5 Online Gigs that Pay REAL MONEY
The problem with a lot of ways to “make money online” is that many don’t pay much at all.
Even making money with online courses, though I love this option, takes time to build and has less earning potential upfront than if you actually had an hourly paying job.
One of the best ways to make money online is to land a contracted position because these have predictable revenue and, usually, solid hourly rates -- or even fixed monthly salaries. These jobs also come with the possibility for career advancement based on your experience and expertise.
So what are the top 5 online jobs I’d recommend when getting started online?
job #1 - virtual assistant
A virtual assistant does basic administrative work for a company, such as answering emails, scheduling appointments, making travel arrangements, or conducting small website updates. The main role of a virtual assistant or VA is to be an online business admin support for the company from a remote location.
This role typically earns about $20-30 an hour, but you can earn more by specializing in certain areas.
level 2 - tech virtual assistant
By specializing, such as in website management or email marketing softwares, you can charge more as a tech virtual assistant.
Many companies especially look for help with technology because it can bog them down and prevent them from working on the parts of business that make them money. They’re willing to pay a higher rate to have the tech taken care of. As a tech VA you could charge between $35-60 an hour.
level 3 - online business manager
The next level of advancement would be to move into a managerial role as an online business manager, or an OBM. This is very similar to a traditional project manager role, but transferred to online business.
An OBM takes the business owner’s vision and breaks it down into practical projects and tasks to make things happen. They delegate projects to team members, oversee the day-to-day work, manage the team, correspond with contractors, and make sure things are completed on time.
Simply put, an OBM manages all aspects of a business from operations all the way down to the metrics, and because of the responsibility, the going rate is typically between $40-100 an hour. Most OBMs sell a salary package for their services.
For example, my online business manager, Cortni, is salaried for 20 hours a week. She doesn’t necessarily need to work all 20 hours, she just has to get the job done well. If she works faster or delegates well, she can work less and earn the same. And, in that case, an OBM can also typically handle a few clients at a time if they’re organized enough to do so.
job #2 - marketing assistant
A marketing assistant is a type of specialized virtual assistant who is focused on helping online businesses with their digital marketing. You’ll typically see them doing various tasks such as writing and scheduling content for social media, writing and managing paid ads, or handing different kinds of sponsorships for the company.
As a marketing assistant, you could bring in around $25-50 an hour depending on your experience and the tasks you’re helping with.
level 2 - social media manager
If you move from a marketing assistant into a social media manager role, you can raise what you charge to be around $40-65 an hour.
In this managerial role, you’ll be helping businesses with all things related to at least one social media channel, from creating and overseeing content creation, planning and scheduling social media posts, and making sure they’re being published at the right time.
level 3 - marketing manager
Are you organized, marketing savvy, and ready to advance your career one more level? Then consider becoming a marketing manager where you’ll oversee all of the marketing for a business including social media outlets, paid advertising, and sponsorships or partnerships.
A marketing manager typically makes anywhere from $50-100 an hour and is usually in charge of a small marketing team and delegates tasks for content creation.
job #3 - Video Editor
Are you creative and do you like working with video? If so, becoming a video editor is a great choice because there is a high demand for quality videos from online businesses and even individual influencers.
A beginner video editor typically makes around $15-20 an hour, but as you learn and grow in your skills, you can quickly move that pay up to around $30-45 an hour or get paid a flat rate per video.
level 2 - YouTube shorts editor
Even though short-form video is only around 30-60 seconds long, it’s actually really tough to edit it into viral, binge-worthy content. I just did an interview with YouTube shorts expert Jenny Hoyos, and it was interesting to hear how long it took her editor to create each 60-second video!
Most YouTube shorts editors will charge $50-200 per video depending on skill level, so once you grow in skill and speed, you can make more.
level 3 - motion graphic design expert
A motion graphic design expert works with animation, audio, and visual effects to create moving content and graphics. These can be used in different forms of media, from online businesses, to television, to motion pictures.
Because this role demands expert knowledge and a good amount of time to produce, a freelancer can make around $40-100 an hour.
job #4 - podcast editor
Now, this online job is somewhat similar to video editing, but a bit simpler because you’re only working with the audio piece. The main thing a podcast editor is looking to do is cut out any mistakes from the audio and incorporate the intro and outro recordings from the podcaster.
It’s a role that you could learn quickly, and earnings start around $15-25 an hour.
level 2 - podcast engineer
Take your skills to the next level by learning how to not only cut out mistakes, but to also engineer the audio: eliminate background noises or smooth the overall tone.
If you’re able to do this well, you can earn around $30-50 an hour as a podcast engineer
level 3 - podcast manager
Are you liking the podcast editing gig but wanting a way to earn a promotion? Consider becoming a podcast manager where you could either work on your own or run a podcast agency, hiring a team to help you.
As a podcast manager, you’d be in charge of your clients’ podcasts from top to bottom: managing the show, managing and scheduling guests, editing the podcast, writing show notes, uploading episodes to the podcast hosting platform, and making sure episodes are published on time.
And you can plan to earn around $100-300 per episode or $1,000-4,000 a month. If you do all the work by yourself, you can earn a solid hourly rate around $100 an hour, as the workload would be around 15-20 hours a month.
However, if you manage a podcasting agency, you’ll delegate much of the work to the team and be able to take on more clients. You’ll earn less per client, but it’s more scalable in the long run.
job #5 - customer support assistant
If you’re able to get things done on a deadline and have good communication skills, a customer support assistant job may be ideal.
Essentially, you’d be in charge of answering emails from students or customers, and you’ll quickly learn your client’s voice and how to respond to each inquiry. In this role, you could charge between $15-30 an hour, and it’s a great place to start if you’re wanting to quickly find some online work.
level 2 - student success coach
Once you’re good at answering customer emails, a next logical step could be to provide even more support inside your client’s community. As a success coach, you can help students even more with extra accountability, strategizing, and providing feedback for their work.
Depending on how large the coaching program is, you could expect to earn around $30-75 an hour. This varies quite a bit depending on if you’re coaching in a smaller and inexpensive program versus a higher-end, intensive program.
level 3 - program manager
Instead of answering questions inside the community or working individually with customers, as a program manager, you can oversee the entire student body. This may entail reviewing the student curriculum, managing and writing new materials, or managing the student website.
You’d be making sure that the students are having success inside the program and use any feedback to ensure they are receiving what they want out of it. As a program manager, you can charge between $40-100 an hour.
employee vs independent contractor rates
You may be looking at the hourly rates above and wonder how you could possibly charge that much starting out. But one thing you need to realize is that hiring an independent contractor or freelancer is, many times, a cheaper option and takes away a lot of risk for companies, which makes them willing to pay more per hour than they would for an employ.
Independent contractors tend to charge more than employees’ hourly rates because they need to invest in their own tools to get the job done, whereas an employer will supply an employee with all the tools they need: an office, a desk, a computer, office supplies, or anything else pertinent to the job at hand.
Another factor is taxes. An employer has to pay a portion (typically 50%) of the employee’s taxes, whereas an independent contractor bears the full brunt of the annual taxes so they need to charge more to have a solid net income.
What does this look like?
Essentially, here is the formula for your take home pay when you’re self-employed:
gross revenue
- expenses
--------------------
taxable income
Taxable income
- taxes
----------------------
take home pay.
Independent contractors’ higher hourly rates cover these expenses so that they can incomes that are equivalent to that of an employee in a similar position. It's crucial to have resources that assist you with managing business expenses effectively when they arise, so I'm excited to introduce you to Melio.
Melio is a free tool that I started using last year to pay my team + other business bills. And it's so practically LIFE changing that I've been telling all my business friends about it.
Melio offers a user-friendly platform for online bill payment for your business, with options for no-fee transactions. Plus, Melio seamlessly integrates with QuickBooks, syncing your bills from your accounting software to streamline your bill-paying process.
You can give Melio a try (for free!) at https://go.melio.com/gillian. Let me know what you think! :)
passive income vs online jobs
Now, with these five online job opportunities, you’ll notice they all involve active work. You need to put in the hours to earn the income. This is a great starting point because it’s reliable and you know roughly what you’ll make each month as long as you put in the given amount of hours.
Online courses, on the other hand, include a fair amount of upfront work and typically don’t pay much right out of the gate. But, once you get momentum and get an automated sales funnel working for you, you’ll earn money whether you’re actively working the business or not.
Finding an online job with a higher earning potential can be a great starting point so you have reliable income each month while building out your own digital courses that can create a more passive style of income for the long run.
Interested in learning more about how I teach students to create their own automated sales funnel that sell their online courses?
In my free $100K Funnel Breakdown training, I do a deep dive into the sales funnel processes, and I’ll walk you through the backend of every step of the sales funnel that sells my courses day in and day out. We’ll cover how I get leads, my exact webinar framework, and the keys to sales emails that convert.
Head to https://gillianperkins.com/breakdown to sign up for the free training.
MY $10K/MONTH FUNNEL BREAKDOWN
In this free 4-video training, I'll teach you how to easily scale your course to $100,000+/year with one simple funnel.
I'll take you through my entire funnel so you can see how it automatically turns a lead into a paying customer, break down the Win/Win webinar strategy, walk through our evergreen sales emails, and explain the big-picture strategy and how you can implement this whole system into your business.
