Work Remotely Without Experience: How to Start a Remote Career
So you want to work remotely but have no idea where to start...
Maybe you've thought of freelancing, finding a remote job, or starting a location-independent business, but you don't know what is the best option for you.
Stay tuned, I'll walk you through the three options so you can learn which one is the best move for you:
Start freelancing with no experience
The first place many people start when pursuing a remote career is freelancing. Why is that? Well, freelancing allows you to offer a skill or a service on a project basis. It's a very low barrier to entry. It's flexible. It also allows you to use the experience that you already have to complete gigs and tasks for other people. You may have multiple projects or clients that you work with simultaneously, but unlike being a remote employee, you're actually self-employed.
That means you have to take care of all of your own taxes. The benefits that you give yourself and the money that you make are purely up to you in your efforts. So think about the skills that you currently have. Think about the tasks that you can do remotely. Think about the processes that you can make easier for a business owner and reach out to somebody that you know, that you may be able to help in that area. Don't be afraid to do some free work at the start.
You can also add your profile to freelancing platforms like Up Work or Fiverr. Just keep in mind that these sites are highly, highly competitive and oftentimes people compete pretty much solely on price. So that's why it's great to start out as a potential side hustle with people that are already in your network.
Find entry-level remote jobs you can do from home
Now let's talk about my sweet spot, remote jobs. As the remote job coach, I've helped hundreds of people in their journey to find remote employment with companies that will allow them the flexibility and freedom to work wherever they want. It's an incredible option because it allows you to use the skills that you have to contribute to something bigger than yourself, as well as that it gives you freedom and flexibility, but you have less risk and more stability.
Many companies right now are looking for people that have hard and soft skills that would make them great remote employees. With all the different companies that are now normalizing remote work because of the pandemic, we're even seeing Fortune 100 global companies change their entire work policies to fit the future of work, which they know is going to be remote or at least hybrid, where people have a choice of coming into an office or working from home. It's incredibly exciting!
But one thing to remember, most remote jobs, about 96 percent of them do have some type of restriction. This could be regional time zone nationality, a number of things. That's because the company's hiring for remote positions have some sort of tax or legal obstacle that does not allow them to hire in certain places. So my first recommendation is to understand all the variables that are at play for you. Where are you legally allowed to work? What is your ideal remote lifestyle and what would you be able to do remotely?
There are so many different remote roles now that being niche or having a technical skill really helps in your process of standing out and being unique. Then start looking at different companies that hire remotely in the way that you qualify. For instance, if you're wanting to work from home and you're living in the Midwestern United States, if you're a U.S. citizen, you'll qualify for companies that are hiring US remote. But if you're looking to travel and work and live in Mexico, for instance, as I do and you're a U.S. citizen, you're going to find that there are a lot fewer companies that allow that type of remote work.
Unfortunately, if you're not from the US, you're going to have even more trouble finding companies that will sponsor a visa for you. Especially if they are a remote company in the US. It might be easier for you to work as a freelancer or a contractor for these types of companies, although there are a lot more countries that are starting to adopt more remote work. And there are companies that are being started in these countries that are starting remotely. So don't give up too quickly!
Create an online business you can start quickly
Now, let's talk about remote businesses. If you don't want to work for someone else and you value the freedom and flexibility that remote work offers. It might make sense to start a remote business. People often associate starting a business with high costs and tons of risks
But in today's day and age, there are so many ways that you can validate a business idea quickly and without spending very much money. That does not mean that it's easy. Starting a location independent business or a remote business means that you're self-employed like being a freelancer. But the main distinction that I make is that a freelancer is someone that typically works on a project basis. So they're trading their time for money, usually working alone in a lot of circumstances.
When I think of a remote business owner, I think of someone who is building a business as an asset. So maybe that is to sell the business down the line or it's to build something that runs without them or has the capability to run without them, meaning they'll have employees or they'll have systems in place that automate part or most of the business. Some of the common remote businesses are online course creators who have a personal brand and agency owners who do design or marketing.
There are also stores, blogs, and so many different businesses out there. My recommendation to you is just start out by validating the idea before sinking a lot of money into it. For many people, a business actually starts with a problem they've had in their own life that they have been able to solve. For instance, for me as the remote job coach, when I started this I had already been working remotely for over seven years.
I had landed multiple remote jobs in a variety of industries. I'd been through that process of doing it many times and all of those times that I got a remote job, I didn't have to actually apply for a job. So when I saw that people were struggling to apply and find a remote position for them, I knew that I had a process that I might be able to help others with. But I had to try it and validate the business idea first.
So come up with an ideal client you can serve, talk to them about their problems, come up with a system to help them solve those problems, and take people through it. In the beginning, you'll be charging less and you may actually work with people for testimonials in the beginning. Try to start your business in your own network, because I think it's a lot easier.
If you've noticed a trend or a pattern, all of these things freelancing, finding a remote job, starting a remote business, all start the best within your current network. Then as you take people through your process or your system, get feedback from them, get as detailed feedback as you can, and start to iterate on the process to try to make it repeatable. Once you create that transformation over and over again with multiple people, it's great because you can start scaling and start setting up those actual systems. But don't be afraid to walk away. If you don't like being a business owner, it's OK to admit too many people get a glamorous idea about what entrepreneurship is really like because of social media. And it's a grind and it's hard. So don't get discouraged, but also be able to hang up the towel if you feel like it's not right for you.
Now, we've been through the three ways that you can make money online remotely, even without experience.
I've described this at a very high level for the steps that you can take. But some of you may be craving more detail. You may be wanting more precise information, the exact steps that you need to take to be able to make a decision on which way to go.
I totally understand that. Well, there's only so much I can explain in one YouTube video like this. So I did launch a course with my good friend Christa Ramano, a.k.a. Christabella Travels. Both Christa and I have had over seven years of remote experience. We've both started remote businesses. We both freelance before. We've both been hired by remote companies. And the course that we created has over two and a half hours of incredible content resources PDF at a very affordable price right at your fingertips, because we really want to give you something that's going to help you make the right decision for yourself.
If you want an even more detailed roadmap and help with this process, check out the Work Remotely Without Experience Course:
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