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Work From Anywhere: 10 Smart Business Ideas for Military Spouses

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Thanks to Chelsea from Making Home Base for guest posting today about portable careers!

Four years ago, I was sitting in the living room of my new (to me) base house after having just PCSed. I was questioning whether or not I should go ahead with this dream I had been scheming in my head for the previous few months. I was a new stay-at-home mom with a sailor that was just weeks away from deployment and I was craving a creative outlet. I was wishing for something to keep me busy to help pass the time. That night, my business baby was born, with desire and ambition, I become an entrepreneur with just one click. Fast forward to present time, that little creative project I began on a whim has become my full-time job that allows me to work from anywhere.

I mean anywhere

I’ve worked while visiting family for two weeks. I’ve worked while meeting my husband for a port call in Hawaii. We even PCSed across the country and my business didn’t skip a beat.

Here’s the deal, 79% of military spouses have PCSed in the last 5 years. 55% of those spouses said it was tough to find a job after that move. Moving is hard. Starting over is hard. With this lifestyle, having something that is completely in your control is invaluable. If that something were your career, that would be life-changing!

I think the biggest hurdle in starting your own work from anywhere business is knowing where to start. Maybe you have an idea that you’ve been tucking away in your heart waiting for the day you can reveal it. Or, maybe you would love to begin an entrepreneurial journey but you have no idea what kind of business would fit you best. Today, I want to help you with the later.

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1. Start A Blog – Blogging can be a very profitable business. While income doesn’t happen overnight the potential to make big money is there. Bloggers earn income through a multitude of ways such ad servicing, affiliate marketing, writing sponsored content, and more. Blogging allows you to work as little or as much as you want. While there are gazillion of blogs out there and it may seem like an oversaturated market, don’t let that hold you back. There is no one out there with your voice. You might be just what a certain readership needs.

2. Create a Physical Product – You can create and sell a physical product either through your own online retail shop or through other markets such as Etsy, Ebay, or Amazon. You can create a product that you make and sell yourself or a product that you have manufactured. Some ideas include: clothing, a planner or journal, boutique children’s items, etc. Lean on your own passions, strengths, and expertise to come up with the best product idea.

3. Create a Digital Product – Digital products allow for somewhat passive income. You can create a product like ebooks, printable items like planners and worksheets, instructional video series one time and sell them over and over again. This is truly ideal for a Work From Anywhere business since you can sell your products while you sleeping, vacationing, or even PCSing!

4. Teach an Online Class – Think about what you’re really good at and teach a class on it. If your friends are always commenting on how well you do ABC, perhaps other people would be interested in learning how to do ABC well also. You can record a series of instructional videos or offer a live version to share your expertise. Keep in mind you want to give whoever you are teaching some sort of tangible outcome.

5. Public Speaking/Demonstrations – Again, lean on your passions, strengths, and expertise to come up with a topic that you would love to share with others. Find local opportunities like conventions, conferences, or even small groups to offer your public speaking or demonstration skills. For example, if you love doing DIY projects, consider offering your public speaking services to Home & Garden Shows.

6. Consultant – Similar to teaching an online class, think about something you are great at that others might need assistance with, then offer consulting services on that. Narrow in on something really specific. A social media marketing consultant is much more focused than a business consultant. Having a narrow focus will help you attract the perfect clients and allow you to give them a more specific outcome.

7. Provide A Service – There are endless opportunities to provide a service whether in person or online. Think of something you are passionate about and brainstorm how you serve someone with that passion in mind. For example, I’m passionate about military spouses having the opportunity to work from anywhere. I’m taking my passion for that and turning it into a service, where I’m helping military spouses discover their perfect business ideas. Other examples are: freelance writing, editing services, tax preparation, online event planning services, photography, etc.

8. Become Virtual Assistant – There is a huge market for virtual assistants. Tasks such as email maintenence, editing, social media management, and much more. Specializing in one area will allow you to be an expert in that topic. Bloggers, online marketers, and even executives are utilizing virtual assistants for a plethora of tasks. Go where your prospective customers are such as social media outlets like entrepreneur Facebook groups. Websites like Fivver.com and Upwork.com are great places to start.

9. Graphic Design – If you are proficient in making graphics there is a market for graphic design. With no more than a computer and internet, you can work from anywhere. Clients can commission you for works or you can create pre-made logos and graphics to sell on sites such as Etsy.com and CreativeMarket.com. You could also create graphics and set up a membership site where you create exclusive graphics and charge members a monthly fee to use those graphics.

10. Coaching – If you are a natural cheerleader, coaching might be the perfect job for you. Coaching clients in things that come naturally to you can be very rewarding and profitable. Using your passion and expertise to push clients to reach their goals is so beneficial. It’s most effective to drill down on very specific topics. Don’t be a health coach. Be a gluten-free eating coach. Don’t be a business coach, be a profitable Pinterest coach. Get very precise. This will allow you to be known as the expert in that certain field. Think about areas of life where you naturally perform well. If you are amazing at organizing consider coaching in that.

That’s only short list of the endless possibilities of Work From Anywhere business opportunities. I think you’ll notice that all of these have one common theme. They require you to spotlight your natural abilities, your passions, and your person expertise. If you still aren’t quite sure what those natural abilities are, I can help. You can download my 12-page guided workbook, The Work From Anywhere Powersheet, for free. It will help you to narrow your focus and give you the recipe to discovering your perfect biz idea.

A FREE 13-PAGE WORKBOOK DESIGNED TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR BEST BIZ IDEA. (3)Will you let me know what business idea has been on your heart? Or which of these ideas would suit you best? Head over to my Facebook page and let me know in a comment!

Thanks so much to Jo, for allowing me to guest post today! I would love to connect with you more. You can visit me at chelseacoulston.com!


3 Responses

  1. Great post! And there’s plenty of opportunities out there in these fields. I work virtually and my clients are all over North America, too.

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