You know I’m all about proofreading over here on Proofread Anywhere. But did you know that I’m also the founder of Work-At-Home School?
I created a Work-At-Home School to help people find their fit. I realized that proofreading isn’t for everyone, but I also knew that there are still so many different ways people can earn money from home.
There are several courses in Work-At-Home School that are designed to help you find your purpose and your passion.
Even if proofreading isn’t your jam, you may still want to work with words in some capacity — whether that’s writing, transcription, translation, or even selling books!
Keep reading to find out my top resources for word nerds. It’s time to put your love of words to good use!
1. Freelance Writing from A to Z Quick Start
If you’re looking for a way to make A LOT of money from home, writing could be the perfect option for you.
Who am I kidding? Who doesn’t want to earn A LOT of money? 😉
Why is writing so lucrative? You see, every single business in every part of the world needs good-quality writing to communicate with their audiences. Social media posts, sales video scripts, SEO articles, travel articles, resumes, eBooks — the list goes on!
Complete newbie when it comes to writing?
I’ve got someone who can help you! Ashley Gainer, founder of Gainer Ink, has been a freelance writer and editor for more than ten years, working with clients across industries including career advancement, internet marketing, B2B, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, web design, and more.
In 2015, she opened the Ink Well Guild, a learning ground for new freelance writers. Nearly 1,000 students have benefited from her no-fluff, no-hype approach in her courses, with countless others listening in on her podcast, Copy Chatter.
Her course, Freelance Writing from A to Z Quick Start, will give you the foundation to start your freelance writing business. With advice covering everything from web presence and systems to writing and the client hunt, it covers it all.
Modules include setting up your web presence, creating your writing samples, building a portfolio, finding your first writing clients, and setting up some preliminary systems in your business to help you keep track of everything.
2. Turnkey Translator
Speak more than one language? You’ve got to monetize that genius!
If you know me at all, you know I’m a big language nerd! In 2007, I took two semesters off from my degree program to live abroad in Germany where I took German–English translation classes and traveled to thirteen different countries. This is where I started as a proofreader working remotely — proofreading college papers for German students and getting paid online.
If I can earn money from my language skills, so can you!
Jennifer does it too! Jennifer Thome is a professional translator and writer whose course, Turnkey Translator, teaches bilinguals how to monetize their second language — even if they’re not 100% fluent.
Turnkey Translator teaches you how to
- Identify valuable (read: money-making) language skills and figure out how to find clients.
- Get started in language hustling without any prior experience.
- Manage and scale your business.
The course starts with an assessment of what your strongest skills are (writing, editing, speaking, listening, etc.) and what your areas of interest are. It covers everything from working in medical translation and interpretation to setting up a social media business for foreign clients.
After that, you’ll learn the BLAST method, which stands for Build your portfolio, Land high-paying clients, Ace your projects, Scale your business, and Take care of the details (collecting bills, legal stuff, etc.).
Ooh, I love a good acronym!
3. General Transcription: Theory & Practice Level 1
One job I often recommend for word nerds is transcription. Many people discount it because they think you can’t earn money as a transcriptionist. WRONG!
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on average, general transcriptionists earn $58K/year and legal transcriptionists earn $65K/year.
It takes time to build your business up to this kind of income, but it’s totally possible. If you want to earn that kind of money, you really don’t want to skip getting properly trained as a transcriptionist.
Contrary to a lot of info you’ll find out there, transcription is real work and it’s not easy. You can get jobs with no experience, but you won’t earn very much and if you suck at it, you won’t get any more work.
If you take the time to learn and truly hone your skills — and learn how to properly market yourself — you’re much more likely to find success as a transcriptionist.
Janet Shaughnessy started working from home as a transcriptionist in late 2006, and she grew her business into a six-figure-per-year business. When hiring needs arose, Janet found that she needed to train and/or retrain transcriptionists and developed a pretty comprehensive training manual, which later evolved into her online course.
Transcribe Anywhere’s General Transcription: Theory & Practice is an all-inclusive, comprehensive, and affordable course that teaches people to work from home as general transcriptionists. Janet has taken her years of experience in transcription to develop this course for:
The go-getter who wants flexibility in their career but also wants to make a decent living.
The mom who wants to stay at home with her kids but still contribute to the family’s finances.
The retiree who wants to supplement their income so they can live comfortably.
You can read my interview with Janet here!
4. Online Book Arbitrage
Are you a book lover who’s just looking for something you can do part-time and earn a little extra money? Why not become a book reseller?
Folks, if you think outside the box, there are hundreds of ways to earn money from home!
Peter Valley is a veteran Amazon bookseller, and the inventor of “online book arbitrage.”
In his sixty-minute, step-by-step course, he teaches you his system for finding cheap books on Amazon and reselling them back on Amazon for a profit (with no tools and no experience).
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Why books are uniquely suited for online arbitrage
- The top 7 ways to make money selling books
- How to spot profitable books — exactly what clues to look for (there are 6 of them).
- Examining Amazon’s “Advanced Search” feature — how to use it to make maximum profits.
- How to choose quality search terms — AND which ones to avoid.
- The top 3 FREE tools of online book arbitrage.
- The history of online book arbitrage.
You won’t be choosing books at random. There’s a science to this work and Peter will teach you exactly what that is.
Now, instead of hoarding books in your home, you can make money from them!
5. Transcript Proofreading: Theory and Practice
And last but not least, the old reliable, proofreading!
I can’t leave transcript proofreading off the list of resources for word nerds. It’s the quintessential way for grammar nerds and book lovers to make money from home.
You’ll get an intro to the exact methods and skills I used to build a thriving at-home business that led to a full-time income as a transcript proofreader.
Here’s what you get:
Module 1: Introduction to Transcript Proofreading
Unit 1: Introduction and Course Tour
Unit 2: Skills Needed to Proofread Transcripts
Unit 3: Court Reporters, Steno, & Transcripts… Defined
Unit 4: How a Transcript Becomes a Transcript
Unit 5: Depositions vs. EUOs, Guidelines for Interpreted Proceedings, and Things Typically Included in Various Types of Transcripts
Unit 6: The Anatomy of a Transcript (and Quiz)
Unit 7: Additional Introductory Resources
Module 2: The Nuts & Bolts of Transcripts
Unit 1: Types of Errors
Unit 2: Transcript Format
Unit 3: Commonly Misused Words
Unit 4: List of Common Legal Terms and Looking Up Medical Terms
Unit 5: American vs. British Spellings & Other Notes on Spelling
Unit 6: 4 Most Violated Comma Rules in Transcripts
Unit 7: A [Short] Lesson on Apostrophes + Worksheet
Unit 8: More Punctuation Rules + PRACTICE
Unit 9: 17 Transcript-Relevant Capitalization Rules
And all other TP modules!
You’ll also get lifetime access to PA Proofreaders, our lively proofreader support group on Facebook. Many students say this is their favorite thing about the whole course!
Not only that but I’m also including two bonus eBooks: 5 Mindset Shifts for Goal-Crushing Confidence and The Ultimate Freelancer Tax Guide.
You’ll be given the exact roadmap to CREATE, BUILD, and GROW a solid proofreading business and make money doing what you love.
What more could you ask for?!
Our Take
There you have it; five incredible resources for word nerds that you can get all in one place. You can get all of the resources mentioned above separately, BUT you can also get them all in one place in Work-At-Home School at a significant discount.
If you really want to make money from home using your natural talent with words, we’ve got you covered. Why stop at one skill when you can learn more and make even more money? Mo’ skills = mo’ money!
Your Turn
Dying to snap up these awesome resources for word nerds? You can get your hands on them soon! Work-At-Home School is opening up again for enrollment in a matter of weeks.