Today’s high schoolers are in a unique position – they are at the forefront of the technological revolution – they were born into it, they are familiar and comfortable with it, and they know how to make use of it better than most. These skills are all extremely valuable in today’s data-driven economy, and with adequate research and preparation, high schoolers will be able to earn money easily. This article will put you on the right path and show you a few ways you can immediately earn some money.
Competitive Gaming
It is no secret that high schoolers today are overwhelmingly into video games – a majority of highschoolers regardless of sex have spent a few hours playing a video game in the last month, and a substantial subset of them have played video games almost every day. Most do it just because they enjoy it, and if they learn they can be financially compensated for it, that’d be excellent for most high schoolers.
So, how can you go about becoming a competitive gamer and earn money while playing? It isn’t easy, but there are some steps you can take to increase your chances:
- Research the games you’re playing and learn which ones have the potential to earn you money: some games have no competitive scene whatsoever, and no matter how good you get at those games, you’ll never be able to earn money from it. While other games have international competitions and competitive teams that earn millions of dollars, you need to focus on games in the latter category and spend more time getting better at them.
- You Need to be Found: You can’t just get better and expect an opportunity to present itself – while skills at the game count, it is also important to search for opportunities yourself and try to make contact with professional gamers. It isn’t exactly easy, but if you do enough research online, you’ll find ways to contact these teams. Another way to stand out is by participating in competitions and ranking high.
There is a major problem with becoming a competitive gamer, however. There are a lot of people who try to be competitive, and the market is oversaturated. There are no guarantees you’ll be able to earn money if you were to opt-in to practice becoming a gamer. It is dangerous, and you definitely shouldn’t sacrifice your grades and school outcome on a slim chance of earning money this way.
Content Creation
Creating content is a more sure-fire way of earning money on the internet. Today, there’s a market for everything – there is a market for humorous articles, there’s a market for bloggers, there’s a market for Instagram models. Most people have something unique they can to the world and earn money in return:
- If you love taking photos, either of yourself or of your surroundings – it is possible to monetize it by creating an Instagram account. While the first year will be slow, and you’ll have to work hard to attract followers, it is only an upward trajectory from there. Some high schoolers earn money in the thousands each month from only posting their photos online.
- If you like writing, you can easily work online writing content. Starting from the content farms to freelance writing, there’s ample opportunity for you to find an outlet that likes what you have to say and pays money for it.
- Becoming a content creator on YouTube has never been easier. If you have a sense of humor and like interacting with others in video form, this is for you. The platform keeps growing, and there’s no end in sight. With new startups like Fourth Wall, you can even directly build an e-commerce platform on top of it. You’ll start small, but there’s a lot of potentials to build off it.