Best Jobs For Single Moms -

Welcome

…to our discussion about the best jobs for single moms! These jobs are varied and interesting, and the best part is that they can all be done from the comfort of your home. Many of them will require a solid internet connection and a strong PC or Mac. Some require just a high school diploma to get started.

All of these careers are in demand and require the creativity and hard work that us solo moms are known for. Take a look at our list of these seven great occupations and get ready to expand your earning potential.

Virtual Assistant

As a virtual assistant, you will provide services to business owners or entrepreneurs all in a remote place. You will be doing things like scheduling appointments, event management, errands for your superiors, and marketing tasks of the digital variety. A virtual assistant wears many hats!

Here is a list of the tasks you might do on any given day:

Managing Basic Finances– Booking a hotel or restaurant for your manager and their team whilst staying within the budget is difficult when you have other things on your mind. This is where a VA comes in- they can select a classy place to eat and stay, so their boss has nothing to worry about. They can also make purchases for the company, oversee budgets, and keep track of expenses, so finances stay transparent.
Perform traditional administrative tasks – Here, you will be doing things like data entry, answering the phone, making arrangements for travel for your boss, and other tasks you expect an assistant to handle. Instead of sitting at a desk outside of the office of your boss, you will probably be in the comfort of your home or even a coffee shop.
Manage social media– Remember, social media is very important to businesses nowadays. This is a place where customers engage with and notice businesses and their offerings. You might be in charge of posting a scheduled image or status update or uploading a video. You might be the one to reply to comments on various social media posts. You will monitor the stats of the post and see how well it’s doing or how it can be improved. You will keep track of what’s viral, what interactions are like, and how well the post is faring as far as engagement goes, and so much more.
Creating Great Content– Content writing may very well be part of your tasks as an administrative assistant. It helps boost SEO and brings traffic to your company’s site. You will be creating posts that have a personal touch and act almost as the voice of your company. After all, posting on one’s blog on a consistent basis is critical to ensure analytic results stay favorable, so be prepared and willing to write engaging blog posts.

As you can see, these tasks are varied and interesting, and you will never have a boring day on the job. The average salary is about $37K!

Freelancer

According to FreelancersUnion, 35% of the US workforce is freelancing at this time. Indeed, it is a term we’ve heard thrown around everywhere, from blogs about the gig economy to people who just want to make a few extra dollars on the side.

What is a freelancer? These are self-employed individuals that offer services for many clients at any given moment. They are independent contractors that run their own businesses and work on their own time.

Their lifestyle is flexible, and if this is the sort of thing you’d be interested in doing, it might be time to explore further what these workers do.

You can do anything freelance. Here are just a few jobs freelancers might do:

Translate
Website designer
Photography
Blogger
Writer
Voice Actor

The average salary varies. This is because you will set your own rates as a freelancer. You can work from just about anywhere. You have to be a self-starter, however- and you have to be ready to hustle and advertise yourself. You will need to work hard to meet deadlines on time and step out of your comfort zone.

You won’t get the benefits and perks that you get with average jobs. Aside from this, there will be times when you have TONS of work to do and other days when you are desperate for something to work on.

Your first step in the quest to become a freelancer will be to create a portfolio using your best work. It doesn’t need to be paid work, either. It can be something you made for a friend or family member.

Next, you want to set up a blog or website. This is where you can show off your content. Market this stuff via social media.

Afterward, make your rates known. Never work for free. Ask other freelancers what they charged when they were just starting out.

Now it’s time to find jobs. Use networking to see if anyone needs your help. You can reach out to companies you like to see if they need help (this isn’t great, but it’s a start). There are also freelancing sites like Upwork and Fiverr to use, too.

Once you’ve got a few of these jobs, market yourself. Eventually, you may find a gig that pays on a consistent basis. Lastly, make sure you get the feedback you can post and use to your advantage!

Data Entry

Data entry refers to a heaping helping of jobs out there. You might be a typist, a word processor, a coder, an electronic data processor, or a clerk. These jobs can be done remotely, but some might require you to report to an office.

Training for these jobs is not very complicated. This is by no means easy work, but requirements are usually just a high school education and the ability to read and write English fluently if you are in an English-speaking nation such as the USA.

You will use a keyboard to input data into the system of a company. You may have to edit or verify info as you input, or somebody else might do that for you and grade you on your accuracy. You might be transcribing from audio or old handwritten paperwork.

If you work online or remotely, it can vary from an office job. For example, you might do small clusters of work for a small fee as compared to hourly-paid office employees. Or, you might be paid per word.

Pay really does vary in this field. Hourly wages may be paid, which is uncommon when referring to online data, or you might be paid per piece. Keystrokes per hour could be how your wages are calculated as well. As a result, the speed at which you enter data factors heavily into how much you will be compensated.

According to Indeed, it appears the average data entry salary is about $2k a month in the US. This is likely in reference to office-based jobs that are connected to large firms such as Xerox, Bank of America, and Kaiser Permanente.

Many of these companies offer only people that have been trained at one of their physical locations the chance to work remotely. If you do data entry from home, it’s likely always done by independent contractors, and these people are not usually required to follow laws that pertain to minimum wage.

They have access to a worldwide workforce, and as a result, the pay is lower for those who sign up to work out of their homes compared to those who report to an office each day.

Lastly, it’s important to watch out for online scams. Remember, anything that seems way too good to be true- such as promising easy work for big pay, is likely a scam and should be carefully examined or avoided altogether.

Affiliate Marketing

According to Indeed, you can make $63K a year in affiliate marketing. Just what is this method of earning money?

This is an online sales strategy that allows a product owner to boost their sales by letting others with the same audience demographic earn money by recommending that same product to their followers/readers/anyone who stumbles onto their site.

It’s great because it allows affiliates to make money on product sales but avoid making products of their own.

To put it simply, you refer to a service or product just by placing it on a social media platform, a website, or a blog. Your affiliate earns a little money every time a person makes a purchase using the link that goes with their recommendation. If done correctly, this can be a very profitable venture that earns you great money.

How do you get involved? Here are the basic steps to getting started. Bear in mind it’s a bit more complicated than this, but this helps you get your feet wet with how the process works.

Locate and join up with an affiliate program
Pick which offers you want to advertise
Get a special link for those offers
Share the links on your social media, site, or blog
Earn commission monies when somebody uses those special links to buy.

The rates of your commission earnings will vary from program to program, and at the least, you will earn about 5%. However, some of the best programs offer a very high rate of commission- sometimes as high as 50%! You might encounter some programs that offer users a flat rate for each sale made in lieu of a sale percentage.

Need to know about places you can find affiliate programs? Start by going to an affiliate platform or marketplace. Go through your niche to locate programs that perform at top levels. Here are some marketplaces to check out:

FlexOffers
LinkConnector
AvantLink
affiliate network
ShareASale

You can also check out sites of services and products you personally enjoy to see if they have a program you can partake in.

If you’re not sure where to start with affiliate marketing, this great program is highly recommended. It’s called 12 Minute Affiliate and is perfect for beginners that want to get in on the ground floor. We also recommend that you check out this great post about how you can start your own Mom Blog – perfect for promoting the affiliate links you will eventually acquire.

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Translator

According to ZipRecruiter, you can make about $69K a year as a translator/interpreter.

Do you speak, read, and write a second language fluently? Spanish and French are two of the most popular languages needed, as well as Sign Language. As a result of the globalization of the world economy thanks to the rise of technology, the world needs people who can speak many languages to ensure the flow of commerce.

You will work with a variety of information. You might be translating live spoken language, written work, audio files, and more. You may be asked to translate an entire novel or instruction manual.

You might be asked to interpret what’s being said for an international businessperson during an online meeting or help someone understand their rental agreement or legal contract. It’s essentially a big help for someone who does not speak the local language.

Translators can find a steady stream of clientele by showing off how well organized they are, how professional you can be, and how disciplined you are. Some of your job duties might include writing or translating various texts for your international readers.

You will also work collaboratively with others. You can work from home by yourself some days, in which you might be translating a text of some sort. Or, you might be connected via Zoom meeting or other virtual meeting space to discuss ideas and nuances within the two languages you are working with.

You will enjoy a flexible work schedule, and you will likely be able to work on your own terms, scheduling your work time around what is best for you. This means you can attend to your family’s needs first and work when it’s convenient for you. It is advised that you create a routine; however- this makes it easier to plan your day and use time wisely.

Some of you might wish to do this on a freelance basis. A beginner translator might expect to earn about 4 cents USD to 8 cents USD per word. You should also set a fee for the administrative tasks one must account for when doing this sort of work; after all, the Internet at home is not free, neither is the computer required to do the work or the electricity to run all of it.

Of course, you will want to start out charging less until you have established yourself as a reliable source for translation services.

Customer Service Rep

According to ZipRecruiter, you can earn about $21K on average as a customer service rep, working remotely.

Customer service reps are amazing people. They handle the worst and best moments of a customer’s experience with any given company. It is a job that can be done around the world and requires relatively basic equipment to get started.

Great reps are needed to ensure customers keep coming back for more. A great number of consumers report that customer service is critical for brand loyalty. And everyone prefers talking to a real person when it comes to handling critical issues such as refunds, back-ordered items, a wonderful or poor experience with customer service, or other complicated matters.

As a result, understanding people like yourself are necessary to mitigate customer concerns.

Another advantage is that you don’t always have to be handling service calls for, say, a clothing company or other organization that sells consumer goods. You can put your skills to work handling tech support calls. With the current state of the world and the workforce going online, there’s bound to be endless calls for tech support.

As a result, reps like you are needed to offer a helping hand.

The education necessary to enter this sort of field is not super stringent. Once again, it is not easy work, but you don’t need to be a Harvard graduate to get into this field. If you’ve worked with the public before, such as a restaurant job or a retail associate, you’ve got the basics.

Patience, being polite, and being fluent in the language spoken by your company are critical skills. You have to be empathetic when customers call in and are upset, angry, or simply yelling. You have to be ready to multitask and think fast, too.

Aside from these internal requirements, you will need some external stuff, too- for starters, a quiet workspace is necessary. You will need an ergonomic chair, a desk that is comfortable, and an untethered keyboard and phone. You may need to acquire these items yourself, or if you work for a large firm, they may provide an allowance for such items.

Tech requirements such as high-speed internet, landline or cellphone, a computer that meets company-specific specs, and a headset will also be required. Once more, your company could very well provide this to you, or you might have to purchase these items on your own.

ESL Teacher

ZipRecruiter states that ESL teachers online can make about $45K a year.

But what will you do in such a profession? You teach people of all ages- sometimes kids, sometimes adults- how to speak English.

The education requirements vary from firm to firm, but you will likely need a Bachelor’s degree in any field plus the completion of that firm’s TEFL or TESOL course. Of course, it varies from place to place, so be sure to review the education requirements of the firm you are interested in working for.

Many of these firms are looking for native English speakers, and some may require that you have some sort of teaching experience, even if it’s informal such as camp counseling, volunteering with youths after school, or being a mentor.

Going back to the TEFL thing- it’s a good idea that you earn this certification regardless if you are serious about making this career. This certification helps you learn basic strategies and skills on how to work with people new to English. You can earn it online.

You will need a worthy PC or Mac, a webcam of high quality, and a comfortable, quiet workspace- as well as a headset or mic that offers crystal clear sound. Since you will be on camera, no kids or pets can be in the background, and your company may require you to make your space as neutral as possible- for instance, a distracting poster might have to be moved.

Indeed, this is teaching as you’ve never seen it before. Instead of working out of old texts or filling out worksheets with verb conjugations, you will be using videos, body language, and games to teach people the basics of English. (You will still have to do some of that old-school stuff, but thanks to tech, it’s become lots of fun).

You will probably be working at night thanks to the time differences of the people you will be teaching. Many of these firms are based in China.

As a result, you will be working late at night or early mornings to accommodate your Chinese students. This is great for those of you that want the days to spend with your children and families and make use of the night hours to get your work in for the day.

Conclusion

Which of these great careers are you most interested in trying? Affiliate marketing is the one our team is most drawn to (you’ve likely noticed the helpful links peppered throughout our blog)! It’s such a great way to earn passive income and the helpful 12 Minute Affiliate course really breaks it down nice and easy.

The great thing is that there are hundreds of ways for solo moms to make money out there- it just takes a little ingenuity, creativity, and LOTS of hard work- things we are used to doing anyway! Best of luck and happy earning.

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