The Best Online Jobs You Can Start TODAY

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

If you’re ready to start working now, you’re in luck. We’re taking a look at several online jobs you can start today that are legitimate, offer flexibility, and easy to get started with.

Today, I’m writing about the best online jobs you can get started with NOW.  Not only that, I’ll give you companies that are hiring for these jobs.

Oh…did I mention they’re perfect for all of you who want something that is super flexible ?

Let’s get to them.

What Are The Best Online Jobs You Can Start Today ?

Here are my top picks for the best online jobs so you can start working now.  They’re legitimate and just about anyone can do them.

#1  Social Media Strategist

This is one of the best online jobs out there today because so many companies have made a major presence on social media.

Plus, it can be done from anywhere.

Whether you’re working for a flexible company or managing accounts on your own, there’s no shortage of ways to get work as an online social media specialist.

Here’s what I mean:

• You can work for companies like Thrive,  Boldly, Modsquad and Appen, moderating social platforms for some of their clients.
• You can also find a cool Social Media job on Hubstaff Talent and work on a brand’s image across all social platforms.
• Or, you can specialize in a single area of social media and be a pro on that one platform, like I wrote about in this How To Be A Pinterest Manager post

#2  Internet Researcher

Internet Researchers use their internet search skills to provide accurate information their employer or client asked for. There are many research scenarios, from complex – requiring several hours of research, to simple – where your research is completed within an hour.

You might gather statistics, you might determine a specific outcome, you might even look up contact information.  But whatever you do, working as an Internet Researcher requires attention to detail.

Here are a few examples:

• You may be asked to research digital marketing trends for a large advertising agency.  This can take several hours because new trends are popping up all the time.  You do the research, submit your findings and get paid.
• Or you might have a gig where a a business owner wants to know who on the internet is mentioning their business.
• And some clients request simple research tasks, like finding a list of their competitors addresses.

How much can you earn as an Internet Researcher ?

According to zip recruiter, the national average salary for an Internet Researcher is over $59,000.00 a year. On the low end, the annual average earning is $15,500, and the high end being up to $77,000.

Here’s where you can get an Internet Research Job:

10EQS

10EQS hires industry pros and independent consultants to perform in-depth research and solve important problems within specific industries for their clients.

Based on your background, you’ll be assigned projects on one of several industries such as aerospace, automotive, education, healthcare, technology, or logistics.

IT-Boss Research

IT-Boss Research is a job-matching platform that works with independent contractors to complete court research for their clients.

Even though you’ll be doing court research, with most of your time spent at local courthouses, there still is some online research involved. When matched with a client, you’ll go to local courthouses searching for specific types of public documents that are on file by the courts.

The types of assignments vary with each client, but the most common assignments are researching mortgages, marriages, tax liens, bankruptcies, evictions and foreclosures.

Wonder

Wonder hires researchers (called Analysts) to provide nearly instant feedback to the questions asked by their customers.

The process works like this:

• You sign up and get accepted
• Log into your Wonder dashboard
• Be assigned to a project
• Find answers
• Get paid

According to Wonder, some of the most common research requests are product recommendations, researching trends, and gathering statistics.

#3  Paid Contributor

A Paid Contributor is someone who writes for money. In other words, you agree to submit a piece of your original writing, specifically formatted, and receive payment when it’s published.

Which can be profitable if you’re good at it.

Here are some options to become a Paid Contributor:

1)  Write for content marketing agencies. 

A content marketing agency is an online platform where writers (or aspiring writers) publish articles that are then sold to blog owners to be used as content on their blog. You’re paid when your article is purchased.

You can start writing for some of the content marketing agencies like SmartBug Media, NDash, Aha Media Group, and Animalz.

Your next option is…

2)  Become a paid contributor for existing blogs.

I think this is a great option if you have some knowledge and experience in a specific niche and don’t want to run your own blog.  Just remember to read the guidelines and follow them exactly.

Here are some places that pay you to write:

• A List Apart
• Income Diary
• Listverse
• Metro Parents
• Money Crashers
• The Dollar Stretcher
• Wise Bread

Your next option is…

3)  Become a freelance writer.

This is the option that has the most earning potential and longevity. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor, tells us that over the next 10 years there will be little to no change in the number of writers. So, because there won’t be a spike in new writers, there’s more opportunity for you to book work and make freelance writing a full-time online job.

Here’s how to get started as a freelance writer:

First, determine a niche.

For instance, do you like writing detailed product descriptions for e-commerce stores ? Consider yourself a Product Description Writer.

Next, do a little research to figure out how much to charge. You can do this by checking out other freelance writers to see how much they are paid.

For example. Here are some of the top writers on one of the most used freelance platforms (Upwork.com). See how much they charge ?

Also, use social media to find some writer groups. You’ll see that a lot of freelance writers are pretty open about what they charge and how much they work. You’ll might even find a a writing gig or two.

Finally, get paid. You have your specialty (niche), you have some pro tips, you know how to write.

Now you need to find paying clients.

You can find clients for writing projects in a variety of places, like these:

• Writing-specific job boards like Problogger, Media Bistro and Journalism Jobs. These boards are very reputable and well-screened.
• Freelance platforms like Upwork or Freelancer. Start out accepting small writing gigs so you build up your profile, then move up to larger writing projects.
• Social media groups on Facebook and Linkedin
• Remote job resources often post current writing jobs. One of the best is We Work Remotely because they not only screen the jobs they post, companies have to pay to list their job. This weed out the scammers. Tip: look for writing jobs in the Copywriting and Marketing categories.

#4  Copy Editor / Proofreader

Do you automatically notice errors in your emails ? Does it bug you to come across a hard-to-read article ? Do you think you can make changes to anything written, like restructuring paragraphs and rewriting sentences ?

Don’t waste that talent because online Copy Editors and Proofreaders are in high demand due to the increase in online content – blogs, social media, even e-books – and this means easy work for you.  In fact, it’s pretty easy to get an online proofreading job these days.

But first, what’s the difference between Copy Editor and a Proofreader ?

A Copy Editor looks for, and corrects, typographical, spelling, punctuation, style, facts, and grammatical errors. For instance, they know the proper use of there, they’re, and their as well as its and it’s.

A Proofreader, on the other hand, does their job after copy editing is complete.  Proofreaders correct any issues the Copy Editor missed.

Now here’s an interesting tid-bit:

Most of the time, Copy Editor and Proofreader titles are used interchangeably.  When someone is looking to have their document ‘proofread’, they want it scoured for grammar, typos, structure, and spelling errors.  So, this line of work often means you are both a Copy Editor and a Proofreader rolled in one.

Here are some places to get Copy Editing and Proofreading jobs:

First, some of places to get online work are with these companies:

• American Journal Experts
• Editor Live
• Enago
• Polished Paper
• Scribendi
• Scribe Writing

The pay varies by company but you can expect to make – on average – just under $20.00 an hour

Second, become an independent proofreader which, by the way, has the potential to bring in  money quicker.

Here’s why:

There are hundreds and thousands of small business owners who need Copy Editors and Proofreaders to review all sorts of documents. They don’t have the time to look for, nor want to pay the prices of, proofreading companies so they’re more than happy to find a good independent proofreader.

For instance, bloggers desperately need to have Copy Editors review their blog posts. And because new bloggers are usually on a tight budget they turn to freelancers. And once they find someone they like, trust, and are comfortable with, they give that Proofreader / Copy Editor all their business.

And e-book publishers hire Copy Editors to go over their documents because they know the importance of having a well-written e-book.

Small businesses and bloggers look for Copy Editors and Proofreaders  on Freelancer, Upwork, and even Fiverr. What this means for you is the opportunity to make money.

Which brings me to this next point…

#5  Virtual Assistant

There are a lot of small businesses in need of business services but they either don’t have the budget to hire a staff or the time to do it themselves. So they turn to freelance platforms, looking for professionals to help them with their business needs.

This is your opportunity to enter a particular “space” in the online job world. You can be a pro in any field, work whenever you need to, and even travel while you work.

The coolest thing about being a Virtual Business Assistant ?

Your options are endless because of the thousands of gigs out there.

For example, some of the most common business services needed are:

• Blog manager
• Logo designer
• WordPress Manager
• Proofreader
• Bookkeeper
• Web designer
• Plugin developer
• Video editor
• Voice-over
• Graphic designer
• Photo edotor
• Pinterest Pin Creator
• SEO Specialist
• Office Assisting
• Customer Service
• E-Mail Handler
• E-book cover designer

Getting started as a Virtual Assistant is pretty easy; you just need to narrow-down a service to provide, know what tools you need, and find work. And best of all, all you need is one good client and you’re on your way to making a nice income from home.

Tip: check out my free guide on becoming a Virtual Assistant

Let’s take a look at 6 options to get a Virtual Assistant job:

#1  There are a lot of online freelance platforms where you can get started, like Upwork and Fiverr.  You basically sell your skills and make money.

#2  Another option is to find clients via social media. Facebook groups like Creative Freelancers Unite, Freelancing Females and Virtual Assistant Jobs are AWESOME groups where you can pick up work.

#3  Let’s not overlook networking. Reach out to friends and colleagues. Get your name out in the community. Networking will never die.

#4 99 designs and 48 hours logo are two reliable places to pick up paying gigs in graphic design.

#5 Upwork is one of the best-known platforms to find paying jobs doing just about business service imaginable.

#6 Fancy Hands and Time etc. are popular choices among businesses who need professional services done in a timely manner.

#6 Travel Specialist

I wrote about how being a Travel Specialist is one of the best jobs for stay at home moms, but it’s not limited to just moms.  Anyone can be a Travel Specialist.

And making travel arrangements is a great online job you can get started with now, especially if you work within a niche.

Like Disney vacation packages.

In fact, here are some places where you can work as a Disney vacation planner:

• Love The Mouse Travel
• Mickey’s Travel,
• Mouse Hunters Travel
• My Mickey Vacation Travel
• Magical Vacation Planner

#7  Blogging Transcriber

Because of online marketing and the burst of blogs and video content, there is a HUGE demand for Blogging Transcribers.

The reality is, not everyone wants to listen to, or watch, online videos so a lot of business owners choose to convert audio content to written content and publish it on their blogs.

As a blogging transcriber, the premise is simple:

You listen to an audio file and type out what is being said, which will be added to a blog post.

As a blogging transcriber, you will:

➡transcribe videos and audio of speaking gigs

➡transcribe YouTube videos

➡transcribe podcasts

Freelance platforms, especially Upwork, have a lot of businesses searching for transcribers to convert their content. This can be a lucrative career, or just a side gig, but before you can get to that point, you need to be a lot more proficient in transcription. In fact, I wrote an in-depth guide on how to become a transcriptionist.  I think you’ll find it useful.

#8  Online Educator

If you have a background in teaching – or mentoring – a job as an Online Educator will come easy to you.

And there are three options to teach online.

I talked about them in detail in this post but I’ll go over them here:

#1  ESL teacher(teach English as a second language to foreigners):

When teaching English as a second language you’re teaching students who fall into one of these scenarios:

• People from other countries, where English is not their primary language. These students are typically business men/women who need to know enough English well so they can efficiently communicate with other individuals.
• Children from other countries whose parents want them to peak English fluently. Typically, your students are taught in a one-on-one setting and the majority of them are from China.

Now let’s go over where you can find work as an ESL teacher:

There are many language platforms out there, like VIPKID, MagicEars, Verbling and iTalki, that are always looking for new teachers to perform one-on-one English speaking sessions – done via Skype or their own educational platform.  And the nice thing is, the curriculum is already set up for you.

Some of these platforms require previous teaching experience, some don’t.  Additionally, some may require a teaching certificate while some only want mentoring experience.

For example, VIPKID is pretty strict on wanting their applicants to have a Bachelor’s degree and they seem to be one of the highest payers out there at up to $22.00 an hour.

MagicEars, on the other hand, does not require teachers hold a Bachelor’s degree and they claim to pay up to $26.00 an hour, although my research has found the average pay to be around $22.00 an hour. This is a platform that typically teaches English to 5-12 year old children in China.

Verbling wants their teachers to have previous experience but they say a certificate is not required.

iTalki is a bit different: they have two teaching options, 1) Community Tutor, where you don’t need previous experience or certifications, and 2) Professional Teacher, where you do need to prove you have a degree and teaching certification.

Now let’s talk about the next option,

#2  Academic Tutor

As long as you have teaching certification you can tutor students from all over the world through Tutor.com, Course Hero, and Brain Fuse,

#3  Online Teacher

As an Online Teacher you participate in distance education via the internet. In other words, you provide instruction, dictate assignments, and communicate with your class through your computer.

In addition to certification, you need an advanced degree in education.  Similar to Academic Tutors,  your students may be of any grade level.

See…There Really Are Legit. Online Jobs

As you can see, there really are legitimate online jobs that you can do today.  These are some of the easiest ones to get started with, and I hope this post gives you some ideas and inspiration to start an online career.

Before I go, I want to invite you to write a comment to let me know what job you’ve decided to get started on.