I’ve been a full-time freelance writer working from home since 2009. I discovered this business when I lived in the Philippines and needed a source of online income. It is very realistic to make $25 to $50 per hour writing website content, blogs, social media, press releases, and other types of content for businesses. It does take some work to get started though.
You need a decent website and writing portfolio to present yourself professionally to prospective clients. You also need a good way to market yourself. I started out doing cold emailing - got a lot of clients that way in my first couple years. These days, that method doesn’t work nearly as well. Thankfully, most of my clients now are people I’ve worked with for years and referrals of theirs. I’ve also gotten some good clients from LinkedIn in recent years.
I like historical stuff and have turned in a dozen interviews with WW2, Korea and VN vets for the paper's Nov. 11th edition. Not much money but fun.
On one interview, I talked to a 93 year old guy who helped build a gasoline pipeline through the Burma jungle so Hump pilots could make the flight back from China to India. My dad was one of those pilots who carried freight safely over the Hump and back, courtesy of the pipeline.