Whether you live at home, in halls of residence or in a
shared student house, chances are that while you are at university
studying for your degree or postgraduate qualifications, cash is going
to be tight. Many students take on part time work or work through their
summer holidays to help fund studies – and social life, of course – but
you can also get creative. Be resourceful, get your laptop out…and you
can earn yourself some cash without even getting up off the sofa. The
only requirements for these jobs are laptop, internet connection and
your time.
So if you like the idea of being able to work from home, here are 11 ways to do that:
1. Paid Surveys
You’re not going to make your fortune but taking paid surveys
is an easy and fun way students can earn passive income and leave the
money building up into a lump sum. Many companies use online survey
agencies to do their market research. They want to find out what a cross
section of the general public think about their existing and potential
products and the agency will pay you for answering a few multiple choice
questions.
If you are selected to take the survey, they take a matter
of minutes to complete and you get a couple of quid or so for your
troubles. The more you take, the quicker those small amounts will build
up into a decent amount so register yourself with a few different paid
survey companies to get a better chance of completing as many as
possible. Some companies pay out in the form of vouchers and gift certificates – good for students who are taking surveys to pay for high street shopping sprees!
2. Freelancer Jobs
Have a think: What existing skills do you have that someone
else would be willing to pay you for? More and more companies are
starting to outsource all those jobs they either don’t have the time to
do themselves or, particularly for smaller companies, those jobs they
don’t have the skillset for. You could be the person to take that work
off their hands and earn yourself some much needed cash.
There are many online freelancing websites
out there that you can register with for free. Fill in your profile and
when you see a job listed that you think you could do, put in a bid. As
you get more jobs with good feedback under your belt and your profile
grows, other projects are usually easier to come by. There’s a huge
variety of jobs on there so you could do simple data entry tasks or take
on work that gives you experience for your future graduate career. It’s
up to you.
3. Online Tutoring
You’re a university student, which means you are furthering
your study in a particular subject that you are interested in and that
you excel in. Have you thought about passing that knowledge on to
someone else in the form of tutoring? These days, tutoring doesn’t mean
you have to meet up face to face with your tutee. All of this can be
done from the comfort of the sofa via your laptop and an internet
connection – online tutoring jobs mean you can access students all over the world who might be able to benefit from your help.
Some subjects, such as maths, science and law, are more in
demand than others but most subjects lend themselves well to online
tutoring. A fast broadband connection and instant messaging systems,
such as Skype or Google+ hangouts are essential for work like this.
4. Website Testing
Companies rely heavily on their websites, these days, both
for maintaining an online presence and also, more importantly, to make
money. That’s where you come in. It is possible to make money by testing websites.
Web designers work hard to make sure that when a consumer
clicks into a website, it’s easy to navigate, the consumer can find
exactly what they need, and that it’s simple to make a purchase.
However, what seems easy to one person isn’t necessarily easy for
another. How user friendly is the website? Companies will pay consumers –
and that includes students at university – a fee to test out their
websites to make sure the site is fast, bug free and, of course, working
to make a profit for the company.
5. Transcription
Students who really know their way around a qwerty keyboard can make money from home by doing transcription work.
Public speakers and people who do a lot of interviews are always
looking for transcribers to type out their their recorded audio and
videos. Competition for transcription work can be tough but it can still
be an easy few quid. You just need your laptop and a set of earphones.
These days, there’s a variety of transcription software you can use to
make life easier for yourself.
Transcription jobs can be good for students who don’t have a
reliable internet connection. Once you’ve downloaded your audio – and
let’s face it, you can do that anywhere – you can transcribe the audio
offline in your own time.
6. Sell Photos
Selling photos online
is another way cash strapped university students can make a bit of
extra money via the laptop and the good news is, you don’t have to be a
professional photographer to do this.
Companies, web designers and graphic designers, right down
to hobby bloggers, are always looking for legal images they can use on
their products, brochures and sites. These photos are obtained from
stock photography websites and stock photography websites get their
photos from people like you. Do a bit of research to see what type of
photos get the most downloads and go through your photo archives. If
you’ve got something you think fits the bill, start to build up your
stock photography profile and you’ll be paid a small amount each time
one of your photos is downloaded. As with the online surveys, this is a
good way for students to build up a bit of passive income slowly.
Have you got a Flickr account? If you have photos on the
social networking site make sure you have your profile set for Getty
Images to be able to view them. You never know, you might just get that
email one day where they’d like to use your photo for an advertising
campaign. Negotiate your fee and you could be quids in.
7. Sell Creations
Are you a creative type of student? Maybe you’re doing your
university degree in Art, Design or fashion, for example. Or maybe
you’re just downright talented in creating your own jewellery. If any of
this applies to you, then sites such as Etsy are places where you can
build yourself an online profile. If you are doing a degree in a
creative subject, an Etsy account can be used later as part of your
portfolio.
Etsy works like other social networks so don’t expect to
add all your wonderful creations to your boards and the sales to come
flooding in. Most students and graduates are familiar with social media
these days – familiarise yourself with how Etsy works and get to know
others on the site who create similar items to you. Hopefully, they will
then help you out in other social media outlets. Oh and remember to
show restraint – remember you’re here to make money on your laptop, not
spend money on your laptop. Don’t be buying everyone else’s creations.
8. Write A Blog
No, you don’t need to be an expert web designer or tech
whizz to write a blog. These days, there are loads of blogging sites out
there that make it as easy as ‘paint by numbers’ to get going with your
blog. Simply choose a subject you know about and you’re up and running.
And how can students make money from a blog? There are lots
of ways to do this directly from your blog and also through
opportunities that might arise as a result of your blog. Income from
blogging isn’t instant. It takes time to build up your online presence,
but once you’re there, it is possible to generate some decent
supplementary income.
Read our detailed guide on how students can Make Money From Blogging.
9. Translation
Are you a student studying a foreign language degree? Are
you bilingual? Or maybe you’re just one of these people who attracts the
envy of others in your ability to speak and write a variety of foreign
languages. If you fit any of these criteria then you could be sat at
home with your laptop translating a variety of topics. This is usually
from English to your specialist language or vice versa.
As with the online freelancing sites, there’s a growing
number of online translation companies that are looking for people like
you to translate for their clients. This is perfect for students as you
can work in your own time and you only need to take work on when you
have the spare time to do it.
10. Content Writing
Students or graduates with a flair for the written word can
use their laptop to generate content for other people’s websites. This
can be anything from writing blog posts to articles – and if you know a
bit about SEO to boot, then a you might be able to command higher rates
for your knowledge. There are many people out there who need websites
and blogs for their company who don’t have the time, inclination or
knowledge (maybe even all three of those) to keep their website updated.
Get your laptop out and get writing for cash.
11. Ebay
Ebay is an easy way to make some extra cash, selling all
that stuff you don’t need anymore. So come on, it’s time to get
ruthless. Comb through the wardrobe and drawers. How many of those pairs
of shoes that you’ve been keeping for ‘just in case’ do you really
need? You’d be surprised at what people can make use of – get it all on
Ebay. That outfit you bought for a one-off night out, clothes you simply
don’t wear anymore, that designer shirt you bought on a whim and then
wondered what on earth you were thinking. Someone, somewhere will love
the clothes you don’t.
And it’s not just clothes. We’d like to bet you’ve got
bookshelves with course textbooks you don’t need anymore, CDs and DVDs
you haven’t listened to or watched in an age. And what about jewellery,
too? There’s allsorts you can sell on Ebay. Do a bit of research, see
what’s selling, price your goods accordingly and away you go.
There are many ways, other than the 11 suggestions above,
that students can make money from their laptop. Be sure to click on any
of the links in the article to get further information about the
different suggestions. Have you got any top tips? We’d love to hear from
you in the comments below…
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