Work from home, source: Shutterstock.com
"Working from home" has received some popularity over time even before the COVID-19 outbreak, but the huge emphasis it now receives is due to the fact that it remains the only alternative to sustaining corporate affairs and/or earning some salary in these times when business activities outside the confines of the home are totally shut down.
For individuals who already have a job, it will be easier for their boss to find a way to convert it to a work-from-home job especially if the job is so conversible. But what about those whose jobs do not have a work-from-home version. For example, your job entails that you provide physical contact and exchange of your products, an act that is practically impossible from current standards imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. So what else can you do to live on and keep earning?
Working from home and earning as well as usual or even more sounds too good to be true. Generally, the popular online scam adage that "whatever sounds too good to be true it probably is" is still valid out there, but is it always true?
Below are 10 things you could start doing from home in this COVID-19 era that has forced us to have our homes perform dual functions of home and workplace simultaneously.
- Telecommunication Jobs One of the least affected industry is the telecommunication industry. It has always been virtual even before the coronavirus outbreak. Some telecommunication jobs you could do at this time in Nigeria include Customer Service Agent for the popular Nigerian Network Providers(MTN, GLO, Airtel, Etisalat), Virtual Top-Up(VTU), etc.
- Freelance Writing There are platforms where you can showcase your writing skills and also earn some wage for every service you deliver. In freelancing, you write for an anonymous client on the topic they are interested in. So when you put up your offer as available in any freelancing website, you may soon have to respond to the buyers that may request for your service(s).
- Web Development Web development, like some of the other things, are not always easy to start up especially when there is practically no one available to guide you through. But if you already have some prior knowledge in web development, this is your opportunity to shine and make some money, if at all you have not already been doing that.
- Blogging and Vlogging Blogging has been popularized in recent years as a good source of income from home and that doesn't change with the coronavirus pandemic. It is easy to start up a blog but growing it and earning some money may take some time.
- Social Media Manager So many businesses will still need to keep their social media handles actively engaging, while reassuring customers that all this will soon be over. If you have some good experience on social media management and promotion, evidenced by strong social presence on the popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, you could send a job request to any of these companies you are interested in working for.
- Online Tutor In this distant learning age, online tutorials have been highly sought-after even before the coronavirus outbreak. You are a teacher, or you are passionate about teaching? This is your opportunity to keep working when everyone is expected to stop.
- Data Analysis Researches hinge their facts on data analysis. In this period, researches are still ongoing. More importantly, researches on the data relating to the pandemic are ongoing. If you are skilled in health statistics, this is a likely opportunity. However, researches in other areas including marketing, industry, businesses, etc are still ongoing. You can find some data analysis jobs here.
- Virtual Assistant Jobs Virtual assistants are paid to work from a remote location, and in this case, your home. There are many things you could do as a virtual assistant including social media management, data analysis, calendar management, email and appointment managements.
- Assistant Medical Officer Are you a senior medical student or a new medical graduate, this is to announce to you that hospitals are not one of the places that the coronavirus pandemic shut down.
- Sales of Protective Equipment Coronavirus pandemic closed many doors of opportunity but it also opened up a few others. CDC has recommended the use of fast masks and alcohol-based hand sanitizers for control of the spread of the COVID-19. If you have some experience or interests in the manufacturing and/or distribution of these items, this could be your opportunity.
In all your searches both on google and on the other job websites, make sure to include the terms "remote", "work-from-home" or "online job" to your search query.
In this coronavirus period, we would expect that some of such companies would take new employees without a physical interviewing process. So you need to give it a chance, after all, it's worth sticking out your neck for.
In the rise of Search Engine Optimization(SEO) for web articles, SEO writing has been on very high demand as well. It is always best to specify the area that you are very good at or interested in on the description of your freelancing service(s) because that goes ultimately on to ensure the satisfaction of both you and your customer.
There are various platforms where you can put up your programming services for sale. A good example is WeWorkRemotely and a few others out there. However, if you are already comfortable with your skills, you could look up some business ventures including banks, and other corporate affairs within the country who you could do some job for.
First, get their contacts. Then, reach out to them with your offer. You never can tell how far that can go considering the fact that sooner than later, this whole Coronavirus pandemic will be a thing of the past.
See my journey through programming here - The Impossible Mind of a Programmer
Already existing bloggers could use this time to develop their skills and earn more but creating a brand new blog may not provide the desired revenue within this short time. However, you could use this opportunity to accomplish your blogging dreams if you have always wanted to.
The popular websites for starting up a free blog include Blogger, Wordpress, etc.
Bloggers popularly monetize their contents through affiliate marketing and advertising, sponsored posts, Google Adsense, and product sales.
Starting up a blog is relatively easy but it can be often confusing when there is no one to guide you. But learn how to start a blog here from scratch.
Vlogging
Vlogging was derived from the terms "Video" and "Blogging". It is almost like blogging but in this case, you publish video contents instead of articles. It is popularized by Google's YouTube and starting up is relatively easy as well especially when you already have a Google account.Monetization is by affiliate advertisement, sponsored adverts, and featured sales and the Google Adsense.
If you have what it takes, I see no reason why you should not give this a try. Already established businesses would pay hugely to have an efficient social media manager.
You can find some social media job listings on CareerBuilder, SimplyHired, and Upwork.
Learning has been halted worldwide by this coronavirus pandemic and agencies and other private or public educational organizations are still finding ways to continue learning especially for the younger generation.
I'm pretty sure you can even secure some international opportunities based abroad if you search well enough.
UpWork offers some great virtual assistant job offers for Nigerians.
In fact, they are expected to become more full of activity in this period. With appropriate use of personal preventive/protective equipment (PPE), you can take the risk to go assist in a private or a government-owned hospital provided you are guaranteed of some pay no matter how small it may be.
The best thing is to find your way to the nearest hospital that you are allowed access to and present your request. One precaution to take is, just try to let whoever is in charge know that you are not just going there to learn basic medical skills but also to earn some little money alongside. If it works out, fine. If it doesn't, you could go somewhere or decide what you want to do. After all, either way, whatever you do won't be a total waste of time.
Apart From Earning, You Also Kill The Boredom
The routine of daily activity has been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and you feel so idle. Another side advantage to these job opportunities is that prevention of that feeling of idleness and boredom. You are still engaged and your productivity is not set to decline even when all this is over.
Keep being productive and keep earning.
Not all the opportunities may earn you money in real-time but at the least, you will equally get better and learn new skills, if at all.
So, what are you waiting for? Harness your potentials and earn more this period. Do not let coronavirus pandemic stop you.