5 Ways I’ve Made Money Online & Tips for Finding Remote Jobs

How’s your quarantine going? What day are you on? Have you made friends with and drawn a face on any fruits and/or vegetables you have lying around a la Wilson from Cast Away?

I am currently on my way to becoming BFFs with one of the oranges in my fruit basket. You?

But why not get paid during this extra free time you have? It’s 2020, and remote work is here to stay!

I work 100% remote and really enjoy the freedom it gives me. I make my own hours and take on the work I want when I want. I’m really moving towards diversifying my income streams as I don’t want to put all my eggs in one little basket, so here’s what I’ve done in the past year since becoming a digital nomad to make money online. I hope these are great multiple income stream ideas for you!

MY REMOTE JOBS

1. TEACHING ENGLISH ONLINE WITH VIP KID

This is my main source of income. I started teaching English online with VIP Kid in January 2019, and have been quite happy with it so far!

2. PINTEREST MANAGER

This is my second biggest income source. I’m a Pinterest Manager for 4 different clients right now and really enjoy it. It combines graphic design (making pins), SEO & keyword research, and strategy which I really enjoy.

I took Molly Ho’s Pinterest course, Pinterest for Creatives, and posted about it on Instagram. Someone saw the post and asked if I could manage her Pinterest, and then she referred me to someone else. Another person on IG saw my post and asked if I could manage hers, too. And my brother has an online store, so I started working for him, too! So now I have 4 clients, which is awesome.

3. FREELANCE WRITING

Freelance writing is another way I earn money. I’ve had (paid!!!) assignments from three different companies now. Here’s how I landed them, to give you some ideas:

• One is a ghost writing gig for someone I met during my 3 months living in Bansko. I mentioned that I’m a freelance writer, and he asked if I’d be interested in writing articles for him.
• I’ve written several articles for Let’s Eat Cake. I’m in a Facebook group for travel bloggers and the owner of the site posted in it asking for travel writers.
• I stumbled upon a post that Ashley Abroad was hiring, and she’s one of my favorite travel bloggers so I thought, what the heck, why not apply? I ended up writing a one day itinerary for York!

4. FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGN

One of my Pinterest clients really liked the pins I made for her and asked if I could make some Instagram stories for her. I’m hoping to do more graphic design work in the future as I really enjoy it – I almost majored in design in college!

5. MY TRAVEL BLOG

Although my traffic has pretty much tanked because of #coronapocalypse (but update: it’s back up and higher than before!), I have made some money through affiliates in the past. I’m hoping to eventually have a large enough readership to apply for ads.

HOW TO FIND REMOTE WORK

1. JOIN FACEBOOK GROUPS

Facebook groups are paramount! I wish I’d joined them earlier. They’re so helpful if you have questions about clients, determining rates, how to handle sticky situations, etc. Sometimes people also post jobs in them – as mentioned above, that’s how I landed one of my freelance writing gigs.

Join groups with topics that you might be interested in. I’m in groups for travel bloggers as well as travel in general, since that’s what I enjoy writing about. I’ve also joined some for passive income, freelance writers, digital nomads…Start brainstorming a list of things you’re interested in or remote work you’d like to do, and start looking!

 2. TALK ABOUT YOUR PROJECTS

This was a tough one for me (I’m not the best at, nor do I really like, tooting my own horn), but it’s so important! Tell people what you do, and even mention that you’re currently looking. I’ve found several of my current gigs through word of mouth!

3. LOOK ON REMOTE JOB BOARDS

Have you heard of It’s a Travel O.D.’s remote job board? She posts new remote jobs in different industries almost daily! She also has a ton of content geared towards helping you land remote work, as well as a workshop dedicated to it. She even has a service where she edits your resume to make it more appealing to remote recruiters, and has a remote work course called Land Your First Remote Job!

To be honest, since I have teaching as a safety net I haven’t tried to pitch people as much as I probably should (and I really just HATE pitching – need to work on that). I currently have more of a sit-and-wait-but-look-for-opportunities type of approach but have mostly said ‘yes’ to everything!

In the future, I know I need to be more proactive in pitching, but for now, I’m happy grabbing opportunities when they come my way!

LOVE IT? PIN IT FOR LATER!