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Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom looking for small ways to supplement your income, or you have a full-time job and just want some extra cash, there are ways to make money from home!
The internet has opened up a whole new world of opportunities. If you capitalize on the right opportunities, these jobs could help you gradually pay off debt, supplement your income, or earn some extra spending money.
The best part? None of these suggestions are surveys or blogging.
Surveys are frankly a waste of time, and most pay less than a dollar per survey, or they don’t give cash at all (such as those that enter you into a sweepstakes).
On the other hand, while blogging can be profitable, it is also a huge gamble – it might take months or years of hard work and investment of your own money to earn money from a blog, if ever. Blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and it is not a way to may to make money in the short-term.
Everything on this list is something I have tried personally and been paid for. I can personally recommend each of these websites. I know they are not scams, and they can result in actual money in your bank account.
When I was searching for ways to make money from home, I made sure that I constantly reminded myself of the value of my time.
I am worth more than $5 an hour. I am worth more than $1 for a ten-minute survey. I am worth more than the $5 I would earn as a stressed-out, frantically typing transcriptionist.
And so are you. Your time is valuable!
I’ve looked at dozens of websites and spent hours on online tests and applications until I found these four sites to make money from home. Please, save yourself some time, and go to these before you try out other options.
The other criterion each company had to meet before making it on this list is that the work can be done from a computer – companies like Instacart or Uber don’t work when you have kids at home!
So, I hope that each and every one of you find something on this list that you feel like you can do a couple of hours a day to make some money. Let the cash start flowing!
Literably.com
This is a company designed to help teachers better understand their children’s reading abilities.
While this is technically a transcription company, it doesn’t feel like the others, because you don’t have to generate the entire transcript.
Literably provides you with the transcript of a story that a student is reading. You then edit the transcript for the child’s errors. The faster you work, the more you will earn, but it is about $10 an hour. Literably also uses ‘surge pricing’ meaning that if transcription is in really high demand on some days, then you will get paid more per audio minute.
The base pay for the transcription is $0.37 per audio minute. However, I’ve seen the rate of pay jump to as high as $0.75 per audio minute in time of high demand, such as the beginning of the school year.
The application process is fairly simple; you take a quick (and easy) english language test, then complete three test recordings. It took almost a month for me to hear back that I had passed the test and been accepted as a transcriber, but I was able to begin working immediately.
Payment is once a week, on Fridays, via PayPal.
Pros:
- Flexible Hours
- Less tedious than other transcription sites
- Quick and easy application
- Great mission – you’re helping a student learn to read!
Cons:
- It may take a while to be accepted into the program
- Pay is based on how quickly you work
UserTesting.com
UserTesting, I think, is a great little gem of a company. They are growing rapidly and have been featured on prominent sites such as Forbes.
This company pays you to test out websites and speak your thoughts out loud. It feels weird at first, but you get the hang of it and it is really simple to do, because there are no wrong answers. It isn’t mentally taxing at all!
UserTesting pays $10 for every 20 minute test. Sometimes the test will take less than 20 minutes, and you still get the full $10. If a test takes more than 20 minutes, you will be compensated extra. For example, some tests are 30 minutes and pay out $30.
Before you get super excited and calculate that you will soon be making 30 dollars an hour, I must warn you that there are many tests that you will not be qualified to take. For example, once I came across a test where the criteria to participate was that “the user must be an electrician in Thailand.” This is definitely one of the more bizarre examples, but the companies are often searching for a very specific type of person to take their test.
You may also find yourself testing for major companies that are just looking for the opinions of the average consumer on navigating their website. I’ve tested for Home Depot, Macy’s, Aerie, Shoprite – the list goes on.
So, while this should not be used as a steady stream of income, it is a great way to make an extra $10 here and there. I’ve made about $120 so far, and that is only checking in on the site very sporadically.
Payment is two weeks after you complete the test on PayPal.
Pros
- Great rate of pay at $10 per 20 minute test
- Very easy to do and not mentally taxing
- Flexible
- Tests are available to qualify for at almost any time of day
Cons
- You may spend a lot of time taking “screeners” to see if you qualify for a test
- Tests must be done in a quiet area without background noise, so this is not a good option for when the kids are awake
- The website sometimes has technical problems that result in the test crashing. If the problem is their fault, you will be compensated for your time.
Fiverr.com
I had never heard of Fiverr before I started searching for ways to make money online, but now that I know about it, I feel like I see it everywhere!
Fiverr is a freelance website where you can market your skills to clients starting at five dollars (hence the name).
What I appreciate about Fiverr, compared to other freelance websites, is that you don’t have to spend any time writing bids for freelance projects. Your clients come to you by searching for services (or “gigs”) on Fiverr.
This is also a great option for a lot of mommas out there because you can sell pretty much any skill that can be delivered online. For me, I sell services editing and proofreading college admissions essays because I attended a top university.
If you studied acting, offer voiceovers! If you are experienced in graphic design, sell logos for blogs or websites. If you used to be an engineer, offer coding services. The possibilities are endless. I recommend you take a look at what’s being offered on Fiverr right now, and ask yourself if you have any of those same skills.
The most difficult part about Fiverr is getting your first sell so that you have ratings and reviews for your profile. Most buyers don’t want to risk taking a chance on new freelancers. However, they do offer some great tips on how to begin selling, such as adding a video to your profile.
For payment, Fiverr takes 20% of all sales. So, if you complete a service for five dollars, four of those dollars would end up in your pocket. If one of your services is 25 dollars, you get 20 after Fiverr takes their cut. All payment is via PayPal.
Update: As of 10/15/19, I have now made over $1500 dollars, and am on pace to make $1000 in the month of October alone. Once my gig took off, I have found Fiverr to be a relatively steady source of income. Do not discount this option if you need some consistent extra cash!
Pros
- If you are successful, you can make a really decent living on Fiverr.
- Flexibility to work whenever you choose. You can pause your ‘gigs’ when you go on vacation or just want a break.
- Anyone can sell gigs on Fiverr if you have the right skills!
Cons
- It is hard to sell your first gig
- Fiverr takes a 20% fee
Lionbridge Technologies
I certainly saved the best for last with Lionbridge.
Lionbridge is a legitimate company that hires regular employees to work remotely.
I applied and received a position as a Rater. The job pays $14 per hour, comes with a 401k, and is up to 20 hours per week. Payment is via direct deposit into your checking account.
The hourly rate of pay is what sets Lionbridge apart from the other companies on this list – as long as you put in the time, you have a guaranteed rate of pay.
The application process is admittedly quite tedious. First, you must complete a job application that looks pretty similar to any other regular job you’d be applying for. Then, you are invited to participate in a test.
The test is comprised of three sections, each which can take several hours to complete. It’s fairly straight forward, and they provide all the materials you need to be successful, which I appreciate because I was rejected from several online jobs without explanation. However, the test is difficult. In fact, I failed the first time, and was invited to take it again. Do not apply for this job if you don’t have the time to invest in the exam.
That said, I think the exam is a fair compromise for receiving a job that has a guaranteed rate of pay that you can do from the comfort of your home. The way I saw it, I spent about 9 hours taking the test over a week, but I spent much more than that searching for jobs beforehand. Also, if offered a position, further training is paid.
A Rater is supposed to rate the quality of webpages and search engine results. These are the types of tasks that are on the exam. But, I have been working for them for a few months now, and I have not had any of these types of tasks. Most of my work consists of watching snippets of YouTube videos and rating their quality, appeal, or flagging inappropriate comments.
A word of caution here: though you can work up to twenty hours per week, this does not mean there will be twenty hours of work available. The task volume fluctuates wildly. Some days I will work 3-4 hours. Other days, there are only five minutes of tasks available.
On the plus side, when I am ‘working,’ even if I am mentally exhausted from a long day, this is the type of job where you can complete your work while watching the Big Bang Theory. I’m a huge fan of feeling productive while actually watching TV.
While this job probably is not reliable enough to create a secondary income, it is a reliable source of money. The job is simple and pays very well for an online company.
Pros
- Hourly Pay
- Ability to work from anywhere, even with background noise
- 401k
- Flexibility – you choose if you want to accept tasks
Cons
- There are not always tasks available when you want to work
- The rating tasks can be mundane
- Long application process
Best of Luck!
I truly wish each and every one of you reading this post success with one or more of these websites. They might not become full-time jobs, but they are guaranteed to give you a paycheck. These are all well worth your time.
If you have an online site you use to earn an extra income, please let me know in the comments. I love hearing about great opportunities to make money from home.
Also, if you’ve come across a website that you think may be a great opportunity but you don’t want to spend the time testing it out just yet, please leave me a comment. The chances are pretty high I’ve already explored that option, and I may be able to offer you some insight!
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