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I received an email the other day from a College Student wanting to know how they could make extra money online. The email stated they didn’t have a lot of time because of their studies. So after giving it some thought, I came up with a list of 7 quick ways college students could make extra money online.
I dismissed blogging because it takes some time to get a blog established and making money. I assumed the emailer needed money fairly quick.
Here are my suggestions to the emailer.
- Become an Online Tutor - I’m not sure what this pays, but I’ve known people in the past who have worked with companies like e-Tutor, SmartThinking and Tutor.Com. Online tutoring is an in-demand service and growing all the time. If you like helping others learn, this could be just the ticket for you. You will have to set aside a certain number of hours per week, anywhere from 2 hours on up on average depending upon which service you go with.
- Give eLessons - Do you know MS Word inside and out? Can you make an Excel spreadsheet scream for mercy? Can you work magic with Quicken? Well, there are thousands of people who just want to know the basics of these programs or are looking for some updating. You can advertise on places such as Craigslist and Kijiji or even the local newspaper. You’d be surprised at the number of people just wanting to learn the basics on operating a computer and who are willing to pay someone to teach them!
- Write Term Papers and Other Documents for Fellow Students - Many moons ago I dated a college student who had a waiting list of other students, professors and off campuss people to write documents for. She was a very good researcher and writer. She probably made more money doing that than what she’s doing now! If you’re good, word will get around. You can also advertise in the school paper and bulletin boards, both online and offline.
- Become a Freelancer - Can you Write, Draw, Create Graphics, Develop Software or any number of creative things? Then check out places such as eLance and RentACoder. You could see all your free time turning into Green time!
- Hawk Your Own Talents - If you don’t care to share your earnings with others, you can try to sell your creative services online in forums like DigitalPoint and SitePoint. (although you may not get as many jobs as if you went with a freelancing agency like RentACoder.) WordPress Themes, VBulletin Skins and all types of Programs as well as Content Writing are popular among the forum buyers. (I’m one of them!)
- Become The Local Consignment “Go To Guy” - A while back one of my friends called me with a story about his son who is in college. He had been sending his kid a few hundred bucks a month to “get by” on. One month his Son said “Dad, you can stop sending the money, I’m making plenty to live on now.” My friend feared his Son was selling drugs or something. As it turns out, he was auctioning off things other students had brought him to sell on eBay. Some of the items he took a cut of the sales price on, the others he would buy outright then sell them his self and keep all the profits. The kid knows how to sell and he knows eBay in and out. At last word, this kid was bringing down over 1500 bucks a month in PROFIT with just a few hours of work a week.
- Become an Online Juror - Even Lawyers need to practice! There are places such a eJury and TrialJuries.Com that stage mock trials. The Jurors get paid anywhere from $5 to $60 depending on how complex the case is. There’s no gaurantee you’ll get a case, but it has to better than cleaning up after the old folks at the Senior Citizen Center! Many colleges have access to these mock jury trials, but from what I’ve been told, they don’t pay as much as the online jury pools. Also, as with anything in life, if you slack off on the Jury, don’t expect to be called back. The more you pay attention and get involved, the more likely they’ll “keep your name around.”
Some college students show up on the first day in a bright shiny BMW convertible. Those are either the ones who do not need help. For most College Students, a few extra dollars a month goes a long ways in making it easier to study for their classes. If you’re in a pinch, there’s no need to run down to the Blood Center to give blood, just turn your computer on and go to work.
16 responses so far ↓
1 Michelle // Jul 18, 2007 at 2:39 pm
College students should also check out oDesk (http://www.odesk.com) if they’re looking at freelancing options. One of the advantages of oDesk is just how easy it is to get paid — you can use the oDesk MasterCard (works like a regular MasterCard) or have the money directly deposited in your bank account. There are tons of job postings and the hourly pay option makes it easy to on your own time. For a college student looking to live on more than Ramen, oDesk is a great way to get some work experience and make some money!
- Michelle, oDesk
2 Don // Jul 18, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Thanks for sharing that site with us Michelle. I just took a quick look at it and it does seem like a viable option for someone needing a quick paying part time job they can do online.
3 Jayanand Ukey // Jul 21, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Your article makes a lot of sense to me. I’ve been freelancing for a while now. I think I think move on to other aspect of money making.
Thanks for the wordly advice
4 Rose // Aug 12, 2007 at 3:37 am
Definitely a very good blog post. My blog is about working from home and I’m going to link to your post because its a good list not just for college kids but for just about anyone that would like to work from home and are tired of all of those “work at home” scams.
5 Chris Gagne // Aug 29, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Don, I hope you’ll check out StudentOfFortune.com. It is a student-to-student question-based tutoring service. One student posts a question with a bounty, other students answer the question and earn the bounty.
A couple of friends and I from college started the site about a year ago. Since then, we’ve been featured in the Washington Post, The Chronicle, USC’s Daily Trojan, and Slashdot. Our top earner has earned over $2,100 answering questions in his spare time, selling many of the same solutions over and over again. We also offer a 5% lifetime referral bonus - refer a user to our site and we’ll credit your account whenever they spend money with us. There’s no withdrawal minimum, and we pay upon request.
Thanks again!
6 Mel // Oct 25, 2007 at 1:18 am
checkout http://www.theclassconnection.com These guys are paying $100 for course notes
7 Justin // Oct 31, 2007 at 11:49 pm
A great new site for college students that want to work is called Barefoot Student. The site is set up somewhat like craigslist but has a focal point on students that have a service to offer. For instance you would like to offer a “moving service” to your community while going to school. Simply go to Barefoot Student and create a free footprint with you name, university, major, service, and rates. Once your footprint is up, households can browse for your service. This site is really taking off fast. Take a look at http://barefootstudent.com
8 Sly from Slyvisions.com // Nov 3, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Hmmm. That’s actually a nice list there that I have never encountered before. Thanks for the tips!
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10 alex // Jan 10, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I hope this isn’t a stupid question, but can someone answer what exactly freelancing is?
11 Don // Jan 21, 2008 at 8:01 am
Freelancing is where you go at it alone. You don’t work for a company, but rather you market your services out to companies or other individuals.
It’s along the same lines as being self employed.
Don
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13 War Gold // Jan 24, 2008 at 12:40 pm
#7. Become an Online Juror
That’s great, never heard of this before. Shall get my girlfriend on to this right away!
Proofreading is another excellent way to make money online without needing much time or specific expertise.
14 Tiffany // Jan 25, 2008 at 10:29 am
Good article! Very useful…When I was in the college, my friens competed to be the laboratory assistance. These position was drilled because these offers many opportunity to get money. They can help the lecture do researches, and of course there was some amount they can get as “salary”. Not much but enough. That’s how me and my friend get more money during the college.
15 Seth // Apr 28, 2008 at 11:08 am
I was going to comment on StudentofFortune.com, but I see I’ve been beaten to the punch. It’s a really innovative service for both contributors and for students seeking help with study, I recommend them heartily.
Another option is the ‘new wave’ of survey/offer sites cropping up on the net recently, such as TreasureTrooper or CashCrate. A far cry from the borderline-scam survey sites of old, there’s no promise of overnight riches, just realistic payment for surveys and offers completed, with payouts by check in increments of $10.
Where they really shine is in their multi-tier referral programs, where a user can get a percentage of the earnings of anyone they get to sign up, and also anyone that person signs up. If a student can get everyone in their dorm to sign up, it can mean an easy 50 bucks (and 10 or 20 for those they referred, so everyone wins).
16 One Year Millionaire // May 8, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Great post. I know a lot of people who were buying and selling on ebay for profits… When I was in college was about the time I started in internet marketing and I first made money online by doing graphic design tasks for others.
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