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When I was first laid off from my dream job as a radio news reporter in San Francisco, I had no idea what to do next. I felt lost, without my identity, with no idea how to find a legit work from home job to pursue my dream of sailing the world. I did some voiceover a few times per week, worked on writing a book, and took unemployment payments for 18 months.

But what I really wanted was to learn how to do online work in a way that would allow me to travel full-time.

And I think I’ve finally figured it out with freelance writing and blogging.

But making that leap is hard, especially if you already have a 9-5 job. Leaving that job to pursue a work at home career can be very, very scary.

So, I wanted to put together a list of legit at home jobs and ways to learn how to do those jobs.

That way, you can get the ball rolling while you still have a steady paycheck. Or if you’re jobless, this will spark ideas as to how to make a full-time income with remote work.

1. Become a freelance writer to work from anywhere

There are so many opportunities for freelance writing out there it’s mind-blogging, and this is one of those great jobs you can do from anywhere. Many companies, especially start-ups, have a need for outside writers for blog posts, web copy, sales emails, etc. Newspapers, magazines and online publications often take pitches from freelance writers. Some of these publications pay $1-$2 per word, so you can make a pretty penny if you learn how to make freelance writing into a business.

When I was first researching how to become a freelance writer, I stumbled upon Amy Rigby’s blog, The Wherever Writer. Amy is a very successful freelance writer who pulls in around $6,000 per month. In 2013, she quit her day job, sick of sitting at a desk all day, and embarked on her journey as a full-time freelancer.

Amy has been a huge source of inspiration for me, and taught me several things:

• Which websites to scour for potential jobs, including Angel’s List, where startups around the country and world list their needs.
• The importance of establishing retainers for clients
• How to brainstorm which services to offer
• How to calculate my rates

I was really excited when Amy came out with her first book – Fast Track to Freelance: How to Build a $6K-a-Month Freelance Business. 

Here are a couple more resources if you’re interested in freelance writing as one of the jobs you can do anywhere.

To help you narrow down and pick a niche, check out this handy guide: 200+ freelance writing niches to choose from

You can read more about how to become a paid freelance writer here: How to become a paid freelance writer

If you’ve done enough reading and just want to take a class to learn more about becoming a freelance writer, check this one out: 30 days or less to freelance writing success 

2. Become a virtual assistant

A virtual assistant is an awesome legit at home job. A VA is someone who helps a business owner with their online company from afar. If you’re a virtual assistant, you can do work from anywhere, for anyone. There are so many types of jobs you can do as a virtual assistant that you can basically make up your own job description. Here are a couple examples of jobs a virtual assistant could have:

1. social media scheduling/marketing
2. writing (blog posts, website copy, marketing emails)
3. bookkeeping
4. proofreading and editing
5. customer service
6. email management
7. website management
8. blog management
9. affiliate program management

You can learn more about becoming a virtual assistant here: How to become a virtual assistant 

And here you can get a list of services VA’s can offer: 150+ Virtual assistant services 

Of if you really just want to learn how to be a virtual assistant now, you can check out the below course: 30 days or less to virtual assistant success 

3. Proofreading is a legit at home job you can do from anywhere

If you’re good at catching a misplaced comma, semi-colon or spelling errors, proofreading may be the work-at-home career for you. There’s a really high demand for proofreaders, especially due to the rise in self-publishing. People who write those fiction and non-fiction books need someone to go through their copy and look for errors.

If you’re interested in proofreading but not quite sure yet if its right for you, there’s a free webinar offered regularly by former freelance proofreader turned proofreading instructor Caitlin Pyle. She’s taught a lot of people how to make a career for themselves proofreading.

To check out the free webinar, go here: Webinar: Learn the Skills you need for a career in proofreading.

4. Become a transcriptionist

When you think of a transcriptionist, you probably think of people who transcribe legal documents. But there are tons of opportunities out there for people who like to type and who also have a keen attention to detail.

With the explosion of video online, many companies are hiring transcriptionists to turn those videos into written documentation to be used for marketing, training, blogs or website content.

To learn more about how you’d be able to get work as a transcriptionist, check out this series about all the people and companies who are hiring transcriptionists: People who use transcriptionists 

Or read this real life story about a woman who took Transcribe Anywhere and now is a very successful transcriptionist: How to work as a transcriptionist, a great job to do from anywhere

If you want to learn how to build a business as a transcriptionist, you can also just jump right into the course: Transcribe Anywhere

5. Full timing blogging is a job you can do from anywhere

Now, blogging full-time isn’t easy, but it can be lucrative if you have persistence, drive, and a love of writing and running your own business at the same time. I had no idea blogging was actually a thing until I read online that the personal finance blogger Michelle Shroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents makes over $100,000 per month blogging. I know that is the exception to the rule, but there are plenty of people who are still making several thousand dollars per month through their own websites. That’s enough money to have a lot of flexibility, especially if you want to travel.

So, it is possible. If you want to learn how to set up your own money-making blog, check out this post I wrote about it. You can also write me and ask me any question about blogging if you need help: kristin@thewaywardhome.com

• How to start a money-making blog 

6. Teach English to kids online

If you’ve always loved teaching, or the idea of tutoring in a far-off land strikes your fancy, you can now do all this in the comfort of your own home, or van or RV, or wherever you have a good internet signal. The platform Vipkid connects teachers to students in China and provides the one-on-one online full immersion language and content classes based on the U.S. Common Core Standards.

Right now, the program has 300,000 K-12 Chinese students and 30,000 teachers, most of whom live in the United States and Canada.

Vipkid provides the lesson plans and facilitates communication with parents. All you need is an internet connection, a laptop and a passion to teach. Vipkid teachers make on average $19 per hour.

To check out Vipkid for yourself, head to their website here: VipKid.

This video will show you what it’s like teaching a kid English online:

To wrap it up

Anyway, hopefully these ideas will inspire you to leave that 9-5 grind and get into working from home, whether that be a real brick-and-mortar home, or a van, or an RV, or a sailboat. Luckily, in this day and age, there are countless jobs you can do from anywhere.

Home is where your heart is, right?

Good luck!