your smarts. Try sites like justanswer.com.
People have been earning extra cash selling cosmetics for generations. You can do it part-time or, if you’re really passionate about it, make it a full-time career.
These days, people are selling cosmetics online at sites like Alconeathome.com. Is this the job for you?
These days, everyone is busy. Could you imagine being a bridesmaid in addition to all the tasks you take care of every day?
Almost no one has time for all that. But if you do, you can virtually help out brides for a fee on bridesmaidforhire.com.
If your interests lean toward using a camera to capture perfect moments, there are people willing to pay a lot of money for those images. Two great photography sites to take a look at are Imagekind or FineArtAmerica. They both make it easy to upload your work and start making money.
Or, if you take lots of high-quality images of everyday items and places, check out stock photo sites like iStockPhoto and Dreamstime. These sites sell your pictures to advertisers and businesses for you. The pay can vary, but you can expect to earn 15% to 45% of each sale.
There are a number of jobs popular among people over 50. Tap or click here for the best jobs for people over 50. Want even more ideas? Check out Kim’s eBook, “50 Ways to Make Money From Home” on Amazon.
While traditional office jobs won’t disappear, technology will continue to change the way we work. That means more options for workers and employers alike.
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Navigating the digital world can be intimidating and sometimes downright daunting. Let me help! Reach out today to ask your digital question. You might even be on my show!
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