In addition, many private employees have gone through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic lockdown with half, cut or even no pay. It makes sense to have a backup source of income more than ever before.

Even if the growing costs of living weren’t a factor, having a secondary source of income is always a good idea. Earning money on the side, whether for meeting financial needs or as a hobby makes sense.

Let’s explore things that you can do on the side to increase your income.

1.  Call Center, Web Site Support

Pakistan falls among the cheapest English speaking population in the world. Many businesses from the US, UK, Australia, and Canada look for low cost but fluent English speakers for call centre, customer service and website chat support jobs. If you have a good accent, and typing speed you can work part-time and opt for work from home options. You need to have a strong English speaking and typing speed for such jobs.

Many such jobs are available on freelancing platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer. However, getting a project is a matter of consistency and patience. There are many fraudsters also looking to get work done for free so make sure that you use your common sense in dealing with people on any platform.

2.   Start a Blog, vLOG, or Instachannel

Assess yourself and your hobbies, do you enjoy gardening? Or do you love animals? Can you give 1 or 2 hours of your day daily willingly to this hobby? Based on the answers to these questions, you can decide to write (blog), record or photograph your activities to make a blog, vlog or Instagram or YouTube channel about your hobby. Many people start blogging about fashion, makeup, technology, cars, cooking, celebrities, entertainment, and gossip. Many others write about other channels and media accounts. The key is to have good quality and not to copy other channels. Originality is always welcome.

You must make sure that you have enough material to write or speak about for at least six months. And if you want to write, make sure that you are comfortable writing about whatever you decide to write about.

Once you have a certain level of visitors, usually over 1000 visits a day, you can have ads placed on your account. This is usually done through Adsense or Info link.

3.   Data Entry

Data entry is a skill that is in the most demand on most freelancing platforms. Data entry is all about typing. You need to have basic level English and good typing speed to get the job done. However, usual data entry projects need a lot of time. It is better to pick up one-off small projects from freelancing platforms like Freelancer, Fiverr and Upwork.

Again, all freelancing platforms require effort to bid for projects and it takes time to build up a client base.

4.   Reselling Products

One new side business that has grown with the growth of online shopping is that of reselling goods. Many people are going for reselling clothes, perfumes, cosmetics, mobile accessories, kitchen and household items and even small electronics. It usually involves designing a Facebook or Instagram page. Many resellers build a WhatsApp group for broadcasting live sessions to their regular clientele. The main requirement is to build up a client base and sell whatever items you can earn a profit off.

This is a fairly easy market to get into and is also competitive as many people are

5.   Referral Marketing

For those with a strong social network, you can utilize your contacts to refer them to businesses. This is similar to what bloggers and social media influencers do through their channels.

6.   Photos and Digital Artwork

There is a steady stream of demand for unusual images of everyday objects. Similarly, digital art is something that is taking off in a big way and if you have an aptitude for digital art, you can earn a good income by picking up projects through local advertisement and media agencies as well as through freelancing platforms.

7.   Arts and crafts

If you have a unique skill, like making wooden items, jewellery, knitting and crochet, or painting, you can make things in your free time and sell them online via OLX, Facebook or Instagram.

8.   Part-Time Accountant, Bookkeeper and Office Assistant

Many small businesses are willing to hire people to manage their accounts, do basic bookkeeping or manage their office schedules if it will save them money. These are all activities that can be done remotely. Since our time zones are different, you can easily pick up a job that requires 1-2 hours of work from you at night or over the weekends. One person I knew used to do this work during their lunch break at work.

In the case of accounting, you need to be familiar with Google Suite, QuickBooks and Cloud services.  Many agencies are available online that are looking for bookkeepers and virtual assistants to source jobs to.

9.   Online Tutoring

Tutoring students, whether physically or remotely is a great option, particularly for people good in tough subjects like maths, physics, accounting, and finance. Many agencies are available that source skilled tutors for foreign students.

Similarly, many people look for online support for life coaching in key issues like positivity, fitness, weight loss, and public speaking. These are all fields in which both physical and real-time support can be offered to earn a decent income.

10.   Social Media Management

Like the items listed here are mainly based on using social media, many businesses also need to hire someone to help manage their social media presence. This is a very diverse field. Some businesses need someone to design posts and caption pictures for their social media accounts. Others require more advanced promotional campaign designs and posts on various forums. Some also just need someone to handle customer queries and book orders for them. This is something that can be managed after some trial and error.

These job options need to be approached with some research and caution. All can generate a substantial income on the side for you and can become an alternate career if you want to take it as a full-time career.

However, like all things, side income streams need time and effort to give results. Many scammers and frauds are operating, both in Pakistan and on online forums and platforms.

Many scamming sites look to get information from you to use for malicious purposes that pose as reliable clients and businesses paying high salaries. Work hard, but don’t be so eager to get work that you skip doing your background research into the site, business that you are in contact with. Look for site reviews, google the client’s name or the company he/she represents. A very useful resource in background checks is LinkedIn. You can always see if the person you are talking to is actually working for the company they claim to represent.

Seasoned recruiters working online are aware of the scams that freelancers face and genuine recruiters or clients are willing to accommodate freelancers’ conditions when starting work. Never hand a project over without partial or advance payment. Make sure to finalize payment terms as well as payment gateways if getting clients from some website and not through freelancing platforms. Some clients do not have flexibility in payment gateways and the payment terms should be clear before you work on their project.

Freelancing platforms take a percentage of your earnings, and many clients fool new freelancers by finalizing work terms off the platform to “save” commission charges. This is a huge red flag. Never agree to work off-platform without advance or full payment. Almost all freelancers and remote workers have a horror story to share of scams and losses they faced due to lack of research and moving off-platform.

Sadia Zaheer

Sadia Zaheer holds a Masters in Business Administration from IBA, Karachi. After working in several financial institutions in Client Management, Corporate Lending, Islamic Banking and Product Management she jumped careers to pursue a career in writing.
She is a Finance, Business and HR Development writer with four years of experience. She reads a lot and takes care of her multiple cats to remain calm.

The post 10 ways to increase your income in Pakistan while working full time appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

Freelancing is something that can help people of all ages, gender and with any kind of restrictions to make money online. No matter if you are a full-time job holder, a student, a mother of the toddler, or a lady who can not go out and do a regular job, freelancing is an idea that can help you all.

Also read: How to Live a Penny Pincher Life and Save Huge Money?

Online earning is something that anyone can do, but it is not as easy to deal with as it seems. With some basic skills and knowledge about how the technology works in this century,  you can make money while staying at your home or working part-time, with your job.

Below are discussed some of the most appreciated ideas that can help you make money online in Pakistan, even if you have limited knowledge or have restrictions of any kind.

Affiliate Marketing:

By affiliate marketing we mean a practice where a business share financial profit with the one who brings new customers or helps in making a sale through their own marketing strategies.

Earning money from affiliate marketing in Pakistan is growing rapidly. It is one of the simplest methods to make money online. All you need to do is to create your account in the affiliate website and promote the products they are offering.

In affiliate marketing the business owner can give you a commission on per click; per sale; or per visitor that you bring to their business website.

Also read: 5 Mistakes Pakistanis Make that Result in Financial Hardship

If during the promotion, any person buys the product by using your affiliate link, you will get a commission on that specific sale. With this simple process and by using the account you can earn an unlimited amount of money. Facebook is also getting popularity for promoting product links in relevant Facebook groups to make a good amount of money.

Thus to earn money from affiliate marketing, all that you need to do is to choose one business or product, go to social networking platforms, grab the attention of the audience and make them come to the targeted URL where you can sell them the product/service you are doing marketing for. With each sale or visitors, you will have a pre-decided amount of money in your pocket.

Make Your YouTube Channel:

You have landed on this page because you are looking for possibilities to make money online. Which means that you surely own a smartphone and with it, you will surely have the knowledge about YouTube. You might have visited it a number of times over the week to watch videos, movies or songs etc.

But do you have an idea that among the cluster of apps that you have in your smartphone, a default app as that of YouTube can earn you money?

All that you need to do is to make your own YouTube channel. Top YouTubers are making millions of dollars on yearly basis.

Also read: 5 Financial Skills You Must Teach Your Kids for a Prosperous Life

You do not need to have millions of followers or subscribers to make you money from YouTube. Try some valuable ideas as that of DIY tips, how-to, recipes or quick tips, unboxing of gadgets, product reviews, music videos, travel and food reviews, or even some comedy skits and pranks to make people laugh and stay involved in you.

The process of making money from YouTube is simple; you need to follow the following steps:

• • Make your own YouTube Channel where you will make your live videos.

• • Start making videos and upload them constantly. Make sure you are specific while describing the content in your video.

• • It is also important to make sure that your content is of high quality and highly entertaining. There is no need to have an expensive fancy camera, a simple yet latest smartphone would be enough.

• • Just like any other person in this generation, you will surely have a social account on FaceBook or Instagram, spread the word.

• • Share your channel and ask your peer to follow you on YouTube.

• • You can also share the video on social channels directly from your YouTube channel.

• • It is also important to keep responding to the comments from the viewers. Keep them interacting with you it will help you create your fan base and will help you have more audience on your channel.  Main focus must be to attract and keep the viewers.

• • Once you are done with such things, the next step to consider is to monetize your undertaking by allowing the YouTube to include ads in the videos you are sharing. Every time a viewer will click on the ad, you will share the fee with the Google.

• Thus the rule to make money from YouTube is simple. The more viewers you will have the more revenue you will make.

Online Tutoring:

Online tutoring can be a source of making money online, specifically if you are looking to make some extra amount of money, working for a few hours after your full-time job.

There are different websites like Udemy that offer services of online teaching to the students from different parts of the world. If you are good in Urdu you can give online lectures to students who are living in far areas (abroad) and are willing to learn to read and write Urdu.

Also read: 5 Excellent Mobile Apps To Start Tracking Your Finances Today

At the same time, you can give Quran Lectures online. There are a number of websites that are offering services of learning Quran online. You can join such platforms and teach Quran to kids and people of all ages.

In some cases, for online tutoring, you do not need to have formal degrees or certificate. Former teachers and college students can also become tutors online. Likewise are the possibilities for industry experts who have time and wish to teach in their spare time.  

Freelancing:

It would not be wrong to say that freelancing is a whole new world of opportunities. Any person from any field or any skill can become a freelancer and earn money as much as he or she wants to. You can find freelance projects as; developer; designer; virtual assistant; data entry operator and many other such skills.

To start working as a freelancer, you need to have an email id that is registered with any of the freelancing platforms like Upwork. You are supposed to register to such websites with a specific set of skills. Once you are already there, you can find a lot of open projects offered by employers who are looking for freelancing talent. You can search and bid on offering your services to any specific employer or project you are will to work on. Place your bid; get the project; complete the assigned task; submit work done and get paid.

Also read: How to Save Money for Your Next Big Family Vacation Trip?

The secret of success in freelancing is rating; the better rating you will have on your profile the more chances you will have to make money through freelancing. Your freelancing profile rating is based on the quality of work and professional attitude that you have carried in your previous project. By the end of each project, the employer can leave a remark about your services and these remarks will be shown as a rating on your profile. The new hiring person will then look at your profile to know what level of and skills you have.

And for a better rating, you need professional skills and abilities to deliver the best. There are a number of authentic platforms that offer freelancing opportunities for content writing, interior designing, software designing, software development, data entry, and other such skills.

You can sign up on different platforms and start bidding on the open opportunities that suit your skill set. Working with such a platform not only secures your money but will also give you unending opportunities to make money online. Some of the most known and used platforms for freelancing are, Upwork, Fiverr, PeoplePerHour, Freelancer and Outsourcely etc.

Blogging:

Blogging can help you make a lot of money. However, you need the skills to deal with this mode of making money online.  You will also need to be patient and consistent in your efforts if you are willing to make your own blog and earn financial benefits from it.

Blogging is thriving if you are able to offer valuable content regularly. With the sheer focus on the type of content or information you share on your blog, you can grab the attention of like-minded people. Once the readers are able to find what they are looking for, they will come to your site time and again and make a purchase.

These readers or visitors can also be urged to buy products offered through affiliate marketing and affiliate links mentioned in the posts. The reason is that you have been offering useful and quality content and it’s offered for free. Moreover, the readers trust you for the offered information or services!

Also read: How to Prepare Yourself Against Uncertainties in Life?

You can also focus on the outlook of the site and keeping it updated with the latest information and you can end up having a higher ranking in Google. Make sure you are specific in sharing the information or material on your website.

Thus, if you are the one who is not able to find a well-paying job, there are a number of opportunities that can earn you a really handsome amount of money while staying at your home. Almost every field or skill offer opportunities to earn money online.  

If you are willing to make money through blog you need to follow the following steps in general;

• • Decide a business or market sector you are willing to talk about

• • Make a website of your own where you can share your unique ideas and content in form of images or text

• • Start posting high quality and unique content on your blog/website

• • You can share images, blogs/articles, or video content that must be  engaging and entertaining

• • Share your posted content on different social media platforms to grab attention from people and generate their interest in your blog

• Keep them entertained by posting regularly and interacting with the visitors

Once you have a considerable amount of visitors on your website, you can make money from it in a number of ways including;

• • Affiliate marketing

• • Google Adsense

• • Allowing other business to post their advertisement on your website  

• • If your blog is offering any kind of lectures or technical programmes, you can charge them for each lecture and make some money for you

• You can also charge business for promoting their products or services by addressing them in your content

These are some of the many ways you can make money online and can earn you a considerable amount of revenue while staying at your home.  Making money is not a tough thing to deal with, the world is not full of opportunities and you can make as much money as you want.

Selling Your Own Homemade Products Online:

Skills are not the only thing that can help you make money online. You can also sell products online and make money out of it while staying at home. Make your own virtual store.  If you have a budget, make the website to showcase all your products. If not, you can simply make a page on Facebook that will be free of cost and upload your products there. Share your page/products/profile, get orders, deliver customer for what they have demanded, and get rich earn while staying at home.

Also read: How to Manage your Expenses when you get Unemployed in Pakistan

You can make money online by selling homemade products like handmade jewellery, clothes, or by selling products online by using a simple and easy to deal with a Facebook page.  You can add products easily by using your cell phone based application and share the posted products to different groups or pages. You can also make an Instagram profile simply and sell your products there.

The rule remains the same as that of YouTube, the more friends or followers you will have the more you will have chances to make money through these profiles.

Khurram Zahid

The post 5 Absolute Legitimate Ways to Earn Money Online in Pakistan appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.