Guide to Remote Jobs and Businesses — Where to Find Work and How Much You Can Earn

Ever watch House Hunters International, see them working on their laptop, and wonder what job or business they have to be able to live and work abroad? I do! It’s my dream to be able to work from home part-time or work remotely and be able to travel the world! As my husband and I approach retirement age–at least the age we hope to retire–our goal is to have the ability to obtain income from anywhere in the world.

Unless you have a steady income from investments, rentals, etc., you will want to arrange your method of income before heading out to live the nomad life. If you will be teaching in your host country, set up the teaching position ahead of time. If you expect to receive money from online marketing, online courses, blogging, selling online, youtube, etc., you will want to have that well-established before ever leaving home. It can time–as in a couple of years–for you to grow your audience or following. If you will be working remotely or offering your services online, get that going before you leave if possible. It’s important to be sure that income is reliable.

This article contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive compensation. Your price always stays the same, though.

How Much Money Can You Make Working Online?

How much you can make working online varies widely based on your expertise and skills, how well you market yourself and your abilities, how many hours you put in, and the rates that you request.

If you are offering services on a site like Upwork, be sure to compare your skills with others and what they are charging for services. Consider your education, years of experience in that skill, and your location and native language. Start your rates lower than others until you get some really good reviews on the site. Then you can start to raise your prices as your positive reviews rise and you have more completed projects to showcase.

Fiverr – you charge per gig and it can be from $5-$995

Learn Skills to Be Able to Work Remotely

Some of the jobs or freelancing listed below do not require years of schooling or experience to learn. You can learn the skills–sometimes in a matter of days, weeks, or months–to be able to offer your services online.

One place to learn these skills is at Fiverr Learn. They offer online courses in lots of subjects including writing, creating online ads, email marketing, Essential Skills for Online Freelancers, and more. The costs run from $20-$150.

Essential Skills for Online Freelancers is a great course to get you started.

Part-time and Full-time Remote Jobs and Businesses

1. Teach at an International School

So, this is one I have done and how I met my husband! (That’s a story for another day!) In 1990 I taught high school English at the Guatemalan International School. In my mid-twenties, I did have a teaching degree but I didn’t have experience when I went. Most international schools, then and now, require that you have two or three years of experience teaching school, a teaching certificate from the U.S., and a Bachelor’s degree. I didn’t need to know Spanish because I taught at an English-speaking school using an American curriculum and was accredited by U.S. standards. Our school even followed the American school calendar. We were the school that taught the children of diplomats, successful business owners, missionaries, and more. There were some teachers who didn’t have a teaching degree, but their wages were somewhat less. Most capital cities will have an international school similar to this.

A couple of websites that would be helpful are for finding teaching jobs abroad are:

International School Services

Search Associates

Office of Overseas Schools

Teacher Horizons

Edvectus

Hint: If you know what country you would like to work in, you may want to contact the school directly and apply that way. Also, keep in mind that you may get added pay when being hired from outside of the host country. It was that way when I was hired to teach in Guatemala. American teachers hired from outside the country were given a housing allowance and travel expenses, while the locally hired American teachers were not.

How much can you earn Teaching at International Schools

Income for teaching at an International school varies widely based on your experience and education level, the school finances, and the cost of living for the country. According to Teacher Horizons, salaries vary from $32,000 for new teachers to $70,000 for experienced teachers. One country even offers up to $140,000 for experienced teachers, but that is rare.

2. Teach English as a Second or Foreign Language

There are numerous schools that look for English as a Second or Foreign Language teachers in other countries. LINKS  You could also offer English classes on the side. After I taught for a year at the International School in Guatemala, I didn’t return the following year except to substitute teach. On the side, I also tutored students in their homes. Often students whose parents want them in the English school, need some extra help learning English when they first enroll.

Places to teach English outside of the United States:

• Private lessons
• Local Schools or Small College
• Some individuals or groups may pay to have a native English speaker to practice with.
• Business–for Business English, Call Center, etc.
• Online

Places to Teach English online:

The TEFL.org has a great comparison chart of 29 places to teach English as a Foreign Language online. Most require a TESOL/TEFOL certificate, even if you have a teaching degree. Some require a college degree of some sort and some require teaching experience, while others do not.

VIPKid.com was recommended to me by a friend who teaches there. You can earn $14-22 an hour depending on your education and experience. They do provide training for a fee, but then your hourly rate goes up upon completion. This does require a bachelor’s degree or equivalent.

Open English Requires a TEFL/TESOL certificate, 1-3 years teaching experience and that you are a native English speaker. Pay is $10-13 per hour.

iTutorGroup At iTutor you choose which age group you would like to work with: 6-18 years old or 19-65 years old. The site offers conversational English practice for Chinese and some other Asian countries. You must be an English speaker, have a bachelor’s degree or higher, have a TESOL/TEFL/TESL certificate, and 1 year or more of teaching experience. You are required to teach for at least six hours per week. Pay is $18-20 per hour and you are paid monthly via bank transfer.

GoGoKid For GoGoKid you have to be from the USA or Canada, hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, have 2+ years of teaching experience and have an ESL certificate or be willing to get one. Paid by weekly, you earn $14-25 per hour.

italki On the italki platform you host your own classes and set the prices. Tutors don’t have requirements other than being able to speak English. Professional Teachers have requirements like having a college degree in ESL or EFL, a teaching certificate, and TESOL/TEFL certificate. You set the hours for your class. Tutors can charge between $5-80 per class session with a maximum of three classes at once and teachers can charge between $10-80 per class with a maximum of six classes at once. You pay italki 15% of the course price once it is completed. They pay by PayPal, Hyperwallet, Payoneer, and bank transfer upon course completion.

Verbling To teach/tutor on the Verbling website you must have verifiable teaching experience of your subject to students of another language or teaching certificate. Once accepted you create a profile and video explaining your qualifications, experience, and what you have to offer the student. Students look at profiles and request lessons with teachers based on qualifications, ratings, lessons offered, and price. You set the prices for your class and pay Verbling 15% of the price at the conclusion of the lesson. You can be paid up to once per week upon request via PayPal, Wise, Payoneer or Verbling credit.

Places to get a TESOL or TEFL certificate:

Bridge Universe

How much can you earn teaching English online or in person?

Depending on which platform you use to teach English online, you can earn $5-75 per hour. Generally, those with higher degrees in teaching language and those with more experience will earn more than unskilled tutors. In-person you can earn from $5-75 per hour for individuals and more for group classes depending on the community you are planning to serve.

3. Teach a Class Locally

If you have expertise in something, you could offer a class–especially if it is new, different or popular right now. Ideas could be dance, fitness, art, craft, a third language, business skills. Look at community centers, churches, local colleges or schools, adult education schools, large companies, or government centers.

The rate you would charge for teaching locally depends as much on your client base as it does on your skill and education level, as well as your ability to teach. It also depends on if you will be tutoring one-on-one or offering large community classes.

Keep in mind that even if you are living in a country where there is a lot of poverty, there is often a wealthy population who are willing and able to pay U.S. rates for teaching or tutoring.

4. Have a Niche or Travel Blog

It IS possible to make money blogging. If you want to learn how to do this the best way to get started blogging to make money, check out Start a Blogging Business Free 5 Day Course. It’s a great way to get started for free. You will want to sign up for their paid 30 Day course, though. Be sure to use my link to get a discount when you do which can be found on my page, 30-day Blogging Blastoff Course.

Since you’re traveling, why not start a travel blog? Get started with the Free Start a Travel Blog Course or sign up with the Travel Blogging Blastoff Course.

Since you’re traveling, find out how to get part of your travel expenses paid for with this great How to Email Your Way to Comped Travel Webinar.

How much you can earn as a blogger depends on you, your niche, and how you choose to monetize it. You can earn from 0 to millions of dollars. It is estimated that a blog in a good niche with quality content and great SEO can be earning at least $1000 in a year to start, growing as your traffic and content grow.

5. Work Remotely for your Current (or New) Online Job

Maybe this one is obvious, but if you have a job where you work mostly online anyway, check into working remotely or having a mobile or satellite office–meaning you can travel and still work. Some companies who are okay with you working from home, may not want to have you working from another country, so be sure to check it out with the company you work for.

Flex Jobs has lots of jobs remote listed specifically to allow flexibility in your schedule and/or location.

6. Graphic Design

Lots of companies, websites, and even bloggers are looking for graphic designs all the time. Some websites where you can showcase your work and offer your services worldwide are:

Fiverr On Fiverr you create a profile with examples of your work and offer jobs or gigs. You price the gig from $5-$995, depending on your level of skill and experience. People or businesses search for the gigs or skills you offer and request your services, working out the deal directly with you. You will keep 75% of the price of the gig and will be paid by bank transfer when the customer payment clears and the gig is completed.

Creative Market On Creative Market you upload your digital designs and you set the price according to the bundle you are offering. You will earn 60% of the price of the bundles you sell and will be paid monthly through PayPal. One tip is to consistently upload new designs/bundles each month for your products to be found easier by customers.

Upwork On Upwork you create a profile and list your skills and experience and you set your rates per hour or per project based on those. Businesses or people and search for your skillset. and can send you job proposals, which you can accept or decline. You can also search job postings listed by individuals/businesses and request to do those. The hours you work are flexible and based on the projects you commit to. You chose either the basic level which is $.15 per connection or plus for $14.99/month. You will be paid by bank deposit, wire transfer or PayPal when the project is finished/weekly.

7. Photography

Similar to graphic design, you can upload photos that can be purchased by websites developers, businesses, non-profits, –anybody! Companies today offer print-as-you-go services so you can avoid a lot of upfront costs.

A few of the best sites where you can upload and sell your photos are:

Shutterstock On Shuttersock, you upload your photos and people purchase the license to use them. You will earn 15-40% depending on what level you are at. Everyone starts at the lowest level of six, but the more photos you sell, the quicker you move up through the levels and increase your earning percentage. Shutterstock pays royalties monthly via PayPal, Skrill or Payoneer.

Canva You can upload your photos, graphics or short videos on Canva. They are then sold on three teers from $1-10 dollars. You will receive 35% royalty fees monthly via Skrill, Paypal or Payoneer.

iStock Upload photos, videos and illustrations and receive 15% for photos and 20% for videos and illustrations. Payments are made via Payoneer or PayPal.

Alamy Earn 20-40% on the sale price of uploaded photos. You will be paid monthly if your balance reaches $50 or more via Funds Transfer, PayPal or Skrill.

Etsy On Etsy you create a store or profile where you can list your digital or physical products. You set the prices and customers shop on Etsy to find you and then pay Etsy $.20 per listing or listing renewal and 5% of the sale price per product sold. You are paid when you make a sale via bank deposit.

Adobe Stock You can upload your photos (as well as illustrations, vectors, short videos, audio, templates and 3D). You will receive 33% of the sales made. Payments are upon request when your balance reaches at least $25 and you’ll be paid via Payoneer, PayPal or Skrill.

How much can you make selling digital photos online?

You can generally earn between 15-40% of sales for your photos by using online sites like Adobe Stock, Alamy, iStock, Canva or Shutterstock.

Many sites are non-inclusive meaning you could sell the upload the same photos to sell on multiple sites.

8. Write and Publish Your Own Books

Write your own print-on-demand book or ebook. It’s possible to publish your own work these days and Amazon makes it easy to do so.

Kindle Direct Publishing Upload your ebook or completed paperback book directly on KDP in a few minutes.

I found a great tutorial on how to write and publish your own book on this YouTube channel HERE.

Kindlepreneur has free guides on self-publishing books.

How much can you make selling ebooks?

If sold as an ebook or Kindle, you can choose either 35% or 70% royalties depending on if you meet the book/list price requirements, the price you set for your book, etc. How you price your book depends on the size of the book (how many pages), niche, etc. Kindle Direct gives detailed instructions and tutorials for everything you need to publish your ebook on Amazon.

9. Copywriting

You can put your writing skills to work for you with copywriting. Write articles for blogs and websites, ads for social media, product descriptions, and more. You’ll want to have an understanding of SEO. The following websites are a few where you can advertise your skills and samples of your work to be hired as a copywriter.

iWriter Earn up to 65% of the price of the article written based on your writer level. Work hours are flexible and payments are made weekly via PayPal for completed projects.

Flex Jobs – Copywriting

Textbroker Jobs are posted on Textbroker and you choose the writing jobs that you want. If you get direct orders from clients, you can set the price per word yourself and ill get 65% of those direct sales. Hours are flexible and you get paid biweekly at your request when your balance is at least $10.

Hire Writers You earn $20 per article based on your evaluation ratings and writing level. Hours are flexible and you’re paid weekly via PayPal.

Fiverr See “Fiverr” description above on how to make money on their website.

Contentfly Writing and editing jobs are posted on the Contenfly site and you can claim a job. The rates are preset and you will be paid between $.05-$.30 per word. Hours are flexible and payments are made weekly via bank deposit.

How much can you make copywriting?

The rates for copywriting depend on your credentials and experience, the platform you advertise your profile on, your customer ratings, and the type of writing you are doing. You could earn from $10-400 for articles written for websites, for example.

10. Proofreader

If you are detail-oriented and have an excellent grasp of good grammar, spelling, and punctuation, then proofreading could be a great side-gig for you. From books, websites and dissertations, proofreaders are in high demand.

Upwork See “Upwork” above for an explanation of how Upwork works and how to make money there. (Typical rates for proofreaders is $20-60/hour.)

Scribbr After you apply on Scribbr you will need to pass a proofreading test to be approved. You can choose the topics you are interested in editing and Scribbr assigns jobs to you based on that. They offer free training that is mandatory. Working hours are flexible. Pay is 24-30 USD per hour based on a per-word rate.

How much can you make as a proofreader?

How much you make as a proofreader, will generally be from $20-60 per hour depending on your experience, customer ratings, and the type of material you will be proofreading.

11. Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is like an office manager or personal assistant that works online. You can offer services for managing emails, taking calls, billing, maintaining records, schedule management, social media management, vetting potential clients, making travel arrangements, etc. Some virtual assistant positions are listed on job sites like Indeed and Flexjobs. You can list your own skills and rates on the websites like Upwork. Other companies like The VA Hub hire you directly as a virtual assistant and offers services to other clients.

How much can you make as a virtual assistant?

According to Upwork, the average hourly rate of a virtual assistant is $18.89/hour.

12. Sell Online

If you’re staying local and working from home, you could sell physical products which you buy or make and ship them yourself. If you would like a more hands-on approach, then consider selling digital products like printables or dropship products (meaning you sell them but the manufacturer or “middle man” ships them for you. Print-on-demand is another popular and is pretty easy to set up.

Places you can sell your digital, dropship or print-on-demand products are:

1. Amazon FBA

Amazon FBA You can sell your products and books on Amazon and ship them yourself when you sell. If you’d like a more hands-off approach to make your life more flexible to travel and such, then Amazon FBA is a good choice for you. You send your products to them (or if you buy products in large quantities, you can have them shipped directly to Amazon), and then when an item sells, Amazon handles all of the sales details, customer service, and shipping.

2. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is generally done from your own online store. One that is the easiest to use is probably Shopify, but there is a learning curve, for sure. Shopify has a learning center to teach you all of the ins and outs of dropshipping, setting up your website, and choosing products for your store. Expect to spend money on ads to get sales. Once a product sells from your store, the manufacturer or middle-man will ship the product for you. All of the customer service is up to you, though.

3. Print-on-Demand

Print-on-Demand with Printify or Printful. Both have easy-to-use sites and instructions on how to sell your products online.

4. Etsy

Etsy See “Etsy” above for how to sell digital products on Etsy.

5. Ebay

eBay To sell Digital products on eBay must be approved. However, you can still list your digital products on eBay before you are approved by listing them as a classified ad. Classified ads cost $9.95/month. You set the price of your products and are paid by the customer at the point of sale. Payments are now made to you from ebay when the customer pays via bank deposit.

How much can you make selling digital physical products online.

How much you earn selling products online is dependent on the popularity of the items you sell, how well you market your online store, the selling platform you choose, if you have a good profit margin, and how many items you sell. You can earn hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

13. YouTube

Many people are creating income with YouTube channels.
To monetize you can add affiliate links to your description, create digital products or courses to sell, and, once you have the traffic, you can get paid ads on your site and possibly sponsored videos. The most hands-off way to make money on your youtube channel is with ads, but the most lucrative is arguably online courses.

I’ve learned a lot about making money on YouTube from these free YouTube channels:

Channel Makers

Gillian Perkins

How much can you make with a YouTube channel?

Once you’ve established your channel to at least 1000 subscribers, you can Google ads on your channel. The general amount you make on ads is $3-5 per 1000 views on a particular video. Of course, you can also monetize with affiliate programs that you link to in the description or use it to link to other things you’re selling like an online course or digital products which will greatly increase your revenue potential.

14. Offer Online Courses

If you have an area of proficiency that you could teach with an online course, you have the potential of making decent money with it depending on your topic. You can potentially make much more money using a self-hosted platform for your course, but you will need to find your students yourself. This can be achieved through ads, social media, blogs, video channels, etc. Some popular and easy to use self-hosting course platforms are:

Teachable You upload your course materials in the medium you choose–video, text, worksheets,etc. You price the course yourself and you pay Teachable from $29-249/month depending on your plan (billed annually). Your payments come directly to you from the students.

Thinkific Course materials are uploaded in the medium of your choice. You set the price of the course and pay Thinkific $39-399 per month depending on your plan.

Teachery On Teachery you upload your course materials and set your own prices. You pay Teachery $49/month or $470 per year for hosting.

Or you can join an online course program that pays you according to the views you get. The most popular are:

Udemy Once you have uploaded your course and description, students can find your course and sign up at any time. Average instructors earn up to $30 per course, but others earn up to $2000. You receive a percentage of the revenue shares (97% from self-promoted sales and 375 from Udemy sales).

Skillshare You publish your video course on Skillshare and students members can watch any course that they would like. You are paid a percentage according the number of hours your courses are viewed compared to the total hours viewed on Skillshare that month plus $10 per student you bring to the site. You are paid monthly via PayPal.

How much can you earn teaching a course online?

How much you earn varies by which platform you use, the popularity of your subject, how you advertise, the price of your course, if you already have an online following, etc. It is possible to make up from $1 to $50,000 per month with online courses (source).

15. Work as a Bookkeeper Online

Bookkeeping programs today are primarily digital. Clients scan in receipts, programs are online, checks are deposited digitally, etc. So you can definitely work remotely as a bookkeeper. Online bookkeeping jobs are listed on ZipRecruiter. One place where you can post your services is Upwork

How much can you make as an online Bookkeeper?

According to ZipRecruiter, the national average in the U.S. for a remote bookkeeper is $58,000 per year. On Fiverr and Upwork, you can offer various bookkeeping services earning you from $10-100 per gig or $20-70 per hour.

16. Online Data Entry Specialist

Data entry is a much-needed yet easily learned skill. You will need to be familiar with Microsoft Word and Excel or Google Docs and Sheets, minimally. Sometimes a company will want you to enter data into Quickbooks or another accounting program, too.

Fiverr: See “Fiverr” above for more information on how to earn money on Fiverr.

Upwork See “Upwork” above for more information on how to earn money on Upwork. (Data entry specialists generally make $10-20/hour on Upwork.)

How much can you make doing data entry online?

A person can generally make $10-25 per hour doing data entry online with companies like Fiverr and Upwork.

15. Work or Volunteer for a Non-Profit Organization

If you don’t have any debt or any large monetary requirements, you sometimes can find a position with a non-profit organization. They may offer you living accommodations and either food or a small stipend for food and some may offer money for travel.

Some organizations who are recruiting global volunteers are:

United Planet

Relief Web

United Nations Jobs

Global Volunteers

Endless Possiblilities of Online Freelance Opportunities

What I have listed here is just a small portion of ideas for online business, freelancing, or jobs. Upwork has a huge list of online freelance jobs companies are looking for and Fiverr states that they have 200 possibilities of skills and services to offer on their site. Reading through this list, you may find something you could do that you hadn’t thought of before. You may have the skills already or you might consider learning the skill to be able to offer it.

Check out my other articles on Side-hustles and How to Make Money Online:

How to Make Money for Retirement Income

Ways to Make Money Online