Dear Penny: How Can I Make Money From Home Using My iPad?
What do I have to do to make some money using my iPad working at home?
— Low-tech nomad
Dear Low-tech,
From your iPad or other tablet, you can do a lot of online, work-from-home jobs that you can do on a desktop or laptop computer.
To fully set up shop on your iPad, I recommend getting a connected keyboard with a trackpad, and a stand, so you can use your tablet like a laptop. You’ll probably also want a good pair of bluetooth headphones for calls or meetings on the tablet.
Depending on the device you have, you’ll probably limit your search to gigs that you can do with simple tools like a web browser, email client and word processor. (These are even easier if you work with clients who use mobile-friendly options like Gmail and Google Docs.)
The simplest kind of work to do from an iPad is freelancing as a writer, editor or virtual assistant. Those jobs require very few tools and little computing power, and you can do them from anywhere. Get started finding gigs through sites like Fiverr, Upwork, VANetworking.com or LinkedIn.
If you have a creative eye, you could do some entry-level graphic design work from your iPad using Canva (or include this service in your offerings as a VA). The program is intended to make design easy for beginner designers, so you would need to graduate to a more powerful computer and a program like Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer if you progress in the work. If you like to draw, you could use the iPad with a stylus to create custom illustrations, as well — something that could give you an edge as a graphic designer.
You might also be able to offer services through a tutoring site, or your own online services like coaching or consulting. But if you start to work with larger companies for work-from-home jobs like customer service, they usually require you to have a computer that can download their specific software. Working for yourself gives you more flexibility to work in the way that fits your capabilities.
Dana Miranda is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance® and author of YOU DON’T NEED A BUDGET. She writes Healthy Rich, a newsletter about how capitalism impacts the ways we think, teach and talk about money.
