If you are really looking for a job, by now you must have tried many sites. You have seen how they promise you food that cannot cook even on the best cooker. And now you are fed up with the “earn as you learn” cliche.
One thing i can assure you though is that online jobs are real. You just need to choose the right ones. Ones that will favour you as a student.
The right job for students
First we need to ask ourselves what is the most convenient job for students? Of course it must meet this requirements
- Little to no experience. As a student the last thing you want is a job demanding for a 2 or more years of experience
- Little to no capital. If you were loaded, you could not be looking for a job in the first place
- Convenience. You are a student, you will want a job that will not interfere with your studies
- Good revenue. Why start a job that will earn you less than a dollar per task.
Some insights
Before we jump into the right jobs, its good that we go through some insights. Please take this ones seriously. They will determine how first and how far you will go.
1. Don’t walk alone
If you are looking to starting something serious, you need to build a team. Look for some ambitious and aggressive people whom you can work with. With a team, you will be stronger enough to overcome most challenges.
2. Identify opportunities
In a university or college, there are many things happening everyday, events, trips, meetings, parties, lectures, sports, concerts and other activities. You may not be a contributor but you can be a beneficiary of such occasions
3. Don’t limit yourself
There is nothing like a specific way of doing things. Whatever floats your boat, use it.
4. Save as you earn
As they say, you cant invest without saving. By the way saving is not always about “putting some coins in a can”. Sometimes its about avoiding unnecessary costs. I mean why earn 5k only to spend it all in a barbecue party?
5. Use the available resources
Its not like you will get a loan to start a cyber cafe. It a good idea by the way but not the best. Resources can be any useful thing that can get you started. It can be technology like internet, equipments, structures and facilities at your disposal.
6. Use what you have
You have a hobby, talent or skill, invest on it and promote it via whatever channels available.
7. Remember your fellow students are the best assets
You are in a school environment but to others you are part of the outside world, you can make the best use of your environment to sell to those who can’t access it. Your fellow students are part of your resources and also your potential clients. You have to value and make the best use of them.
With those few insights, lets get started
1. Start a news blog
Why a news blog? first of all, One thing i can assure you is that blogging is not always fun mostly when you make nothing out of it. There are many categories of blogs i.e sports, lifestyle, business and much more, news is just one of them and the best one too. Why;
- News attract traffic. A blog is nothing without viewers and readers is what a news blog will give you. It is more of psychological, people are just curious as they cant resist headlines.
- Content is around you. You don’t have to look for news. The university and college environment is full of drama.
Requirement
All you need is access to a computer or smartphone with internet connection.
How to create a news blog
To create any blog, you need a blogging platform like blogger or wordpress. To learn more, view my article on how to create a blog
How you will earn with your blog
Bloggers earn by placing ads on their blogs. Ads to place on blog are provided by adnetworks. They will then pay you per view, click or conversion. Examples of good adnetworks include
- Google adsense
- Medianet
- Propellor ads
Another way bloggers can earn good cash is through affiliate marketing. It is where you promote a product via a link and is paid commission whenever someone buys a product through that link.
Some good affiliate programs
- Webhosts i.e bluehost, namecheap or hostgator
- Online stores i.e. amazon, jumia, ebay
2. Become a vlogger
Youtubing has become a trend and unlike most trends, it can add value to your life. Vlogging is just like blogging the only difference being you are posting videos not articles.
Requirements
Youtube channel
If you have a gmail account then you have a youtube channel. All you need is to set it up. Its 100% free. This is where you will be uploading your videos.
Video camera
If you have a good phone like apple or oppo. Then you don’t need a camera that much. If not you need to buy a good video cam to record your videos.
How you will earn
As you watch youtube videos, you are likely to come across a 5sec video that autoplays before the video you are intending to watch. That’s an Ad. Now the owner of that channel is paid per ad view.
Lets assume he/she is paid 50cents per view. If the video gathers just 100,000 viewers within a month, that equals to Ksh50,000 in a month. How awesome?
3. Start a design business
Are you skilled in any of these? Fashion design, web design or graphics design. Every event demand these. Posters are needed to market various events. During campaigns a graphic designers can make good cash.
People need to style up during some occasions and some designer clad can come in handy. Business people will also need some business cards and websites to market their products and services. These are opportunities that any designer cannot afford to miss.
Create an app
There many problems that need solutions in a university environment. For example one can create an app that connects lecturers and students or one that updates students on upcoming events. With the insecurity revolving around universities, an app that ensures someones safety is not a bad idea.
4. Start an ecommerce
What would you like to sell, food, clothes, shoes, books, movies, creatives? Why not create an online shop. Online shopping has become a trend and online stores like jumia are making profits out of it.
Requirements
Starting an online shop is free but can also demand some cash depending on how you choose to do it.
E commerce platform
To sell online, you will need a system that can process payments, display products, track views, clicks and conversions and other related tasks.
There are two ways of accessing these programs
- Creating a shop on a popular store like jiji, amazon or jumia. This is the easiest option since you are just required to create a merchant account with the site/store
- Installing the program in your website. For this option you not only need a website but also some skills in setting up an online store. One can create a store with platforms like woocommerce, prestashop, cubecart or shoppify among others.
Payment gateway
Mpesa is an example of a payment gateway being used to pay for goods bought online among others like paypal, skrill, and visa. To start collecting cash from your clients you will need to create a merchant account with one of the above.
For mpesa you will need a paybill or till number. Others will give you an api key/ code to add to your website. If you are not ready for all of the above, you can improvise “cash on delivery” as a payment option.
5. Start photography and animation
In a students life, there are many moments that need to be remembered. You can be the one to help them remember those moments by capturing them as a photographer. You can also do some value addition by editing them with photoshop or turning them into a video. It will not only earn you some cash but will keep on top of the game
Requirement
Camera
You will need a good camera for this. Most good cameras will not go for anything less than 10k. If your phone is any of this brands, then you don’t a camera. Sony xperia, Oppo or Apple.
Photo editing app/software
Photo editors do wonders when it comes to optimising the appearance of photos. Photoshop is the most popular one but we have more like Gimp and Photoscape which are free and can still do a good job. Some are android app i.e. Snapseed, Picsart and others.
Photo/video animation app
By now you could be familiar with this apps as they are being advertised all over the internet. Apps like Viber are being used to turn photos into stylish videos. You can up your game by opting for the premium versions of better apps like Filmigo to create more stunning and professional videos
Thank you for reading this article. Have something in mind? You can leave a comment.
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