Coronavirus Pandemic: How to Make Money from Home

While the recent turn of events has changed things for many people, especially rendering them unemployed, there are still ways you can make money amid the pandemic. The internet space holds a thousand money-making opportunities, you just to know where to look.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced many people to think out of the box and get really creative with their talents and skills, by doing so, they have discovered new ways to make money from home and may probably build a career out of it. Experts have urged the rest of the unemployed society to also think outside the box and take up online part-time jobs or side hustles that are available at the moment.

If you are new to this, here are some key points to consider;

• Skillset

• Niche

• Available remote jobs

• Create a small business plan

Skillset

The first step to take is identifying your skillset and arranging them in their order of priority. Doing this would help you know the type of services you would like to offer and where your skills are most relevant. Perhaps, you are not sure of your skillset, you can start by taking note of things that you have done effortlessly and people complimented you. You can also put up a poll and ask people what they think you’re really good at. There are also online skills test that you can personally take. By so doing, you’d be able to identify your interests and skill set.

Niche

Identifying your skillset would also help you decide what niche your skills would best suit. You can know this by conducting personal research into the freelance market. For example, if your skill is writing and you would like to explore the field. The results of your research would show that there are different types of writing, different purposes for writing, and different audiences. All of these would help set you on the right path to becoming a part-time freelancer.

Available remote jobs

The next step is to be on the look for available remote jobs. Note that these jobs would not necessarily pop up in your face. You would have to search them out like how you would in a regular job hunt. Remote jobs have become more common due to the pandemic as seen in the 7% increase with FlexJobs from March to April. The company has seen an increase in its part-time work in data entry, customer services, and sales, teaching and tutoring, bookkeeping, health-care and medical support. There are also other remote jobs in need of writers and copywriters, editors, digital marketing, digital stylists, graphic designers, web designers, and photographers.

Remote jobs are part-time jobs that may or may not pay you as much as a regular job. However, you can still maintain one to keep your finances afloat until you are able to get a permanent gig. A major advantage of remote jobs is the quick hiring process. If you are currently unemployed, you can still apply for unemployment insurance while working part-time online. However, be very mindful of scams and illegitimate offers.

Start up a small business

There are other options for making money at home. You can think outside the box or better still find a problem to provide a solution to during the lockdown. You could come up with something really creative that would appeal to people and profit you. It doesn’t have to be a full business plan, just something that would make you money soon.

Identifying your skillset or hobby can also be applied here. You would also need to make personal research to find out how other people are going about it and how much they are charging for their services or how much they sell an item. For example, you enjoy baking donuts or wouldn’t mind mowing the lawn for your neighbors. Your research finding would let you know how much you would charge for a pack of 6 donuts or what to charge per hour of lawn mowing.

It may not be a full business idea but you’d still have to create a feasible plan that would help you strategize your business. You’d also have to identify who your audience is or who your customers are and choose the platform and approach that appeals more to them for advertising purposes. Remember, it doesn’t have to be something big! Unless you want it to be.

What products or services do you think people need more amid the pandemic? How can you get the products or services across to them?

Freelance Sites (Fiverr and Upwork)

Freelance sites like Fiverr and Upwork makes it easier to find customers or clients across hundreds of categories. According to experts at freelancer platforms, Fiverr and Upwork, there are thousands of lucrative jobs you can do from home. You could even take up freelancing as a full-time job with the help of these platforms.

These companies have been able to examine their database to pick up traces of popular gigs and trends that are in high demand while people stay at home due to the Covid-19. Based on their findings, some of these jobs require expertise or special skills while many others can be remotely done with a computer and good internet connection.

Applying your skills in a side hustle isn’t any different from applying your skills in a full-time job. You must think of your skills or services as a business, and develop a competitive strategy to execute your business.

Building online presence

As more businesses are forced to restructure and transition online, there is a high demand for people how know how to build an online presence or online reputation. Under this category you’d mostly find demands for bloggers, content writers, content developers and managers, social media managers, SEO experts, and website developers.

According to Fiverr, depending on the category or job requirements, you can earn between $75 to $1,045 writing an online article and $135 to $995 for search engine optimization. $395 to $4,095 for building a website, or $100 to $3,200 for editing videos from social media videos to full-coverage videos. These amounts are based on what users are earning across the 300 Fiverr categories. While managing social media accounts like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook can earn you about $25 per hour, according to Upwork.

Note: The prices could be more or less depending on how long the project would last and the level of expertise required. Also both Fiverr and Upwork take a percentage of earnings. The higher your earning, the higher the percentage cut.

App development and product testing

According to Upwork’s data from March and April, there has been a 50% increase in registration across its many categories especially tech-related jobs, since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Mobile app development can earn you between $300 and $3,000, according to Fiverr. However, it requires good knowledge and skills in software engineering and coding. Graphic designers specialized in UI (user interface) can earn between $185 to $6,300 on app projects. While quality assurance testing can earn you as much as $36 per hour on average.

Note: The payment structure on these platforms protects both the interests of the buyer and seller, that way people do not get cheated or scammed.

Teaching

With a lot of schools not in session due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is a high demand in online teaching and tutorials. All that’s required is a very good knowledge in the area of interest, a working computer, and good internet connection. According to Fiverr, more consumers are looking for productive ways to spend their time online, this includes attending learning new skills and adding to their previous knowledge.

As a result of that, Fiverr introduced new service categories like teaching to help people stay productively engaged during the pandemic. These categories include cooking, crafting, fitness, music, and language lessons. The charges in these categories range from $5 to $100 per class, depending on the expertise and experiences of the teachers.

‘What else?’

Based on research and data entry, Upwork has also created special categories related to Covid-19. This is based on the top services with high demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. There have been a lot of job listings for graphic designers who can create signage for healthcare centers, clinics, and hospitals. There have also been job listing for software developers who can build apps that can track Covid-19 cases.

To make these Covid-19 jobs readily available, Upwork has included a “Covid-19 Job Feed” for registered users in search of Covid-19 related jobs. Users can also use top keywords like “healthcare industry” or “online educational services” to get Covid-19 related gigs, according to Upwork.