5 REAL Ways to Find High-Paying Remote Jobs
Skip LinkedIn. These are the places where the good remote jobs actually hide.
Landing a remote job is one of the fastest and most realistic ways for people to increase their income and freedom.
This is how I started back in 2020. I quit my dead-end office job, went all-in on remote work and my one-person business, and started traveling the world. BEST decision I’ve ever made.
However, the job market is pretty brutal right now.
Between AI slop and ghost job posts, it’s difficult to even get your resume in front of hiring managers. And if you can actually get someone’s attention, you then get hit with the classic “we ask for 6 rounds of interviews and unpaid test assignments to make sure we find the right fit for our vibrant corporate culture. We really are like a family here…” (these people are sick, sick creatures!) 🫠
That’s why this post is breaking down 5 paths you can take to land a remote position that don’t involve the regular strategies.
NO LinkedIn. NO bottom-of-the-barrel pricing on Fiverr and Upwork.
Instead, these are platforms and strategies you can use to find real remote positions and opportunities.
I’ve used many of these myself over the years. And while I can’t make any promises, this is exactly how I’d start looking for high-paying remote work if I was starting over.
Let’s get to it! 👇
💸Want to land a high-paying remote job and upskill your career? Then I suggest checking out FlexJobs.
This premium job board is one of the leading places to find remote positions, freelancing roles, and flexible working arrangements that are fully online.
Jobs are hand-picked so there’s no AI slop, and FlexJobs lists salary information upfront. There’s also roles for beginner and experienced remote workers alike.
I’ve worked online for 6+ years at this point, and the freedom you get working remotely versus sitting in a cubicle all day is game-changing.
🌎 Find a remote position with FlexJobs and start earning online today.
1. Find Remote Gigs On Reddit
Most people think of Reddit as a place to read Internet news, look at memes, and watch people on r/WallStreetBets YOLO their life savings.
Reddit is great for all these purposes. However, it has a surprising number of remote job communities, known as subreddits, where people post all kinds of opportunities.
Reddit’s r/ForHire is a perfect example. Full-time jobs, freelancing roles, and one-time gigs get posted here with a [HIRING] tag every day:
The most common roles are generally for virtual assistants, digital marketing, video editing, coding, website/QA testers, and data entry. But you can find all sorts of niche postings, ranging from remote accounting work to Redditors looking for co-founders for interesting projects.
Some of these roles can pay thousands of dollars per month and are full-time opportunities. Others are one-off projects. Rates are honestly all over the place, which may or may not work for your particular country and cost of living.
I’ve found two freelance writing roles through r/ForHire back when this was my main income stream. Both were one-time writing projects, but one of these clients ended up turning into a business partner I still work with, even 6 years later. You never know who you’ll meet with Reddit.
The downside?
Communities like r/ForHire are self-managed. There’s some low-paying gigs and occasional scams. You need to figure out payment terms with whoever is hiring you as well.
This really isn’t an issue if you’re working with a larger company. But it’s worth noting if you’re applying for gigs with startups or solo-operators.
Anyways, r/ForHire is just the tip of the Reddit iceberg 😅 Other communities you can find remote opportunities on include:
r/remotejobs
r/freelance_forhire
r/hireawriter
r/designjobs
r/virtualassistant
r/artistsforhire
There’s many more. And if you look for online side hustles and less formal work, there’s even more dedicated subreddits to explore.
⭐ Pro Tip: Try to get 50% of payment upfront from Reddit clients, especially if it’s for significant work. You can potentially skip this step if you’re signing contracts with a real company and are becoming a W-2 employee, but always be cautious when you’re freelancing with random people on the internet.
Extra Reading 💻 10 Micro Income Streams That Quietly Build Wealth.
2. Search For Remote Jobs On X
Like Reddit, X is another rather platform where people throw out job postings and opportunities you won’t ever see on a traditional job board.
The easiest way to find these opportunities is to search for [hiring] + [your industry] or some similar set of keywords in the search bar. This displays a list of recent posts that often have hiring announcements:
You typically find programming and digital marketing opportunities on X. But I’ve also seen heaps for video editing, graphic design, YouTube channel management, and more.
Unlike Reddit, X also has CEOs and interesting startups posting jobs that again, you’re not going to stumble across on Indeed.
Just the other week, I saw Alex Lieberman, the co-founder of Morning Brew, post two open roles for his startup Tenex Labs. One of these is a writing job as well, which you really don’t find too often in the AI age 👇
The downside of finding remote work on X is that having a somewhat-active profile helps your chances. But you can fill your bio with your previous experience/accolades, add a nice profile photo, and that’s enough to start DMing people.
3. Build Cool Projects In Public
Starting a one-person business is how I became financially free in my twenties.
It’s also a decision that caused a chain-reaction of doors to open for me that I never would have discovered otherwise.
Once I started growing my finance blog, here’s a few of the things that ended up happening:
I started making a full-time income from freelance writing after about one year
I got a monthly contract doing recruiting and research work with The Motley Fool
I landed a few SEO clients on retainer over the years
I briefly returned to the job market for a six-figure, fully remote content marketing role
I became a content manager for a cryptocurrency publication for a bit
I became the head of content marketing at the company I sold my websites to during 2025
I landed a brand-ambassador role for one of the companies I made content about on YouTube
I started working with brands doing YouTube brand-building consulting
For many of these opportunities, I was contacted first by the other party. Tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential income literally appeared out of the ether. It’s wild what happens when you start documenting what you’re building.
And for the opportunities I reached out for, I leveraged what I was creating as my application. No resume, no CV…I genuinely sent over links to my content and screenshots of Google Analytics data showing that my work generates traffic. That’s what worked.
This formula still works. I also believe it’s the best way to cut through all the AI slop, ghost job listings, and noise that’s going on. People can’t ignore results and proof that you’re capable (especially when you explain how your skills will improve their business and make them more money as well! Sell yourself!!)
So, try making money with YouTube. Create a niche newsletter on Substack. Launch a one-person business. Take a weekend and vibe-code a new income stream.
As the saying goes: if you build it, they will come!
Extra Reading: You Can Build Things And Rapidly Improve Your Life.
4. Use Niche Remote Job Boards
Speaking of AI slop and ghost jobs…The job market is SO cooked right now 😂🫠
Apparently, 1 in 4 LinkedIn job postings are ghost jobs. Tons of government jobs are fake too. For the jobs that are real, there’s immense competition from applicants on most platforms. The hiring manager you’re courting is dealing with hundreds if not 1,000+ applications.
This is why I’ve used and suggest using more tailored remote job boards than just relying on the likes of ZipRecruiter and Indeed.
Several remote job boards you can consider include:
FlexJobs: This is a paid remote job site where listings are hand-screened to remove scams and fake listings. Salary information is often posted too which is one reason I used FlexJobs in the past.
NoDesk: Another popular remote job platform that has job postings from a variety of industries and for various skill levels.
BuiltIn: Useful for finding remote tech jobs.
Working Nomads: Caters to full-time remote works and also digital nomads, as the name would suggest. You can find gigs here with more flexible time-zone requirements.
Authentic Jobs: This one specializes in jobs for designers, developers, and creatives.
PowerToFly: PowerToFly has a new jobs pipeline matching people with AI training gigs and related AI jobs. It also has a more generalized remote job board you can view.
I also put out a video on Tom Blake Finance covering some of these websites plus the Reddit strategy I mentioned above. You can watch this for more tips on applying to remote positions and to find some other interesting platforms.
Now, this route is still a grind. The job market is tough right now. But again, I’d pick this route over sifting through fake listings on LinkedIn.
⭐ ALSO: You can find industry-specific job boards that are even more niche. There’s remote job sites for developers, graphic designers, digital marketers, you name it. There’s even country-specific job boards where again, you’re competing with a smaller applicant pool.
5. Join Niche Facebook Groups
Niche Facebook Groups can work similarly to Reddit. I’ve found writing and SEO work in various Facebook Groups in the past.
Back then, I was a member of many blogging Facebook groups. People mostly posted questions or self-promotion threads. But, occasionally, someone would post looking for freelance writing help or some other kind of freelancing role.
I pitched several of these people and landed work this way. One of my Facebook clients even turned into regular writing work for about 2 years.
You can do the same thing in your niche/industry. Join a bunch of groups, network with people, and keep an eye out for posts like this where people are directly hiring 👇
Currently, I prefer Reddit and X to Facebook. I find Facebook is harder to sift through spam posts, and the search results are worse. There are still some gems, but just a heads up!
💸 Related: Coast FIRE + Geo-Arbitrage Are How You Buy Your Freedom.
Useful Tools For Your Remote Job Search
As mentioned, the job market is a bit of a mess. So, I want to wrap up this post with some useful tools you can use to save time, search more efficiently, and increase your overall close rate with hiring managers.
Here are some of the top remote job tools I’d use right now:
Swooped — Use AI to find relevant job openings and surface opportunities that match your skills and experience. Swooped can also auto-apply to jobs for you with a single click and also helps you optimize your resume/CV for each position.
Google Alerts — Set up alerts for specific job titles, companies, skills, or phrases like “remote video editor” so Google sends you new opportunities as they appear. I suggest doing this for remote-friendly companies on your watchlist so you don’t get too many results.
Wise — Great for freelancers and remote workers who get paid internationally. You can receive money in different currencies and convert it at competitive exchange rates. Wise is how I’ve managed all of my remote and freelance income for years. I now run my businesses largely through Wise as well.
Simplify — This is a browser extension that helps you find jobs, autofill applications, and keep your job search organized so you spend less time filling out repetitive forms. The autofill function is the main reason to use this.
Hunter.io — Find professional email addresses so you can contact hiring managers or companies directly instead of relying entirely on job-board applications. If you’re trying to cold-email someone with a pitch, Hunter can help you.
Loom — Create quick personalized videos introducing yourself or pitching your services. For example, record a 60-second video showing a company how you would improve something they’re currently doing. This sets your application apart from 99% of other people.
🥇 This Loom tip is actually the golden takeaway.
When I was in the process of selling my content business, I got tons of inquiries. I had over a dozen meetings with potential buyers and filtered through dozens of other requests.
I ended up selling to small US team of media buyers. The owner sent me a LinkedIn message expressing interest. He then sent me a 45 minute Loom video explaining everything from our synergistic advantages to how we could finance the deal and get things over the line. Guess what, I sold to those guys!
I’ve since used this Loom strategy and have landed consulting work this way. Again, you’re providing so much value and information upfront, and there’s something about putting a face and voice to a name that makes people stand out.
Related: 6 High-Income Skills That You Must Learn To Thrive.
Next Steps
For many people, getting a remote job is the fastest, most realistic path to achieving WiFi Wealth. It’s how you can increase your income, win-back your freedom, and also accelerate your path to financial independence.
If you’re currently looking for remote opportunities, I hope this list of resources helps you land one.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with turning to Fiverr, Upwork, LinkedIn, or Indeed. But in my experience, these aren’t the most efficient routes. Competition is immense, and it’s a race to the bottom for pricing. Plus, you’ll miss out on some hidden gems and opportunities that simply don’t get posted to these broader platforms.
Let me know if you have any questions. And if you have a remote job site or tactic you stand by, let me know as well in the comments. Part of my goal with WiFi Wealth is for people to share information about ways to earn online incomes. Let other people know what’s working for you!
Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful week 😎
I have a lot of cool Substack content coming soon, including a very interesting case study or two for new income streams I’m building. I’m also on the road these days; I’ve traded the Cape Town mountains for the Namibian deserts and coastline, and it’s time for more adventure.
Thanks for reading and for your support. I can’t wait to share more experiments and ideas with you soon.
I’ll catch you in the next one!
Tom from WiFi Wealth.
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