Beginners

Being in college usually means you have no money to spare. I know what it’s like, I was a college student not too long ago. I’ll admit it, I probably had the extra time to get a real job, but I also knew I could scrape by on birthday money and the occasional odd job. I also remember the feeling right before I had to pay off my credit card… it was the feeling of, “Oh crap, I actually don’t think I have enough money this time.”

I was always looking for ways to earn some extra money… but mostly ways to earn extra money that didn’t require a lot of work, would pay fairly well, and that I could do when I had the time. Here are some ways that are perfect for college students to earn money online.

1. InboxDollars
I made about $95 in one semester with this website. It was easy to do because I always had my laptop on me, so I was always checking my email. All you have to do is click on a link in an email to view an ad. You get paid $0.03 per email (which adds up). I also clipped some coupons from their site and got paid $0.10 for every coupon I used. Lastly, I referred my friends using a link they give you once you sign up. A lot of my college friends signed up and I never heard anyone complain about the essentially free money.

2. “Get a Free… Site”
People usually brush past these sites as scams, but you’d be surprised to find out that they actually work. I got a free iPod (yes, when there weren’t any iPods with touchscreen yet!). These offers work out really well when you’re in college because you most likely know a bunch of people, college kids like new tech gear for free, and you’re probably just itching to use the new credit card you just got.

Here’s how these deals work and how you can make out on top:

1. You submit your info (you basically create a login)

2. You complete a few trial offers. You are usually allowed to cancel after the initial FREE, or very close to free, trial period. That’s what I did. I canceled the day before the trial period ended with no questions asked. I was charged a total of $9.99 for all the trials I completed.

3. Get a few friends to complete the offers as well by giving them your referral link. I found that showing them the trials are actually free, or nearly free, and you signed up for them with no problems helps get rid of the skepticism.

4. Get your free item in the mail. I have to say, I was extremely surprised when my iPod showed up. Of course I had been telling my friends that I was 100% sure it was a legit offer. Obviously, I was lying. I thought it wasn’t going to work but I didn’t have much to lose. When it actually worked I bragged to all my friends and about 10 people I knew did the offers and referred their friends and ended up with iPods too.

5. Once you get your item, brag to your friends. Then find another cool offer to complete and this time your friends will have no problem completing the offers too. Once you get bored of your item, sell it on eBay.

Here’s one of those offers for you to get started on:

3. MTurk
This is a site run by Amazon. People post small jobs like finding contact info, categorizing a picture, or transcribing an mp3. They pay you per job done. Usually categorizing a picture will fetch you $0.02. It takes about a second or two to categorize the pictures so you can easily complete a few hundred in an hour. It a great way to earn a few extra dollars while you’re sitting in class… I mean, during your free time.

4. SurveySavvy
There are hundreds of paid survey websites out there, but I’d have to argue that SurveySavvy alone. Then I referred my friends and made even more!

5. Social Marketing
Since just about every college kid on the face of the Earth has a FaceBook profile and a million friends, social marketing is a great way to earn money. Look for ads on Craigslist asking for young adults to make posts about products. I know some kids who make $20.00 every time they make a status update about a product. A great way to put yourself in a good position for social marketing is to get as many friends as you can. Remember that kid you went to kindergarten with for one week? Friend him. Companies want to see that you have a ton of friends so their message will get out there.