One thing that happens when someone launches a nonprofit or ministry is that it shifts the amount of time they have in a week to spend earning a steady income. There are only so many hours in a given week, and launching anything as entrepreneurial requires a lot of meetings, time spent putting out fires, researching, and of course, the actual work of the ministry.
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Nowadays, there are a variety of careers that you can accomplish with a laptop and a cell phone. This is wonderful news for people who move frequently, such as coaching families, military families, and those in ministry. However, remote work isn’t limited to people on the go. If you’re in need of a side hustle while you establish a new career, or you’re looking for an opportunity that gives your family some financial flexibility, this list of potential jobs is a key place to browse.
Each section is divided into the following three categories: 1 Type of Job, 2 Helpful Skills, Training, or Resume additions, and 3 Links to resources to begin your search.
Third-Party Marketing Sales:
This is the most common area of employment for coaches’ wives. The virtual company has propelled this option to the forefront of many lists. Whether it’s clothing, cooking utensils, makeup, oils, or shakes, third-party marketing businesses seem to be popping up all around me.
Helpful Skills for Third-Party Marketing Jobs: Not everyone is cut out for sales. In fact, it can actually be a hindrance in some places. As the new person moving to a new community, if you’re flagged as a “salesperson,” can hinder relationships. At the same time, if you aren’t focusing on networking, you hinder your chances of building your business.
The positives are numerous once you have built your business. First, you should have some of the flexibility that you seek. There are tax benefits to owning a home-based business, and you can work from almost anywhere. If you love social media and connecting with people online, sales may be an option.
If you’re introverted, selling will take additional energy. In a small town, building your downline can be hard because you can oversaturate an area quickly. You’ll want to make sure that you join a strong team and that coaching is included in your training.
How to Know what to Sell: The best salespeople believe in the products they sell and use them. If you have a product you love, that’s a great place to start. If there’s something you wish existed, you may want to do some market research and see if others are looking for the same product gap you are.
Etsy or Consignment Sales
If you love crafting or are a creative person, Etsy might be your thing. Having time to craft that earns you money can’t be a bad thing. However, the sales may not always be steady, so this might only be an option for those looking for something that provides some spending money. On the positive side, you can take this business with you anywhere and work the hours you prefer.
Helpful Skills: You need to be an expert in your craft. Do not choose something that you can only do halfway. Once you sell items, you’ll receive reviews and 70% of people leave negative reviews, whereas only 30% of people leave positive ones.
You should also have a basic understanding of how to take good photos on social media to promote your products as well as how to manage through the website platform you settle on.
Links to Explore: Etsy, Handmade Amazon, iCraft
Virtual Assistant Work:
The job that I added to my resume in September of 2016 when we needed an income was that of a virtual assistant. Most virtual assistant work consists of responding to emails, booking appointments, paying bills, scheduling social media, booking travel, or doing research on various topics.
Many virtual assistants find that as they gain additional skills, such as learning to edit podcasts or website basics, their clients are happy to delegate additional work their way. Virtual assistants have the freedom to set up an individual business and find independent clients or work with a third-party agency to match them based on skills and interests.
Basic Skills to Have Include: A working knowledge of: Google Suite, a time management tracker such as Asana or Trello, and a social media certification such as the free ones SEMRush Academy offers.
Links to Explore:
- Belay Solutions
- VaVa Virtual
- Virtual Works LLC
- We Recruit Well
- Airtasker
- Virtual Employee
- OnlineVATeam
- Hire My Mom (this site has both paid and free aspects)
- Remote.co
- Pay Per Content
- My BTLR Virtual Assistants
- Priority VA
Writer, Copy Editor and Proofreader
Freelancing is a hustle, but it’s a great way to make money for a strong writer. That said, you do need to have an understanding of how to write for websites. SEMRush Academy Content Marketing Basics is a great place to start.
Proofreading and copy editing are all different jobs. Both roles are normally supervised by editors or content strategists who generally perform duties such as planning content, assigning work, reviewing submissions, and making revisions. Copyeditors check for grammatical mistakes, continuity errors, and other inconsistencies. The role of a proofreader is to ensure the content is error-free. By the time the content arrives in the inbox of the proofreader, there should be no more suggestions for rewrites.
Basic Skills to Have:Strong writing skills, strong research skills, strong communication skills, and excellent time management.
Links to Explore for writing: Writers Access, Compose.ly, Freelancewriting.com, Writers Work
Links to Explore for Copy Editing: Scribbr, FlexJobs, Writers Relief
Links to Explore for Proofreading: Proofreadingservices.com, PolishedPaper,
Check out: The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing for Business Growth
Digital Media and Communications
There are a variety of opportunities within the digital media arena that are remote these days. Especially for people with specialized skills. Google has established an interesting program partnership with Coursera where you can pay a fraction of the cost of a college course (and even start for free!) and earn both Google Certifications and college credit.
- Graphic Design
- SEO
- Web Designer
- UX Designer
- Content Marketing Designer
- Content Strategist
- Social Media Designer
- Social Media Manager
- Public Relations/Communications
- Advertising/Marketing
- Digital Media/Paid Media
- HR/Finance/Operations
- Tech Developers and Programmers
Build Basic Skills: Check out free certifications on HubSpot, LinkedIn, SEMrush Academy, and Google Analytics, as well as Lynda.com, to build your resume.
Links to Explore: Check out LinkedIn, Kokua Creative Group, or Cella Inc if you’re looking for clients in the fields above.
Work as a Transcriber
Be cautious; not all transcription companies are legitimate. While it may pay less to work through a 3rd party service when starting out freelancing, it’s often best to use a service rather than work directly through Indeed or LinkedIn, where it’s easier to get scammed.
Build Basic Skills: Typing and translating. The more languages you can speak, the more opportunities you’ll have to transcribe. You may want to choose a specialty such as medical or legal transcription however, there are even people who pay for transcription edits these days. You will need a laptop and headset.
Links to Explore: Rev.com and www.transcribeme.com, and GOTranscript are freelance transcription services.
Remote Bookkeeping Jobs
Bookkeepers are not the same as accountants. A bookkeeper maintains a direct record of all purchases and sales your business conducts, while accounting is a subjective look at what that data means for your business. Depending on your level of experience, you can have a variety of jobs under the finance umbrella.
These are some typical bookkeeping tasks:
- Recording financial transactions
- Posting debits and credits
- Producing invoices
- Managing payroll
- Maintaining and balancing ledgers, accounts, and subsidiaries
Build Basic Skills: You’ll need excellent math skills as well as detailed administrative skills. Bookkeepers are record keepers. You’ll need to help clients track expenses. This is best accomplished through specific software for the task.
Links to Explore: Belay Solutions, and Remote.co, and Indeed are great places to start if you don’t want to establish an independent business.
Virtual Medical Jobs
While this field requires specific certifications and education, it’s worth noting that there are many opportunities for medical professionals to work remotely.
Links to Explore:
PRN Triage Positive Reinforcement Nursing (PRN INC PC) is a North Carolina-based professional corporation that provides doctors with after-hours assistance with patient calls. PRN was established in 1996 by Wendy Smith, MSN/MBA, Esquire, and Shelley Rogers, RN. These two entrepreneurs met over 24 years ago while working as RNs in a Labor and Delivery unit. After five years of hour-long commutes, twelve-hour shifts, and growing families, Ms. Smith and Ms. Rogers began looking for alternatives. Their vision soon became a reality with the encouragement and support of a few local doctors. PRN was born through faith in God, remarkable friendship, and a mission to provide after-hour calls for physicians and their patients.
Online Counselor BetterHelp provides marketing, technology, and additional income. You provide professionalism, clinical experience, and care. Join over 5,000 therapists on the world’s largest online counseling platform. Private practice with no doors and no overhead. Curious to know more? Read Is Online Counseling Right for Me?
Virtual Primary Care SteadyMD is on a mission to change how health care works by offering patients a long-term relationship with their doctor, completely online. Each SteadyMD doctor serves a limited number of patients, so they can give them the time and attention they deserve. We offer comprehensive, personalized, long-term care from anywhere in the world, on any device.
Haggai Health Care This fully remote company says, “We understand that many nurses and therapists want to work, but twelve-hour shifts and huge patient loads just don’t work for them anymore.”
Online Teaching and Tutoring Opportunities
There has been a lot of transition in this area, but there are many legitimate companies that will allow you to work in the education field and set your own schedule. Many companies require a certain amount of college education which means you’ll need to send in transcripts.
Links to Explore:
- Prima Connect Tutors
- Remote.co
- Prep Now Tutoring
- ihirepublishing.com
- Varsity Tutors
- Preply
- Skooli Tutors
- Are you a math wiz? Check out Prodigy Education
- Tutor.com
- Mathnasium
- Outschool allows you to apply to teach as an individual or an organization.
Customer Services Reps
Customer service reps generally don’t need any experience to start. However, most jobs require that you work in a quiet environment, and you will need the proper equipment.
Links to Explore:
- Amazon Customer Service
- Hotels
- Bite Ninja is a new company that pays you to take fast food orders from the comfort of your home! Jobs are listed here as well as job search sites. To learn more about Bite Ninja check out this Today Show segment.
Travel Agent
Online travel agents don’t need any specific training ahead of time. As an agent, you will message travelers, identify and react to user needs, and perform requested research and bookings. You’ll promote specific vacations so you may want to consider setting up a social media profile as well.
Build Basic Skills: Take a TAP test from The Travel Institute and earn one of several certifications.
Links to Explore:
AAA and other companies affiliated with The Travel Institute
Pana
Disney Travel Agents are experts in their craft and get to talk about the magic of Mickey Mouse all day long!
Online Stylist
If you love fashion and you have an eye for putting together an outfit, it might be time to earn a commission as an online stylist. You’ll work on commission selling clothing from the comfort of your home.
Links to Explore:
- Cabi
- Stitch Fix
Build a Career as a Matchmaker!
Relationship coaching and matchmaking have become big businesses with professional singles. Matchmakers come from diverse backgrounds – lawyers, consultants, life coaches, entrepreneurs, teachers, and writers. As a result, companies have built matchmaker platforms that make their hobby of matchmaking a viable career.
Links to Explore:
- Tawkify
- Vida Select
Temporary Work or Short Term Job Opportunities
Sometimes it’s great to have a job that allows you to pick up a few hours of work when you have time. None of these jobs require any particular skills other than responsibility.
Airtasker
Airtasker is a company with both US and Australian services. They have multiple positions that are virtual and in person. If you can work with flexible hours, there are opportunities for freelance work here as well.
Bark.com
Bark.com describes itself as “Bark is the Amazon of services.” Where millions of people use the service worldwide to find what they need every day.
- Babysitting/Nannying
- Substitute teaching
- Translator
- Adjunct Professor
- Seasonal employment at local stores
- H & R Block
- Real-Estate
- House cleaning
- Private lessons for skill development (instrument, sports, singing)
- Tutoring (see my list of sources for online companies above!)
- Seamstress
- Shipt
- Instacart
- Walmart Grocery Delivery
How Do You Know Which Job is for You?
Weighing out the pros and cons of any job situation can be stressful. Most remote jobs have some level of on-the-job learning because the nature of remote work is very independent. The process of finding a new job with every move can become frustrating. Considering an option that will move with you may be a helpful way to continue to pursue your passions and calling and contribute to the family income. Regardless of your decision, know any company would be lucky to have you!
