These days many students don’t simply choose to work during their college years – they need to do so. The college costs are impressive and employers are looking for people with some work experience already, so combining work and studies is actually a great contribution for students’ future. A study conducted in 2015 by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce shows that more than 70% of college students combined work and studies over the past 25 years – and their number continues to grow.

While working during college years can be challenging, it has also become much easier these days. Now we have the internet to help us with the job search and with the job itself. Working online allows students to save some precious time on transportation and earn money while having more opportunities to focus on their studies.

So if you do consider finding a job while still in college, why don’t you think bigger and consider starting your own business? This doesn’t require much from you: you can start on your own, without hiring any employees, without investing money, and actually achieving great results. Moreover, running your business during college your years can benefit you later: you will either be able to continue running it or you could use this fact to impress your future employer.

In this article, we want to offer you 5 writing businesses you can try.

1. Helping others.

Do you have a way with your words? Many people are apprehensive when it comes to creating their resume and cover letter. You can offer your services of writing resumes and cover letters to help others get interviews for jobs, internships, etc.

If you are a skilled student with impressive grades, you can starting a blog where you share some studying and academic tips. The bad new is that such blogs won’t bring you money instantly. However, the good new is that you can use it to build an audience and to promote your other services, such as tutoring.

2. Blog writing.

While blogs can be used for promoting your own services, they can benefit you in many other ways too. For example, you can earn money with the help of ads, by promoting or reviewing certain products or services, by selling your own books, etc. Of course, it’s financially safer to combine blog writing with another writing job because it could take time for your blog to become popular. However, it’s still possible.

The main benefit of blogging is that you choose what to write about. You can write about things you love or start mastering a skill and documenting your experience. In the case of mastering a new skill, you’ll be able to track your progress more accurately, as well as attract people interested in the niche as well.

3. Freelance writing.

The best thing about freelance writing is that you actually don’t need much writing experience to start. A portfolio is easy to build even if you didn’t work as a writer before: you can come up with some topics on your own and write down articles. While it might still take you some time to find your first client, you’ll do it eventually and will be rewarded instantly – right after you finish your project.

That’s the best thing about freelance writing – you get paid right away.

Moreover, freelance writing doesn’t always mean you should write for different clients. You can contact a company you like and ask them for any writing positions opened. But be sure to prioritize here: while working for a company could benefit you more right now, it might not help you to build your own writing business later.

4. Ebook writing.

Years ago writers needed to overcome so many obstacles to get published eventually. These days, however, you can self-publish if you want to. Of course, in order to benefit from it financially quickly, you would have to do certain things:

• write for someone else: not a good option if you want to see your name written on the cover, but it would allow you to earn money as well as strengthen your skills and receive proper feedback;
• build an audience that would purchase your book: for example, with the help of your blog;
• get financial support in the process by starting a project on Patreon or Kickstarter: however, people need to know you or your project has to look appealing enough for them to donate.

5. Website writing.

You can write for websites as a freelance writer – but you can create your own website as well. For example, create a local website where you’ll tell tourists about the places they should visit in your city, review local restaurants, and so on. You can start with a plain website and then improve it by switching to a more stable hosting, ordering a redesign, etc. This way you won’t need to invest any money at first but will be able to make your website function better and look more presentable once you start earning on it.

How does one benefit from such website? In the same way, you can benefit from a blog: with the help of ads, by offering your own paid services (for example, city tours), by promoting some places for money, etc.

As you see, there are so many options to consider – and so many ways to succeed. You can try different ones until you find something that benefits you the most or you can choose one option that seems the most appealing and try to make the most out of it. Either way, we wish you good luck and hope that you’ll succeed!

Kevin Nelson is a professional educator and a private tutor with over 8 years of experience. He is also a content writer for various blogs about higher education, entertainment, social media & blogging. Currently, Kevin works as a part-time writer for OddsDigger. During his off time, Kevin enjoys trav-eling and cooking. Feel free to connect with him on Twitter, Linkedin & Google+.