There's no such thing as free money. It's easy to get swayed by screen shots of how much money some people are making from their online jobs.
What these people don't tell you is that when you opt for a freelance career, you're bound to sell and take advantage of something. That "something" is your skills. Potential clients, employers and advertisers evaluate your past achievements and portfolio, but it's your skills that take the center stage.
Not all skills will qualify you to work from home though. If you're good at stand-up comedy, sewing and flower arrangement for instance, then you're better off in the middle of the action. A talent for yodeling, managing pain (ouch) or balancing 20 cats on one hand might make you a YouTube sensation. For the most part, skills like these are best showcased in person.
Luckily, there are a myriad of skills that you can cash in on from online work opportunities:
Personal Relations (PR)
You're good at making friends. You have a steady following at Facebook and Twitter. People love to comment on whatever juicy gossip or hot photos you share online.
The perfect job for you is blogging. Popular blogs have a steady traffic of repeat visitors, and a good traffic is precisely what business advertisers want. You can rent a small space of your blog site to advertisers.
Another lucrative prospect for you would be referrals. When friends and fans idolize you, they'll treat your recommendation as a directive. Under a referral system, you earn money every time your referral signs up.
Writing
You're an ace at online research and you've got a flair for words. Writers are good at organizing ideas on paper and communicating them well in the English language.
The perfect job for you is online writing. Make sure you know your specialty. A familiarity with APA, MLA and Chicago Manual of Style will make you a good candidate for academic writing tasks. Solid writing skills coupled with convincing sales talk should make you a sought-after copywriter. Try web content writing if you're adept at expressing the most complicated ideas in the simplest way possible.
It's a given that when you write to get paid, your work exhibits a solid command of the written English language - and in most cases - a familiarity with the content.
Organizing and Multi-Tasking
You get compliments for being a great "secretary material." You have prior work experience in the call center or business process outsourcing industry, and you exhibit the flexibility to learn new skills quickly.
The perfect post for you is that of a virtual assistant. You know how to follow instructions, set appointments, write e-mails, make presentations and type documents. Virtual assistants also work on spreadsheets, submit status reports to the boss, maintain blogs and other things.
Organization remains a highly valued skill in today's virtual work place. Being a virtual assistant means that you offer a complete 4-in-1 package: communication skills, computer skills, time management skills and all-around office skills. The best thing about working as a virtual assistant instead of a regular clerk is that you're paid in dollars by the hour.
This list is far from finished. Tomorrow, I'll continue to enumerate more skills highly valued by online businesses.
