How To Work At Home: The Ultimate Guide to Work at Home Jobs Online
Wondering how to work at home? If you’re tired of the 9-5 daily grind, sick of only seeing your family for an hour of rushed dinner and bedtimes or just can’t stand the thought of another 30 years of days spent in a cubicle, then work at home jobs could be for you.
Figuring out how to work at home can feel overwhelming, but in today’s digital world, there are more jobs to work at home online than ever before. Whether you want to work at home part time or dream of building your own at-home business, work at home opportunities are many.
Less than two years ago, I was where you likely are now. I was tired of working 50+ hours a week. I was done with never seeing my young son. Life felt rushed, stressed and completely overwhelming.
I spent months learning how to work at home and researching work at home jobs, and came to learn two key things about becoming a work at home mom. While there are many ways to work at home, the most successful, consistent and highest-earning work at home business owners have invested in one thing: education.
When it comes to finding success with work at home jobs, skills pay. Education - whether that comes in the form of a work at home training, specific skills training or an industry certification - is how you get more skills.
Ready to learn how to work at home? I’m sharing all my best work at home tips throughout this blog post. Consider it your ultimate guide to work at home opportunities.
How to Work At Home: Determine Your Offering/Skills
All right, so now you know that in order to figure out how to work at home, you’re going to need some marketable skills. So the question becomes...how do you know what skills can help you get work at home jobs?
When it comes to finding ways to work at home, there are two primary places to start: skills you already have and skills that would bring you joy.
Work at Home with Skills You Already Have
No matter what your educational and professional background, you have skills (skills that others will pay you to use!). Seriously, you do.
I don’t care if you’ve never even held a full-time job - having a “career” is not a prerequisite to having valuable skills. Ever taken care of children? Then you have organization and communication skills. Have you managed your family’s many appointments, activities and obligations? Then you have calendar management and logistical skills (and actual magical powers).
The best skills for work at home jobs are the ones you feel most confident performing, and that’s why I always recommend by examining the skills you already have.
Here are a few tips for finding out which skills you already have:
Look at your resume or job description: Currently working? Take a look at the resume you submitted when you applied for your job, or take a look at your job description. It’s likely you’ve listed some great examples of your skills there.
Consider your hobbies: Skills don’t have to come from a j-o-b. Volunteer work you do, responsibilities at home and hobbies can all give you valuable skills and knowledge that could be used to make money online at home.
Ask your friends and family: Sometimes it’s hard to know what we’re good at, because it comes naturally to us. But what seems like second nature to us may be completely confusing for someone else. Friends and family can often easily point out some skills you’ve completely mastered.
Work At Home with What Brings You Joy
The skills you use to start working from home don’t have to be ones you already have or use regularly. It’s totally possible to figure out how to work at home using new skills that bring you joy.
Think about the kinds of activities you love to do. Consider the things you’ve never had a chance to do, but think would bring you joy.
Maybe you’ve worked in finance for years but secretly always wanted to be a graphic designer. Great! Add graphic design to your list of skills to learn. Maybe your degree is in political science but you love to journal and write for yourself. That’s a totally marketable skill that could easily be honed and improved.
Remember - if you’re putting in the effort to build a work at home business or find work at home jobs, you might as well make sure that the work you’re doing is fulfilling and making you happy.
How to Work At Home: Invest in the Right Training
Ok, so now that you’ve got a good idea of the kind of skills you want to use to work at home, you’re probably wondering how to grow or improve those skills. After all, I just told you that education pays.
I truly believe that. Every time I’ve invested in myself and my business, my income has grown. Every time, I have more than made back the money that I invested.
So what kind of training should you invest in? That really depends on your goals and the skills you’re hoping to gain. I’m sharing details on some of my favorite work at home training programs below, but there are countless options out there, so do some research and see what you find!
Learn How to Work at Home as a Freelancer with The Free Mama Movement
I have to share this first training program right away because it’s the program I did when I first started my business. With a marketing background and years of professional experience, I knew that I had skills other businesses needed, but the prospect of starting my own business was completely overwhelming.
I had grown other businesses in my past 9-5 jobs, but when i thought of doing it for myself, I froze up. The Free Mama Movement was the perfect remedy: 12 weeks of intensive (but completely manageable) video training that walked me through starting, growing and managing a successful freelance business step-by-step.
I learned everything from how to choose a business name and get set up with an LLC to how to build a website, find clients and collect payments. I also got tons of great insight into how to fit a business into an already busy life, and how to protect my time and my value when working with clients.
When I say The Free Mama changed my life, I am not joking. I started this program in July 2018 and had my first client by the end of August. I left my 9-5 (having replaced my income!) in March 2019 - less than one year later!
The Free Mama is the ultimate work at home training program for anyone with dreams of entrepreneurship.
Work At Home As a Copywriter with Successful Freelance Mom
If you’ve ever dreamed of being a writer - or taking an existing writing career into a freelance business - then Successful Freelance Mom is the program for you!
This course not only teaches you the ins and outs of copywriting - that is, writing for things like blogs, sales pages, websites, email sequences and more - it also teaches you how to price your services, find clients and earn more money in less time.
The creator of Successful Freelance Mom - Abbi Perets - is a talented copywriter with years of experience as a freelance writer. She’s also a mom to four kids and a master of balancing work and family life. And she’s such a big deal people pay her thousands of dollars to work with her.
In other words, she’s kind of a big deal (and so is this program).
Get The Best Work At Home Trainings All In One with Work At Home School
If you’re not sure what kind of work at home job you want to have, or if you’re just feeling really overwhelmed about how to work from home, then Work At Home School is a fantastic resource.
Work-At-Home School is a collection of premium online courses, programs and trainings that can teach you the nitty gritty of starting an at-home business, growing your business and earning money at home. There are even several courses that will teach you skills you can use to start your business, like proofreading, copywriting, web design, SEO and affiliate marketing.
The best part? When you sign up for Work-At-Home School, you’re getting more than $7000 worth of coaching...for less than $1000. It’s kind of a no-brainer. And you’ll get to learn from some of the biggest names in at-home businesses, including Lauren Golden and Abbi Perets (whose programs I mentioned above).
Work-At-Home School is perfect for education junkies, anyone unsure of the kinds of skills they could offer to start their business or even people who already are working from home but want to know how to work at home in a more strategic, efficient way.
How to Work at Home: Build Your Online Presence
All right, so now that you’ve invested in education it’s time to build that business. Easy peasy, right?! Ok, not so much. In fact, getting started with actually promoting yourself as a freelancer or business owner is often the stage at which many businesses fail to launch.
It’s scary AF. There’s no doubt about it. But it doesn’t have to be hard. It also doesn’t have to be perfect. Taking simple, step-by-step (imperfect) actions can take you from “how to work at home” to actually working from home really quickly.
When I first started my online business, I started The Free Mama Movement program in July, and by August I had my first client. It wasn’t because I had some secret to getting clients. It was because I had a plan and I forced myself to just take action, even when I felt like I didn’t have what it took to succeed.
So, what can you do when you’re ready to launch? Let’s talk about some of the most important steps.
Build a Brand
Building a brand sounds very fancy and official, but it’s nothing you can’t do at home with the skills you already have. I recommend that anyone starting a work at home business focus on a few key areas: a business name, logo, company colors and fonts and a power pitch.
All of these things can be done using free online tools. And while you could outsource the design work, there’s no need to. With tools like Canva, it’s easier than ever for anyone to make a simple logo, choose company colors and fonts and make branded graphics for social media channels, email signatures and websites.
When it comes to business names and logos, the advice is the same: keep it simple. Don’t stress about getting overly creative. It’s more important to ensure that your potential clients can easily recognize your business and the services you offer.
Something as simple as your name + your services can be a perfect business name (think “Ashley Smith Virtual Solutions”). If you want to get creative, don’t let me hold you back. But don’t let the feeling that you NEED to be creative hold YOU back.
The same goes for your logo. Text-based logos are always ideal, because there’s no need for anyone to guess what they represent. My logo is just a stylized version of my business name. Something like a simple icon + your business name can also be a good option for a simple logo.
Use a tool like Canva to choose a couple company fonts (I recommend choosing a bold one for headlines, a simple one for body copy and a script-like font for accents) and company colors to make any graphics you create for your business branded and cohesive.
The key to all of this is to not obsess over this step or spend too much time on it. You can (and should!) do this in one day. All of this can be changed in the future if your business changes. Don’t let branding keep you from getting started.
Launch A Website
Once you’ve built a brand for your work at home business, it’s time to build a website. You could certainly outsource this project to another work at home mom, but it’s also something you can do for yourself using simple web builders like Wordpress, Squarespace, Weebly and Wix.
Wordpress is definitely the most flexible and customizable of the web builders out there, but it’s also the most complicated and can be the most expensive, so keep that in mind when choosing a program to use. I personally love Squarespace websites because they are beautiful and easy to design and edit. This website you’re reading right now is a Squarespace site, in fact!
The key to building a website that works for your work at home job, is to not overcomplicate it. Plan out in advance the pages you think you’ll need and what you want each page to say. Then choose a template, add your words and images and set it live. Don’t spend weeks on this part of your business - your website can always change (and likely will as your business evolves).
The most important pages to include when you’re first starting your business are:
Home Page
About Page
Services Page
FAQ Page
Contact Page
You may also want to consider including a blog as part of your website, and you may have multiple services pages or a page for a portfolio of your work or testimonials, depending on what you do for work at home jobs. But remember, part of learning how to work at home is understanding that your business will change over time, so don’t stress about getting your website perfect the first time. Just make it happen!
One other important note about launching a website for a work at home business: consider search engine optimization. Search engine optimization, or SEO, are strategies you can use to help your website rank higher in search results. Put simply, SEO is the act of researching the best words and phrases to use within your website copy and then using those words and phrases strategically within each page of your website. Doing this can help you show up in search results when someone searches for the kind of services you offer, and it can turn your website into an automatic lead generation machine!
It’s pretty powerful stuff, but it can also be a little overwhelming. But have no fear! I’ve got a free guide that spells out the exact strategy I use on my website and for my clients so you can learn some simple steps to help your website stand out in organic search. You can download the guide here.
Leverage Social Media
Whether you love social media or hate it, social media marketing can be a powerful tool when it comes to learning how to work at home successfully and build a work at home business.
Now, I’m not suggesting you need to spend hours every day or even every week on social media, but it can be a great way to network, promote your business and ultimately find work at home remote jobs.
If you’re going to use social media to promote a work at home business or network to find jobs to work at home online, you’re going to want to create professional-looking accounts. You could certainly start a Facebook business page or Instagram business account, but you don’t need business accounts to be successful. In fact, some of my best leads have come from my personal Facebook account.
The key is to treat your personal accounts professionally. Does this mean you can never post pictures of your kids? Not at all? Does it mean you can’t talk about politics or other topics you’re passionate about? Nope, you do you. It does mean, however, that you may want to refrain from sending out Farmville requests and make sure to include a solid mix of business-focused posts.
How to Work At Home: Get Work at Home Jobs and Clients
Ok, so you’ve figured out your skills, created a brand, launched a website and started mastering social media marketing...now what? How do you actually start getting paid from a work at home job or business?
Depending on who you ask this question, you’ll get different answers. Some people swear by work-at-home job boards and freelancing websites. Others swear against that type of job board, saying they’re ripe with scams and underpaid workers.
But really, both ways of getting clients can help you be successful when you’re figuring out how to work at home. It just depends on the approach that works best for you and your goals.
Finding Work at Home Jobs
If you want to figure out how to work at home but are stressed about finding clients, using a freelancing website can be a great place to start. Some of the big ones include:
All four of the above websites allow at-home freelancers and business owners to create profiles and resumes, apply to posted jobs or projects and get recruited based on their expertise. These can be great places to find regular work, but it is important to be cautious.
Make sure to communicate with potential clients through the built-in messaging within the platforms, and never give any personal information to a client to protect against the inevitable scammers.
It’s also important to know your value when applying to jobs on freelancing websites. There will always be someone offering the same services at a lower rate. Don’t price yourself low just to compete if the work won’t be worth your time.
Finding Work at Home Clients
If you want to avoid freelancing websites and want to find clients the old fashioned way...or at least, more old fashioned way, then networking in person or online may be the best way to go.
Whether you network with other business owners at local business events or engage with other entrepreneurs in Facebook groups, you can start to make a name for yourself, gain exposure and get clients through authentic conversation.
This is my preferred way to get work at home clients, and it’s how I built the thriving business I have today. While freelancing websites can work perfectly well - and have helped many an entrepreneur make lots of money - I have found that I’m better able to build strong, lasting professional relationships with clients when we connect more organically.
Networking in Facebook groups is one of my favorite ways to get clients through networking, because you’re able to connect with very specific types of business owners from all over the country or even all over the world.
Figuring out how to work at home and decide you want to work with massage therapists? There are dozens of Facebook group for massage therapists you could join to start getting to know your ideal clients. Want to work with life coaches? There’s a Facebook group for that, too!
In fact, pretty much any type of business has Facebook groups designed to help business owners in that space learn from one another, network and share referrals. Joining that kind of Facebook group and then participating authentically (as in, answering questions, being helpful and not just marketing your services.
If you’re still working on figuring out how to work at home, trying all a combination of networking and freelancing websites could be a good way to get started. You’ll find what works for you as you start working with clients.
Grow Your Work at Home Business
Once you’ve started your work at home business and started getting clients, you may start to run into one of the best problems to have: how do you actually manage all of your projects, market your business and keep growing?
Believe it or not, an at-home business can take off pretty fast, and if you don’t have the right systems in place when figuring out how to work at home, you may quickly find yourself overwhelmed.
Luckily, there are some simple solutions and tools for entrepreneurs that can make your life as a VA, copywriter, graphic designer or other kind of freelancer a whole lot easier.
How to Work At Home: Invest In The Right Tools
Time Management Tools for Entrepreneurs
Time is your most valuable resource when it comes to running an at-home business, and finding ways to save time on regular tasks is one of the best things you can do to grow your business and still stay sane. The following are some great organizational and time management tools that will take things off your plate as you take over the world.
Trello - Trello is like a digital bulletin board on steroids. Create different boards for different clients or different parts of your life (think business, home, family) and then create lists of cards within each board. I use Trello to track all of my projects and manage follow-ups with potential clients. I’ve even used it to plan the curriculum for my online programs!
And.Co - This is my favorite simple CRM for freelancers. Within And.Co you can keep track of all your client information, manage projects, write proposals, create contracts and send them for signature, track your time, send invoices and get paid. This one tool has saved me so much time every month that I used to spend creating proposals and contracts, uploading them to DocuSign and then creating invoices in Quickbooks.
GSuite - My business runs on GSuite, and so many others do too (even major corporations!). It’s a one-stop shop for a professional business email, storage system and business tools like Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Slides and more. Plus, Google tools integrate seamlessly with so many other systems, making it the ideal tool for all your business needs.
Zapier - Want all your systems to talk to each other? That’s where Zapier comes in! Set up a Zap to turn flagged Gmail emails into a to-do card on your Trello board. Automatically update a Google spreadsheet with new contact form submissions from your Wordpress website. Send an automated email with Mailchimp when someone downloads your freebie on Squarespace. If you can dream it up, Zapier can most likely do it for you automatically...none of your time required!
Get Started with Working At Home
All right, so if you’ve made it this far into this piece and have decided you want to figure out how to work at home for yourself, then congratulations! For one, you’re a very dedicated reader. And as a bonus, you now have all the information you need to get started working from home.
Whether you want to learn how to become a virtual assistant or just want to know all your options for work-at-home jobs, you’re ready to hit the ground running and start making money from home.
If you want to start working from home as soon as possible (like, yesterday), then getting expert guidance and resources is key to your work-at-home success. A 12-week freelancing course like the Free Mama Movement or an all-things work from home jobs program like Work-At-Home School could give you the information you need to start a successful business more quickly.
Know you want to start working from home in a particular field? Find a course that will help you develop those skills! For search engine optimization services, check out my Content Cash Machine Bootcamp online SEO training program. Or, if selling on Etsy seems more in line with your interests, join my 21-Day Seller Success Challenge, full of Etsy SEO tips and Etsy marketing tips to take your shop from passion project to profit.
Need personalized help? Contact me at any time - helping people is kind of my jam. <3