how to earn money as a student.

Ah, money.

The main reason your parents sent you to school. The cheese. The cheddar. The bread. The hegg.

I went to a private school, and my dad sent me just enough to survive on each month. Initially, I tried to ask for more money because that was the first time I was getting an allowance to manage myself. I just wanted to have a little more money saved up for the regular indulgences; fine clothes, junk food now and then, and any emergency expenses.

My dad refused. E pain me die. 😭

So I set out, angry and determined to prove him wrong. I decided I would learn to make money myself.

First, I read every book I could find about money; investing, saving, earning, building. I learnt where money comes from and how it's valued.

Understanding money is necessary if you don't want to be dirt broke and stranded at any point in your future. Some people in school stole gadgets for money. Sold them on the black market. (I lost a laptop and a tablet to those people, they're likely still broke.)

Because when you make money, its only purpose is to be spent. Like they say, money flies away. 💸

But what you spend on can either bring you more money back or leave you empty. I'm saying it now because without a deep financial education, you'll lose all the money I'll teach you how to make.

Ignore at your own peril.

where does money come from? 🤔

You might've heard this before.

Money comes from solving a problem. That's the simplest answer.

But the problem you solve has to mean enough to the potential buyer, or nobody will pay you. Right now, everywhere is red. Things are increasingly expensive. Your solution has to be essential, or you're building a house of cards. (complete rubbish)

So what do people want? I'll give you a clue.

When you augment the deficiency needs with growth needs, you create the foundation for a product/service.

This isn't the ultimate list of problems whatsoever, but it gives you a good idea of how this works. For example, your parents paid for your education so they can gift you a skill that you can always use to make money even if it isn't your passion.

That's where money comes from.

Think of it like a seed. Can you care for it until it bears fruit to satisfy other people ?

Note: Before you begin spending effort to make something, find out from people if they'll pay for it, under what conditions, and how much. Never go in blind, you will most certainly shed tears.

ways to earn money as a Nigerian student 👨🏿‍🎓

There's no quick and easy way to keep making money, you have to build a system. Every business has multiple aspects that it relies on for success, especially a consistent reputation.

Anybody that tells you they can show you how to make money without any effort whatsoever is about to scam you. Take it from me.

Here are 22 ways you can earn money as a student.

microalgae industrialisation 🦠

No matter your course, you can earn money growing, researching & processing microalgae into byproducts that sell in the Nigerian market. It can cost as little as 20 minutes of work a day to grow.

It exists because for generations, young Africans like you have lost the stable economic foundations that make you self-sufficient. You want to work, but can't find clear, predictable outlets that you can handle as a student. Microalgae because it's our unique advantage on the continent and it's extremely versatile.

Fun fact: crude oil is mostly algae. Google it.

I'm part of an industrial cooperative whose goal is to industrialise microalgae in Africa, and we need you. When you join us, you'll have up to 6 ways to earn your money (and you can use all 6), but you have to pay for your equipment (you'll be right there buying each part with our supervision), registration & training, total 150k, with a target recoupment time of 8 months.

Apart from being low maintenance (money & time), each growing unit is also portable and scalable, making it ideal for a busy student or a group of students to work together to supply bulk byproducts for faster sales.

It will also influence your coursework & vice versa, where an electrical engineering student may improve microalgae solar panels (they exist) or solar-powered microalgae batteries (also exist),  meanwhile a psychologist grower may test their microalgae's phycopharmaceutical effect on focus or childhood development and start selling under the cooperative's brand,

a sociologist grower may earn bonuses from establishing new market penetration & market research approaches for rapid byproduct absorption to increase all our profits (every member earns from each sale), and a lawyer may clear the route to establishing our microalgae-backed ESU levercoin as African currency acceptable anywhere since Africans anywhere can grow more right from home or campus.

Take advantage of this massive carbon engineering opportunity early.

Join the Organism.

digital skills & remote work 💻

This one earned me and my guys the most money in school. I started out as a freelancer working with African clients abroad, then took a part-time job working 10-20 hours a week in my final year at a startup in the US and eventually transitioned into full-time work after 6 months.

How this works.

There are certain skills that every business needs to grow in today's market. So, anything you can do on a computer with an internet connection is a digital skill. But there are 3 certain skills that are valuable in practically any business:

1. Copywriting: Contrary to the popular opinion on the Nigerian internet, copywriting is the ability to influence people through a careful selection of words. It's not the same as writing blogs—that's creative writing. If you're naturally a persuasive person, I would recommend learning this skill.
   
   Copywriting is used to promote a business, and is the soul of any marketing campaign. It's a skill you take time to learn, and one that can always be improved on. It is sculpting the messaging that presents a business and their product in a more appealing light. To write a single line of copy can take me up to a day. There are different aspects of copywriting you can specialise in, depending on a business' needs and how much they're ready to pay.
   
   Nigerian publications like The Republic Journal pay $100-400 for creative writing, but your submissions have to be really good and match their audience. You may not be able to make this a regular income source if they reject your sweat often or you lack experience. I also don't know how quickly they pay or what it's like working with them, but my mates did.
   
   I made a few thousand USD on similar platforms offering more $$$$ globally, but at a 30% success rate. They always paid late and gave me headache. Getting part-time copywriting work selling brands (by writing less) is better for a student. It won't compromise your grades and will improve your skill to get the better-paying opportunities. See The Best Remote Job for You.
   
   New crypto will keep launching. They'll need help polishing their whitepapers. New digital products will keep launching. They'll need help simplifying their UX copy to move users. Et cetera bro. When people pay for writing, what are they actually paying for from Maslow's hierarchy? When you figure it out, you'll get a writing job.
   
   My first copywriting job was in 500L and I got paid $$$/month to work for 10-20 hours a week for the US startup as a contractor. I didn't start here! Read on.

2. Visual design: Just like copywriting, any form of visual design—video-editing, YT thumbnails, logo design, poster design, book design, graphic design, mockups, animation (2D, 3D), 3D design, content design, interface/product design, etc—is used to influence people's emotions and build their trust in the brand's ability to solve their problem. Just the visual quality of a brand is enough to draw your attention and materialise as trust.
   
   Companies will hire you to help them join your visual design skills with copywriting to sell their products/services.
   
   My first job as a student was freelancing all types of design. The quality was good enough that I don't remember ever trying to sell myself, people pointed everyone to me. I had clients from campus (even lecturers), graduates and people abroad trying to save USD (instead of hiring US-based talent). This is where I learnt the HR skills that got me the copywriting job, writing is word/narrative design.
   
   I had enough work for my portfolio this way to show my competence in the three core digital skills. There are two reasons I kept getting design jobs as per Maslow's hierarchy. When you figure them out, you'll get a design job.
   
   New businesses need help looking attractive, or making their products look attractive. Try all you can from the list in the first line.

3. Digital marketing: I learnt this one first from Google's free course. Marketing is finding people who might consider a product/service valuable and bringing it to them. Digital marketing is using the internet to do it.
   
   Every business needs someone who understands how to market their brand on the internet. You might be responsible for advertising on Facebook/Google, marketing strategy, content marketing or even creative direction. These skills are still sustaining me till date.
   
   There are successful Nigerian businesses who want to expand online and just don't know how to do it. You parents' generation, that older uncle/aunty, etc. When you master digital marketing, you'll be their go-to guy. Just make sure you start with price and expect negotiation or you'll be forced into unpaid work. You're here because you need money, so don't play or be shy. Money is not shy when it's leaving or entering your account.

Be careful though, when you're selling your human resources to someone for a salary. Many employers at home and abroad will try to underpay you drastically to grow their businesses. Make sure you're getting as much value as you're putting into the company. Learn to negotiate, and understand your relevance to the company. By learning to negotiate in your own business, you'll negotiate better at a job. After all, you are a business.

Usually they'll want to charge you by the hour, but you can also decide how you want to be compensated and reach an agreement with them or no deal. Money is infinite, and this blog is your backup of proven sources to try. You also don't have to work part-time in a company, you can work as a freelancer, contractor or group with other student creatives as an agency. See The Best Remote Job for You.

Learn more about earning a living as a creative from Chris Do.

Some other important remote job skills are IT Support, UX Design & Data Analytics. These come with courses created by Google on Coursera. You can pay a monthly subscription of about 7k per month to learn these skills and get a certificate that employers will respect. Or apply for financial aid and get it cheaper.

Some may even be free now on places like Alison and LinkedIn that you already know of. This route takes more time.

Once you know from Maslow's hierarchy why people pay for any of these 6 skills, you've understood the industry and can lay your own pipe to chop out of the money flowing there. You don't need to ask for permission. Have you ever met a shy scammer? And you're doing honest work o. Hian. If you're not sure of the quality of your work, use my appraisal tool. (free but costs you focus)

share this blog with a friend looking for money.

sell food/foodstuff 🧆

A no-brainer. People will always need to eat. If you're a skilled cook, people will pay you to provide them with healthy, tasty and affordable meals. The best model for students I've seen is cooking soups and stews and delivering to customers.

However if you have free time on your hands, you could create a meal table and cook a meal daily (or whatever schedule suits you) for a certain number of customers. Ask them to come pickup if you're closeby or offer delivery if they're ready to pay for it. If you have competition, make delivery free in your hostel.

You can also buy foodstuff in bulk and resell to people in your hostel if you can get it for cheaper, or are closer in proximity, or open late when night hunger strikes. Dry & canned goods preferrably, or you bear the spoilage risks. You can collect phone numbers so they can preorder and pickup, or verify what's available.

You can even collect bulk funds to go to the market regularly and get your profits from there. This way you only buy what they've paid for and add your profits on top by making deals in the market to get good discounts for quality foodstuff.

But some schools don't allow students cook.

In that case, partner with a food business on/off campus to deliver a certain number of packs of hot food to you. Take them round your hostel and sell for profit. You can also deliver food that students don't usually have available on campus. Just order and pickup, sell for profit.

There's no money made without hustle. Do the work and collect your profits.

content creation 🤳🏿

If you're good at storytelling, you should be creating content.

We're in the social technology age, and content remains king. Brands will pay you to help them tell their stories to their audience.

You should have a portfolio of your own, maybe a TikTok/Insta you've grown, and a product or service you've helped sell. The people that hit the ground running after school are the ones that were learning life skills; especially how to make money sustainably. 

Before Korty got famous, she was making all sorts of whimsical videos that earned her early support and work with Empawa. Do people listen to your stories attentively?

Create content. Take product photographs, run campaigns in school, document things. The bigger your setup, the more you can afford to charge because you can get more done in less time.

Your tools won't pay for themselves. Find a brand you like and get creating!

You'll find more success selling products, services or experiences you've tried yourself. Content creation won't always pay immediately, but it compounds quickly. Increase your chances for early payouts by making deals with people who own products you've used, where you get commission for sales attributed to your influence. 

Make sure you have a clear pathway to track those sales so you don't get cheated. This method is a unique advantage for smaller audiences since you likely know most of your people by name. Ask them to DM you with questions, or to tell the seller you sent them (maybe for some reward), etc.

As your influence grows, you'll be able to earn more upfront for a wider reach rather than deeper influence. I prefer the latter anyway.

Expand your portfolio by creating spec ads/mock ads targeting brands you love to show them what you can do and secure deals. Take this one with a pinch of salt, they tend to pretend not to see the campaign and quietly steal the idea if it slaps but doesn't get popular.

software solutions: platforms, tools & bots 👩🏿‍💻

Are there problems in your school that you can build solutions for ?

I designed an app to help students get food from caf easier. Some students designed a better web portal and sold their work to their school.

Note: If you're selling anything to your school, make sure you're skilled at negotiating or you go with someone who is. It makes no sense to solve a problem and let your school belittle your efforts. They tend to do that.

You could build tools that work outside of school too. You don't need anyone's permission to solve a problem using programming, it's why it was invented.

Build that thing. And with the latest in artificial intelligency (Claude for backend, Perplexity (try Deepseek too) for debugging, Gemini for interface), you can ship faster and spend less time making mistakes. Just make sure people want it first before you build it, or you'll end up with empty pockets.

I built and shipped 4 tools (2 paid, 1 free, 1 internal) for recess! in 3 months—the two of them have already made me money.

And I never took a coding course.