Exploring Digital and Non-digital sides of Student Hustle

Njoku Eunice Ona, Cyprian Faith Chioma, Oyinlola Dasaolu

In recent times, having multiple sources of income has become a popular thing amongst youths. Students all around the world get into businesses, learn a trade or skill to fend for themselves, or cater to the needs that cannot be provided for by their parents or guardians in school.  Another name for this is called a SIDE HUSTLE.

For definition purposes, a side hustle can be said to be any legitimate or illegitimate thing that is done to earn money alongside a main job or project. These alternative income sources can be either digital or non-digital. 

Non-digital side hustles are quite popular among the students of the University of Lagos. They refer to the offering of goods and services to physical clients. A few options you might consider:

Trading.

Catering and baking.

Ushering.

Waitering.

Makeover.

Hair making and hair cut services.

Modeling.

Photography.

As for digital side hustles, they refer to offering digital skills often to remote clients. According to UNESCO, digital skills are a “range of abilities to use digital devices, communication applications, and networks to access and manage information. They enable people to create and share digital content, communicate and collaborate, and solve problems for effective and creative self-fulfillment in life, learning, work, and social activities.” 

There is an increasing demand for these skills so you might want to especially take a look at these.

Examples of these digital side hustles include:

• Copywriting.
• Transcription.
• Virtual assistant jobs.
• Content creation.
• Digital marketing.
• Content marketing.
• Affiliate marketing.
• UI/UX design.
• Graphics design.
• Programming.
• Data Scientists.
• Crypto trading.
• Freelancing.
• Social Media Management.
• SEO specialist.
• Data analytics.
• Web design.
• Translator.
• Proofreading.
• Online tutoring.

As is with any skill, you must learn these skills to be able to make a profit from them. You are probably thinking ‘where do I start from?’

Not to worry, we have sourced a couple of academies and coaches to help give you a headstart. 

1. UDEMY:

They offer a variety of courses such as data science, programming languages, even photography, copywriting, web design. Be sure to explore their website. 

2. HubSpot Academy:

It offers lots of free certification marketing courses such as SEO, email marketing, content marketing, and more.

3. Udacity:

 (data science, programming)

4. Ustacky:

(Programming, Data Scientist)

5. Andy Mukolo

 (copywriting guru who holds the Foreign CopyWriting Initiative course yearly. Registration is closed now, but you can keep tabs on him to know as soon as the next class starts. 

6. Comprehensive copywriting academy 
7. Codecademy (web design)

And if you already have any of these skills and are in search of jobs, you can look up these sites offering remote jobs.

•  dice.com
•  remote.co
•  devsnap.io
• remoteok.io
•  flexjobs.com
•  upwork.com
• whoishiring.io
•  remoteml.com
•  freelancer.com
•  simplyhired.com
•  freshersworld.com
•  weworkremotely.com
• crossover.com

Many students are looking for jobs to supplement their income and with good reason. Studying is expensive and you still want to have fun on your off days, but you cannot afford it.

Here is a thing to note though, regardless of the type of hustle game you play. It is quite easy to get carried away with your work and your schooling suffers. So, we gathered a couple of tips that can help you achieve that balance. 

1. Prioritize

Let’s say you are searching for online transcription jobs and came across a top transcription website. After doing your research, you are selected and work starts the next day. The only problem is, you have a test the next day and you are not able to start your dream job. In this instance, you are going to have to prioritize. Can you negotiate the terms with the employer? Is this test important and counts towards your final score? You are only going to find the balance by prioritizing what is most important to you.

2. Time Management

You are never going to be able to pull this off if you do not know how to manage your time. Without an actual schedule of when what should be done, you might cause yourself a lot of stress, and eventually something is going to suffer. Draw up an effective schedule and get things done in the scheduled time. Do not waste time doing something else when you are supposed to be busy with work or school. There will be time to take a break, but when it is time to work, you have to stick to the plan.

Consider a case in the example of a 400-level Mass Communication student who deals in Fabrics. Sharing her experience with us, she said: 

“Combining school with my business was very hectic at the beginning. So much work to be done in school and also in my business. Sometimes, I didn’t even focus in class. My mind will be on the next delivery for the next day. It affected me mentally because I struggled not to fall apart in my studies.”

” In the 200l, 2nd semester, I had to re-evaluate myself and ask some really deep questions in terms of time management. I discovered I wasn’t managing my time well. By this, I meant involving others to work for me and make my life a lot easier.”

“So, I got connected with a logistics company that started running deliveries for me at an affordable fee. That way, I was able to pay more attention to my studies because that was what took me to Akoka in the first place”

3. Don’t take on too much

When you work online, it is easy to just put things off to the last minute because you do not have anyone looking over your shoulder. You need to realize that working online is still a real job and your clients will expect results. So you want the transcription job but you do not really know anything about it.

 Look for the best transcription jobs for beginners to give yourself a better shot at doing a good job. Do not set yourself up for failure before you have the chance to start. At the end of the day, your job cannot be detrimental to your studies in any way. Take on just enough to keep you earning some extra money and doing well in school.

It is never too late or early to make something of yourselves so go on and equip yourselves with life-long skills, remember to choose courses and jobs that harness your strengths, and we wish you the best in your path to financial independence.