Maybe you weren’t thinking about home business ideas for students at the beginning of 2020. You probably made plans for late winter and spring 2020 when you thought about starting a new business or growing your current business.
But very few people imagined a highly contagious virus would change life as we know it. The coronavirus, also called COVID-19, has quickly spread to most countries around the world. As a result, many schools and businesses have been closed. Most public events have been canceled. And people are being strongly encouraged to stay at home to slow the spread of COVID-19
Now words and phrases that were rarely used like quarantine, pandemic, social distancing and flatten the curve are a part of daily news reports and online conversations.
We previously shared helpful tips on how to protect yourself from the coronavirus and stay safe during this time. There are home business ideas for students ideas that will help you not only pass the time, but also make some money.
These ideas include:
- Dropshipper
- Online tutor/teacher
- Social media manager
- Social media influencer
- Affiliate marketer
- Blogger/Writer
- Arts and crafts seller
- Graphic designer
We’ve also included a few extra online home business ideas for students near the end of this blog post. Let’s take a closer look at these online business ideas. (We already have written about some of these ideas; we have linked to the previous articles, where applicable.)
Dropshipping continues to be one of the most popular work from home business ideas for students. One great thing about this business is that you don’t need a lot of money to get started. You also don’t need to worry about being stuck with a bunch of extra boxes or items in your home since you don’t stock or handle the items you’re selling.
So, how does dropshipping work? Dropshippers use an eCommerce website that buys the items it sells from a third-party supplier or manufacturer, who then completes the order. This lowers your business costs and gives you more time to focus on getting new customers.
Check out our quick guide to dropshipping for more information.
Maybe you were thinking about starting a tutoring business. Or maybe you’ve been sharing your knowledge about a skill or certain school subject with other students during in-person tutoring sessions.
But now, everyone is being strongly encouraged to stay home. Your city or town may even be under an official stay in place order.
The good news is that you can still tutor and teach your students online. Here are a few online job ideas for students at home to think about when it comes to tutoring or teaching.
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- YouTube – Use you current YouTube account or create a new YouTube account. Begin filming your own YouTube videos and teach people about your skill or about a school subject like math, science, a certain language (English, Spanish, French), etc.
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- Skype or your phone – You can still charge normal tutoring rates by offering your students tutoring sessions over the phone or on Skype.
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- Online course – Creating an online course about a certain skill or subject requires more work upfront. But it can be the most lucrative choice for sharing your knowledge since you can charge about $50 to a few hundred dollars for each person that enrolls into your course. Consider using Teachable, Kajabi and similar online course websites to help you become the go-to expert about your favorite skill or topic.
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Social Media Manager
Have you ever seen a company’s tweet, Instagram page or Facebook post and thought to yourself, “This is so bad. What were they thinking?” As a social media manager, you can help other entrepreneurs and small businesses use Instagram and other social media tools to successfully connect with their customers or clients and avoid mistakes.
This can include:
- writing and scheduling posts
- running ads
- replying to fans
- creating graphics
Take this time to improve your own social media accounts, before promoting your new social media management business.
Also, think about focusing on just the one or two social media platforms you’re already most familiar with. You can then add on services for other platforms as you grow your business.
Feeling stuck at home is tough, especially if you’re an extrovert and you love being around other people. Being a social media influencer may seem like a more glamorous choice compared to other online job ideas for students at home.
But ideas about what it means to be a social media influencer have changed and evolved during the last few years. In the old days of say, the year 2017, the title social media influencer was only for celebrities and online personalities with millions of social media followers.
Now, people are looking for more substance and how you can help them. That’s why there’s a growing number of social media influencers who have a smaller, but fiercely loyal audience, even though they may not be household names. Their fans love them because they help, inspire, entertain, or do a combination of these things.
Most social media users, therefore, rely on them for reviews on products and services. And social media influencers make money from doing affiliate marketing (see the next section of this blog post) for these products and services.
Check out more tips on how to become the next social media influencer, if you’re ready to use your phone, laptop and camera equipment to make your own videos instead of spending yet another day watching videos at home.
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Affiliate Marketer
Maybe you’ve heard the words “affiliate marketing” or “affiliate marketer.” But what exactly is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketers earn a commission (or a percentage of an item’s price) for promoting another person’s or company’s products and/or services. You can look for and choose products and services that you like, promote them, and earn a part of the profit from each sale that’s made. The sales are usually tracked with affiliate links from one website to another.
An example of affiliate marketing is having a website for referring books on Amazon. Affiliate marketing is a great choice among online job ideas for students at home because people can start earning money passively with few startup costs.
Do you know the right thing to say in different situations? Great entrepreneurs and business leaders are experts about their skills and talents. But many of them struggle to find the right words to share their knowledge with customers and clients.
Most companies need written content such as blog posts, website copy and eBooks. You can offer blogging and/or writing services to these businesses.
You can also consider starting your own writing business. This can include having your own blog or website about one of your favorite topics. You could then use that site for affiliate marketing (see the previous section above) or to promote your blogging services.
More tips about freelance writing.
Do you like making your own jewelry or creating other arts and crafts? Selling arts and crafts online is one of the more fun and creative online job ideas for students at home.
Take the time to make sure your creations look just as good on Etsy or other merchant websites as they do in real life. Doing this can be the difference between making a sale or not. You can also use great-looking images of your work on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and other social media sites to help promote your items.
Check out more tips for selling your arts and crafts.
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Graphic Designer
Many businesses and companies are looking for help with their logo design, website or visual ads. Great graphic designers have artistic and marketing skills. They use their creativity to create visual ideas and concepts for brands and companies.
You need to know what looks good and what doesn’t. You also need to know how to use online design tools that can help you combine designs that look awesome to both clients and consumers.
This can include creating visuals and designs for bloggers and other online entrepreneurs as well as businesses that have an online presence but need help with design and messaging.
Other Great Online Home Business Ideas for Students
We’ve shared eight ways to start or continue running a business from your home. Here are a few more ideas:
Key Takeaway Points About Home Business Ideas for Students
Just because you’re stuck at home doesn’t mean you have to be bored, watching an endless stream of movies, shows and videos on YouTube, Netflix, Hulu or TV.
There are plenty of online job ideas for students at home. You can use these ideas to share your knowledge and creativity with others and make some money with these business ideas.
In the meantime, stay safe. And be patient with any parents, siblings and/or roommates who are staying at home with you.
Photos by Mimi Thian, Daria Nepriakhina and Dayne Topkin on Unsplash
