As the cost of living rises, more students are taking up part-time jobs to get extra cash.
However, there are many other flexible ways to earn money besides conventional part-time promoter jobs. Here are some ideas to earn money:
1. Operate An Online Business
Chances are you have bought products online before. Why not consider being a seller instead?
Pros:
- Easy to set up.
- Work anytime, anywhere.
- Broad range of customers (national/international).
- Be your own boss=freedom.
Things To Consider:
- Capital.
- Niche.
- Competition.
- Range of products.
- Good and consistent supplier.
- Receive and store stocks.
- Marketing.
In short, operating an online business may seem easy, but it is as time and effort-consuming as a physical business. With proper planning and execution, many have found success in online business.
2. Be A Dropship Agent
As a dropship agent, you own a business without the hassle of handling products. You are responsible to promote your chosen supplier’s products under the name of your own business. After receiving payment from a customer, you will pay the supplier. The supplier will then send the product to the customer under your business name.
Pros:
- No stocks needed. You no longer need to store, receive or send out stocks, as the supplier does all that for you under your business name.
- Easy to set up.
- Work anytime, anywhere.
- Set your own profit margin.
Things To Consider:
- Competition, as many others are selling similar products.
- Lack of quality control. As the supplier sends the products directly to the customer, you cannot personally check the product quality. If customers receive poor quality products, you may lose credibility.
- Refund and exchange policies and delivery time differ with different suppliers.
3. Create A Blog
It is fairly easy to set up a blog especially if you love writing. However, effort is required to find a suitable niche, design your blog, produce tip-top content and attract people to your blog. It will be a steep learning curve to get everything right, especially for first-timers. You do not have to do everything alone-seek help from others or freelancers when necessary. When you have built up a following, monetize with AdSense and Nuffnang or be a product reviewer to receive free products.
4. Be An Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing is one of the ways bloggers generate money from their blogs. Affiliate marketers put special affiliate links on their blog posts or social media posts. When a person clicks that link and buys from it, the marketer will get a certain percentage of the money spent.
This process may differ slightly between different affiliate programmes. The most popular ones are Amazon Affiliate Program, ClickBank and Wealthy Affiliate. Do research properly on their pros and cons before going into them.
Here, there are local affiliate programmes eg Lazada Affiliate Program, Uber Affiliate Program, Zalora Affiliate Program , etc. However, you need a certain number of blog visitors before you are eligible to be an affiliate for certain programmes.
Tip: the main trick for affiliate success is driving large volumes of traffic to your website/post!
5. Be A Freelancer
Freelance by listing your skills on these platforms for free. Freelance websites are similar to job recruitment websites, in that many clients will look for freelancers through these websites. Choose to freelance with international freelance platforms such as Upwork, Freelancer and Fiverr. Alternatively, find freelance work by actively approaching potential clients.
6. Develop an app
Technical skills are required to develop apps, but one can always learn. If your app is widely used, it can generate a large income through advertisements. Alternatively, you can buy the source code from Chupamobile or generate apps using Appypie.
7. Be a Youtuber
If you watch videos from Youtube frequently, why not produce some videos of your own instead? There is no limit to the type of videos that can be produced. Set your creativity free and experiment with various types of video content ie vlogs, tutorials, performances or short films. The skills you learnt will also be useful for school projects!
8. Be a Grab Driver
If you have a driving license and have what it takes, have a go at being a Grab driver. Besides earning money, you can also brush up on your soft skills as you meet new people and build relationships. Who knows, you might meet your future employer or your new best friend!
Before choosing a part-time hustle, remember to research extensively and avoid hasty decisions. Learn something from each experience, be it failure or success. Most importantly, consistent effort will always pay off at the end of the day-be it in school or your side hustle!
