FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE SERIES
1. PASSIVE INCOME IDEAS FOR STUDENTS
Since our childhood, we are made to believe that we can earn money only after completing education and securing a good job. While education and a good job, undoubtedly, are one of the most significant parts of our lives, it is totally wrong and inappropriate to limit our money prospects and desires as a student, and depend completely on our parent’s income. There is a plethora of opportunities and ways to earn money as a student in this gifted age of digitalisation and globalisation. Whether you are a college or a school student with no specific skill or talent, or an academically below average student who doubts himself at every upcoming stage, you need not to worry. 21st century has got something for everyone living alive on this planet, the only requirement is to be conscious, curious and the ability to grab every opportunity that passes by your side.
In this blog, we will make you aware of some of the passive income opportunities, which can easily be coped up with your college/school studies, and can provide you an income enough to fulfil your own desires, and lay a foundation for your financially-independent-self.
1. Freelancing
Freelancing basically means that you, based on your skill, will be working for a company/organisation, without being hired. You will receive your payment on project basis.
For example, if you a good video editor, you can freelance for different companies to complete their individual requirements. You will get a project to do, you will complete it, and receive the payment, and the work is over. Similarly, there are hundreds of domains in which you can freelance. Some of the most popular domains are mentioned below:
- Video editing
- Graphic designing
- Coding
- Content writing
- Copywriting
- Translation
- Social media marketing
- Web designing and development
- Search engine optimisation (SEO)
- Transcription
- Voice over acting
- Photography/videography
- Survey organising
The only thing you need to do is to pick up a skill that suits you, practice it for some months such that you become able to handle projects in that domain, create some effective sample works and you are ready to earn! There are nearly a dozen of websites like fiverr, upwork, freelancer, etc. where you can find thousands of freelance works for your particular domain. It may take some time to finally get a work but patience is definitely the key. Also, you will find hundreds of paid and unpaid courses if you wish to learn any of the above given skills. YouTube is definitely a very good source.
Freelancing has gained worldwide attention, especially during the COVID-19 period when many people lost their jobs. The best part is that you can work according to your convenience, whenever and wherever you want to.
2. Start a blog / YouTube channel
Do you enjoy writing? Well, starting a blog maybe a perfect source of income for you. However, this will not be an immediate income. Starting a blog in itself will not fetch you any money until you monetise it by advertising products on your blog page.
Once you start a blog, you will have to build in traffic for your blog so that more people come and get acquainted with the advertisements. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a skill that you will have to learn and practice relentlessly to build your traffic.
Once you have a good number of visitors on your blog, there will be many ways to advertise and earn money.
- Google ads is one of the most preferred source in this context. Once you enable it, ads of things related to your content will be displayed in your blog. Every time a visitor clicks on the ad, you will get a certain amount of money.
- Affiliate marketing is another source where you get the permission by a seller to insert the link of his product in your website. Every time a visitor buys that product using the link in your blog, you will get a share of revenue from the seller.
- You can also sell your own products through your blog. For example, if you have started an educational blog, you can sell your notes, study material, question banks, etc through your blog.
Similarly, you can also create a youtube channel and earn by gaining views and advertising.
3. Create a course/ Give tutions
Do you already posses a skill that you have mastered? You can create a course teaching it and sell it through internet. From cooking to painting and coding, it can be anything.
It will be a booster for you if you create the course in your native language. It will help you fight the competition and will make your course unique.
If you have been good in your academics, or you have the confidence to teach students, you can certainly do so. You can either give private tutions through offline or online mode, or can connect with other educators or education organisations and help them in teaching, or preparing academic content.
There are also certain online platforms where you can sell your class notes!
4. Virtual Assistance
A virtual assistant’s work varies according to the needs of the organisation he is working in. generally, it involves assisting the client in creative, management or administrative dimensions. The best thing about this work is that you are hired by an organisation and still you are not required to be physically present in office.
As a student, you can virtually assist people or organisations as their social media manager. You can handle the social media accounts of start-up organisations, or any other person who doesn’t have time to promote his social media. you can create posts, reply to customer grievances, and increase the reach of the organisation through social media platforms.
You can find a lot of opportunities in this field online. However, a better approach is of cold emailing the person or the organisation with whom you want to work, addressing all the details and attaching your CV.
5. Publish an E-Book
Create an E-Book and this asset will earn for you lifetime!
If you like writing stories, poems or any sort of articles, compile them, design a cover page and publish an E-Book on online platforms. You may require to promote your book initially, but if properly executed, it will fetch you a decent amount of money.
The most preferred way to do so is to publish your book on Amazon, as it has a very good number of worldwide customers, which makes your task of promoting books a little easier.
There are much more earning ideas such as paid internships, transcription, and even storytelling! Websites like internshala can help you find many paid internship opportunities matching your skill. There are also some websites where you can earn by solving students’ doubts.
If you keep searching, you will find millions of opportunities in front of you. Grab them, start earning, and take a step further towards a better-financed You.
