It’s safe to say the world of work looks very different to how it did twenty years ago. Thanks to the internet, a wider spectrum of jobs than ever before can now be done from home. The pandemic has stretched this phenomenon even further, challenging us to transfer an even larger proportion of our working lives into the online realm. So making money online has well and truly ceased to be exclusively for tech nerds. Whether you’re looking for an easy way to earn a bit of extra cash as a student, or seriously considering remote work as a long term career option, it’s very likely you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for on the internet. So if eschewing the commute and working from anywhere with Wifi appeals to you, here are five ideas for making money online.

1. Creative freelance work

Creative jobs, such as copy writing, video editing or web development, are a great way to use your unique skills to make money from the comfort of your own home. Many organisations will, for a variety of reasons, choose to hire freelancers for one-off jobs, and outsourcing work that can be done from home is becoming increasingly popular.

To earn a reliable income from creative freelancing, you’ll need to be savvy about how to ensure you’re consistently being offered work. Successfully branding yourself is the first step. Certain freelance platforms will refuse you membership if they don’t consider you professional enough, so it’s important to sell your services effectively to make sure you stand out from the crowd. But once you’ve mastered this, freelancing may well be the perfect way for you to start earning by doing something you love away from the pressure of an office environment. There are plenty of copywriting, video editing and web development courses out there to help you along the way.

                                            Photo by Bench Accounting on Unsplash

2. Tutoring

Over the past year, the face of education has radically transformed. Pupils and parents are now more open than ever to the potential offered by virtual learning. Becoming an online tutor allows you to not only share your passion for your chosen subject with others, but also mold your teaching day around what works for you. One-on-one tuition is a fast-growing industry that allows you, as a teacher, to be creative in the support you give to pupils. Online learning tools, such as Whiteboard, now make it easy to mirror a real classroom environment and accommodate many different types of learners. 

With Tutor House, the path into tutoring is simple. Once your application has gone through, you can create a profile for yourself so that potential pupils can easily get in contact with you. Depending on your expertise, tutors can earn up to £90/per hour. You’ll also be able to list your availability, allowing tutoring to fit flexibly around your study commitments. Not bad, eh?

3. Coaching‍

Many forms of coaching or consulting also easily lend themselves to the online sphere. For example, career coaching or life coaching can both, for the most part, be carried out over Zoom. If you want to venture further down this road, you can even set up online courses, or produce content, such as a blog or podcast, to advertise your services.

If you’re looking to align online work with your long term career goals, virtual therapy or counselling may be for you. Though, as with any client-based online service, there will always be those who prefer in-person sessions, more and more people are finding they just don’t have space in their schedules to travel to see a therapist weekly. For these people, online therapy is a far more convenient option. Some prefer to avoid face time all together and opt for text therapy as an alternative - also something that can be taken advantage of as an online worker.

4. Selling online

Perhaps you’re creative and have a knack for crafting handmade artwork or trinkets, in which case selling your products is another excellent way to make money online. If you would prefer not to look at a screen all day, but still want to utilise the internet to facilitate working from home, focus on its unique power to help you find buyers for your products. Who knows - selling the odd print or handmade bracelet now and then could end up growing into a small online business. The success that so many have had with Etsy stores and micro-bakeries, to name just a couple, is proving to us that, if you’re internet savvy, you don’t need a brick and mortar store to make money from hand-crafted creations. Many creatives have been choosing to go down this route of late, turning their hobbies into lucrative earners, so there’s plenty of advice out there on how to get started.

And if you’re not a craft or culinary genius (yet), there’s always the classic option of selling products you already own on platforms such as eBay, Vinted and Depop. Before dismissing these as just a way for teenagers to earn a quick buck selling their clothes, remember that this is how numerous giants of the online retail industry got started. The potential to bypass mainstream retailers for reduced prices that the internet gifted us is an idea as brilliant as it is simple, and one that doesn’t look like it’ll be losing its shine any time soon.

‍                                             Photo by KYLE CUT MEDIA on Unsplash

5. Odd jobs 

You may be a student without much professional experience mainly looking for a quick and painless income. If so, many relatively low-skill, but surprisingly lucrative, opportunities can also be found online. For example, if you pride yourself on being a bit of a perfectionist, you could become a proofreader. Proofreading’s pretty straightforward; there’s no rewriting or stylistic commentary involved. You just have to check for any spelling or grammatical mistakes, so, beyond familiarity with track changes on Microsoft Word, no specific technical know-how is required. 

Another possibility is taking part in online research and surveys. The types of survey vary; they may be run by academics, or perhaps asking for product reviews. As with most online money-making services, we recommend you make sure you know which sites are trustworthy before you get started. But once you’ve found them - Prolific Academic or Branded Surveys, for example - you can look forward to making regular money for very little effort. These ‘odd job’-type ways of earning online won’t give you a full-time income but they can provide a decent bit of pocket-money to see you through your studies.

Where should you start?

If you’re planning on setting up shop from your kitchen table, you want to make sure you’re using the best platforms. There are numerous sites that allow freelancers to connect with those who may be in need of their services. Upwork and Guru are some of the best known examples, allowing freelancers to apply directly for projects that companies post.

Or if you’re looking to enter the world of virtual work long term, and have begun to carve out a niche for yourself, creating your own website is a great option. Digital has narrowed down the best web hosting providers so you can hit the ground running with your website.

When online earning starts to take off for you, you'll need to make sure you're armed with the best possible financial help. Sites such as Cloud Book and Tax Assist Accountants offer affordable accounting advice so you can become a successful sole trader safe in the knowledge that all your accounts are in order.

...So get earning!

‍Hopefully we’ve given you some ideas on how to make money online, whether as a penny-pinching student or in your future career. The internet offers the unique opportunity to make work work for you. If the idea of sitting in an office every day makes you feel physically ill, the possibility of tuning into your professional life from wherever you may be in the world should be grabbed with both hands.