As a college student, your time is limited, but you still have financial needs. How can you go to school and work? One option may be to earn money online using one of many strategies that could help you to fill in your extra time with a way to earn money. There are a lot of opportunities that may be available, but knowing which ones really is going to help you with making money online (and which are a fraud) is essential.
Take a look at these suggestions. Before you look for online jobs to earn money as a college student, be sure to know that you don’t need to pay to work! There shouldn’t be a fee for earning money. Here are some recommendations.
Work in Freelance
Do you have a skill that others would pay for? If so, you can use that skill to help you earn money online. Here are some examples:
Tackle social media for companies you love
If you’re great at creating videos, turn to local companies and organizations that you want to represent to freelance video production for them. You can find these opportunities on sites like Upwork, but it’s often best to just reach out to local companies you frequent locally and ask them if you can do their social media work for them for a fee. Social media management isn’t a simple job, but if you are good at building your own audience and can help companies increase brand awareness, that’s going to be a very marketable skill businesses need.
You can also build your own video production process. For example, you can earn extra money by creating videos and posting them online to earn ad revenue from them. YouTube videos can earn advertising revenue like this. If you have a specific skill, use that to make YouTube videos that show how to do something, like a how-to video. Video tutorials like this can earn big money over time if the information is good and presented in a unique way.
Become a graphic designer
If you love to create using graphic software products like Canva and Adobe, and you have access to the digital programs necessary, you can become a graphic designer. You can find jobs that work with graphic designers online to help you to get paid to work creating eye-catching graphics.
Tutor other students
While you may be able to find this type of job on campus, that’s not the only option. If you want to work as a college student with people online through video calls, you can do that around the country. Consider, for example, offering your tutoring services at a flat rate for those in your local hometown, perhaps connecting with a fantastic teacher in your favorite subject. You can offer tutoring to their students from a distance.
If you have good teaching skills or you are passionate about a specific subject, don’t be afraid to reach out to the college itself. Other college students may need help with their projects, homework, or research papers, and as a college student yourself, you may be able to connect with them online to network and work from your own dorms.
Personal blogging and writing
Do you have a talent for writing? Freelance writing and blogging are viable options for many of today’s college students, even online students who are studying from home. You’ll need to sharpen your skills, including your search engine optimization (SEO) skills, so that you can write articles that resonate in the search engines. Then, you have two options for making extra money.
The first is to offer your writing skills to companies and services that need them. This is more of a background job and one that allows you to just work to meet your needs. You can then:
- Help companies with email marketing
- Write articles for branding
- Help to support a company’s affiliate marketing program
If you are in it for the long haul, on the other hand, you may want to become a freelance content writer who builds their own blog and website content. Then, you can create an income stream with your blog and earn advertising revenue from the affiliate marketing you do. There are many topics that you can cover, but choose one that works for your interests.
Become a virtual assistant
Another route to consider is helping companies to get work done they need help with. Virtual assistants can do a wide range of tasks based on the individual’s needs including:
- Data entry jobs such as helping companies to update customer files
- Social media marketing, such as posting ads on social media for the company
- Micro jobs like filling out forms or contacting customers for follow-up information
- Provide proofreading skills for company emails or in-house documents
- Write content for product descriptions
- Make phone calls for the company in your free time
- If you’re good with coding languages, help companies to update their website or create apps
Small services like this can be done on your own time, often allowing you to earn good money online without having to change up your college schedule.
You can find data entry jobs in a variety of locations, specifically from websites like Upwork, Indeed, and FlexJobs.
Complete online surveys
While you may earn more money with other methods, you can use online surveys to help you to earn a bit of extra money. College students may be able to share a great deal of information about their shopping habits and brand preferences like this. This type of earning method may help you make money in your free time if you fill out online surveys from companies, research firms, and data companies. Some companies will send you information directly to your email.
Making Money Online with Your Own Business
Are you looking for online jobs? If so, use freelance sites or talk to companies directly to find out if you can provide any of these services for them. If you want to do more than just find online jobs, though, you may want to start your own business. It is something you can do. We’ve mentioned a few options above that can help you with making money online but consider these that are ideal for college students who want to work at their own pace.
How to earn as a blogger
Earn passive income by creating a blog about a product or service you are passionate about. Then, follow these steps:
- Get an affiliate link from a company within that field so that you can help to promote that product on your blog and earn income from it.
- Content creation is not just about writing articles, though. You can also make the big bucks by creating a few videos to post to social media.
- The more videos you make, the more clicks you get. Content creation is the easiest way to build up a following and build the money you earn.
If you have another passion beyond writing, consider researching ways to earn a decent amount of money from it. If you already have the skills required for real success, even working an hour or so every few days in your spare time can help you build a strong business foundation.
Recognize the certain skills you have that are valuable to another person or company. You don’t have to take on a full time job or even learn new skills to make money. Most students don’t have that type of time. However, you can find freelance work for a variety of the skills you already have, empowering you to earn extra cash doing something you enjoy.
These are just a few ways to make money online. What can you do to earn money online as a college student?