Making cash from home is something that many of us dream about. Especially if you’ve got children and childcare to work around. A lack of flexible working can leave many families struggling to make ends meet. Or having to work in undesirable industries to ensure their working hours fit around childcare arrangements. But, you can make money from home.
For anyone with a family or other commitments, and even those that just want to work for themselves and have a little more freedom, working from home can be the ideal solution. It’s certainly something that appeals to many.
When considering your work from home options, it’s important to realize that they aren’t the same as they would have been a few years ago. In fact, the work from home possibilities is significantly larger and more varied than they have ever been before.
This is in large part because of the growth in the use of the internet. You can make money from home online, without leaving your house, using the internet to make sales and grow contacts. Here is a look at some of the best ways to make money from home in 2018.
Blogging
Over the last few years, the world has changed a lot. Blogging is no longer just a fun hobby or a way for moms to document their kids’ lives online. It’s a business. Many bloggers make a full-time income from blogging. Working with advertisers, sponsors, brands and more to make money from home doing what they love.
When trying to make money from home as a blogger, it’s important first to realize that there’s no quick fix. First, you need to spend time building a following, both regarding readers and subscribers and social media followers. This takes time and effort.
So, before you even think about trying to earn a living, spend some time building a solid foundation. Create an instantly recognizable brand, with a logo, color scheme, and tagline. Figure out what your blog is about, and start following other bloggers and brands in the same niche. Chat with them, get to know them, share and comment on their posts and generally be sociable. All while writing fantastic content and building your blog up.
To be successful as a blogger you need to stand out from the crowd. A big part of this is finding your voice. Many of the posts you write may have been tackled before, perhaps countless times, but never by you. You are what sets your blog apart; your personality needs to be totally ingrained in your blog’s every post. This is what brands and readers will notice above all else.
Once you’ve found your voice and built a following, you can start earning money. If you have a large, consistent readership, getting set up with Google Adsense can be a fantastic option. As a basis, most people find that between 1-5% of their viewers click an ad. If we imagine it’s going to be 1%, and that you get $1 per ad clicked, if you only get 1000 views a month you’ll only make $10, so it really is only worth doing if you get substantial views.
Another option is affiliate marketing. Many companies work with bloggers in an affiliate partnership, so let’s use Amazon as an example as they’re probably the most well-known. If you become an Amazon affiliate, you can either link back to their site with banners, widgets, or ads or as text and images within your posts.
If someone clicks one of these links and makes a purchase (not necessarily the same item) you get a percentage of their spend. Depending on the product this can be anywhere between 1-5%. If your page views aren’t as high, you can still do quite well by linking to things you can sell. Either products that you use and talk about regularly or something that you can speak about with authority and passion.
The third key way to make money as a blogger is working with brands and companies. For this, you’ll need to pitch an idea to their PR contact. Don’t wait for them to come to you, this may happen occasionally, but when it does it tend to be a free product or a low budget on offer instead of proper income. Do your research, come up with a way you could work with them which will drive more sales or traffic to their company and then pitch. Remember, you are selling yourself here so don’t be shy.
Check out these resources, http://www.tylercruz.com/recommended-resources/, for help on blogging and making money.
Ecommerce
Ecommerce and blogging often go hand in hand. Many bloggers add an eCommerce store to their sites, and some people attempting to make an eCommerce store work find that adding some blog content can boost their traffic phenomenally.
If you’ve got a product that you think you could sell, eCommerce is an excellent way to do it. First, look at your product. Is it finished or do you need to put more work in before introducing it to the public? Then, look at the competition. Does anyone else sell anything similar? If so, why would people buy from you instead? Does yours work better? Look better? Or cost less? It needs to stand out in some way, so if it doesn’t yet, take it back to the drawing board.
Then, look at setting up your store. You can add an eCommerce store to a blog relatively easily with a plugin like woocommerce, which will make things straightforward. Then, start adding your products, making sure you take some great photographs and add exciting descriptions. You may even want to film some videos or write some blog posts featuring your products in action. Think things like “10 ways to wear…” or “5 fantastic recipes using…”, anything that adds value.
Before you start selling you’ll also need to consider things like marketing, branding, order fulfillment services and cash flow. Don’t start without giving all of this some thought and doing your research.
Freelancing
Freelancing gives you an excellent option to make money from home around other commitments without the commitment of either blogging or starting an e-commerce store. Sites like Upwork help people find freelance jobs in things like writing, photography, and web design, letting you apply for jobs and set your own terms.
If you’ve got the skills, but little experience it can be a good idea to set up a small portfolio of samples that you can send off when you apply for work. You could write some articles, or take some photographs in a variety of different niches to show yourself off for any prospective job.