No matter where you are, most jobs require a lot of online work. You email clients, promote stuff on social media, process orders through an online system or create reports in Google Docs.
So why chain yourself to a desk in an office in the same town every day?
An online job lets you work from anywhere and, often, anytime you want. You can do tons of jobs online -- whether to make a little extra money, kick off a serious side hustle or create a full-blown nomadic career.
Whatever you’re looking for, picking up an online job can help you build the life and career you want.
Where to Find Online Job Postings
Remote and online jobs are everywhere, so you can probably find something in any field. You just have to know where to look. To discover online job postings, try:
General job search: Search general job sites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter and Monster for your desired job title, plus “remote,” or check “remote” as the preferred location. As remote work has grown in the mainstream, your chances of finding quality and legit online jobs on those sites has also grown.
Work-from-home job sites: You’ll have a smaller selection but will likely find higher-quality online jobs through work-from-home job sites. Employers had to be aware of these niche sites to post, so they’re more likely to have a strong understanding of remote work culture and the particular needs of remote workers.
Best work-from-home companies: Keep an eye on companies that regularly hire online workers. They often hire for hundreds or thousands of positions around the country at once, so you have a good chance of finding something available in your state.
Remote Work vs. Entrepreneurship
There’s a lot of crossover with online jobs between:
A remote job: You’re an employee for a company.
Freelancing and entrepreneurship: You work for yourself.
A lot of online jobs can go either way -- you can be a social media manager within a company or offer the service as a business owner, for example.
Entrepreneurs, freelancers and gig economy workers enjoy complete autonomy that many employees don’t -- you choose your hours, set your rates, accept and decline work on your own standards, and live and work anywhere you want.
Being a remote employee is a great compromise if you want a level of autonomy and freedom over your work, but prefer the security and simplicity of a full-time job. You’ll get to choose where -- and, often, when -- you work, but you don’t have to take on the burdens of running a business, like finding clients, computing taxes or managing workers.
You could also use one online job to develop skills and experience and to build your network, then transition into freelancing or entrepreneurship in the same field.
Or you can switch back and forth between being an employee and a business owner throughout your career. Once you develop your skill set and get comfortable working online, the transition is pretty easy.
Creative Jobs
Time to let your special skills shine through. Creative online jobs are perfect for anyone who wants to make money doing something they love and avoid the 9-to-5 office atmosphere.
1. Graphic designer
Pay: $50,370 median salary; $65 to $150 per hour for freelancers
Graphic designers apply artistic skills through programs like Adobe Photoshop and InDesign to create things like presentation graphics, logos, social media images and infographics for companies.
You’ll need a good eye for visual design -- things like color, composition and balance. You’ll also need to be comfortable with design software.
How to Get Started
You can earn a college degree in graphic design, usually as part of a fine arts program. Depending on the program, you may also study professional skills like management and entrepreneurialism.
But you can become a graphic designer with nothing more than a high school diploma. Teach yourself the software and skills you need, then put together a portfolio.
Find full-time, part-time and freelance work through job boards for graphic designers, like Behance.
2. Writer or editor
Pay: varies; $50+ per article
Online writing and editing can be lucrative and flexible work. You can find gigs writing about almost anything, so focus on subjects that interest you to do work you enjoy.
Writing and editing jobs could make you a full-time or part-time employee with a company, or a freelancer, depending on what kind of work you want to do. You might specialize in areas like:
- Blogging
- Content marketing
- SEO writing
- Magazine writing
- News reporting
- Translation
How to Get Started
Writing work is abundant online. Your first step to finding online writing jobs is probably pitching story ideas to some publications. That’ll help you get a few pieces published and build a portfolio you can use to get more work.
Check out our articles on where to find work as a freelance writer:
- Blogs that will pay up to $100 for a post
- Sites that pay $200 or more per article
- How to use Reddit to find freelance writing jobs
- Where to find freelance blogging gigs
3. Proofreader
Pay: $17.50 per hour on average
Got an eye for detail? Proofreading is similar to editing and often a good way for writers to make some extra money.
You’ll do the final look through articles, documents, books, graphics, videos and other materials to catch typographical, grammatical or formatting errors in written copy.
How to Get Started
Proofread Anywhere offers a free introductory workshop that tells you what starting a proofreading career is all about.
If it seems like a fit, you can join its general proofreading course, which teaches you everything you need to know to set up a business, find clients and become a successful proofreader.
4. Niche blogger
Pay: varies
Don’t believe anyone who says it’s easy to make money blogging, but it certainly is possible.
Your best chance at success is to choose a topic that offers a clear value to readers, based on something specific that people want to learn about, like fixing cars, cooking or starting a business.
Figure out what people want to learn about the topic, write articles that answer those questions, and you can gradually become an authority in your niche -- a go-to source of information on the topic.
That authority helps you attract an audience, so you can make money through relevant advertising, affiliate marketing and sponsored posts. The passive income could make a good side hustle at first and maybe even grow into a full-time business.
How to Get Started
Follow these steps to start a blog and start earning money:
Choose your niche. Based on your interests, expertise and demand from an audience, what will you blog about?
- Pick a domain name and web host. You can purchase the domain (the website address) and website hosting through the same service, like Bluehost.
- Connect to a blogging platform. This is the service you’ll use to publish posts and pages on your website. The most popular, by far, is WordPress.
- Build your website. An easy way to start is with a theme or template, which you can find for free or to purchase through blogging and hosting platforms. In most cases, they’ll install with a click, so you don’t have to worry about coding.
- Start writing. You’ll need basic pages, like an about page and contact page. And you’ll need some posts. Plan your editorial calendar ahead at least a few weeks, and prep content before officially launching your site.
- Promote your blog. Get readers by sharing content on social media, through email, via public relations and through guest blogging on related sites.
- Monetize your blog. Add display ads and affiliate links for quick and easy monetization. Sponsored posts take more effort, but are still a simple way to make money. You can also produce your own e-books, courses and other products to sell.
5. PowerPoint presentation designer
Pay: varies, approximately $10 to $20 per slide
When speakers and business managers don’t have time to create presentations for their meetings or events, put your skills to use to do it for them.
You’ll need some writing, graphic design and communication skills to distill information and ideas into eye-catching and professional-looking slideshows. Brush up on the latest versions of PowerPoint, Google Slides and Apple Keynote to present yourself as an expert to clients.
How to Get Started
Create your own website to attract potential clients through search, like this company: HauteSlides. Or search for gigs through freelance sites like Upwork and Freelancer, and list your services on Fiverr.
6. Website developer
Pay: $73,760 per year median salary
A front-end web developer is responsible for how a website looks and functions for visitors (readers or shoppers, for example).
You’ll work with coding languages, like JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS, to set up how websites deliver content. You may need some understanding of design or work closely with a website designer to create the visual aesthetic of the site.
How to Get Started
Don’t be intimidated by computer programming. Like many skills, you can learn to code on your own through free resources, take a quick coding boot camp or study computer science more in depth in college.
Once you have some skills, build a client base like any other creative freelancer: Network through social media, advertise to family and friends, and build a portfolio to showcase your skills.
Remote-work job boards like Remote.io and We Work Remotely tend to be gold mines for developer and web design jobs.
Teaching Jobs
Turn your knowledge into a moneymaker by teaching and tutoring online. Online teaching jobs let you reach a broader audience and scale your business beyond what you could do in person.
7. Online tutor
Pay: $13 to $20 per hour or more
Set up an online tutoring business to teach college students or K-12 students. You could teach everything from math to fashion; follow your interests.
We even spoke to a woman who teaches online music lessons and one who moved her CrossFit business online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Don’t be afraid to offer something you haven’t seen before.
How to Get Started
You can promote your services on your own, simply by emailing people in your network and sharing on social media.
Or list your service through online tutoring companies to broaden your reach. Try these:
- Chegg Tutors: 24/7 homework help for K-12 students.
- Brainfuse: Tutoring for K-12 and college students. Bachelor’s degree required.
- Tutor.com: Tutoring in any subject you’re an expert in; some require a degree.
- Skooli: Tutoring for K-12 and college students. Bachelor’s degree and teacher certification, master’s degree or specialized certification required.
- Yup: On-demand math tutoring up to calculus AB.
- Elevate K-12: Live-stream classes for groups of students who are in the classroom or remote.
- TutorMe: 24/7 online tutoring and ACT and GRE prep. University enrollment or degree required.
8.Online course instructor
Pay: varies; you set your price!
Creating and selling online courses is a fun way to make money from your unique skills, hobbies and expertise. Many people create self-directed online courses, which means you can set them up and earn passive income as students sign up.
How much you can earn this way depends entirely on how much you charge for the course and how many people you get to sign up.
Courses for soft skills or hobbies might reach a wider audience but command a low price, while courses for hard and in-demand skills -- like coding, SEO or starting a podcast -- can likely command a higher price for a narrower audience.
How to Get Started
You can create an online course to sell through a marketplace like Skillshare, Teachable or Udemy. They take care of the design and functionality, so you don’t have to worry about how to deliver content to your students.
Platforms take a cut when you sell courses, though. If you want to keep 100% of what you charge, consider setting up something simple of your own. You could create a basic website using WordPress or Squarespace, or send an email series through Mailchimp.
9. Online English teacher
Pay: $10 to $22 per hour
Tons of people earn money teaching English online to non-native speakers around the world. You’ll tutor individuals or groups of kids, usually grade-schoolers who live in China.
You should like working with the kids. Even though it’s a video chat, you should come prepared with all the songs, puppets, colorful props, funny faces and positive energy that keeps students engaged.
Lessons are usually in 30- to 60-minute blocks. You can work part time around a school or work schedule to make extra money. Lessons usually take place early in the morning or late at night, because of the time difference with international students, so it might be tough to make this a full-time gig.
How to Get Started
You can connect with students by signing up with companies for teaching English online. Requirements vary. Many require you to be a student or have a bachelor’s degree. Some require teaching experience, but some require no degree or experience at all.
Technical Jobs
Enjoy digging into the minutiae others balk at? A job that’s heavy in tech, numbers or research could be a good fit for you.
10. Software engineer
Pay: $105,590 median salary
Software development is a fast-growing field, so it typically comes with an impressive payday. Software engineers design the systems and applications that run, well, everything we do.
You’ll work with programming languages like Python, C++ and Java to create the code that runs in the background of programs and apps we use every day. You could work remotely as an employee for a company or as a contractor for specific projects.
How to Get Started
Many software engineers earn a bachelor’s degree in computer science, but you could be successful as a self-taught developer, too.
Find remote software development jobs through job boards like Remote.io and We Work Remotely.
11. Genealogist
Pay: varies, $70 to $700 per project
Family trees are super trendy, and not everyone can afford a DNA test or take the time to scour old family records themselves.
That’s where you come in. If you enjoy putting together a tricky puzzle and answering challenging questions, offer your hand as a genealogist to help people in your area discover their family histories.
How to Get Started
Create a website, like this one for professional genealogist Anthony Adolph, to attract customers through search. You can also advertise your service on your own social media, in local Facebook groups and on freelancing sites like Fiverr.
12. Bookkeeper
Pay: $41,230 median salary; around $60 per hour as a contractor
Bookkeeping is a staple job in any business. It’s also a job you can easily do online. You could be a remote employee for a company or start your own virtual bookkeeping business and work for yourself.
Bookkeepers keep track of a company’s transactions, income and expenses. You’ll be responsible for recordkeeping, and producing reports and financial statements for other people in a company.
How to Get Started
Although the job is related to accounting, you don’t have to have any certification to be a bookkeeper -- just the right tools. Besides a computer and internet connection, you’ll need accounting software like Quickbooks.
The Bookkeeper Launch course shows you the technical skills you need to become a bookkeeper, plus what you need to know to build and grow an online business.
You can also find bookkeeping jobs through general job-search sites or freelancer sites like Upwork.
Marketing and Sales Jobs
Some people have a way with people. If you know how to get the right products in front of the right people at the right time, marketing or sales could be for you.
13. Amazon seller
Pay: varies
There are tons of ways you probably haven’t thought of to make money on Amazon working from home, including multiple ways to sell things on the platform.
You could:
- Do retail arbitrage: Fulfillment by Amazon lets you buy products from anywhere, then ship them to be stored in an Amazon warehouse and sent to the customer when they buy through Amazon.
- Design your own brand: Contact a supplier and design a label to sell private label products.
- Be an affiliate marketer: Join the Amazon Associates program to earn a commission when you recommend products to Amazon shoppers.
- Publish an e-book: Use Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform to publish and sell an e-book — no technical know-how or publishing industry connections necessary.
- Sell T-shirts: Create designs and use the Merch by Amazon print-on-demand service to sell T-shirts without wasting money on inventory.
How to Get Started
Start by creating an Amazon account if you don’t already have one. Then, depending on what you want to sell, sign up for the necessary Amazon seller service:
- Fulfillment by Amazon
- Amazon seller account
- Amazon Associates
- Kindle Direct Publishing
- Merch by Amazon
14. Digital creator
Pay: varies
If you’re interested in a niche like food, fashion, travel or fitness and have a knack for creating engaging content, you could make money by posting on social media.
A digital media or social media influencer builds an audience on sites like YouTube and Instagram, and makes money through advertising. You could collect royalties from ads that run during videos, or negotiate flat rates with brands and create custom photos or videos to post on your platforms.
The fun part about this gig is that most of your job is just being yourself.
You’ll build a relationship with an audience around your unique personality, ideas and talents. Brands pay to get in front of your audience, because they know your followers trust your recommendations.
How to Get Started
Getting started as a digital creator is easy; just take a photo or create a video, and post it. Building an audience happens slowly, but you can do it by posting new content consistently, tapping into trending topics and hashtags, and interacting with your followers.
Once you have 1,000 subscribers on YouTube, you can apply to join its Partner Program to earn money through ads on your videos.
As your audience grows, brands might reach out to you about sponsored posts and videos. You can seek these connections proactively through influencer marketing platforms like iFluenz, Quantum Sponsor, Chamboost and Amazon Influencer.
15. Sales consultant
Pay: $50,000 to $60,000 median salary
An online sales consultant job is just like an old-fashioned sales job in an office: You speak with a company’s existing customers or prospective buyers by phone or email, answer their questions, explain products and promotions, and -- ideally -- make sales.
Online sales jobs are often available with tech and software (SaaS) companies, where your job is to talk with people at other companies to sell products and services that help their business.
Many require previous sales or customer service experience, but if you’ve got the charisma, you could become a sales consultant with no experience.
If you want the flexibility of working for yourself, consider becoming a consultant with a direct sales company, aka multi-level marketing (MLM).
You’ll become a seller with these companies and sell things like clothes or beauty products. You can do it entirely online, but product sales often require demonstration, so you might consider hosting in-person or virtual events to showcase your products.
Direct sales companies can be a good opportunity to strike out on your own with the support of an established brand. But the MLM model lends itself easily to scams, so do your research before signing up and handing over startup money.
How to Get Started
Find work-from-home sales jobs through general job search boards and startup job boards like AngelList.
Interested in MLM? Check out some of the most popular -- and legit -- direct sales companies.
16. Social media manager
Pay: $15 to $40 per hour
Managing a company’s social media accounts is a fun way to connect with businesses you love and earn money online.
You’d help the company present itself publicly, promote itself and engage with customers through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and, depending on the company and its target customers, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.
The job is part marketing, part customer service, and might require a range of skills, including writing, marketing and graphic design.
How to Get Started
Social media managers might work as an employee or freelancer for a company, or run an agency managing accounts for multiple companies. Job opportunities will show up on general job boards.
If you want to strike out on your own, start with local businesses you love.
Reach out to business owners with a plan to improve their existing social media presence, and propose ways to connect with customers on platforms like Snapchat or TikTok. Small business owners might not have thought of those avenues or don’t have time to pursue them, so they may be willing to pay for your expertise.
Entry-Level Jobs
Less worried about landing your dream job and more interested in just making money online? Seek out these online jobs that require no previous experience or training.
17. Data entry clerk
Pay: $9 to $16 per hour
Data entry jobs are entry-level jobs that don’t require a ton of skills to get started -- just a computer and internet connection. Because of that, they also don’t pay as well as some other online job options.
How to Get Started
Find online data entry jobs through these sites:
- Clickworker
- DionData Solutions
18. Search engine evaluator
Pay: $12 to $15 per hour
Earn up to $15 an hour cleaning up search engines, like Google, Yahoo! and Bing.
No matter how advanced the algorithm becomes, search engines still are not perfect. They need people to look at search results and evaluate their accuracy and usefulness based on search terms.
How to Get Started
Find search engine evaluator jobs through these sites:
- Lionbridge
- Appen
19. Micro-freelancer
Pay: $5 to $50 per gig
Micro-gigs are a simple and fun way to earn money online. Individuals and companies need people to complete tons of small odd tasks, like data entry, surveys or proofreading, that you could complete quickly for a few bucks.
Just make sure to value your time wisely. If you only earn $5 an hour, even the easiest tasks are probably not a good way to spend your time.
How to Get Started
List any service you want to offer on Fiverr, or check for gigs on these sites:
- Gigbucks
- TaskRabbit
- Mechanical Turk
20. Virtual assistant
Pay varies with duties: $10 to $20 per hour
Are you super organized and passionate about helping entrepreneurs succeed? Get paid for it.
Like many assistant jobs, virtual assistant gigs vary in pay, hours and even the type of work you’ll do. You’ll be available to help professionals with tasks that help them keep their careers or businesses on track.
Make sure you agree on a scope for your work before starting, so you can be paid properly for the amount of work you do and the skills required. VA work could include:
- Data entry
- Social media management
- Website maintenance
- Research
- Customer service
- Bookkeeping
- Writing and proofreading
How to Get Started
Find virtual assistant jobs through these sites:
- Zirtual
- People Per Hour
- Work at Home Mom (not just for moms!)
- VA Networking
- Boldly
21. Transcriptionist
Pay: $15 to $25 per hour or more
Transcribing requires little to no prior experience, and offers flexible hours and workloads.
The work sounds easy: Listen to audio and type what you hear. But it can be repetitive and requires a lot of attention to detail.
With that said, the flexible work hours fit well around an academic schedule. And the pay is a pretty good selling point: Earn around $15 to $25 per hour for general transcription, and more if you learn to specialize in the legal or medical fields.
How to Get Started
Find transcriptionist jobs through these sites:
- TranscribeMe
- Rev
- Tigerfish
- Quicktate
Or, if you want to start your own transcription business and pick and choose your clients, Transcribe Anywhere offers online courses. There’s even a free introductory mini-course that’ll let you take a trial run.
22. Customer service representative
Pay: $10+ per hour
Did you know you could be a customer service agent without working in a call center? Yep, you can work at home and do this popular job.
Customer service representatives answer customer questions and -- let’s be real -- field complaints. You’ll speak with a company’s customers over the phone, by email, via online chat or through social media.
Many companies also need product specialists or tech support agents. These positions are similar to customer service -- your job is to answer customer questions -- but may require more training or expertise and pay more.
How to Get Started
Keep an eye on The Penny Hoarder Work-From-Home Jobs Portal, where we post tons of work-from-home customer service jobs. Subscribe to The Penny Hoarder Jobs newsletter for the latest.
Find customer service jobs through general job search sites using titles like:
- Customer support
- Client specialist
- Client support
- Customer happiness
- Customer experience
- Client/customer success
23. Product tester
Pay: free products, sweepstakes, gift cards
Do you write Yelp reviews people want to read just for fun? You could get paid to do that.
Online product testers receive products for free from companies ahead of a launch and provide feedback.
Companies may use product testers to get direct feedback to develop a marketing strategy, or they’ll ask you to evaluate the product and write a review on Yelp, Amazon, Google, Facebook and other review sites.
Your honest review -- even if it’s negative -- builds trust with potential buyers, because they can see what real people think and not just rely on sales copy.
Some companies pay you for your time writing the review, but most just offer free products, entry into sweepstakes (for additional free products) and gift cards. This gig pays off best if you sign up to review products you’d otherwise spend money on.
How to Get Started
Some companies post product tester jobs online, so you could find them through general job search sites.
You can also sign up as a tester with sites that connect you with companies looking for reviews, including:
- The Pink Panel: Get free beauty products.
- Influenster: Review beauty, health and skin care products.
- RedBook: Join the Team Red reader panel to test beauty, fashion, fitness, home and food products and techniques.
- PinchMe: Choose a box of free samples about every two weeks.
Help Other People Find Jobs
You know how important it is to find the right job for you, so get paid to help others find theirs.
24. Resume writer or editor
Pay: $15 to $25 per hour
Helping someone polish their resume, LinkedIn profile and cover letters is fairly easy work, as long as you’ve got some experience evaluating resumes or getting hired yourself.
Often your job is primarily as an editor or proofreader; make sure everything is typo-free and makes sense. But you could go deeper and offer guidance on resume content based on the jobs clients are looking for.
How to Get Started
You can find online resume writing jobs through these freelancing sites, though you’ll face a lot of competition:
- ResumeEdge
- WriterBay
For better success, try reaching out to your own network through email and LinkedIn to connect with people hunting for jobs. Include the service on your own LinkedIn profile, or even set up a simple website to promote the service and help people find you through online search.
25. Virtual recruiter
Pay: $20 to $30 per hour
Do you have a broad network and a knack for connecting people? Those skills could help you find success as a virtual recruiter.
In this freelance role, you’ll work with companies to shape jobs and find potential new hires. You might write job descriptions, post openings to job sites, evaluate resumes and cover letters, negotiate salaries and even conduct screening interviews.
How to Get Started
Look for virtual recruiter job listings on these sites:
- Upwork
- Freelancer
- SimplyHired
- CareerBuilder
More Jobs You Can Do from Home
This list just scratches the surface of online jobs. You can turn just about any skill or interest you have into a writing, coaching, consulting, design or teaching job online, so don’t be afraid to get creative.
If you just want to make a little extra money on the side, you can find dozens of even smaller, simpler ways to make money online, including:
- Online surveys
- Cash-back apps and shopping sites
- Online games
- Micro-investing apps
- Market research
These opportunities usually just pay a few cents at a time --- or pay in rewards and gift cards, rather than cash. Most people can’t rely on them to pay the rent, but they could be a good way to use your downtime to build up your bank account.
You can also find gig apps that help you make money by connecting with people online, but require offline work, like:
- Ride share: Uber and Lyft
- Food delivery: Uber Eats, Doordash and GrubHub
- General delivery: Postmates
- Grocery delivery: Instacart and Shipt
- Home share: Airbnb, VRBO and Homestay
- Odd jobs: TaskRabbit
- Selling stuff: Letgo and OfferUp
- Pet walking and sitting: Rover and Wag
- Babysitting and house cleaning: Care.com
Gig apps generally give you the freedom of working for yourself, like freelancing does, and they take care of the work of finding clients or customers. Making a full-time living in the gig economy usually requires putting in a lot of hours, but people are able to do it.
Ready to Find an Online Job?
Working online is a great fit for a lot of people, especially anyone who wants a flexible schedule or location independence, faces barriers to landing traditional jobs or just works better in solace.
Inspired? Use this list of online jobs as a starting point to build the career that’s just right for you.
This story was originally published by The Penny Hoarder.
Want to Know More About Veteran Jobs?
Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox.
