The 3 Best Online Home Based Business Opportunities

The 3 Best Online Home Based Business Opportunities that earn passive income are going to help you in building a home-based business. Everyone needs money and a job for 40 hours a week that pays the bills. That’s a way of life for most folks today. But what about those of us who want more and better than this? If you want it bad enough to ditch the Monday blues every Sunday, dreading to head back to work and start another work week, then go for it. 

You’ll be in control more because of your time freedom and no boss breathing down your neck. Okay, it may not be this way for everyone but for the ones who want and need something better, then please take my article seriously.

I want to present to you the Online Home Based Business Opportunities. I have extensive experience in two of the three opportunities, but my business also included some of the responsibilities of Virtual Assistant as well. Time to learn what is better than the typical J.O.B. ( Just.Over.Broke)

What is Passive or Residual Income?

I have always been interested in “residual income.” Passive or residual income is money you earn that doesn’t require you to do a lot of continuous work to keep making the money. In reality, you can do most of the work upfront and put more additional effort as you progress to earn an income.

I like to refer to this as residual income as well. I like nothing better than doing the work once and continually getting paid for the same work down the road. I’d like to go on vacation while I am making money or sleeping while I’m making money 24/7 and it doesn’t require for me to be there and work for it over and over again.

There are many ways to generate a passive income. Let’s see which 3 are the best:

1) Affiliate Marketing

I choose Affiliate Marketing as my #1 choice. Affiliate marketing is defined as linking specific products on your website and when someone clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you get a commission. You can build a very lucrative business this way with the right tools and mindset.

First it begins with not just an idea for a niche, but a niche that is evergreen, popular, and most of all one that you are 1,000% passionate about. This is the most important part of the “affiliate marketing building a business model.”

There are many different ways to build this business. It does take time, perseverance, patience, a real business mindset, the ability to never give up, and of course a true love and passion for what your website and your business is about.

What I want to point out here is that you need a plan first. Once you have thought about, researched, and know exactly what you are going to do, then and only then do you go for it! But you must and I repeat MUST write and provide ONLY top quality content for your readers.

If you’re just going to write gibberish, don’t even bother to begin. This is a business, not a hobby. You need to be serious about it. Once you put your heart and soul into it, then you will begin to experience results like you never imagined before.

Write this next part down because if you read it every day and understand it, then it will help you to focus on what is really important. This is the Bible:

You Don’t Build a Business. You Build People and Then People Build The Business!

The best place to get started with a real business is with this simple 4 step process. You need the best training to build your very own website. There is no better way to start your own online business than with this 4 step plan.

I want you to know what’s important before you even begin.

Content is NOT king. QUALITY content is king! You must write engaging content that people want to read. Also, Google is “dating” the people as well. You must keep this couple happy. One without the other just won’t work.

Trust me on this, please? If you are passionate about your business, then take this seriously. If you do, you will be more than successful. Both Google and your readers want to read what you have to say, but only if it’s not the same thing that they have read dozens of times before.

You want your readers to come to your website, click on your articles, and read enough to stay on for the entire post. Make-it-interesting and keep their eyes glued to your content. This is what you must do and when you are passionate about what your niche is, writing quality content should be easy peasy because it’s not work for you, it’s fun! You can start here.

Another crucial point here is to make sure that you post your articles on a continuous basis. It doesn’t matter if it’s one post a day or one post a week. With affiliate marketing you must be consistent! I like to and try to post 2-3 times each week. In the beginning, it’s going to take time, but before you know it, you will have hundreds of articles and you will be building an affiliate marketing business about your passion and loving it.

Be real and authentic. Do not ever try to “fool” your audience. They will see right through you and you will lose respect, your brand, and your readers. Be yourself and be a professional who is out there looking to help others. That’s why I do what I do, to help others solve their problems.

If you follow these steps religiously, Google will find you and reward you with better rankings for your content that is relative to your website and your niche. That’s when you begin to get ranked in the search engines such as Google.

Once you begin your blog, it won’t take much time at all. Getting started is not hard. You just have to take the step. Even though affiliate marketers earned commissions aren’t huge, the more traffic you get, the more clicks you’ll get and the more money you’ll earn. Remember, there’s strength (and money) in those numbers!

Pros

• Overly low start-up costs
• You can set your own schedule
• You’re able to work from anywhere
• You can create a trustworthy website business and a strong solid business

Cons

• May take a long time to show any sizeable income
• A great deal of time needed to create and post your content

2) Virtual Assistant

So what is a virtual assistant? They are described as administrative assistants that work remotely. As virtual assistants generally will work from home, they can work from anywhere too. What they do is performed tasks that normally a secretary or administrative assistant does. 

An example would be, they make phone calls, plan travel arrangements, schedule appointments, and will do most office duties that they normally would. Other things that they may do may be sending email to clients. 

There are positions as office assistants, or virtual assistants, that are available in just about every type of industry and the skill set can be the same yet different. The virtual assistant which is the wise own as an office assistant, or secretary can do and assist in the functioning of running a particular office. 

The office can be a corporation, a medical office, or perhaps a law firm and the basic office needs are very similar in that the person files records takes care of communication and maintain schedules. 

There may be jobs and responsibilities that an office assistant has, but maybe different for a virtual assistant specifically because a virtual assistant is not physically there to do certain job tasks. You may be a bookkeeper one day and a receptionist another day. Your tasks and job responsibilities may be different from day to day or job to job. 

The job of office assistant is a responsibility of running the office of a particular company. So it’s a very detailed and refined position. It’s not hard to find a position as a secretary for the most part.

But when it comes to a virtual assistant the job description is more specific on the individual skill sets of the person. One example is a virtual assistant might be conducting online research, doing bookkeeping, answering phones, or creating presentations. 

Virtual assistants are often in the category of independent contractors. They are “freelancers” because they work for themselves and the company is their client. They also work for more than one company at a time, in general. 

These are not every job title that you would be responsible for, but it gives you a good idea of what to expect. Let’s list some job descriptions:

As a virtual assistant, you will generally schedule your own hours. You may have to work nights and weekends to meet a next day or a Monday deadline. As a former freelancer, I was used to this. You have to accept that it’s part of the job description.

You can search for virtual assistant jobs on websites like VANetworking.com, Monster.com, Upwork.com and Indeed.com

Good Virtual Assistant:

Make sure that you have skills for verbal and written are top-notch. Your organization and time management must be flawless. You should have a virtual assistant cover letter and resume as well.

Sharpen up any communication technologies that are based on the cloud, such as phone and video conferencing (Zoom), and password managers, and file sharing.

Pros

• Make your own hours
• Freedom of no in-office stress
• Control of your business (job) without a boss on top of you
• You can work wherever you want to
• No dress code
• Set your own rates

Cons

• Work can be distracting
• No paid vacations
• No social interaction

3) Freelancing

Having been a freelancer for many years, I know what it takes to be successful as a freelancer. In essence, you are a “one-man-band” in the business. You basically wear all the hats and perform each and every task by yourself, until you get to the point where you’re successful enough to hire others to help you.

When you decide to freelance, you must accept the fact that you will be doing the following:

As long as you know what you’re getting into in the beginning, then you’ll shine. Remember, it’s a business and it’s your business to run any way that you see fit. Do it the right way and you’ll be successful.

Fiverr

The #1 place to start when it comes to freelancing is Fiverr.com. You can hire people as well as make money performing various tasks on fiverr.com. The list of things you can perform is endless.

I was a freelancer for 30 years as a display designer. But with the internet now, it’s different. The fact is that there are a great many ways to make money as a freelancer. I still have a gig on fiverr to do design work.

Fiverr can range in prices for various different job tasks. So really have to know what you’re doing and how you can size up your competition. Learn, read, and take notes as you make your plan. Here are some awesome details about different ways to freelance on Fiverr. Starting at $5 and up, here are 9 ways you can earn money freelancing on Fiverr:

I chose Fiverr first because it’s a huge database and if you do it right, you can do well. But there are other ways to freelance and make money too.

Upwork

Upwork is another platform for freelancers to make money. Just a few of the fields you can start with are graphic design, writing, and web development. This site is awesome and provides many opportunities to earn income.

I’ve used Upwork and there are many freelancers available in so many different fields that you can use to make money. And just as well, you can sign up for Upwork, provide your resume and receive a decent amount of work in the field of your expertise.

When you are a new comer, you have to start out with offering lower rates to build up your brand and database. Start out slow and be patient. The work will come along if you do things right.

5 Steps to Begin Making Money with Upwork

1. Submit your profile:

Your profile is your online resume for Upwork. It’s required and you cannot and will not get work without having a resume in your profile. Make sure that it is up to date and that you are 100% honest because you want to build and have a good reputation at Upwork.

Take your time when searching through Upwork so that you make sure the information you give is correct as far as what type of job that you would like to do an offer, what your level of expertise is in this field, and what are the specific areas in this field that you have skill at.

The reason for this is that if you get hired for a specific job and you cannot meet the deadline and deliver it, Upwork could put your account on hold or possibly close your account.

I would put in a photo of yourself, specifically a headshot and short description, but make sure that you cover the basics of your background, your history and even links to a website or portfolio so that you can show some of your work and this will help you get hired.

Like any application that you would fill out, such as your education, where you are located, the specific amount of hours each week that you are able to provide work for, and of course what you’re rate for each job would be.

Now, I found that searching through other freelancers would give you a good idea of what to charge. It’s always good to search out your competition and this will help you in setting your profile.

As long as you do your profile the correct way you can probably get it approved within 24 hours. Make sure you check spelling and that everything makes sense and is as accurate as possible.

2. Decide & pick your membership:

Upwork has two different membership plans, Basic and Plus that it offers.

3. Connect with employers

Connects are used to submit proposals for jobs. Submitting a proposal to a job requires up to 6 Connects, depending on factors such as the size and type of project, so keep this in mind. You should use “connects” to submit your proposals for any kind of gig on Upwork.

Connects are not necessary when:

• A client sends you an offer
• You send a proposal within an Enterprise Talent Cloud
• When a client invites you to bid

Use your “Connects” to submit proposals for jobs in your “wheelhouse.” Your proposals should include your desired fees, an introductory letter, and answers to whatever questions the client included in their listing. You can also send examples of any work you think would be relevant. I think this is a very wise choice. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Read up on the employers reputation before you apply for any gig. This is necessary for you to know what you’re getting into. You can do obvious searches such as Google, Glassdoor, and the BBB. 

The rating system at Upwork is extremely helpful. It works for both you and the employer to see if you’re a match in the hiring department. Each party is rated after the gig is complete. Each employer is graded on a 5 star system.

4. Set your price & begin working

Upwork gets a small percentage of what you earn. The fee structure is a sliding scale based on the total amount that you bill your client over a time period. The more you work that you do with a specific client, the smaller the percentage will be charged to you. You can expect Upwork to deduct:

• 20% for the first $500 you bill a client.
• 10% for total billings with a client that is between $500.01 & $10,000.
• But only 5% for total billings with a client that is in excess of $10,000.

You can get paid in one of two ways: fixed price or an hourly price. The fees charged by Upwork remain the same though.

Your hourly rate on Upwork is the price before the service deduction. So if you list a rate of $25 per hour for your first gig, you can expect to earn $20 per hour after Upwork’s 20% deduction fee. Once you’ve billed $500 with that one particular client, Upwork’s fee drops to 10% and you would earn $22.50 per hour.

The same concept applies when you negotiate a rate for a fixed-price job. If you’re getting paid $475 for a job, you’ll be paid $380 after the 20% cut. Once you’ve billed $500 with that client, the fee decreases to 10%.

Negotiate. You don’t always have to accept first offers.

5. Getting Paid

Upwork freelancers can get secured payments via direct deposit, PayPal or wire transfer.

All of your hourly projects are billed each week. You get paid after the client and you review the work which is 10 days after the billing period ends. If a project gets dropped before it’s finished, that’s when milestones and Hourly Protection come in to play. If you think you weren’t compensated fairly, Upwork has a dispute process. You’re covered.

Pros

• You can work remotely from anywhere
• You get hired often quickly 
• You have the ability to create and define your own schedule
• Large network of freelancers
• Free membership

Cons

• No benefits
• Distractions
• No social interaction
• Questionable relationship time frame with the buyer and seller
• Having accounts automatically deleted
• Some risk associated with the person you’re dealing with
• Customer protection & support

Final Thoughts

The 3 Best Online Home Based Business Opportunities that earn passive income are these three: Affiliate Marketing, Virtual Assistant, & Upwork.

If you’re looking to make it on your own and want to have an online home based business, then these are the 3 best. I’ve done two and have experience in the virtual assistant category as well. But my #1 recommendation is still Affiliate Marketing by far!