Net Hustlin'

I just came across a useful video on cbsnews about working online from home.



She mentions a site I hadn't heard of before called VIPDesk, a company that apparently allows you to do customer service work from home and pays about $10 an hour. I will research more information about them later.

I am an English teacher at a private school in Ukraine. I moved here three months ago from New Jersey to start teaching. Lately I had been hearing about teaching English online as an option to make money. I was intrigued. I teach English abroad already to make money while I travel, but teaching English online would be an even better option for traveling. Then I could go anywhere, leave anytime, and have a steady job while traveling.

Most ESL jobs require a TEFL certificate, job experience, and/or a Bachelor's degree. Most employers don't require all three at once, so if you have at least one of the three qualifications, just keep looking and you will find one for you. The best paying jobs have more requirements. 

One of the easiest ways to find out who is hiring right now and how much they are paying is to check out an ESL job board:

http://www.esljobsworld.com/esl-jobs/online.html

Dave's ESL Cafe is the best-known Job Board for "real life" ESL jobs, but there are also occasional  opportunities for teaching English online, it just requires a little searching:

http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/ 

Aside from job boards, there are quite a few dedicated websites that link teachers and students. Here are the most well-known and reputable ones:

Tutor ABC
http://www.tutorabc.com
Tutor ABC reportedly pays between $5 - $10 per hour, depending on the experience of the teacher. There are bonus programs available. They're one of the lowest-paying sites, but they have many students so there are many available hours. That makes Tutor ABC a good option for those who need regular work above all else.


eduFire
http://edufire.com/
Unlike most other sites, anyone can sign up as a teacher on eduFire. Professional experience and credentials are not necessary to join the site. Teachers create a profile on eduFire with their credentials, hourly rate, and the languages they teach. The students then choose who they want to speak with. eduFire takes a 15% commission out of the set price per lesson.

 
Myngle
http://www.myngle.com 
Myngle is a very popular site that is more selective. Right now they have a waiting list for English teachers. Myngle is good because the teachers choose their own price. They take a 40% commission out of whatever price the teacher sets per lesson (which is quite high).


OpenEnglish
http://www.openenglish.com/
Open English is a popular site for students in South America. They pay the teachers between $8 and $11 an hour, depending on experience. They require a Bachelor's Degree and knowledge of basic conversational Spanish.

If you are looking for a more flexible freelance option, try the Skype Prime software. Skype Prime is a new feature in the regular Skype software, so there no additional software to download or website to sign up for. You can put a link to your skype name on your own personal website or social networking profile and start connecting with students. They take out a 30% commission from each transaction.

Online tutoring is in growing demand for people of all ages. When I blogged about online tutor jobs in 2007, there weren't many job opportunities in this area because it was still a very new concept. Most of the websites were amateur and underdeveloped. Now there are many interesting opportunities online for education professionals.


The most well-known website is Tutor.com. Everyone can apply to be a tutor on their website, but they do not accept everyone who applies. They require a degree from a US or Canadian University. They also require that you pass their subject examination before you begin tutoring.

According to the job reviews I have read about the site [link], the pay on tutor.com is around $9.50 an hour during a tutoring session (it varies depending on the subject). They also pay $5.50 during the time a scheduled tutor is waiting for students.

While $5.50 an hour isn't even minimum wage in most places, you would be getting paid for doing literally nothing. Most online job don't pay their workers an hourly wage during the times that they're not pulling in profits. So this is worth considering if you're looking for steady, guaranteed income each week. You can be sure that even if no one shows up, you'll get paid at least something.


An option that is quite different from tutor.com is Skype Prime. You are probably already familiar with Skype's VOIP software. That software now has a feature that allows professionals to give advice and get paid without any third-party website or additional software.

When you set up your Skype Prime account, you get to decide how much you charge per minute for your services. Skype takes out 30% commission, so that should factor into your final price. Once you are finished, create a directory listing on the skype website so that people can find you. I also recommend making your own website or a social networking page that advertises your services.

Skype is a good option if you don't meet the qualifications of other websites but you still believe you'd make a good tutor. It's also good if you want more control over your wages, time requirements, and other aspects of work.

Another option is Liveperson, a site that I am registered with, and I have had positive experiences so far. Liveperson also allows you to charge your own rate per minute while taking out 30% commission.

The high commission is my biggest complaint about the site. It is frustrating to have to over-charge my clients to make up for the 30% I will lose. But it is a necessary evil on most websites.

Liveperson appeals to many different kinds of people. Some are looking for tutoring, while most people are looking for other types of advice (essay writing, spiritual advice, counseling, etc.). Therefore, you will not get the same targeted traffic as you'd get on a site like tutor.com. You will likely have less students. I recommend using Liveperson as a supplement to your primary online tutor job. The upside is, when you eventually do get a paying client, the pay is usually good.

One of the most important things to remember about working online is that you don't have to just choose one option. Try out all of these sites if you are unsure which one to start with. You will eventually find the one that works for you.

What are you willing to do for $5? That is the question that Fiverr asks. Fiverr is a new website that allows people to post the tasks, also known as "gigs," that they are willing to do for $5.

People have called it the place where Twitter meets outsourcing.

The gigs range from the practical: "I will design a business card for $5," [link] to the clever: "I will draw something in the sand and turn it into a greeting card for $5," [link] To the downright weird: "I will light a Furby on fire and send you the video for $5." [link]

It is incredibly easy to post a gig on the site. You just create your profile and fill in your paypal address. You can then immediately start posting what you are willing to do for $5, without having to wait for site approval.

Fiverr collects $1 for every gig, which means that in the end you actually make $4 per gig. They send the money to your paypal once you reach the minimum of $40.

I put a few gigs up last week offering my writing and photoshop services, and I have already had over 10 requests, which is more than I expected. I am very pleased with the amount of traffic that goes through this site.

I had to turn down a few offers because they just asked for too much for only $5. Sorry, but I'm not willing to write a 5-page term paper with a bibliography for $5! I may need money, but i'm not that desperate.

However, I also finished many gigs that were worth my time (like making a few forum posts for $5).

Most people who have requested my photoshop makeover services were only looking for basic touch-ups and small corrections, so it was a quick $5 that was also fun for me.

This obviously won't make you rich, but if you can come up with some creative little jobs that you are willing to do in your free time, you might actually have fun making some extra money online.

There is a new site called Yearblook, which is an ongoing contest to find the best blog posts. At the end of the year the winners of the contest will be included in a book that features the best blog posts for every day of the year. Rules of entry are explained in their FAQ:

How it works

• 1. Bloggers submit their posts - using the simple form here
• 2. Readers cast votes for their favorites
• 3. We run an algorithm to figure out which is the best post
• 4. The best from each day is added to the book

Each month, the post with the most votes will also win $100. So not only do you get exposure to your blog, but you also have an opportunity to make money for your posts.

This can be a great opportunity to get recognition for what really counts - the quality of your content. There are many contests for design and SEO but not for content creation. Hopefully this will help reward the bloggers who have been working hard at what they do.

Edit 1/06/10 - Yearblook is no longer in service. I will leave another update if it comes back online.