Here's how to earn as much as $2,000 while staying at home

Singaporeans rejoiced when Phase 2 started earlier last week.

While the economy is slowly re-opening, we are advised to remain socially responsible.

For most people, telecommuting remains a norm as we continue our lives with our work-from-home arrangements.

The current economy has shown us how having just one income source (from your day job) is no longer safe.

Ask any personal finance guru how to be financially independent, and there is a good chance two words will follow: Side Hustle.

Personally, side hustles sound a littttttle intimidating to me.

It seems like it’s something that will suck the rest of your resting hours away, when you’re already half-dead from your day job.

But what if there are some you can do WITHOUT leaving your house?

(Well, this is on top of the money you can earn from free mobile apps.)

We’ve narrowed down to a list of interesting side hustles you can start on, without leaving your bed.

TL;DR: Side hustles you can do while staying at home

1) Testing of websites and apps

User experience is gaining traction in the recent years, where organisations are working towards becoming more customer-centric.

UserTesting is a website that lets you earn money by testing websites and apps .

For this, individuals are to perform specific tasks on websites and navigate through certain functions (e.g. buying a specific dress), while providing real-time feedback.

While providing feedback, these reactions and thoughts will be captured as a video.

What you need to do is just to scroll through a website like you normally would.

Tests will be given based on your age and demographics, to ensure that you are the right match to give feedback.

For instance, if it is a testing of a shopping website, you might be asked how frequently you shop, and what type of websites you use for shopping.

Here are some criteria you need to meet to be eligible:

• A computer that runs Windows or macOS
• A reliable internet connection (upload speed of at least 2MBps)
• A microphone, either built-in or external
• Ability to download UserTesting’s screen recorder
• You must be at least 18 years old
• Ability to speak your thoughts aloud in English

Quite easy to achieve, I would say.

Now, how much will you get paid?

UserTesting pays U$10 for each completed test, and takes about 15-20 minutes each.

If invited to a Live Conversation, the payment will be as follows:

• US$30 for 30 minutes
• US$60 for 60 minutes
• US$90 for 90 minutes
• US$120 for 120 minutes

A pretty sweet deal yeah?

Note: Payment will be received via PayPal.

2) Online translation services

Freelancing websites like Upwork and Freelance.sg offer ad-hoc translation jobs, where individuals get paid after completing a translation assignment.

For specialised translation websites, Gengo is one to be explored.

To become a Gengo translator, individuals have to sign up and go through a two-part test for an assessment of skills – a pre-test and a standard test.

Once accepted, there will be list of jobs available, and jobs will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Translators will also have a ‘rating system’ from their translated work, and those with a higher score would have access to more jobs, and higher-paying jobs.

The amount that can be earned varies greatly due to several factors such as the baseline rates in the industry, and also the language translated.

A typical rate for a translation service would be US$0.03 per word if you’re at standard level, and US$0.08 per word if you’re at the pro level.

(The pro level can be taken after mastering the standard level, but the tests are more challenging and stringent.)

A typical assignment could be about 350 words, which translates to US$10.50.

Time to put your language skills to good use.

Note: Payment will be received via PayPal or Payoneer.

3) Selling photos to stock image websites

If you’re someone who likes to take photographs, consider selling your high-quality images to stock image websites!

Sites like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, iStockPhoto, or Getty Images allow contributors to upload their images and get paid whenever their photos are being downloaded.

The sites vary in requirements, so be sure to check out what is needed to qualify.

Contributors always earn a percentage of the price these sites receive for licensing their images.

For instance, Shutterstock pays a range between 15 per cent to 40 per cent of the price received, where the more customers purchase from your image portfolio, the greater the percentage earned from each license.

In general, stock image websites pay about US$0.25-0.50 per photo.

This may not seem like a huge number, but can be a promising side income as it requires only one upload effort, and can be online for users to download.

No worries about copyright issues too.

Websites generally allow copyright to be retained by the contributor, while attaining the rights to license these content to customers.

4) Online tutoring

The tuition industry is HUGE in Singapore.

In fact, according to TODAYonline, it is a $1.4 billion industry as of 2019.

If you’re one that has relevant academic qualifications and would like to offer tuition services in the comfort of your home, this is one option for you.

Dubbed as the ‘Uber’ for tutoring in Asia, Snapask is an online tutoring platform that allows students to ask questions and receive quick responses and answers.

Its headquarters are in Hong Kong, and it expanded to Singapore in 2015.

This website has over 3 million users, with a surge in the recent months due to the Covid-19 situation which left students stuck at home for learning.

Students can simply snap a photo of a question, and tutors can answer directly.

What is great about this is that tutors can talk to up to 10 students at a time, which allows a flexibility which couldn’t be achieved through traditional tutoring.

As for its earnings, Snapask’s founder Timothy Yu mentioned that tutors in Singapore can generally earn about US$1,200 a month for spending one to two hours per day answering questions.

Another source states that tutors receive US$0.51 for every question answered, and can possibly become a “Premium Tutor” and earn a bonus of US$6.43 for every 10 answered questions.

5) Selling cooking recipes online

This one’s for the ones who like to cook, or have become Master Chefs during the circuit breaker period.

If you’ve got a habit of documenting your cooking recipes along with your #instaworthy photos, why not make some money out of it?

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There are a couple of online sites that pay people for their food recipes!

Websites like Cuisine At Home offer US$50 for food recipes or unique kitchen tips.

Another website, EatingWell pays US$1 per word, and articles typically range from 150 to 400 words.

Lastly, a website called Cooking for Engineers also pays for submission of recipes, with typical step-by-step food recipes fetching US$20 per submission, and shorter, simpler recipes paying about U$10.

However, do note that these websites have a couple of guidelines to follow, to ensure ideas remain coherent and value add to their readers.

As such, websites like EatingWell requires a brief pitch before one can score an assignment on the site.

Now, if an individual were to look into these websites listed above, a reasonable amount that can be earned would be:

Testing of Websites: Once a week, earning $13.96

Online Tutoring: 1 to 2 hours a day, earning $1,675

Recipe Submission: One recipe a week, earning $279

Online translation: Once a week, earning $58.60

Adding all these up will give us a total of $2,026.56 per month!

Sounds pretty great as extra income, doesn’t it?

Side hustles you can do while staying at home

The power of the internet has allowed the ability for jobs to be done remotely at home.

If you’re someone with an internet connection and a will to earn more money, we hope that these sites can help you with that.

This article was first published in Seedly.