These days, it seems like many people are making a living working online. While there used to be a kind of stigma to working from home, now more companies are fully remote, some based in San Francisco and others in Barcelona. There are ecommerce gurus making money from managing drop ship packages and Instagram influencers profiting from the products they advertise on the pictures they post. And you’ve been thinking that you’d like to be part of all that. Whether you’re working at home because you want more time with your kids, or you want to travel the world while working from a beach in Bali, you’ve decided you want to work with a remote business.
Get the right experience
If you want to work remotely, you need to get remote work to show that you can work on your own. Especially if most of your career has been working in an office, with your supervisors checking in with you every few hours, how are you going to show that you can be disciplined enough to work on your own? You might be asking yourself, “Yeah, okay, but how do I get the remote experience in the first place if I need it to get it?”
It’s all about finding creative solutions to this problem. One is working at your current job remotely. Talk to your boss, and see if you can work from home once a week. If they’re a bit hesitant to stay yes, remind them what this study from Switzerland-based serviced office provider Zug says:
“70 percent of professionals work remotely — a phenomenon known as telecommuting — at least one day a week, while 53 percent work remotely for at least half of the week…The ability to work from home and the emergence of digital office rental services has led to changing attitudes around where people should work and whether they should stick to the traditional nine-to-five working hours.”
If your boss still says no, see if there are volunteer opportunities to work remotely for organizations you admire. Whether you want to become a content writer or web designer, these opportunities abound. You can also contact startups on Angel.co; many startups hire remotely, and because they’re just starting out, are likely to accept free work in exchange for you listing them as someone you worked for. If you’re desperate to make some money now, you can always use a gig service like Upwork, too.
Study up with certifications
Once you’ve got some experience, you need certifications to demonstrate that you know what you’re doing in addition to being good at it. For example, if you want to become a content writer, it’s smart to get certified in subjects such as SEO, marketing, and emailing with MailChimp. If you’re working in web design, master all the right programming languages. Luckily, there are lots of ways to get certified online without having to pay. If you aren’t sure where to get started, see what certifications successful remote workers in your field have. If you reach out to them, they might even have some advice on what courses are best for you.
Considering that more than 90 percent of millennials, Gen Xers, and baby boomers have worked remotely, you need what you can to stand out from the crowd. Being dedicated enough to get experience and certifications in your field will show that you’re committed to working in a remote business.
Show off with a strong online presence
Once you’ve got some experience in remote work and have studied the right certifications, you need somewhere to show them off. So set up a personal website, where you can provide a portfolio and a résumé with your work so far. If you aren’t sure where to start, see what other people in your industry are doing. Additionally, beef up your LinkedIn profile; many remote companies that are hiring ask for a link, and it might be the first thing they look at, even before your portfolio.
Considering that 90 percent of Americans reported using a technology device within one hour of bedtime, you need to make sure your site is both laptop and mobile-friendly. Additionally, be active on social media, and start connecting with potential clients there. Research where they spend most of their time and post often that social media platform.
Cold emailing isn’t a bad idea, either. If there are companies you’re dying to work for, get in touch with them once you’ve set up your website.
These are some of the best ways to get a job with a remote business and start your remote career. Why have you decided to go remote?
Thanks for the great advice.