If your side hustle needs an income boost or your writing assignments are slumped, here are some options
Believe it or not there are legitimate work at home companies that hire all the time. If you need another revenue stream, try these.
Work-at-home-moms
WAHM has been hiring home workers for years and has a large pool of both in-house and home call center employees. They hire independent contractors to take customer service calls in their homes. They pay hourly or per minute of call time, depending on what type of calls you receive. Here’s an in-depth review that’s mildly dated, but still insightful.
Liveops
Liveops is one of the largest companies that hire home workers for phone work. They employ more than 20,000 home call center agents. They pay per minute of customer service talk time. Here’s a review. You may need to pay a $25 background check to be hired.
VIPDesk
This company hires home workers to ask as concierges through incoming calls and emails. The concierge services are much like a hotel concierge—recommending restaurants, helping customers to get tickets to events, etc. These jobs pay hourly and are only available in specific states. They also hire home workers as independent contractors to take inbound customer calls. These positions are available in every state. Here’s what Glassdoor says.
Working solutions
You work as an independent contractor doing telephone order processing, customer service, sales, market research, and perhaps some data entry. Up to $30 per hour; unclear as to whether you can choose the assignment or not.
Etsy.com
An online marketplace where you can sell your handmade goods, crafting
supplies, vintage items, repurposed stuff, or digital downloads. No tech skills needed to participate. It’s all point-and-click setup. There are fees involved, and you have to be pretty good at marketing your shop to compete with the six million active sellers, but dedicated people succeed. You work for yourself, but it counts as one of the legitimate work at home companies.
Upwork
Maybe the least offensive of what is turning into a vast wasteland for serious writers. You can post your qualifications on this and similar sites, like Fiverr, or browse jobs
posted by those looking for writers. Beware – you will be bidding against a lot of competition, many of whom will work for an embarrassingly small fee. Some writers say they have had success here, though. When you get paid for work, the
sites deduct their fee. Membership has some fees attached.
Tutor.com
If you have high-level math, science, social studies, or English teaching background, you might find this to be a lifesaver. They love bilingual tutors! Schedule your own time – five
to 30 hours per week. You must currently be enrolled in or have graduated from an accredited US or Canadian College or University degree program. They pay fairly well on a 1099 basis and are surely one of the legitimate work at home companies.
A few more good opportunities:
Allstate
DoorDash
Lyft
CVS Health
Kelly and other job agencies
Be cautious and do your research
Be careful of any company that charges people for the opportunity to work. There are a few legitimate companies that charge a small fee for a background check for prospective employees. That is a necessary precaution when a worker will have access to credit card or other personal information. But, other than that charge, legitimate companies will not ask for money before offering paid work.
Make sure you ask clear questions about hours, quotas, compensation, and duties before you accept a job.
