Firstly, pat yourself on the back. You are looking for ways to earn money as a college student in your free time instead of wasting it.
Being able to earn while you are still in college gives a certain sense of independence. No more asking for money from your parents for every little thing. Being able to buy things which you need on your own and pay your own bills.
Now, there are many ways to earn money as a college student, both online and offline. But know this that none of the things listed below can make you super-rich, at least not in the beginning.
Additionally, earning money will require you to dedicate time and efforts and you will have to manage your college work at the same time.
So buckle up and get ready to put in some work…
After all, you don’t enjoy the victories for which you didn’t have to work hard.
Things you can do to earn money as a college student:
Blogging
The first in our list is the one about which you probably knew already. But did you know that blogging actually has a lot of money earning potential?
Here’s how it works,
First, you need to create a blogging website, otherwise known as a blog. Don’t worry, you don’t need to learn any programming languages.
Platforms like Wordpress, Wix, and Bluehost make your job easy.
Secondly, you choose various topics you think people will be interested to read about. The topics can be anything from tech to the cinema or from sports to writing about art.
We suggest you write on topics that are a balance between what your audience wants and what you are interested to write about.
If you are interested, your readers will probably be interested as well.
However, you’ll need to cross the learning of blogging as well as learn how content writing works.
Finally, here are a few ways you can earn money from your blog or monetize it:
- Ads (Google AdSense)
- Affiliate Marketing
- Sponsored posts
- Guest blogging
- Offering writing services
Freelancing
Here’s another amazing way to earn money as a college student without a lot of initial investment. It’s also a profession that is gaining a lot of popularity recently.
Freelancing is another term for being self-employed and offering services to the ones in need of it. Think of it this way, as a freelancer you are a business owner and your business is basically offering your services. You offer them on a contract basis rather than a typical employment basis.
As a freelancer, you can offer these services:
- Writing
- Photography
- Designing
- Programming
- Marketing/ Digital Marketing
- Website building
- Social Media Handling
- And many more
If you can offer a service that you think a company or an individual will be benefiting from, you can get paid for doing so.
But you will need to create a portfolio to land your first client. You can either choose to create a portfolio website or use platforms like Behance if you are a designer.
As mentioned, freelancers are self-employed individuals. As a result, you’ll have to find your own clients which can be difficult in the beginning. Start by leveraging people that you know and that can use your services.
Starting a YouTube channel
A fun and amazing way to showcase your talents, gain fame and at the same time have the potential to earn a lot of money, is by starting a channel of YouTube.
First, start by creating a YouTube channel and uploading videos you wish to. These videos can be about you traveling in your city or anywhere else, reviewing a new phone, or even as simple as the gameplay of a video game.
Anything you can think of or would like to upload a video about, you can. Just ensure that you are following the YouTube guidelines.
Secondly, start marketing your videos among your friends and family. Also, ask them to share them and promote your channel.
Finally, once your channel has over 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within 12-months, you can start monetizing your videos.
YouTube, however, is something which people seem to be thinking like a hack to become famous and wealthy quickly. But that isn’t the reality. You will have to put in the effort and make videos that are of value to your audience.
Additionally, you’ll have to be patient. So we suggest thinking of YouTube as more of a long term gig rather than a get-rich-quick-scheme.
Become a tutor
You can become a student who earns money by helping other students learn. Tutoring is pretty simple. You teach and spread knowledge on the subjects you are informed about, for which you get paid.
Apart from teaching knowledge, you also have the ability to teach some principles and skills to your students.
Live the Jedi life
There are two ways you can earn money from tutoring:
- You can start tutoring online
- Or you can gather students in your locality and start tutoring them.
You can tutor people regarding any and everything. From mathematics to graphic designing, just explore your expertise and spread knowledge.
Start flipping
Here comes Gary Vaynerchuck’s favorite thing to do in the world
Flipping is something which you’ll fall in love with if you’ve even the tiniest of entrepreneurial flair. It refers to buying things online or in your locality and then selling them for a profit margin.
You can look on websites like OLX and eBay to find things that you feel like can earn you a profit. You might also need to refurbish them a bit to make them sellable.
There’s a huge potential in flipping and you can start off with as little as you have. However, to become successful in flipping you need to have proper knowledge before investing in any item.
Research a bit so that you can have a better judgment of what to put your money on and which things to leave alone.
Online websites
There’s a whole array of websites or online platforms that you can use to offer your services. These websites can also be used to kickstart your freelancing career and gain some initial clients.
However, these platforms can also give you some consistent work while taking a small portion of your earnings.
Some of the online websites where you can offer services include:
- Fiverr - you can offer to do anything including coaching people to play games
- Upwork - offers a wide variety of professional opportunities
- Squadhelp - get paid to give businesses names and design their logo
- ProBlogger - mainly writing gigs
Most of these websites are free to join but might require you to pass a few tests.
Find part-time jobs/internships
Part-time jobs and internships are the best way you can earn money as a college student as well as gain skills and valuable experience.
Look for them on websites like Internshala, Frapp, and Letsintern.
We suggest you look for internships/ part-time jobs which you will love and at the same time learn valuable things.
How to do that?
By ensuring that you are prepared, having your resume ready, and being confident in the interview.
PTC and survey sites
PTC Sites and survey sites pay for things like completing surveys, clicking on ads, referring, etc. They are one of the easiest ways to make a quick buck and are mostly free to join.
PTC sites earn money by advertising the company’s products and you get paid for clicking on them.
Companies on the other hand also require data and so they hire survey sites to do so. You get paid for finishing surveys by answering simple questions.
However, both PTC and survey sites don’t pay a lot, just enough to keep going.
Some of the best Paid to Click (PTC) Sites
Here are some of the best survey sites
Be careful of not sharing your sensitive information to any of the PTC or survey sites.
Become a delivery guy/ partner
On average, a food/ package delivery guy earns around INR 12,000 per month and a cab driver earns about INR 20,000 per month.
Companies like Uber, Ola, Zomato, Swiggy, Amazon, and Flipkart are always in need of new people to either deliver a package or pick and drop people.
There are some requirements for you to work for them:
- Bike or Car
- Driving License
- PAN Card & Bank Account
- AADHAR Card for Proof
Search websites like Indeed to look for jobs as a delivery boy.
Start your own start-up
One of the best ways and our favorite way to earn money while being in college is to start your own startup.
Why work for someone else when you can work for yourself.
But starting up and building a profitable business isn’t exactly an easy task. You’ll need to go through a lot of things like developing a business plan, finding co-founders, and identifying a problem that needs to be solved as well as even market your business.
You will have to learn how to become an entrepreneur and make necessary decisions. Entrepreneurial lifestyle can be one of the most rewarding things but only if you are willing to put in the efforts.
