At market, lots of people want to know “Is this what you do for a living?” Ideally, we’d answer, “Yes, the farm supplies us with all of the income that we need to be financially sound.” Unfortunately, this is not the case, nor is it our goal at this point in our operation. Because of my personality, I don’t love the idea of farming full time as my main source of income. It just doesn’t have enough social interaction on a day-to-day basis. For Jake, though, this is an exciting potential reality.
Enough talking about what could be. “Where are we now?” You might ask. I currently work two online jobs to supplement our farm income. Jake works for a nearby lumber yard and as an independent handyman. This article, though, is about how to make income with just steady Wi-Fi connection and some discipline. It also requires, in my case, speaking English as your native language.
The platforms: VIPKID and Cambly
My first online job is with VIPKID. This is an online, ESL platform (English as a Second Language). With VIPKID, I am an English tutor to elementary and middle school aged children in China. Crazy, right? Yes, I teach English to children half way across the world from my rural Iowa farm. Because we live in Central time zone, I teach from about 5:00am to 9:00am every morning. After daylight savings hits in the fall, I teach from 4:00am to 8:00am. I start and end my days earlier than the average person. I am “that person” who excuses herself politely from dinner at a friend or family’s house to try to get seven or eight hours of sleep the night before teaching. The job requires a lot of energy, especially with students with zero English level. While the hours may be challenging, the job is fun, pays well and lets me connect with people from another culture on a daily basis.
My second and newest online job is called Cambly. Like VIPKID, this is an English tutor position that is done entirely online. Cambly allows you to tutor students from all over the world from your home. Unlike VIPKID, Cambly does not have an academic curriculum for you to follow. Instead, you simply have chats with students about whatever is interesting or important to them at the time. That said, they do offer a library with some teaching material for students. Both platforms allow you to work as an independent contractor, meaning you aren’t exactly an employee of the companies, but rather you use them as a launching pad for your personal, online educator journey.
While there are downfalls of working online, today I’d like to highlight why working online from home is pretty awesome.
- First of all, I work in my pajamas. VIPKID used to require that you wear an orange t-shirt to class, so I continue to do this. On bottom, you can find me in sweats, pajama pants or comfortable shorts and slippers. Cambly asks that you dress appropriately and look as professional as you would like to display yourself to your clients.
- Both platforms allow me to create my own schedule. Odd hours aside, adjusting my schedule for family visits, farm events or much-needed, last minute vacations make these jobs very flexible.
- VIPKID and Cambly do not require a whole lot of background experience as educators. Though I have worked with kids my entire career, I have never been licensed as any teacher, much less an ESL teacher. Through VIPKID, I have earned a TESOL, or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, certification.
Growing up in suburbia, I never expected myself to work remotely from my computer in the middle of nowhere, much less as an English teacher. Truth be told, I would probably be making money in other ways if I lived in a more urban area, finding part-time jobs to supplement the farm income at a coffee shop or restaurant. If farming has taught me anything, it’s to be grateful for what you have and follow the motto to “Work with what you got.” Well, I “got” decent Wi-Fi, some free time in the early morning and the desire to be in charge of my income without having to commute 45 minutes to the nearest big towns. I’ll take these as a win.
Do you live in a rural area (or anywhere, really) and want to work online?
You can sign up for either of these programs by following my referral links for VIPKID or Cambly. Yes, I do get a cut for referrals, I won’t hide that. But, my ultimate goal is to empower others in tight financial situations to make money from the internet, as this isn’t something that has always been available. Also, once you sign up and begin teaching, you too will have your own referral links to share with the world!*
*Comment below if you’d like to know more about either of these online teaching platforms. I am interested in writing more posts about the requirements for each program, the downfalls of working remotely and advice for working as an independent contractor. Good luck, and I’m here to serve as your mentor through this process should you be interested.
What if I don’t want to teach English?
Being a teacher can be exhausting, and it definitely isn’t for everyone. The last online platform that I will suggest is Upwork. I was hesitant to post about Upwork, because I never really got into it or had great success with this platform, though that isn’t to say that this would be the case for everyone. In fact, I know quite a few freelancers who make most of their income from this site. This platform, like the others listed above, also has you sign up as an independent contractor.
Unlike the other platforms, though, there is no hiring process. You design your profile, wait for approval and try to find work. You can specialize in a variety of fields, like graphic design, web development or writing. When I got the idea to give it a try, I attempted to market myself as a Spanish to English translator. Basically, if you have any skills that can be done remotely, then Upwork could be for you!
Upwork allows you to send proposals to jobs that might interest you. In other words, you “apply” for jobs that you might want by sending proposals and waiting to see if someone chooses you for the job. In my experience, this meant sending lots of proposals and never hearing much back. I would sometimes get invited to apply for jobs, which helped to narrow my focus. I ended up working two jobs on Upwork before I switched gears to online English teaching, which I prefer for the time being.*
*I sent proposals daily for about two weeks before switching to going full-time with VIPKID. I have heard that getting your first few gigs on Upwork are the hardest. Once you have reliability and some reviews, you are more likely to find more jobs. Also, it definitely helps to have notable experience in the field that you are applying to. For example, if you are a blog writer, showcasing your blog on your profile makes you a qualified freelancer for hire. In my case, I didn’t have any official translated documents at my disposal, given that most of my work had been done through other employers.
Let’s wrap this up…
You can make money from pretty much anywhere these days. The above jobs are great options for people who are between jobs, off on summer vacation, trying to start a business or looking for side cash while paying off student debt or traveling. Though it’s not the most “secure” or profitable way to earn a living, it can work for you if you’re willing to give it a try. This solidifies the idea that the Internet has taken over, but it probably isn’t going anywhere. In that case, I’ll go ahead and continue “Working with what I got,” and I hope that if you are into this, that you will take advantage of this opportunity, too.