As all students know, cash can often be hard to come by when we are concentrating on studying and getting the best grades possible. Studying at university is fun but is also hard work. Mixing university exams with a part time job can be strenuous. Apart from the extra travel costs to get too and from work, you can find that you barely have time for the things you most enjoy as you attempt to juggle your studies and your job. However, there is no reason why you can’t earn money without having to work a laborious or boring part time job.
Here’s seven different but fun ways in which you can earn some extra cash whilst you continue with your university studies. Check them out below!
Create your own online shop
Creating your own business has never been easier. As long as you have a computer and a secure internet connection you are in a position to build your own online business. If you have a skill or expertise to offer people, then you can sell it online. Some examples of online shops include making and selling your own jewellery, offering yourself as a website builder and tarot card reading – the opportunities here are endless. Perhaps you are an artist, if so, why not try and sell your artwork online?
There are plenty of websites which ensure that creating your own online shop is very simple. Websites such as Bluehost will ensure you can set up your own website in less than 30 minutes. From here you will be able to monetise the site in plenty of ways. Social media is a great way to attract visitors to your site whilst great videos and well-written articles will help your site to rank well on search engines and bring in natural organic traffic. If you can find a niche market without much competition, then even better. At the same time, if your business is a hard one to break into, then why not get in touch with your competitors and see if you can work together?
The ease in which websites can now be created means you do not need to invest much time into them. If you can build them up over a weekend and put aside a few evenings per week to maintain the site and add new content, then you can be earning a small but passive income in no time.
Sell unused items on Shpock, eBay and Gumtree
A great way to earn some quick cash is to sell items that you no longer use. For example, if you have a bunch of video games you no longer play-on or if you have some old books, furniture or DVDs, then the likelihood is that someone out there will want to purchase them from you. This will also allow you to get rid of clutter from your home. Sphock, eBay and Gumtree will take a percentage of the money you make for themselves, but these are the best ways in which you can advertise and sell your unwanted items.
Dog Walker and pet sitting
If you love animals, then dog walking and pet sitting is the perfect way to earn a little extra cash. If you live in a community and are not too far off the beaten track, the likelihood is that there will be pet owners looking for someone to walk their dogs or cat-sit for them if they are on holiday. Looking after someone else’s pet can be extremely rewarding too, it also takes your mind off your studies for a while. Pets bring enormous joy to so many people. If you have recently left home in order to go to university, then having a pet to look after, even if it not your own can really help you keep a positive mood. The money can be good too. You can advertise in your local newspaper offering your services. Facebook and Twitter are also good ways in which you can advertise your pet sitting and dog walking skills.
Stream on Twitch
The video game streaming platform Twitch allows you to play your favourite video games in front of an audience. If you are a master at video games or if you are a born entertainer, then you may be able to build up quite a following. Some of the most popular Twitch streamers gather tens of thousands of subscribers to their Twitch channels. If you like to play video games during your spare time anyway, then you might as well stream your gameplay. You will have to invest in a decent camera and microphone so your viewers are able to see and hear you, but the investment could pay off massively. What is better than earning some extra cash whilst playing your favourite video games?
Your Twitch viewers are able to subscribe to your streams for $4.99 per month whereby a large percentage of that money will go straight into your bank account. Your Twitch viewers are also free to donate money to you as well as send you ‘bits’ which are like a Twitch currency. The competition is tough though, so you have to be genuinely dedicated to entertaining your Twitch viewers.
Affiliate Marketing
Put simply, affiliate marketing is where you direct traffic from your own website to another one. If you already have your own blog or website with a good presence, or if you have a social media following, you can bring in money by promoting various companies, services and offers. Simply advertise the services offered by other online companies and services, grab your affiliate link from them so that they know you sent a customer to them and share it online. The biggest affiliate sites are able to make hundreds of thousands of pounds per month. With only a small amount of time spent doing this, there’s no reason why you cannot make some extra by utilising affiliate marketing.
You can sign up as a publisher at awin.com and browse their merchant links until you find something that you think your friends of people you know might be interested in.
Poker, casino gaming and betting on the bookies using welcome offers
Gambling websites constantly offer their players free bonuses and welcome offers. Who wouldn’t want free money, right? If you enjoy sports, then there are numerous online bookies who will offer welcome bonuses for all new players. These welcome offers can include free bets which you can earn just from registering an account. If you win a bet with your free money, then you will have earned money for nothing. If you lose, then you still have not lost any of your own money.
Some casino sites offer players hundreds of pounds just for signing up. Many of these welcome bonuses are 100% match deposit bonuses, meaning that if you register an account and deposit £50, the casino will give you another £50 to play with for no extra cost. You can use your welcome bonus by playing games like Lightning Roulette at Playfrank casino – with any luck you will be able to cash out your winnings in no time.
If you are a good poker player, then online poker is also a good way in which to earn some extra cash. Poker is a skill game that is often picked up by Maths geniuses. In poker, if you are a better player than your opponent, then you will win. Of course, there is still luck involved, but if you are truly skilful and you play for long enough, then your profits will add up. PokerStars is a great site for beginning your online poker journey. PokerStars offer tournaments for as little as £1 where winners can often scoop over £1000.
Please just remember to gamble responsibly.
Buy and sell domains
Buying and selling website domains is another way in which you can make some quick cash. A domain name is simply a website address and they can cost as little as £0.99 whilst premium domains can sell for thousands and sometimes even millions of pounds. Buying domains is easy, simply go to a website such as GoDaddy.com and search through a list of domains that they have for sale. You can also manually search.
The idea here is to search for available domains which have some commercial value or are likely to have value in the future. You can then sell the domains at places such as NameCheap.
Get in touch with us if you were able to make a success of any of our hints and tips from above!
