Nowadays there are more online jobs available than ever before – but not all of them are equal. Some may have upfront costs, while others may not pay all that well.
But there are some online jobs that have no startup costs, and at most will require that you have a PC and maybe use (free) monitoring software like Controlio. It will typically be supplied by your employer however, and will act as a way for them to monitor your activity and the time that you spend working.
To be honest Controlio is actually a pretty powerful tool and can do far more than that. It can monitor most types of communication, file transfers, capture screenshots, and more. If your employer uses employee monitoring, you should ask exactly what monitoring they’ll use.
In any case, here are the online jobs with no startup costs that pay decently:
- Web developers that build websites or work for teams in fields such as publishing, advertising, content creation, and more. The basic pay for entry level jobs may not be that high, but with experience and a familiarity with new web technologies – it can become much more impressive.
- Customer service and support specialists that answer queries via online chat, phone, mail, social media, and other channels. Some may perform some basic marketing roles, or handle order processing and refunds.
- Virtual assistants provide a varied range of services to their clients including administrative, technical, and in some cases even creative. The pay for this role can vary tremendously.
- Interpreters and translators are a great job for anyone who knows more than one language. Some language pairs are more in-demand however, such as English-Russian, English-Spanish, English-Mandarin, and English-Arabic.
- Online tutors involves teaching while working remotely for subjects such as languages, specific skills, or a different school subjects at various levels. Just remember this role requires in-depth knowledge of the subject matter and possibly a familiarity with the relevant syllabus.
- Social media specialists help companies to manage their social media presences and promote their brand of products. While in most cases this is a role that can be done from home, some companies may require visits to certain locations to liaise with photographers and other content creators.
- Bookkeepers are required to maintain business records such as bills, payroll, and invoices – and manage all financial transactions. To perform this job a familiarity with popular financial software may be required, as well as a decent understanding of how account work.
- Freelance writers and editors are one of the most popular types of online jobs and typically write, edit, fact-check or proofread content. The pay for writers and editors can vary quite a lot and at the low is by no means ‘well paid’, but with experience it is possible for it to be quite a lucrative job.
- Graphic designers are often in high-demand to create a wide variety of graphics including logos, video thumbnails, website graphics, t-shirts, and more. The exact earnings will differ depending on experience and quality of work, but it can be rewarding.
- Web, app and game testers are needed to check that everything is working. Although this role may sound easy, it needs the ability to look carefully for issues and document them so that they can be fixed.
- Researchers essentially carry out in-depth research on particular topics. It is important to know how to conduct research, distinguish reliable sources, and fact check – but with those skills landing a job that pays decently shouldn’t be too hard.
- Travel agents are a role that was originally not really an online job, but has quickly become one. It requires knowing how to make travel plans, organize bookings, and communicate well. Considering the travel industry is expected to grow each year for the next 5 years, it is a good job to get into.
All these jobs don’t really require an upfront investment as long as you have the relevant skills. Now that Controlio can be used by employers to track activity and measure productivity, it isn’t hard for them to manage remote workers and ensure that you’re doing the right tasks.
More importantly, you may find the data from Controlio useful as well. If you ask your employer to have its reports sent to you, it will let you see exactly how you spend your working hours and whether there are any tasks that take longer than they should. That in turn will let you improve the efficiency of your work.
To sum it up, it is definitely possible to work from home and earn well as long as you get the right online job. All you need to do is try one of the options listed above and before long you could be earning far more than any regular job.
