Several years ago, if the subject of work came up among your friends and you said that you worked remotely, it would have been considered unusual.
However, after a nightmarish couple of years, the world has had circa 2019, remote and hybrid working has become the new norm; however, South Africa doesn’t seem to have caught onto the hype yet.
According to a recent survey, 97% of South African working professionals stated that they wanted more flexibility in their profession, with many others saying that it was time that the country started to cash in on the remote working craze.
Yet, if you’ve never been presented with the option to work from home, you might wonder how to do so.
Fortunately, there are hundreds of remote or hybrid work opportunities, whether you love your job but want to make a little money on the side or would like a complete career change.
From using free spins from online casinos to earn winnings to getting paid to write reviews of your favourite films, albums, and TV shows, we outline some of the best work-from-home jobs you should consider giving a go in the New Year below:
Write Reviews
Whether you’re looking to purchase a new coffee machine from Amazon or trying to find a film to take your loved ones to watch at the cinema, online reviews aid your decision.
Regardless if it’s a product or service, every consumer wants to know others’ opinions of something before they spend their hard-earned money on it; however, when it comes to leaving a review themselves, nobody wants to do it.
However, believe it or not, for keen review-givers, there are ways to earn a living from the comfort of your own home by writing reviews of various products, films, TV releases, and much more.
Although word-of-mouth is the most trusted form of marketing, 86% of consumers trust it; companies know that positive written reviews make their products or services more desirable, so most are willing to pay people to leave reviews for them.
Alternatively, you can sign up for several sites that pay you to leave reviews, like CrowdTap, GetReviewed, Ciao, ListVerse, and many more.
Depending on which site you sign up for, they may ask you to take a survey about a brand and then devise a review based on the results, or your task might be to leave reviews on other sites.
Apart from the flexibility of working from home, writing reviews for money offers many other benefits, from giving back to your community, accessing exclusive review content free of charge, helping determine what you do and don’t look for in products or services, and much more.
As you can see, becoming a work-from-home online reviewer isn’t just a way of making quick money, but it can also be an enjoyable professional so long as you conduct research and ensure it’s worthwhile.
Join The Online Gaming Community
If you consider gaming one of your biggest passions, rest assured that you’re not alone, with an estimated twenty-four million gamers in South Africa alone.
As one of the most significant leaders in the video game market, it’s only sensical that the community has a wide range of job opportunities both in-office and out.
Fortunately, there are many ways that gaming enthusiasts can monetise their video game habit, from coaching people how to play specific games, joining gaming tournaments, starting a YouTube channel, writing game-related reviews, becoming a live streamer using platforms like Twitch and even getting paid directly to play online games.
Due to the video gaming market being so vast, those in the online gaming community have the benefit of being able to choose from a variety of games to play or review for money, from first-person shooters, role-playing games, simulation games, strategy games, puzzle games, and many more.
One of the most popular ways to earn money from home through gaming is by playing online casino games, yet it is wise to remember that it is not a reliable source of income like some of the other professions on this list.
Of course, many virtual casinos offer bonuses and promotions to boost profitability, like free spins, no-deposit bonuses, welcome bonuses, and much more. However, this doesn’t make it any less risky.
To be successful at online gambling, you must be knowledgeable about the games you’re playing, how you play them, your budget, the ability to accept a loss and the sites you use to play.
Mitigate some of these risks by limiting your play to reputable online casinos like Jackpot, which offer generous promotions like free spins, jackpot happy hours, welcome packages, and much more, in a safe online environment.
Customer Service Representative
If playing video slots with your free spins doesn’t sound like the right work-from-home opportunity, another profession you could consider applying for is customer service.
If you need a reason to apply, think back to the last time that you encountered a terrible customer experience, whether online or in person, from a restaurant, online marketplace, or utility company and think about what you would have done differently if you were in the customer service representative shoes.
As a customer service representative, you get the chance to make these differences and improve the bad service experience South Africa is becoming renowned for.
No matter which industry a business serves, if it deals with delivering products or services, it will require a team of customer service representatives to handle customer queries, complaints, praise, and much more.
Since many South African companies fall under this umbrella, jobs in customer service are readily available both in-office and out.
Depending on the company you represent, a customer service representative role may involve referring people to the relevant department, answering customer queries, troubleshooting problems with products, dealing with complaints and much more.
As well as the ability to work from home, being a customer service representative offers a variety of benefits for those who go into the profession, from making a difference in your community, no prior experience needed for applicants, learning how to solve problems, improving transferable skills, and much more.
Plus, most companies offer their representatives flexible working hours, benefiting applicants with small children.
Virtual Assistant
If cashing in on free spins or dealing with the public isn’t your forte, you could consider focusing on one person and becoming a virtual assistant.
Many entrepreneurs and managers need help organising their professional lives or need someone to tackle some of the time-consuming daily tasks they experience during a workday.
Fortunately, if this sounds like something you’re capable of, that is precisely what the role of a virtual assistant entails.
From scheduling appointments, organising emails, making telephone calls, arranging travel and much more, the working day of a virtual assistant is never dull since you can find a new task on your desk each day.
To be successful as a virtual assistant, you need to be organised, polite, able to work under pressure, have excellent communication skills, and much more.
Providing that you have these skills, being a virtual assistant can be a lucrative work-from-home job opportunity, giving applicants flexibility in their work hours and working environment!