By Alicia Reds
Are you a college student? Whether you’re fresh out of high school or you’re planning to go back to school, let me tell you a secret: It’s not impossible to make a living from home while working on your degree.
How do I know it? Because I did it.
I do a lot of things. I am a wife. I am a freelancer. I am a writer. And I am a student.
Last year (2015), I made $35,000 from home While attending full-time school. Here’s how I did it.
take over
It sounds close to impossible, but it’s not. The first step I took in building a successful business while in school was realizing that I could control my life and my schedule.
I’m a freelance writer, which means I run my own business writing blog posts for business clients. While I have deadlines, I don’t set work hours, so I can make my own schedule.
When I decided I wanted to freelance full-time, I realized I also needed to be able to make my own school schedule. I wanted to work on my business and my schooling togetherNot against each other.
That’s why I enrolled in online classes from a recognized university. For the past two and a half years, I’ve had complete control over my schedule, and that’s one of the main reasons I believe I’ve been able to build a career while working on my degree.
You don’t necessarily have to follow the same path, but it is is It is important that you understand that you to be able to to occupy. Figure out what isn’t working for you, and realize that as a working wife, you have the opportunity to change things to make them work for you.
Plan for the long term
I was working from home for several years before I decided to make a career out of it and switched to an online program. This decision was a turning point for me. And I wasn’t just trying to make money. My goal was to build a business.
Guess what happens if you start planning long term. You’ll have milestones you’ve set to reach, and you can plan the steps you need to take to get to where you want to be. You’ll see your rates increase to 20 times what you started with, allowing you to focus more on individual clients and think about quality over quantity. From there, your business will only grow, and you’ll end up with more money — and less stress. Same happened to me.
Even if you don’t want to pursue a career outside of your home business, really consider what your long-term goals are. If you plan to work from home for the next four years to help put you through college, think about your goals for those four years instead of focusing on the next four weeks. Where do you want to be with your work-at-home job after school and how will you get there?
Don’t discount the value of your education
If you don’t have a degree yet, that’s okay. You can still use your education to your advantage when running a home-based business.
I had the same thought before. “I don’t have a degree, so I’m not that qualified, right?” Turns out, many people are influenced by that simple fact work On a degree. Since I’m a writer majoring in communications, they see it as relevant experience even though I don’t have my bachelor’s yet.
So don’t be afraid to share about your education. You may find that this will help clients notice you over other people in your field who have no formal post-secondary education.
What if you’re not majoring in the type of work you’re doing? Consider ways you can to do It is relevant. For example, a dietetics major who writes on the side can leverage her education in nutrition to write for health websites.
Last thought
The steps I took to meet my goals won’t necessarily work for everyone. Building a business and homeschooling has worked for me because I thrive most independently, but that may not be true for you.
The reality is that there is no one the right way to do it. You don’t have to take night classes to earn your degree while working. Nor do you need to work full-time hours to earn a full-time income. You don’t have to sacrifice your grades to make this happen. (I am proof. I am in my last term and will graduate with Hons.)
It is possible to build a career while going to school. If you take the three tips I mentioned above to heart, I believe you will be successful. The decision is yours.
Alicia Rades (@aliciarades) is a professional writer and blogger specializing in blogging and freelancing. Learn more about him aliciarades.comWhere you can download his free blogging guide, 20 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Publishing.
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