Can I Really Make Money Online Proofreading? (2024)

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Make money online proofreading — seriously? Is that really possible?

I know it sounds like a dream come true for so many reasons and there are so many things to be wary of on the internet, but guess what? Proofreading isn’t one of them and the four women I’ve interviewed today are living that dream and are here to share with you how you can too!

They aren’t part of some scam. This isn’t another network marketing hustle. It’s a real online business they’ve built using their God-given talents.

These ladies are the ones who catch your Facebook status errors. They probably could do a good job of proofing this very article you’re reading.

None of them are working long hours for a few extra dollars. They all are seeing the fruit of their efforts and making money online proofreading.

More importantly, they all share one thing in common, but we’ll get to that a little later. First, let’s learn about these four lady’s experiences as a freelance proofreader.

Here’s the scoop on How 4 Women Are Making Money Online Proofreading

Allie Henderson – Eagle Eyes Proofreading

How do you make money online proofreading?

I offer PDF proofreading of court transcripts.

Are you a full-time or part-time proofreader?

Transcript proofreading is my full-time business; I’m a stay-at-home/work-at-home wife, so pretty much all of my time is available to be devoted to my business. There tends to be some ebb and flow in the workload, but these days I’m busy with proofing more often than not.

What yearly salary ranges do you feel aspiring proofreaders or recent proofread anywhere graduates should expect to start with?

This is a tough question because a lot of it depends on how much time you have to devote to proofreading and how skilled and creative you are with your marketing. So to an extent, you reap the benefits of the work you put into it. Also, it depends on your reading speed, skill level, and the rates you set.

I think you can be a great proofreader and a terrible marketer, which would result in a lower income; on the flip side, you can be a great proofreader and an excellent marketer, which would result in a higher income. Based on all the variables, I think it’s impossible for me to give an accurate estimate.

If you’re comfortable in saying so, how much can you make proofreading online?

My invoices equaled just over $300 during my first month in business. I was fortunate to obtain three clients right out of the gate, one of which I landed on my very first day of marketing. It definitely wouldn’t be impossible to make much more than $300 during your first month, but you also may make less than $300. Again, I believe it depends a lot on marketing and skill.

Do you do contract work as a proofreader or are you a freelance proofreader?

I’m a freelancer!

What unique obstacles did you have to overcome as you got started in this field?

Marketing was probably the hardest for me because it was unfamiliar territory and I do not enjoy bragging on myself. The Proofread Anywhere (PA) course gave some basic guidelines for marketing, but I’ve picked up a lot on my own as well.

What specific steps do you think one should take to make money online proofreading?

The PA course was helpful to direct my focus towards the court reporting niche, and it helped me build my confidence. So having a reliable tablet device and taking the course is a great place to start! Then work on setting up your business: build a website, activate your social media platform(s) of choice, complete any paperwork necessary to legally operate your business in your state, figure out your invoicing/bookkeeping, and open a separate bank account for your business. When you think you have everything in order, you’re ready to begin researching, formulating, and carrying out your marketing plan!

How much did you invest to learn how to proofread properly? Are there any tools that helped you be successful?

I spent about $400 for the PA course enrollment and a copy of Morson’s English Guide for Court Reporters. (Note: I enrolled when the course was still very new; the course cost has increased since that time.) Since I didn’t own a tablet, I bought one when I started the course. As far as resources, I would highly recommend Morson’s book as well as Margie Wakeman Wells’ Bad Grammar/Good Punctuation. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary is also super helpful and it’s FREE.

Last, what do you love most about being a proofreader?

I enjoy the variety of cases in the transcripts that I read, and I enjoy helping my clients to be more successful in their field. Most of all I enjoy the flexibility of working from home on my own schedule. There are obviously a variety of jobs you can do from home these days, but proofreading is a perfect fit for me at this point in my life.

Julie Jackson – Transcript Hound

How do you make money online proofreading?

Although the majority of my work is proofreading court transcripts, I have also worked on other projects, including a recent Sunday School curriculum project. All projects are returned in PDF format with the suggested corrections marked.

Are you a full-time or part-time proofreader?

I consider myself part-time, although it’s rare that I don’t have at least one transcript to work on. Most of the time, it’s more like five or more in various stages of completion.

What yearly salary ranges do you feel aspiring proofreaders or recent proofread anywhere graduates should expect to start with?

I believe the answer to this depends on many factors, including how much income you need to generate and how much time you have to devote to proofreading. For me, since my proofreading business is paying my daughter’s college tuition bills each month, I have a goal in mind that I try to aim for as far as income.

If you’re comfortable in saying so, what was your average income in your first month as a proofreader? Do you think this is average for everyone?

It’s funny, actually. I graduated in October 2015, started working with a court reporter in November 2015, and sent my first invoice in December 2015. It was a whopping $11.95! However, by April of the next year, as God provided more clients and referrals, I have consistently brought in four figures each month. I’m so thankful and blessed!

Do you do contract work as a proofreader or are you a freelance proofreader?

I have done only freelance work so far.

What unique obstacles did you have to overcome as you got started in this field?

I had to overcome the “this is too good to be true” mentality first, as well as getting my husband on board. He had already decided that I needed to go get a job. I was praying that God would provide a job I could do from home so I could still be available to supervise homeschool and help with other projects for church.

When I read about PA on the MoneySavingMom blog, I was beyond excited. My husband got on board, knowing that I’m such a word nerd by nature, and we scraped up the money for the first installment. He is now my biggest cheerleader, and I text him when a new transcript comes in. He gets as excited as I do! 🙂

I had been an English teacher years ago, and I discovered that proofreading transcripts are very different. Instead of teaching people how to write correctly, I’m looking at verbatim transcripts in which the wording cannot be changed unless it’s misspelled.

What specific steps do you think one should take to make money online proofreading?

If you’re interested in proofreading court transcripts, take the PA course! It’s a humbling experience. Take the time to learn about the industry. I got to tag along with one of my local court reporters to see her in action in the courtroom. It gave me wonderful insight (and serious admiration) for the hard job of the court reporter.

It’s also helpful to surround yourself with a great support group. I love my PA buddies! We have such a helpful PA Facebook group — just one more perk of being a PA graduate!

How much did you invest to learn how to proofread properly? Are there any tools that helped you be successful?

I spent just the cost of the PA course, which was around $1,000 total. (I’m not sure what it is now.) I did invest in a Morson’s English Guide for Court Reporters to refer to, upgraded to a newer version of the iPad mini, put up a website, got a logo and business cards, and chose an invoicing software. The overhead is very minimal for the rate of return, especially since each month, I’m making more than I paid for the course.

Last, what do you love most about being a proofreader?

I love the portability of my work and the fact that I don’t have to miss out on doing things with my family because I’m chained to a desk job. My iPad mini fits in my purse! 🙂

Danielle – The Timely Proofreader

How do you make money online proofreading?

I offer court transcript as well as general proofreading services for marketing materials, web content, manuscripts, blogs, et cetera.

Are you a full-time or part-time proofreader?

I’m a new Proofread Anywhere graduate and only recently launched my business, so I have yet to fill my schedule with clients, but I hope to become a full-time proofreader shortly.

What yearly salary ranges do you feel aspiring proofreaders or recent proofread anywhere graduates should expect to start with?

Well, income potential is dependent on so many variables — page rates for the types of documents you are proofing, reading speed, how clean of a final draft you are proofing — that it’s challenging to say, but I think a part-time proofreader could easily make a $12-15,000 a year.

Patti Hasbrouck – Patti’s Proofing

What type of proofreading services do you currently provide?

My services include PDF, Word with track changes, and proofing within the CaseCAT software (this one is new) for court reporters. I will at some point expand to include blogs, dissertations, and other media. Or not. I haven’t decided.

Are you a full-time or part-time proofreader?

I just started full-time proofing February 1, 2017. I had been part-time proofing since July, 2015.

What yearly salary ranges do you feel aspiring proofreaders or recent Proofread Anywhere graduates should expect to start with?

That’s a really big range. Not everyone wants to be full-time, and starting out can go really slooooow. I can’t really answer this question because everyone has different goals and skills.

If you’re comfortable in saying so, what was your average income your first month as a proofreader? Do you think this is average for everyone?

My first 10 weeks was about $3,000.00, which you can read about here. Is it average? I have no idea. That’s what I made with part-time hours in the evenings and on weekends, pretty much every spare moment that I wasn’t working my day job.

Do you do contract work as a proofreader or are you a freelance proofreader?

As I understand it, contract work is part of being freelance. I’m a self-employed freelancer.

What unique obstacles did you have to overcome as you got started in this field?

I don’t believe I had anything unique to me. The main obstacles were having a full-time W2 “day” job, I was a single mom, and was caring for my 80-year-old mother.

What specific steps do you think one should take to succeed at making money online as a proofreader?

First, be excellent. Take the Proofread Anywhere course with full intent, no skimping, skimming, or shirking. Take it seriously. Learn everything you can. Second, provide excellent service to your clients.

That means meeting or beating deadlines, being thorough, billing accurately, handling errors gracefully, and treating your clients with respect while expecting respect in return.

Don’t sell yourself short and don’t be afraid to speak up and stand up for yourself. Market thoughtfully, meaning don’t just indiscriminately post ads or send emails. Make connections with people. Participate in organizations and groups. Ask for referrals and references from happy clients.

How much did you invest to learn how to proofread properly? Are there any tools that helped you be successful?

My biggest investment was the PA course itself and the equipment I needed to actually proof, i.e., an iPad, the books, business cards. Once these things are under your belt, there really isn’t any other cost involved except for marketing and websites and extras of that sort.

Last, what do you love most about being a proofreader?

Honestly, I love my clients! I also love, love, love my proofreading colleagues in the PA tribe. I have made some great connections with people all over the country. An added plus is I love the stories. I love reading about the heroes, the villains, and the frauds.

Granted, some of the stories are so, so tragic and some break your heart, some are about as exciting as painting a wall and watching it dry, some will frustrate you to the point of shouting, but every day is a new case with new people in different circ*mstances.

The ending is not always something I get to know about, but the process of law is fascinating to me. Finally, I love being independent of any boss and making my own timetable, especially being able to carve out time for myself when I want to or need to for whatever reason.

How can you make money online proofreading?

Each of these ladies has different reasons for doing what they do. Julie’s goal is to bring in enough income to pay her daughter’s tuition bills. Your goal may be to start a part-time business so you can stay at home with your kids.

Regardless of your reason, making money online proofreading could definitely help you achieve your end goal. Besides being good at what they do, these ladies all have one thing in common.

They invested in a course, Proofread Anywhere, to learn the ins and outs of the field.

These ladies didn’t just sit around and wish they had the ability to work from home, they did something about it and they followed through with the course.

I’ve heard amazing things on the internet about Proofread Anywhere and I wanted to do a little digging. Many people interview the course creator, but I wanted to talk directly to a few of the students to understand their reasons why.

They wanted flexibility, control of their income, and the freedom to work anywhere. Thankfully, Proofread Anywhere has helped them fulfill their desires and so much more.

What is Proofread Anywhere and how can it help you make money online proofreading?

Proofread Anywhere was created by Caitlyn Pyle, whose found great success as a freelance proofreader.

This course helps proofreaders learn how to earn extra income anywhere in the world, regardless of their current skillset.

There are two proofreading courses: General Proofreading and Transcript Proofreading.

In the General Proofreading course, you learn how to proofread books, blogs, and such. It’s less technical and the learning curve is smaller than transcript proofreading. This course is suited for those interested in proofreading, but don’t know where to start. From start to finish, you can expect to complete the course in about a month.

This course has:

40 lessons, 8 modules
Grammar specific worksheets
Real-life experience example jobs

In the Transcript Proofreading course, the pace is much more intense and you learn about court reports and the transcripts they produce. The income earning potential is much higher than general proofreading because of the technical skills involved. When you enroll, you begin at level one and advance as the course progresses. You should expect to complete the course in two to four months.

This course has:

9 modules
55 units of theory and practice
and multiple exams

Regardless of the course you choose, once completed, you’ll receive a certificate of completion. And the final exam is only required on the Transcript Proofreading course.

You can sign up for a free webinar to learn more about the Proofread Anywhere Course here.

Wrapping Things Up

Anyone can make money at home. All it requires is finding a job or creating a business that works for you.

All four of these ladies excel in their abilities to proofread things and fortunately, there was a course out there to teach them everything they needed to learn to start proofreading professionally.

If you’re good at proofreading, interested in working for yourself, and being in control of your work and income – freelance proofreading may be exactly what you’ve been looking for. So yes, making money online proofreading is definitely possible. Now the only question remains is whether you’re willing to put in the work and make it work for you.