If working in your pajamas sounds too good to be true, then it probably is – at least, most of the time. We’re here to tell you about the few exceptions.
Below is a list of eleven legitimate ways to make money online (most of them you can do in your PJ’s if you wish). We’ve left out avenues that only provide a one-off payment like signing up for a gift card or selling your unwanted items. This list only contains ways to make money with real earning potential — that is, the possibility of a stable paycheck month on month.
Let’s be realistic, you might not be able to quit your day job right from the word go, but if you commit to one of these eleven options, you’ll eventually end up working from your bedside.
1. Become a Blogger — If you’ve got a passion for a particular topic, you could earn money just by writing about it on the internet. Whereas blogging used to be nothing more than a fun and interactive way to express your feelings, it’s now a viable career for many, with some bloggers earning well over $400,000 per year from their online blog.
2. Become a Social Influencer — Okay, this job role might force you to get out of your pajamas to take pictures or videos to share online. Or at the very least, you’ll have to make the top half of your outfit respectable as most YouTubers wear pajama bottoms while filming. Becoming a social influencer is like the advanced version of becoming a blogger. It’s safe to say this is not for everybody, but if you’re somebody who doesn’t mind baring all on the internet, then it could be your ideal occupation.
3. Start an Online Business — If sharing intimate secrets with strangers isn’t your cup of tea, you might be more suited to an entrepreneurial lifestyle. The internet has made it easier than ever to set up a profitable business from home. You can use technology such as a virtual landline number to build your business’s credibility — without even having to leave the house.
4. Deliver Short-Term Projects on Freelance Platforms — For this avenue, you’ll likely need experience in an industry such as graphic design, marketing, or writing. If you have a technical skill to offer, then you can sign up to freelance platforms such as Freelancer. Otherwise, you might find it challenging to maintain a regular income without sufficient expertise. That said, some individuals do make money performing activities such as developing voice-overs or creating video clips.
5. Teach People English — Plenty of people now become an online tutor where virtual sessions are held with people either abroad or in their home country. Similar to being a YouTuber, you might only get away with pajama bottoms, but it still beats standing around in a classroom. The most popular tutoring avenue is teaching English from home. As long as you have a decent grasp of the language and a broad vocabulary, you should have no issue landing a remote job in this arena.
6. Work for Amazon — Amazon Mechanical Turk is described as a “crowdsourcing marketplace” where businesses can outsource tasks to a 24/7, global workforce. These tasks might be anything from article translation to grammar checking. Similar to being a technical freelancer, this is a case of relying on the demand for such jobs and might not grant you a stable income until you build a trusted profile on the platform.
7. Affiliate Marketing — Join Amazon’s affiliate marketing program to earn commission on any products you help to sell. Affiliate links are unique URLs created to track the amount of traffic and conversions picked up by each link. As a blogger or social influencer, you might use this as a potential income stream, but these links aren’t just reserved for such professions. You can also become an affiliate marketer in your own right.
8. Fill out Surveys — This option weasels its way into any list about making money online as there are plenty of websites that claim to reward people for filling out surveys on the internet. But you should be warned that some websites reward users via cashback while others allow you to redeem points, vouchers, or store credit. Rarely do survey providers give out cash easily. Most survey websites don’t allow you to withdraw cash unless it exceeds a minimum amount stipulated on their website. You should spend some time researching which survey websites are a scam and which are legitimate.
9. Be a Website Tester — Many companies will pay you to provide feedback on a product, service, or website they’ve developed. For most startups, this is a key part of their research and development phase. Sites like Pingpong can connect you with startups that need testers for their websites and applications.
10. Become a Virtual Assistant —This is like a personal assistant but one who’s altogether less personal and can, of course, wear pajamas on weekdays. A virtual personal assistant has a varied job role, which includes responsibilities such as answering calls and emails, as well as more analytical tasks, including market research and data management. Quick! Find yourself a busy person so you can help them and spend more time in your pajamas.
11. Set up an Independent Travel Agency — You might think travel is a saturated market — which it is. But it’s also overwhelming for the average consumer. Most people don’t want to scroll through endless deals before picking their ideal vacation. If you can simplify this process for them by being a personal travel agent, then you should. There are plenty of reasons why people still need a travel agent, even though we have access to direct deals online. For example, people may require a personal service either for recommendations — or to remove the “task” of looking for a holiday off their to-do list.