How to Use Skills You Already Have to Earn Money From Home (2024)

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Did you know that it’s highly likely that you’re already sitting on some skills that you could use to make money from home?

Or that learning a new skill so you can earn a living from home isn’t nearly as out of reach as you might think?

Becoming a work-at-home mom (or dad! or single!) may seem like a far-off dream — especially if you have littles at home — but the truth is that it’s really only one skill away.

I’ve been working from home for 3 years, and in that time I was able to turn my side-hustle into a full-time work-at-home career.

And I started with a single skill — proofreading.

From there, I started snowballing my skills by adding one more skill, then another, then another until I got to where I am today — working full-time from home doing a job I LOVE and enjoying more time with my family.

And it started with one skill.

One skill that I could use to help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

Need help figuring out how you can start snowballing your own skills into a legitimate at-home income? Here are a few tips to help you plan out your skills snowball so you can start earning more from home:

1. Make a list of your current skills.

This is hands down where most people get stuck when trying to figure out how to work from home.

“I don’t know how to do anything that people would want to pay me for.”

I’ve heard this SO many times.

Before you make one more plan or dream one more work-at-home dream, you need to STOP thinking self-defeating thoughts about who you are and what you have to offer.

You have something to offer the world that someone else needs. Even if you don’t see it, chances are others do.

The first step to snowballing your skills is to start finding the skills youalready have.

And yes, you have at least one skill. So don’t even think about saying, “I don’t have any skills.”

Don’t even think about it. 😉

Take a piece of paper and start writing down the things you’re good at. Here are a few things to think about:

• Are you a word nerd? Do you like reading? Do you easily spot grammatical or punctuation errors in text?
• What is your average WPM typing speed? (If you’re not sure, check out TypingTest.comand test yourself!)Do you enjoy typing?
• Do you enjoy writing? Fiction? Non-fiction?
• Are you really good at keeping your personal monthly budget in tact? Are you good with numbers?
• Do you enjoy spending time on social media? Are you really great at interacting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram? Are you a Pinterest fanatic? (Yes, you can even use your love of social media to earn a living from home!)
• Are you really good at creating spreadsheets, docs, slides, etc? Are you good with Google apps like Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more?
• Do you enjoy keeping a clean, organized email inbox? Do you have good correspondence skills?

These are the types of things you want to put on the list! Add anything and everything you can think of.

2.Pick ONE skill to start with.

Of the list you’ve created, pick one single skill that you already have that you can hone, master, and use to help others.

This is the crux of building a successful work-at-home side-hustle or career — using your skills to help other people.

Contrary to popular belief, working at home is not all about you. A lot of people get into the work-at-home world with a single mindset:I want to make money.

That’s great! But if that’s all you want in a work-at-home life, then you’re going to quickly find out that there’s SO much more to working from home than just making money.

You need passion. You need motivation. You need a drive to succeed — for you AND your clients.

And as a friend, I don’t want you to go after the easiest, quickest buck out there. I want you to find what you’re good at and what you already love doing and turn that into a work-at-home income stream you LOVE.

Because if you do something you hate just to earn a buck, you’ll burn out really,really quickly.

Disclaimer: No, you won’t always LOVE every aspect of your work-at-home job. But you can still love your work-at-home job as a whole by focusing your natural gifts and talents into helping others.

When you spend your energy not just making money but actually making a difference, then you’ll get WAY more return on the time you invest than you could ever dream.

Your income will be so much more fulfilling and your job so much less draining if your ‘why’ is bigger than the money you make.

AND often times, the most passionate work-at-homers are the most successful … because they do what they love and they love what they do — and it shows in the quality of their work!

3. Hone that skill!

Once you find the one skill you’re ready to invest your time and energy into, it’s time to find ways to really explore and hone that skill until you master it.

Look for training programs that might help you get better at what you already love to do! Sometimes all it takes a little time and a small investment to get the ball rolling in a big way.

Here are some training programs that can help you hone your natural talents into viable work-at-home skills:

• High-Level Proofreading Pro(Learn proofreading AND copyediting!)
• General Transcription: Theory and Practice™
• Legal Transcription: Theory and Practice™
• Scoping Fundamentals™ (Yep! It’s a real job!)
• Bookkeeper Business Launch
• 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assisting Success
• 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success
• Become a Pinterest VA Today!

Already know what you want to do? Start contacting online business owners that may need your help and start interning! Get experience and practice by finding a business owner who needs help with things you love to do.

Maybe a blogger who you follow and love. Maybe a business you’ve come to trust. Don’t be afraid of putting yourself out there!

4. Rinse and Repeat!

This is exactly how I started snowballing my own skill set!

First, I learned to proofread by enrolling in an online course. It took me about a month to get through the program.

Next, I used the money from my first few proofreading jobs to fund my enrollment in Zoom Transcription (now Transcribe Anywhere) so I could offer my proofreading clients more of the services they needed.

I earned a great side-income from proofreading + transcription while I then focused my efforts to learning something brand-new — virtual assisting.

In my search for new skills, I realized how much I loved virtual assisting! I found a business owner willing to pay me for basic virtual assisting services at a low rate while I continued to work my proofreading/transcription side hustle.

I used that opportunity to learn as much as I possibly could about virtual assisting and the blogging and digital marketing industry. I found it all SO fascinating!

Within a couple months, I was earning enough in my VA work that I could focus solely on that. (But I’m still glad I started with proofreading and transcription because I continue to use those skills in my current job all the time!)

Eventually, I was able to replace my husband’s full-time traditional job with my new work-at-home career, which in a year and a half snowballed from a proofreading side-hustle to a full-time project management position with a very large and popular blog.

One. Skill. At. A. Time.

Yes, this takes patience. Yes, it takes some real dedication.

But I was able to do it —while my husband worked 50+ hours per week and I took care of my 2-year-old and my special needs 5-year-old at home!

If I could do it, anyone can do it.

And the only thing I could really do when I started was spot a few grammatical and punctuation errors while reading.That was the one skill I already had that I decided to hone and master.

And that one skill I didn’t think was worth anything ended up being wortheverything.

EVERYTHING.

Know of any skill-based side hustles you can grow with skills you already have? I’d love to hear about them! Leave a comment below and let me know!