I’d like you to list your hobbies and interests, and then imagine getting paid for doing them. As unbelievable as it may sound, a lot of the things you love to do can get you a good amount of cash. For example, if you’re like me, and have an addiction to social media, the hours that you’re scrolling through posts on Instagram or watching entertaining videos on TikTok, are hours you could spend getting paid. There are also online jobs that come with creative tasks. If you have a strong passion for a specific topic, you can use your skills for the benefit of yourself and perhaps your community. 

Although social media seems like an app just to get the word out about your business, it can also come with special benefits. Whether you’re a student trying to save up for college, or someone who’s just trying to learn a new skill for the benefit of your future, making money on your favorite social media app could be a great idea. But don’t I need a lot of followers for that? The exposure of famous influencers on social media, such as Instagram or TikTok has led people to assume that you need thousands of followers to make money, but this simply isn’t true. 

The key to being successful in your social media business is to be of interest to brands. Brands are seeking quality over quantity. In other words, as explained by Jessica Murray on the website “Save The Student”, they would rather pay for a small audience of engaged or niche followers. They are deliberately in search of ordinary people and “influencers” to advertise their products. The real question is: Who are your followers, not how many followers do you have? The purpose of having followers is to interact with more people and to have feedback on the account and its posts. With this in mind, you should try to have at least a decent amount of followers. Not a brand nor anyone else will pay you for filming Tik-Toks or posting reels that only your friends watch. 

A commonly known example of a social media business would be the famous YouTube and TikTok houses where influencers work together to create content that makes them serious money. What they are doing requires a lot of dedication and effort. So, if you’re someone trying to graduate or seeking a degree, you may not reach this level just yet. But with brands paying between $46 – $2,320 per post, depending on your followers, there is still ample opportunity to make some cash during the weekend. 

“I think it would be really fun and exciting to be able to post and make money off of something I love doing, which is taking pictures,” said Arcadia High School (AHS) Junior Emily Wu.

As mentioned above, your passion matters, and even your knowledge. You should take the advantage of your unique personality to find your specific niche. This goes for social media and any other online job. Since making money is a project that involves dedication, make sure you’re spending time sharing information about something you enjoy, and something that will benefit your community as well. 

Some ways you can earn money while gaining valuable professional exposure and expertise are by using your artistic skills to help companies, or by using your creativity for designing your own products. Let’s say you love artistic activities such as painting or graphic design; you could do online design for websites and businesses by showing them what services you offer. There could be great achievements such as small advertisement graphics or complete site redesigns. As for creating your products online, you could showcase your creativity through online retailers like CafePress, Redbubble, and Society6. These sites will allow you to create your designs for a variety of products.

“To be able to make money out of something I love doing is probably the coolest and greatest thing. I think it would make me feel like all the work I put in was for something. You’re putting your time and effort into something you love doing and to see other people enjoy what you’re putting out, it’s almost like a reward.” said Arcadia High School (AHS) Junior Wendy Benavides. 

If you’re interested in making extra cash through online jobs, it may be nice to know that taking on this new experience in the working field may be something you could talk about on your college application. 

April Maguire, a graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at USC, says, “You may not have a manager or supervisor reporting on your efforts or praising your successes. To that end, students who hold down online jobs should attempt to quantify their work achievements for their college applications whenever possible.” 

If you want to develop as a person and acquire more skills through something you love, seeking online job opportunities or sharing your ideas through social media would be a good way to start a path of more knowledge and understanding for success in your future goals.

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