Posts published on September 16, 2015

How College Students Can Get Creative to Earn Money

BY JANE HURST

Often, the term “starving college student” isn’t that far off from the truth. Jobs aren’t always easy to come by, and you can only sell so much blood before you are too weak to attend classes. So, how can you make extra money to help with expenses while you are in college? You need to get creative. Here are some great ways to earn a few extra bucks here and there, and you may even be able to turn some of these ideas into a lucrative business.

  • Start a YouTube Channel – This is a great way to make extra money, and if you are a communications or a film student, you may even earn extra credits. Many people earn a very comfortable living just by making videos and putting them on their own YouTube channels. All you have to do is plan a channel, make videos, and partner with YouTube. Then, you will get paid for revenue from advertising.
  • Sell Your Photos – If you take good photos, you may want to turn them into extra cash. There are all kinds of websites that are looking to buy quality photographs, and you don’t need to be a professional photographer to make money. Stock photography is a great way to make extra money. Simply upload your photos to sites such as istockphoto.com, and each time it is downloaded, you will make money. Release forms are needed for photos including people.
  • Sell Your iPhone – One way to make money is to sell off those old gadgets that you are no longer using. For instance, if you have an old iPhone, if it is in decent condition, you may get a pretty good price. Rather than listing it for sale on Craig’s List or other want ad sites where you may not get the best price, check out GadgetSalvation, where you will always get the top price.
  • Write an E-Book – Put your creative writing skills to good use and create an e-book to sell online. For the best results, create a how-to book of some sort, as these seem to be the best-selling e-books. If you are a good creative writer, you may want to consider writing a fiction novel. This may actually be the way that you get discovered as a great writer, and your writing career may be launched here. Sites to publish through include Amazon, LuLu, and Clickbank.
  • Sell Crafts – If you are the crafty type, but you can’t afford craft supplies, try selling your work on websites such as Etsy. This will give you extra cash, and you can buy more supplies and make more stuff. Eventually, you will be making a pretty good profit. There is an added benefit to this. Doing crafts is a great way to relax after a stressful day in classes.
  • Create a Blog – You can make money with your blog. You may already be blogging, so why not make it more worth your while? All you have to do is get into affiliate marketing. You let advertisers put their ads on your blog page. Each time someone clicks on one of those ads and buys something, you receive a percentage of the sale. You don’t have to do any work except write your blog, and if you are already doing that, there really is no work at all.
  • Create T-Shirts – Artistic types may be interested in designing and selling t-shirts. There are various sites you can use to have your shirts printed, and then you can sell them around campus, to friends, in stores, etc. Look for ways to sell your shirts. For instance, if there is an event going on, contact organizers to offer them a great deal on custom shirts for their event.

Byline:

Jane Hurst has been working in education for over 5 years as a teacher. She loves sharing her knowledge with students, is fascinated about edtech and loves reading, a lot.