How to Make Money

Believe it or not, it is possible to actually create wealth while you’re in high school and college. Of course, the best way to make money is to get a job, if you're old enough. But there are plenty of other creative (& legal) ways for you to put extra money in your pocket, whether you’re employed or not. Here’s a list of some creative ways to make money that you might not have considered:

Start your own business
You want to make some money, but getting a part-time job just isn’t in the cards for you. Why not start your own business? You can set your own hours, set your own wages and the best part--you’re your own boss! There are tons of businesses you could start while you’re still in school. You just have to have the passion and the commitment to make your business successful. Not sure what kind of business to start? Here is a list of just some of the businesses you could start on your own.

Freelance
Are you an exceptional writer? A great graphic designer? A pro at web development? Then you might want to consider freelance work as a way to earn some extra money. Many businesses or publications need articles or design work, but can’t afford to pay someone full-time, so they hire freelancers on a per-job basis. This gives both parties a lot more flexibility, and you get the chance to build your resume and make new contacts.

To scope out possible freelance positions, do some searching online, such as on a site like Monster.com, or search through your local newspaper because many times, businesses seeking freelancers will post job ads like they would if they were searching for permanent employees. Also, use the connections you have to get the word out that you are freelancing and looking for work. Tell all your friends and family, let your teachers and professors know, post notices on community bulletin board announcing your freelancing availability. Once you start getting positive reviews for the work you’ve done, you’ll find that word of mouth will be the best way to get new freelancing jobs.

Tutoring
Are you really great at math? A grammar pro? The best at biology? Then you should think about tutoring your fellow students. Many campuses have tutoring centers you could work for, or you could start your own private tutoring service. Don’t just limit yourself to tutoring students at your own school. Reach out to high school, middle school or elementary school students in the area to see if they could benefit from your knowledge.

Blogging
If you are passionate and knowledgeable about a certain topic, consider starting a blog. Blogging has become extremely popular in the past few years and has become one of the most popular mediums for everything from news to entertainment. By placing ads on your site, like those from Google AdSense or Blog Ads, your blog could earn you quite a bit of money each month. Affiliate programs are also a great way to earn money from your blog or website. An affiliate program is a program that allows companies, like Amazon.com, or individuals, to market their products or services on your site for a commission fee per item sold. If utilized correctly, affiliate programs could make you even more money than blog ads.

There are plenty of free blogging sites, like blogger.com or wordpress.com, that allow you to start your blog in a matter of minutes and offer a lot of easy-to-use features. Once you’ve established your blog, try registering it with a site like Technorati.com, which lets people know when you’ve posted and allows you to see what other blogs are linking to yours. This is a great way to generate traffic. And if you have blog ads, the more traffic your blog gets, the more money you could make!

Online juries
Are you studying law, or just interested in it? Have you always wanted to serve on a jury, but your number hasn’t come up? Well, if you're old enough, you can volunteer to serve on an online jury. Online juries are utilized by lawyers seeking opinions on how a case might play out if it went to trial. Online jury sessions can take up to an hour, and you could get paid anywhere from $20-$60 for your time. Of course, sessions aren’t always available, and you could wait months before you’re asked to participate. If you’re interested in checking this out, onlineverdict.com and ejury.com are good places to start.

Mystery Shopping
Believe it or not, you can get paid to shop. Mystery shopping is a way for companies, such as retailers, restaurants, movie theaters, banks and car dealerships, to measure the quality of service their customers are getting. The company sends you into one of its stores acting as a typical customer. You might be given a script of questions to ask, complaints to give, items to purchase or just be asked to observe the time it takes to receive attention or service from an employee. Your payment for your time and the information you give could include cash, store credit, discounts or full reimbursement for any purchases you make.

Participate in market research surveys
You have an opinion, why not get paid to voice it? There are a lot of companies out there who want to know what you think about their product or service. You could make some good money taking online surveys or participating in focus groups. Depending on the research company conducting the survey or focus group, there might be a maximum payout or a minimum amount of surveys you have to take before you get paid, so do some research before you sign up. Some great places to start: www.surveyexchange.com, www.surveyspot.com and www.surveysavvy.com.

Sell your stuff
If you look around your room or apartment, you’ll probably find all kinds of stuff you don’t need or want anymore -- CDs you don’t listen to, DVDs you don’t watch, books you don’t read, clothes you don’t wear. Rather than letting your unwanted items take up space, why not sell them? Just because you don’t want something, doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t. There are tons of options if you’re looking to sell your stuff -- eBay, Half.com, Amazon.com’s Marketplace are a few of the more popular online sites. If you want the instant gratification of cash-in-hand try unloading your goods at consignment shops, thrift shops or used CD stores.

Become friends with your Financial Aid Office
If you're in college, check in with the Financial Aid Office at your school. The staff may be aware of job opportunities available on campus that won’t require you to drive, which will save on gas, and will have the kind of flexible hours you need as a student. In addition, they can keep you up to speed on new scholarships or grants when they become available.

Use your skills
Are you mechanically inclined and know how to change the oil in a car? Are you tech savvy and could you be the “geek squad” to your friends? If you have talents that other people don’t, use those skills to your advantage and market your services.