No-risk matched betting
Hands down the quickest way to make a lot of money (well, without breaking the law). Lots of students have genuinely made £100s from this technique. It's completely legal, risk free, tax free, and anyone can do it.
It works by taking advantage of free bets regularly offered by betting sites through ‘matching' them at a betting exchange. Matched betting eliminates the risk (you are betting both for and against a certain outcome).
This leaves you being able to squeeze out the free bet, which can be as much as £200! Multiply this by how many betting sites there are and you can quite easily come away with a profit of a few hundred pounds.
Owen walks you through how to make your first £18 profit (using a real life example) in this gem of a guide to matched betting. If you know of any better way to make £50/hr sitting at home, please let us know!
Online surveys
An increasingly popular way for students to make money is to fill out online surveys in their spare time. Research companies are always recruiting new members to answer surveys and test new products.
For a few minutes of form filling, you can make a couple of quid which is paid as cash or rewards. You can bag up to £3 ($5) for some surveys!
A few good ones to try are: Toluna, MySurvey, i-Say, OnePoll, Global Test Market, The Opinion Panel, YouGov, Panel Opinion, Pinecone, Valued Opinions, SurveyBods, PanelBase, Branded Surveys, Hiving, Opinion Outpost, Prolific Academic, Harris Poll, Mind Mover, New Vista, PopulusLive, iPoll.
Also sign up for Swagbucks which rewards you for surveys as well as simply surfing the web, watching videos and playing games.
Update: See our new full guide to the best paid online surveys!
Paid for searching the web
Interested in earning cash for doing what you already do online? This has to be one of the easiest methods of making money online without really any effort or change in your behavior.
This innovative idea by Qmee.com rewards you for searching in Google, Bing or Yahoo. You just install a simple add-on to your browser and when you conduct a search there may be a few sponsored results alongside your normal search.
Each Qmee result has a cash reward attached – if you are interested in it simply click on it and collect your reward.
The best thing is there is no minimum to cashout – our first one was just 72p wired to our Paypal account. You also have the option to donate it to charity.
Sign up now for free and start earning from your own searches! Click here to start.
Online market trading
The historically hard-to-break world of investing in stock markets and currencies has been cracked wide open. Today there is no need to be a fat cat or fund the yachts of Wolf of Wall Street style stock brokers. You can do it all yourself with the help of online market trading platforms.
Having spent many hours researching this new opportunity, I've been experimenting with the two biggest platforms: Plus500 and eToro.com. Both offer free practice accounts.
Overall I prefer eToro with over 4.5 million users worldwide. It was recently featured in the BBC 2 documentary “Traders: Millions by the Minute” and the Financial Times.
One of the best things on eToro is the CopyTrader feature. This lets you literally see, follow and copy the investments of other top performing traders.
Follow George's complete guide to trading on eToro to learn more. I think $200 is a good amount to get the most out of the learning curve by trying out a few different markets. If nothing else you'll learn a great deal about various investments and industries.
Please be aware that CFDs are a leveraged product and can result in the loss of your entire capital. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Trading CFDs may not be suitable for you. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved.
Start your own website
Interested in generating passive income? You need a website. It's THE way to make money while you sleep.
Starting a website with Bluehost takes less than 20 minutes, costs hardly anything and can be done by an 82 year-old. It only takes a bit of plugging on social media to get your first visitors, and there are plenty of ways to monetise your site.
Save the Student is just one example of a successful website, started at university by Owen Burek in his first year, which has since grown into a full-time and sizable enterprise.
Read Owen's step-by-step guide on how to start a website in 20 minutes. It's really one of the best assets you can have.
Review websites & apps for cash
Well it seems like you're pretty nifty with a web browser, so perhaps it's time to turn pro and browse websites as a paid and fun job!
Introducing UserTesting.com – a new platform that pays everyday people to review all kinds of websites. Each review takes around 20 minutes and bags you $10 (£6.50) via Paypal.
Simply sign up here, complete a test review and look forward to receiving websites in your inbox.
Write and publish a Kindle eBook
If students are good at anything, it's researching and writing. With the Amazon Kindle store, anyone can publish an eBook and make money.
And the Kindle app is now available on almost any device (laptops, iPads, smartphones and yes, Kindles) so your global market is huge!
List your book for £1.49 – £6.99 and you earn 70% of the sale. Considering Amazon is the ultimate selling machine (and remember people are looking to spend), that is a fantastic deal.
The key to success with eBooks is to create value, and write non-fiction. Simply bundling information you have researched and complied on a common problem (eg. ‘secrets' to finding a job) and then presenting it in an easy to digest format (an eBook) justifies someone spending a few quid on it.
Another big tip is to have a great cover designed (browse these) so it stands out, and once your book is live on the Kindle store it's really important to get some reviews so it shows up higher in results. Encourage readers to leave an honest review at the end of your book.
The best thing about this lucrative idea is that once you've invested the time (say 20 hours), you'll earn a passive income for years to come! For a step-by-step guide to publishing and earning with eBooks, see “How to write a nonfiction eBook in 21 days“.
Affiliate marketing
If you've got a good presence on social media or perhaps you even have a blog or website, you can start bringing in money immediately by promoting all sorts of companies, products, services and offers online.
Sign up as a publisher on the Awin network, check their offers blog or browse the merchant listings to find something you think your friends would be interested in, grab your affiliate link and share it. If someone buys (can be within up to 90 days) using your link you'll make a nice commission.
To take it a step further, set up a website (read our guide) or a topical Facebook page and invite all your friends to join it and post your affiliate offers on there.
Mobile phone recycling
See how much you can get for your old mobile phone using our in-house mobile phone price comparison tool! Maybe ask your parents if they have any lying around too.
You can get some good money and help the environment by recycling mobile phones with certain companies listed on the comparison tool. But be aware: you won't always get the quoted cash since it depends on ‘condition'. We recommend Mobile Cash Mate for the fairest and highest payouts in most cases (they sent us a £203 cheque for an iPhone 5).
Sell clothes on eBay
Everyone's best friend when it comes to getting rid of junk is eBay. Online auctions are a sure-fire way to turn that sleeveless jacket (which came in and out of fashion in a week) into hard cash.
Some eBay sellers look at trends and try to predict what will be big ahead of the market. If you are good and don't mind taking a risk then you can buy early in bulk and sell on when the craze hits.
For lots more tips on selling on eBay read this guide.
YouTube videos
According to recent stats we now watch more videos on YouTube than searches on Google. And with the recently introduced YouTube Partner Program you can now profit from making and uploading videos. You will receive a percentage of the advertising revenue collected per 1,000 views.
Depending on how successful you are (virality, subscriber base and topic) you can make a lot of money, and there are plenty of stories every week of more and more YouTubers making it their career.
For more tips read our guide to making money from YouTube.
Network marketing
Also known as Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), this is a business model that allows you to generate ongoing income in two ways: by making a commission selling products and by recruiting other members who go on to sell. The later allows you to make money from the sales made by those you have recruited.
Importantly, this is not a pyramid scheme (they are illegal) because there is an end goal which involves a customer buying a product or service of value.
It's also not a ‘get rich quick' scheme. You will have to work I'm afraid! However with the growth of social media, network marketing is becoming easier and lots of people are now making a decent living from it.This is a serious way of making good money on your own terms and it's well worth reading up on it. I recommend getting “The Business of the 21st Century” by Robert Kiyosaki.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
Update. We're increasingly being asked about how to make money from Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies). This isn't surprising given the ever-growing hype and stories of kids making millions.
Please don't rush into buying Bitcoin to make money. It's really important to know what you're getting involved with. Read our new how to buy Bitcoin tutorial which explains everything you need to know.
There are many other creative ways to make money as a student, such as our 50 business ideas.
Please feel free to share your own ideas by leaving a comment below
Hands down the quickest way to make a lot of money (well, without breaking the law). Lots of students have genuinely made £100s from this technique. It's completely legal, risk free, tax free, and anyone can do it.
It works by taking advantage of free bets regularly offered by betting sites through ‘matching' them at a betting exchange. Matched betting eliminates the risk (you are betting both for and against a certain outcome).
This leaves you being able to squeeze out the free bet, which can be as much as £200! Multiply this by how many betting sites there are and you can quite easily come away with a profit of a few hundred pounds.
Owen walks you through how to make your first £18 profit (using a real life example) in this gem of a guide to matched betting. If you know of any better way to make £50/hr sitting at home, please let us know!
Online surveys
An increasingly popular way for students to make money is to fill out online surveys in their spare time. Research companies are always recruiting new members to answer surveys and test new products.
For a few minutes of form filling, you can make a couple of quid which is paid as cash or rewards. You can bag up to £3 ($5) for some surveys!
A few good ones to try are: Toluna, MySurvey, i-Say, OnePoll, Global Test Market, The Opinion Panel, YouGov, Panel Opinion, Pinecone, Valued Opinions, SurveyBods, PanelBase, Branded Surveys, Hiving, Opinion Outpost, Prolific Academic, Harris Poll, Mind Mover, New Vista, PopulusLive, iPoll.
Also sign up for Swagbucks which rewards you for surveys as well as simply surfing the web, watching videos and playing games.
Update: See our new full guide to the best paid online surveys!
Paid for searching the web
Interested in earning cash for doing what you already do online? This has to be one of the easiest methods of making money online without really any effort or change in your behavior.
This innovative idea by Qmee.com rewards you for searching in Google, Bing or Yahoo. You just install a simple add-on to your browser and when you conduct a search there may be a few sponsored results alongside your normal search.
Each Qmee result has a cash reward attached – if you are interested in it simply click on it and collect your reward.
The best thing is there is no minimum to cashout – our first one was just 72p wired to our Paypal account. You also have the option to donate it to charity.
Sign up now for free and start earning from your own searches! Click here to start.
Online market trading
The historically hard-to-break world of investing in stock markets and currencies has been cracked wide open. Today there is no need to be a fat cat or fund the yachts of Wolf of Wall Street style stock brokers. You can do it all yourself with the help of online market trading platforms.
Having spent many hours researching this new opportunity, I've been experimenting with the two biggest platforms: Plus500 and eToro.com. Both offer free practice accounts.
Overall I prefer eToro with over 4.5 million users worldwide. It was recently featured in the BBC 2 documentary “Traders: Millions by the Minute” and the Financial Times.
One of the best things on eToro is the CopyTrader feature. This lets you literally see, follow and copy the investments of other top performing traders.
Follow George's complete guide to trading on eToro to learn more. I think $200 is a good amount to get the most out of the learning curve by trying out a few different markets. If nothing else you'll learn a great deal about various investments and industries.
Please be aware that CFDs are a leveraged product and can result in the loss of your entire capital. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Trading CFDs may not be suitable for you. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved.
Start your own website
Interested in generating passive income? You need a website. It's THE way to make money while you sleep.
Starting a website with Bluehost takes less than 20 minutes, costs hardly anything and can be done by an 82 year-old. It only takes a bit of plugging on social media to get your first visitors, and there are plenty of ways to monetise your site.
Save the Student is just one example of a successful website, started at university by Owen Burek in his first year, which has since grown into a full-time and sizable enterprise.
Read Owen's step-by-step guide on how to start a website in 20 minutes. It's really one of the best assets you can have.
Review websites & apps for cash
Well it seems like you're pretty nifty with a web browser, so perhaps it's time to turn pro and browse websites as a paid and fun job!
Introducing UserTesting.com – a new platform that pays everyday people to review all kinds of websites. Each review takes around 20 minutes and bags you $10 (£6.50) via Paypal.
Simply sign up here, complete a test review and look forward to receiving websites in your inbox.
Write and publish a Kindle eBook
If students are good at anything, it's researching and writing. With the Amazon Kindle store, anyone can publish an eBook and make money.
And the Kindle app is now available on almost any device (laptops, iPads, smartphones and yes, Kindles) so your global market is huge!
List your book for £1.49 – £6.99 and you earn 70% of the sale. Considering Amazon is the ultimate selling machine (and remember people are looking to spend), that is a fantastic deal.
The key to success with eBooks is to create value, and write non-fiction. Simply bundling information you have researched and complied on a common problem (eg. ‘secrets' to finding a job) and then presenting it in an easy to digest format (an eBook) justifies someone spending a few quid on it.
Another big tip is to have a great cover designed (browse these) so it stands out, and once your book is live on the Kindle store it's really important to get some reviews so it shows up higher in results. Encourage readers to leave an honest review at the end of your book.
The best thing about this lucrative idea is that once you've invested the time (say 20 hours), you'll earn a passive income for years to come! For a step-by-step guide to publishing and earning with eBooks, see “How to write a nonfiction eBook in 21 days“.
Affiliate marketing
If you've got a good presence on social media or perhaps you even have a blog or website, you can start bringing in money immediately by promoting all sorts of companies, products, services and offers online.
Sign up as a publisher on the Awin network, check their offers blog or browse the merchant listings to find something you think your friends would be interested in, grab your affiliate link and share it. If someone buys (can be within up to 90 days) using your link you'll make a nice commission.
To take it a step further, set up a website (read our guide) or a topical Facebook page and invite all your friends to join it and post your affiliate offers on there.
Mobile phone recycling
See how much you can get for your old mobile phone using our in-house mobile phone price comparison tool! Maybe ask your parents if they have any lying around too.
You can get some good money and help the environment by recycling mobile phones with certain companies listed on the comparison tool. But be aware: you won't always get the quoted cash since it depends on ‘condition'. We recommend Mobile Cash Mate for the fairest and highest payouts in most cases (they sent us a £203 cheque for an iPhone 5).
Sell clothes on eBay
Everyone's best friend when it comes to getting rid of junk is eBay. Online auctions are a sure-fire way to turn that sleeveless jacket (which came in and out of fashion in a week) into hard cash.
Some eBay sellers look at trends and try to predict what will be big ahead of the market. If you are good and don't mind taking a risk then you can buy early in bulk and sell on when the craze hits.
For lots more tips on selling on eBay read this guide.
YouTube videos
According to recent stats we now watch more videos on YouTube than searches on Google. And with the recently introduced YouTube Partner Program you can now profit from making and uploading videos. You will receive a percentage of the advertising revenue collected per 1,000 views.
Depending on how successful you are (virality, subscriber base and topic) you can make a lot of money, and there are plenty of stories every week of more and more YouTubers making it their career.
For more tips read our guide to making money from YouTube.
Network marketing
Also known as Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), this is a business model that allows you to generate ongoing income in two ways: by making a commission selling products and by recruiting other members who go on to sell. The later allows you to make money from the sales made by those you have recruited.
Importantly, this is not a pyramid scheme (they are illegal) because there is an end goal which involves a customer buying a product or service of value.
It's also not a ‘get rich quick' scheme. You will have to work I'm afraid! However with the growth of social media, network marketing is becoming easier and lots of people are now making a decent living from it.This is a serious way of making good money on your own terms and it's well worth reading up on it. I recommend getting “The Business of the 21st Century” by Robert Kiyosaki.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
Update. We're increasingly being asked about how to make money from Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies). This isn't surprising given the ever-growing hype and stories of kids making millions.
Please don't rush into buying Bitcoin to make money. It's really important to know what you're getting involved with. Read our new how to buy Bitcoin tutorial which explains everything you need to know.
There are many other creative ways to make money as a student, such as our 50 business ideas.
Please feel free to share your own ideas by leaving a comment below
No comments:
Post a Comment