Writing is a great way for students to be able to earn extra money really, really easily. After all, students spend so much time writing anyway that they might as well sell some of their skills to others! Writing takes no additional equipment, it can be done at any time or place and, like with every skill, the more you practice the better and faster you get. What is stopping you?
Well, not knowing where to start might be stopping you. Here are some suggestions for how you can earn some extra money with your writing.
Essay writing
Possibly one of the easiest ways of getting going is to sell some of your old essays from courses and classes you have completed. People from all over the world are regularly on websites such as Gumtree, Reddit or CustomWritings looking for someone to write an essay for them. Why not advertise your already written essays there? I can guarantee at least one person will buy them, especially if you advertise the great grade you got for them. However, if your essay was really badly researched and written, and got a super low score, then it’s probably best not to mention how it performed…
If you’ve not got any essays to sell then never fear! With the ever-growing digital marketplace and rising pressures on student time, essay writing services are becoming increasingly common and companies are always on the look-out for students to help with writing essays. You do have to be quite mindful of what you are doing – if you are a social sciences major and someone asks you to write a paper on a topic within higher physics, then it is not likely to end well!
Tips for being an essay writer
- It can take a lot of time to research and write essays, even when the essay is within your field. Don’t try to write an essay on something which you know nothing about. It won’t look good on you and it is unlikely that you’ll be rehired.
- Offer your services within the field that you’re already studying. The extra research that you do around your topic has the added advantage of making your own work better!
- Don’t let it take up too much of your time or your own work will suffer.
- Detach yourself from the process. It may sound counter-intuitive, but it will make you a more efficient writer. You’ll still need to make sure you do a good job though!
Blog writer
Believe it or not, but not everyone who claims to write their own blogs actually, well, writes their own blogs. There are countless people out there who want the kudos of having a famous or a popular blog but who do not want to spend the time actually doing any writing for them. They are happy to pay for the services of ghost-blog writers to do the legwork for them. If you think about it, it can be a great idea to get the experience in writing about a whole variety of topics and getting your writing out there! A big benefit of blog writing over the academic writing discussed earlier is that blog writing doesn’t need to be referenced at all, which saves absolutely loads of time and energy. You’ll also get to write about things which you are really passionate about, and which excite you! It’s a chance to make easy money talking about the things you love.
Tips for being a blog writer
- Read different types of blogs every day to get a feel for the style of them. The more versatility you have in your writing style the more popular you’ll be as a blog writer.
- Research blog writing websites. Blog post jobs are posted on a daily basis, you just have to know where to look.
- Get clued up on SEO and copywriting in general. Nowadays blogs are rarely blogs for the sake of sharing thoughts and feelings. Instead, they are glorified adverts aimed at converting as many people as possible from readers to consumers. If you understand this and can manipulate language accordingly, then you’ll become a sought-after ghost blogger.
Writing reviews for products
This one is a little bit of a cheeky one, to be honest. Basically, there are people out there who will pay you to write a good review for their service or product, even if you have never used their service or tried their product. Again, if you know where to look this can be a great way of earning easy money. Similarly, there are people who will pay you to leave negative reviews of the products and services of others. Integrity goes out of the window but, as I said, it’s easy money and can literally be done on your mobile from anywhere at any time.
Tips for being a reviewer
- Be prompt! Time is money when it comes to this. The more you get done, the more will come your way.
- Vary your writing style – it is no use using the same “voice” in your writing for multiple reviews, especially if the reviews are on the same site. It will raise suspicions and you don’t want that.
These are just three ways that students can make some easy money using a skill that they already have. There are countless more ways too – you are surrounded by writing all day, every day. Someone has to write it, so why not you?
