Ten Ways To Make Money At Home

I’ve always known that when I became a mom, I wanted to stay at home and raise the munchkins myself, but after I became a mom, I also knew that I didn’t want to give up helping out the family financially, even if for no other reason than that I need to read or do something other than toddler books and games every once in a while. 😉

Because of this, I am so, so thankful that the internet has made it relatively easy to earn money at home!

There are almost endless ways you can make money at home, but here, I’ve provided the ten that I’m most familiar with.

10 Ways To Make Money From Home

Swagbucks

You won’t get rich doing Swagbbucks, but since it provided me with my first online earnings ever, in the form of Amazon gifts cards, it earns the first place on this list. For most of us, I think $5 a day is really optimistic with Swagbucks, but the thing is, in it’s the simplest form, all you have to do is download the search bar and use it instead of google, so you earn a bit of cash doing something you were going to do anyway.

If you don’t have a Swagbucks account, I highly recommend getting one!

Sell photos to a stock photo site

Are you handy with a camera? You can sell your photos to stock photo websites for a fun way to earn cash from your hobby! You might not know it, but almost every business needs photos for everything from advertising, to book covers, and the cheapest, most efficient way for them to get what they need is by turning to stock photo websites like istockphoto.com and shutterstock.com. Or new kid on the block (and my favorite) dollarphotoclub.com.

See A Beginner’s Guide to Selling Stock Photography.

Sell on eBay

Are you good at finding fantastic deals? Or maybe you’d love to be, but don’t have a reason to. Well, ya do now! eBay is not only a great place to flip items that you got on sale but perfect for selling collectibles for those of you who love yard sales and flea markets as well.

I’ve personally not gone off the hook with eBays selling, but even just selling things around the house that I didn’t need – from books, to butter dishes, to even a pair of spurs – has proven to be quite profitable and fun! (you can read my experiences here)

If becoming an eBay seller appeals to you, I highly recommend reading How to eBay In Real Life (for a living), where the author hands some excellent advice on where to find items, and the best ways to list and ship.

Sell on Amazon

A lot of people don’t know that Amazon is a marketplace where many people sell you their products. Thanks to Fulfillment By Amazon, it’s even less hassle selling on eBay too! Before my blog started making money, I read voraciously about how the amazon selling system works, and loved the idea! You buy things that are a fantastic deal, box them up and ship them directly to amazon, list them for sale, and let Amazon take care of the rest!

This eBook is super helpful for getting started: Selling on Amazon.

And if you’re even mildly interested, you should check out this podcast from Smart Passive Income, where Mr. Flynn interviews a couple who earn a six figure income as amazon sellers.

Sell on Etsy

Etsy is perfect for those of you who have a craft, or love to make unique homemade products – like homemade soap, or deodorant, or even kefir grains!

For instance, my sister crochets cute bookmarks – bookmarks! – and crochet patterns, which has turned into a nice little side business for her (you have to admit, they’re really pretty!)

Selling on Etsy is pretty straightforward – you list your items for a small fee, and when they sell, Etsy takes a percentage of the price.

For serious sellers, creating a companion website or blog, a Facebook page, and Instagram account to gain a fan base and drive traffic to your Etsy store is invaluable! You can check out my Beginner’s guide to Etsy here.

Write Freelance Articles

If you love to write, you don’t necessarily have to build your own blog to earn an income – you can submit articles freelance!

You can find

• Seven blogs that pay for guest posts here,
• 19 websites that want to publish your personal essays,
• 38 Websites that Pay $100 or more per article,
• or you can even get paid to contribute recipes to The Wicked Noodle!

Join a Network Marketing Business

The internet has changed the face of everything, and that is especially true of Network marketing! No longer are would-be work-at-home moms faced with garages full of products, or going door-to-door to make a sale. In fact, most don’t stock any product at all, and how you market it, well, that’s up to you.

The important thing is to choose a company that you really, truly believe in. There could be nothing worse than feeling like that slimy salesman trying to sell something just to make a buck.

you may not think you have a network to market to, but truth be told, everyone does!

Personally, I’ve chosen to work with two network marketing companies (not something I ever thought I would say!) Young Living and Thrive Live. Essential oils are something that I believe in, and Young Living’s oils are far and away the best. I really didn’t believe that multi-level marketing could be a viable form of income until I finally go with the program and started promoting Young Living as a business.

I’m even more excited about Thrive Life. It’s food, and everybody eats, which means that when I ask someone to try their amazing freeze-dried food, I’m not asking them to spend extra money, just asking them to spend some of their grocery money in a different place, in the interest of giving their family healthier meals. It’s a win for everybody!

Become a virtual assistant

Do you have a technical skill that someone needs? Are you good at photo editing? Making photos “Pinterest pretty”? How about engaging on social media like Facebook? Are you a great copy editor?

Those are just a few things that many a mom blogger hires virtual assistants for, and the sky is the limit on your earnings potential – or really, your talent is the limit. 😉

Check out:

• Jumpstart Your Virtual Assistant Career

Create and Sell  Online Courses

Do you have a talent that you’d like to teach? Honestly, creating an online course is not for the faint of heart, but it’s worth it, if you’re good at something, and if you have a desire to teach that something.

Udemy and Craftsy are two of the premier websites through which to sell your course and make money. Craftsy is especially good for selling non-video courses or patterns through.

Test Websites and Apps

Website owners and App creators want to know if their products meet their readers and user’s needs. You can earn up to $30 an hour to test their sites and apps by working with Peek UserTesting. It’s fun, it helps solve all those frustrating website issues you come across in your every day web browsing, ann all you need is a computer, and a quiet place to record!

the single biggest factor in your success at making money from home is your willingness to be self-motivated. We don’t have a boss telling us to be there at 9:00 every morning – which is good because our kids are awake and need our attention by then!

We have to be creative and find the time to work. Maybe that means setting your alarm to wake up earlier than everyone else, or saying “no” to TV some evenings. Maybe it means enforcing a “quiet time” every afternoon. (Hint: it’s a combination of all three for me!)

The good news is, once you “hit a groove” getting those at-home jobs done becomes second nature!

Do you have a favorite Work-at-home that I missed? leave your thoughts in the comments!

(P.S. You may have noticed that I left out one very obvious way to make money: Blogging. Thousands of moms (and dads, and single people for that matter) all over the world are making a living at home via their blogs. Since this is how I personally bring in most of my income, and it’s the business I know the most about, I plan to cover how to make money blogging in future articles.)