I believe a lot of people here have already been where I am, when you need that extra cash but you’re too busy doing university stuff.
During my vacations, I developed a strong interest in software and web development, but in the end, I stuck with the latter. Everyday I would come here and accomplish a few challenges. But the time came and I had to go back to school and now I basically have a tenth of the time I used to have to improve my skills. I still feel like I am improving every day but in a much slower pace.
Right now, I really need to get some money and I thought freelancing as a web developer is a great option since that’s what I love doing. The problem is I don’t have the skills and I don’t feel like I’m qualified enough to freelance. I’m okay working with HTML/CSS/JS, but I have near to none knowledge on jQuery and any other back-end technology.
With that said, I feel like I’m stuck in a pretty bad situation. I don’t have the skills to freelance and don’t have the time to learn the skills I need. Honestly I don’t think there’s much I can do but I should at least try getting some advice from more experienced people.
It sounds like you haven’t built the skills yet to work as a developer (whether in a freelance or traditionally employed capacity). Another thing to keep in mind is that freelancing can be extremely time/labor intensive. For the first year or two, you’ll probably have to do the same crappy and low paying work that most students do. After your first or second year of university, you should be in a good position to find a paid internship. Not only does this give you income and experience, but it is an expectation of most Computer Science (and related) degree earners.
Keep learning. It takes a while to build all the necessary skills to freelance. — freelancing is basically being a one-man army that can do frontend, backend, database, graphics, UI/UX design, customer support, billing, sales/marketing.
So how can you make some money online now? You can blog, post Google Ads, amazon affiliate links, sell a product/item on eBay, do all of above. But it’s not an instant success as this depends a lot on your web traffic and marketing.
Back in college, I did programming homework for some of my classmates Also created stereo amplifiers/turntable preamps/electronics projects and sold them to classmates. I also started a computer maintenance/repair business – regularly cleaning 5.25" disk drive heads and drive alignment, for small businesses I visit monthly.
I don’t really mind how much I’m paid as long as I am learning something, to be honest. I tried getting a internship but I couldn’t because my uni requires a minimum amount of course credits I haven’t met yet (if only I hadn’t failed calculus 2…). Not only that, I believe the fact that I’m a mathematician rather than a computer scientist will impose me some trouble in the future when I try to get a job as a web developer. This is what I think, at least. Maybe it doesn’t even matter, I don’t know…
Oh well! Actually I already made some money doing some assignments for my fellow classmates as well! Not that I am proud of this…
But hey, I actually enjoyed the idea of blogging. I had no idea I could actually get money doing this… But I’m definitely going to take a look, there’s a lot of stuff on my mind that I’d like to share with the world.
Blogging — maybe have several blogs. One for your “hobby/like” and others for what is marketable. Pick a niche for each blog.
Starting a blog about advanced math theorems does not probably have a big audience… and if you have an audience, they’ll also probably be broke students like you.
Example of blogs:
A review of coffee makers, roasters, grinders, etc… everything that has to do with coffee … then you post an Amazon link to the products, beans, accessories and when people buy via one of your links, you get a percentage from Amazon.
A review site for ____ whatever/ fill in the blanks ____. bed mattresses, electronics items, TVs, laptops, home appliances.
What do people want to know? what’s in demand? What are people wanting to buy? That’s your target.
Start a site about list of great bargains for used music equipment… then link to the ebay listings … ka-ching, ebay affiliate commissions if somebody buys that item.
Resell items on eBay. Go through garage sales, buy vintage stuff for $1.00, and resell on eBay for $10 + $7 shipping. Ship it first class postage for $2.30. Ka-ching, and double ka-ching.
You can make anywhere from $100-$300 or more on Google Ads, another $100-$200 (more during Christmas holidays) on Amazon commissions per month. It’s free money, why not.
I thought for the last 10 minutes and I guess I’ll be talking about tech. This is really what I like after all. And I believe there’s a huge amount of people interested in this. However, I have no idea where to start at all. Is Wordpress a good platform to get started with?
I am accepting name suggestions too! I’m just too terrible with names
WordPress is just fine for this. Getting started is the difficult part and finding that money making topic.
Tech is a big thing, you need laser-like focus. You just can’t be talking about everything. Pick a narrow niche.
Some ideas: In the tech world, your blog could be about gaming, or overclocking, or hackintoshing… and have amazon affiliate links to games, products, hardware list for building your own computer, overclocking and water-cooling products, etc.
You want to talk about programming, and web stack, and software tools — become a Udemy affiliate and earn commissions for students you refer to Udemy. (Google it)
I guess I’ll be focusing on reviewing the pieces of tech I have. I talked to my father and he’s got one of these professional cameras I can use to take pictures of my stuff. Everything’s going well so far.
I really appreciate the suggestion, owel. Really. I’ll get everything setup today and hopefully I get something done by the end of the weekend.
Hey, Good luck! Hope you make some money, even a few hundred dollars a month will help!
I had an electronics blog where I repair/upgrade old equipment I bought from eBay, or repair equipment that has broken. I took lots of pictures, posted schematic diagrams, tag photos with the broken components – and basically wrote about the troubleshooting steps, or the upgrade process. The post then becomes littered with electronics related keywords that Google Adsense picks up, and then displays electronics related Ads… which are typically high paying too.
Then the upgraded or repaired equipment goes back to eBay and sold for profit! I’ll buy a broken Laboratory power supply for $40, fixed a couple of transistors worth $1.00, and re-sell the repaired Lab power supply for $300. (This equipment sells normally for $450 new).
Its a nice hobby, and a chance for me to work on something “real”… not virtual like website code.
Greetings! My name is Todd. Your topic is close to me. Of course, everybody needs enough money, especially if he/she is young or if a person has to rely only on himself/herself. I’m a postgraduate student but also I’m earning some money as a writer for an online service helping those who wants to buy personal statement. I’ve found this job because I have been looking such kind of a job. I almost didn’t have the experience before. But the employer read my short stories and liked them. So I think that everybody can apply his/her talent for some job. Good luck to all of you.
Also created stereo amplifiers/turntable preamps/electronics projects and sold them to classmates. I also started a computer maintenance/repair business – regularly cleaning 5.25" disk drive heads and drive alignment, for small businesses I visit monthly.
