Self-employed Jobs from Home: No skills? No problem!

Traditional jobs are no longer secure. It’s time to get resourceful and stop worrying whether you’ll have a job or not tomorrow. But where do you start?

You may have no education, skills, or money. This article shows you the best options for each scenario and how to find the job you want.

Jobs That Require Technical/Academical Skills

If you’ve spent your youth getting a degree, why not take advantage of that? You can make money without skills or licenses, but you’ll earn more with them.

Academic skills can be intimidating and difficult to learn. But if you have them, you’ve already gone through the hardest part.

It’s second nature to think that these kinds of jobs imply traditional employment. But since you’re working with knowledge, it’s not unreasonable to work from home as an engineer, programmer, or analyst.

Software developer

The first reason people look for jobs is money. But still, money isn’t enough to want to work on a project. For the wrong person, a harder job may not be worth the extra $20K per year. You want your time to be worth more than a stack of dollar bills.

That’s what makes software development great. It may look like just another job, but that’s just one of the million ways you can practice on this career. Instead, you could design your own programs: extensions, video games, tracking tools. For a builder-type personality, it’s a very fun job.

Programming is all about solving problems, and since you’re writing the code, you can do it any way you want (the same way you can express with words anything you want). It can be as creative as any other language, if not more.

Although the monthly rate can change, you always have the chance to skyrocket your net worth. Because the same skills that you use to work for a boss will allow you to start your own projects. And SaaS/tech companies are the most profitable business models in the world.

Tax attorney/preparer

We know it’s an uncomfortable topic. Few people like to talk about taxes, let alone working full time on it. Whether you like it or not, we all pay for them. And tax preparers make sure our tax returns are accurate and efficient.

Here’s the thing: the IRS could refund you money if you overpaid. But they will never make you pay less tax even if you could. Things like:

It’s fair to refund extra money. But it’s not convenient to suggest ways to save on taxes because the IRS’s goal is to collect as many as possible. It’s neither ok to penalize you for trying to save as long as it’s legit. The only wrong thing is tax evasion.

A tax preparer reviews your business and personal situation and calculates how much you really owe. And if they operate by fiduciary standards, the expert will also show you every way you can save money on taxes. In the long run, you save a fortune.

What if you became a tax professional? You’d always have a high demand job, whether it’s for personal accounting or business. As a lifestyle bonus, you’ll always pay as little tax as possible (because you know all the loopholes).

Any engineering

Although engineering can be technical, it eventually evolves into a decision-making job (just like an entrepreneur shifts to CEO):

Here’s a real-life example of what clients may ask you to do:

If you like to learn about science, engineering is a good opportunity to:

Financial analyst

Financial analysts get paid to research companies and the markets, which at the same time, helps them become better investors (two birds with one stone).

The analysis is a financial expert who can objectively evaluate the company, what’s currently happening, and project what may happen. Yes, anyone in the company could do that, but the analyst’s goal is to offer the most truthful information, not to make the company profit.

Because of this, an analyst is more objective than a CEO. And the financial expert focuses on market research exclusively every day.

When hiring one, clients expect you to:

Analysts earn a lot of money every year. And regardless of the income, you’ll likely be financially comfortable forever if this profession is your passion. In this other article, we cover the basics of financial analysis.

Jobs You Can Start With No Skills Today

The Internet makes it possible to work with anyone around the world about anything. You may think that increases competition, but it increases opportunities as well.

By no skills, we mean that you can find everything about a topic by researching for free. You open Google, Youtube, Skillshare, and related. The only thing you need is the skill of finding useful content among the millions of search results.

Data entry

There’s so much to do as a business owner. The last thing you want is to waste time on tedious tasks, such as updating reports or organizing data. It doesn’t move the needle and it’s easy to outsource:

The challenge here isn’t on the skill but on the work quantity. So if you’re okay with doing repetitive tasks, this is your job. The salary is less than ideal, but it compensates with the fact that you can multitask.

Transcribing

This job is about listening to videos or voice mails and converting them to text. There are tools like Google Docs that do this automatically, but you still need a real person to make sure it’s accurate.

Video transcriptions help to understand the video, which is a plus when combined with translation. If you transcribe on Youtube, those words will help you rank higher.

Other than that, there’s no reason to spend much on transcriptions. You won’t earn much, but it’s so easy that it’s worth it.

Virtual Assistant

If you’d like to do a bit of everything, VA may be the right choice. It’s about performing all the repetitive tasks that business owners do:

It’s not hard, and if it requires some training, the client may share a playbook on how to do it. And once you get used to those tasks, it takes little time and almost no supervision.

If you plan to start a business, try to choose a client who has the business model you want. This way, you learn more about it while working. The client doesn’t mind sharing thoughts, because everything you learn will make you better at the VA job.

Jobs Requiring Some Investment

The following jobs require a combination of skill and equipment. And for someone who wants to use them sparingly, it’s not worth the time and money to do it oneself. It’s easier to hire someone who does that for a living.

These jobs pay well if you know how to differentiate. And getting work done is easy once you have all these devices and software. You just need to buy and learn how to use them.

Photographer

Everybody who starts a business will need a photographer at some point. And if you do e-commerce, this is mandatory to get decent conversion rates.

If your business doesn’t involve selling real products, it may not be that important, but it makes a huge difference.

If you’re a Photoshop wizard, you can muddle through some white backgrounds and lifestyle pictures. But customers are smart enough to tell that from actual photos.

Not everyone has a $1K camera and lighting equipment at home. That’s why we hire photographers.

If you want to become one, you don’t need to spend that much. If you’re skilled enough, you’ll have them sold for less than $600. Here’s the proof:

But photography isn’t that valuable by itself. Where it really shines is when you combine it with, for example, web design or model photography.

Videographer

If a picture says more than a thousand words, let’s not even get into the power of videography. How you communicate your message makes a great difference. If you know how to keep viewers hooked, those videos will gain a lot of traction.

Everybody likes awesome videos, but it’s no secret that videography takes time (even though it’s fairly easy). To edit a video like this, could take the whole day.

If you want to save time on videos, you need:

Videographers do well in all three. A business owner can’t do it (they either need to compromise quality or spend more time).

If you find a client as a videographer, it will likely be long-term. But be warned: video editing is the longest stage of content creation, so you’ll need to work extra hard to keep the process smooth.

Graphic/Web Designer

If you’re thinking of making good money by building beautiful websites, you have the wrong expectations. Everybody likes sleek websites, but nobody will pay for that until that site is able to generate traffic/sales. The no.1 thing clients want to know is:

Do you know how to design the page to increase conversions?

You have to understand the client’s call-to-action, what the visitors may think, and how to link both. And to guarantee results with your design, you’ll need to test first.

If you can learn copywriting and basic HTML coding, you have the perfect setting to build websites. If you have case studies showing how your designs made clients more money, you’ll have a high-demand job.

The dilemma is: each client has one website. Is long-term work possible? Yes, but:

Assuming your selling point is “high-conversion designs,” you’ll get paid a base rate plus a fraction of the conversion boost you cause. E.g.:

A client makes $20K per month from one page at a 1% conversion rate. He pays you $1K to build the website, which may raise the rate to 2%. The client now makes $40K. If he also agreed on a 10% commission for the first month, you made an extra $4K. Win-win.

Voice Acting

If transcribing gets more traffic, voice acting gets more conversions. You need keywords to rank your content, but you still need a compelling message so others follow your call-to-action. Voice acting and video convert the most:

And the voice acting is more valuable when combined with other skills (e.g., translating). Many big Youtube channels have secondary channels for every major language. And for a company, translated voice acting may mean more customers worldwide.

If you have those skills, you’ll find a long-term position easily. They pay well, and the job is as easy as speaking.

If you don’t like showing your face, use your voice, or deal with people, no worries. We’ve also shared the best side hustles for introverts in this guide.

Jobs About Communicating

What if I told you that you don’t need to learn anything else to make money? Of course, you’ll become more valuable if you keep learning, but you don’t need to be successful to have valuable knowledge.

Choose any activity. After a while, you know more about it than someone who never tried it. If that person wanted to start doing the same task, they might pay you to share what you know and help them avoid mistakes.

“But why would they choose me when other guys know more than me?” Because the best 

way to guarantee results is to learn from someone who just did what you want to do.

If business owners focused on marketing/communicating, they wouldn’t be as focused on their products. They prefer to hire someone who understands their vision to focus on what matters.

Consulting

Google defines consulting as the business of giving expert advice to other professionals. It means to help people achieve or learn something (because they can’t do it on their own, or it’s too expensive, or they don’t want to waste their time…).

The word expert implies you have some authority, maybe some license or academic degree. But the best selling point is to have the results. If you people see you succeeded because of your knowledge (and a replicable method), that’s enough proof to trust you.

And yes, people may want to work with you instead of choosing the best consultants. Aside from pricing, you’ll learn the most from those who are better but still close to your skill level.

To put it another way, an NBA trainer may not be the right fit for a high-school kid who never played basketball before.

Now, when people discard consulting, it’s not because they don’t have good advice, but because they don’t know how to find clients. Here’s how to overcome that block:

If you do it for free first, you can gather testimonials faster and share them with real prospects later.

Most monthly programs include:

Tutoring/Mentoring

Consultants are valuable for their knowledge. But mentors shine because of accountability and customization. You get to meet someone who’s better than you, who will understand your problems and adapt the training to you.

Consulting is more about helping with decisions, while tutoring is training a skill together:

A tutor may charge $25 to $50 per hour when starting (or $80 as a certified expert), but some of them charge monthly. Assuming you find the right people, it’s a profitable way to do what you love while reinforcing your knowledge.

Professional licenses help, but as long as you have the skill or results, that’s enough for most students.

Writing, Translating, & Copywriting

Who would have thought that you could make money just by typing on a computer?

Okay, it may not be that simple. But the amount of writing jobs available is overwhelming, especially for skilled communicators.

If you’re not an English speaker, it’s an opportunity to learn the language while educating others. You earn less with below-average skills, but there’s always enough work at every level and topic.

There are also translation services. The pay is similar to generic writing, except that you already have the words written. With a bit of focus, you can translate thousands of words in no time.

When you’re a writer:

Then there’s copywriting, which focuses on call-to-actions.

Here, you’ll need to understand how your client’s customers think, so you can write a high-converting page (more sales or subscriptions).

Managing agency teams

Managers make “easy” money by making the right decisions, especially in agencies. If you do everything well, you ideally have a constant flow of orders. Your freelancers then work on it, and you take a part of their profits (your passive income stream).

But if you do it wrong, you’re risking your finances and everyone’s in the team. It’s a responsibility, which can be more stressful. Some of your duties are:

It may be easy money for the most part, but if something falls, all the blame is on you. If you’re good at managing risks, the pay-off is worth it (maybe an hourly rate above $100/h).

And this isn’t just another job. If you’d like to start a business, these skills will make things easier.

Jobs Related To Money

If you’re looking for the best income, there’s no better way than by helping others make money.

This way, you’ll also learn first hand how a business works in case you want to do so later.

Accounting

It’s no secret that managing a business can be complex. It’s too easy to overlook expenses and overstate revenue, only to end up with not enough money later. The accountant will update records with an agreed tracking system and show how much you’re earning and spending.

There are a few remarks though:

In other words, why should they trust you? Maybe:

If you have trouble managing your own expenses, accounting may not be for you. But if you do well, there are many business owners looking to hire an accountant and save time.

Customer Service

When starting a business, customer service is the most overlooked department. It may be because it doesn’t offer much ROI:

Clients still prefer real customer support. If you have a problem, you don’t want to spend weeks moving back and forth. You want the right agent to call you after you describe your issue, and then go step by step to find the solution.

And customer service is more than being polite or answering quickly. If you don’t solve the actual problem, you’ll waste people’s time. Learn about what you can or can’t do rather than saying “Let me consult it” or “I’ll redirect you to this other agent.”

This job can be remote and fairly passive. You just need to be available when they send an email or call the business. Some days it’s two people, some days it’s two hundred.

Although customer support is “easy,” it barely gives any profits to the company, so don’t expect to earn much.

Sales

If you feel confident to apply for customer support, you may as well prepare for sales. It’s not that different since your only job is to listen to the client and offer the right solution.

Yes, there are email sequences that automate that. But people still prefer real people talking to them. It’s a better call-to-action.

To be a good salesman, you first need to understand what your company offers. Based on what clients tell you, you reflect whether the company can help them or not.

Part of the sales job is to understand basic psychology and how to counter objections. 

People will make excuses not to buy right now, even if they really want to. There may be some you can’t contradict, but the pros should outweigh the cons. Talk about:

Sales jobs can be hourly-based, although you’ll likely get paid for results. But it’s not just sales:

Influencer & affiliate marketing

Sales aren’t very different from communication. You’re listening to someone while trying to add value. The difference is, you have an incentive for the solution you offer (but as long as it’s the right one, there’s nothing wrong with that!).

This last detail is crucial. It’s the difference between a sleazy salesman and a respected expert. When you put people first, they start trusting you. Not the product necessarily, but who you are.

If a popular person promotes a product, it will have more impact than a stranger with the best sales pitch. But they still need to advertise good products they believe in, or they’ll start losing credibility.

This way, you can quickly build a reputation and get followers. And if you target the right people, you don’t need more than a thousand. You will make a profit from any product you launch as long as it’s related to their interests.

And because of that trust, business owners hire influencers. If you have built a community, you get paid a base fee for promoting plus a commission per referred sale.

You can do the same for network marketing and affiliate programs. That’s the minority who really profits from those models. But before you go further, you should learn more about the dark pages of affiliate marketing.

How Do You Find a Job?

Make no mistake. Just because you’re qualified for a job, that doesn’t mean you’ll get it. You have to communicate those skills to other employers so that they consider you.

You’re reading this article because you might be interested in working from home. Thus, it’s pointless to talk about the best careers and income levels if you don’t learn how to land a job in the first place. So how do you find those people?

Especially when starting, you have to be aware that it’s not all just working on your job. There are three working modes when working remotely (and independently):

1. Finder mode: You search for potential clients
2. Manager mode: You communicate with them and prioritize projects
3. Doer mode: You do the work you get paid to do

You don’t get paid for finding work, but that defines how much money you potentially earn later. Here are three ways to do it:

1. Freelance Websites

These sites make work a lot easier because they connect freelancers with people who’re already looking to hire. If you show up the right way with a unique selling proposition, you may win a long term position within days.

And because it’s so simple, that increases competition. Employers need to work hard to evaluate each candidate, filter out the good ones to only keep the great. The most fun careers will likely have dozens of proposals, so you’ll need a better strategy to sell yourself.

How to win? Choose your client instead of the client choosing you. That means that you won’t waste time with people who can’t afford you, don’t know what they want, or need something you can’t do. You can wait for weeks until you find the right client.

Instead of spamming proposals, you work extra hard on a single one. You create a portfolio (even if you have no clients), research the client’s background, and write a you-focused proposal (what does the client get?).

If you already have the skills, go to sites like Fiverr, Freelancer, or Upwork. Once you register, you can send proposals to thousands of clients.

2. Lead generation strategy

People often fail on freelance sites because they send proposals but get no replies. Whether you’re doing things right or not, that doesn’t mean you can find more opportunities. There are many clients outside of Upwork and Fiverr.

In fact, you may get better response rates if you reach out through their website because that shows that you researched about them. Once you know these people are hiring, you come up with your proposal, just as you’d do in a freelance site (except with less competition).

To get more responses, you can message them on social media, email addresses, or use phone SMSs. You can find what emails appear on a website with Hunter.io. And with SalesQL, you can find contact details from the owner’s LinkedIn profile.

So how do you find these companies?

If you’re contacting a bigger company, make sure you’re sending it to the right email/person. Otherwise, your message will get lost among the countless requests they get every day.

3. Personal branding

Do you know what’s better than finding great clients? Having them find you instead. They’re already looking for people like you on freelance sites, but they have many objections because they don’t trust you.

If many people know you for a particular skill, that tells the employer that you’re the right person. And because of your online presence, they will contact you:

What is the chance that some of your followers need your services? Low, but possible. And they don’t need to know you. If a stranger sees that you have all this presence, it gives you authority.

Building your personal brand takes a long time, about 100x more than reaching out manually. But the leverage is ridiculous, so you shouldn’t delay in doing it.

This doesn’t mean you have to share your life with strangers. It means you’re sharing insights with others about your career: your progress, knowledge, and ideas.

Before You Start…

Before you start, it’s a good idea to set your expectations right. To do so, it’s essential to understand:

1. What you want. Because you don’t want to be wasting someone’s time with a skill you don’t know. Or worse, spend time on a job you hate
2. What others want. Because your job is to bring value to clients, and it wouldn’t make sense if they weren’t winning something.

This last thought will save you from so many work-from-home scams:

If you want a legit opportunity, here we’ve discussed some ways to make $100/day with surveys without grinding long hours.

Most commonly, fraudsters focus their sites around the work-from-home victim, while legit businesses focus on the customer. If the company’s offer is “to make you money,” then you’re the customer, not a worker.

These jobs will help you get off the ground. As soon as you stop being broke, make a wealth plan so that you’re not forever stuck on a job.