Being a parent means that the bills keep coming. Regardless of how much you try to cut down on expenses, sometimes the better way out is to earn extra income. Here are 15 ways you can pull in more funds as a busy dad.
1. Sell Old Items Online
Take a walk around your house and pick up items you don’t want anymore but are in good condition. Anything from furniture, smart home devices, collectibles, books, and luxury items could rake in cool cash. List the items on eBay, Craigslist, or any popular online marketplace. With a good picture and a compelling description, the right buyer will find you.
2. Use Airbnb To Rent Your Guest Room
You can list your guest room for free and get paid for lodging clients on Airbnb. You have a slight advantage if you’re near the city with public transport links, malls, and other facilities. Although accommodating strangers might seem off-putting, you can overcome potential difficulties by setting boundaries and deciding how, when, and for what guests can use your space.
3. Capitalize on Affiliate Marketing
As a busy family man, affiliate marketing is one of the simplest ways to make money without investing so much time. If your social media page, YouTube channel, or blog pulls a lot of traffic, you could earn a decent amount from affiliate marketing.
You must post an ad link to redirect customers to a store you’ve partnered with. When a customer purchases, the store automatically sends you a commission as an affiliate reward. These commissions can add up quickly over time to huge sums, so don’t sleep on this.
4. Explore Crypto Trading
More people enter crypto yearly to explore and make money from digital assets. Getting started with crypto is simple. Find a reliable crypto trading platform and use the provided resources to learn the basics of crypto trading.
Most trading platforms offer a demo account, a practice space for newbies to hone their trading skills using virtual cash. You can easily switch to a real account when you’re ready to trade with real money.
5. Sell an Online Course
Do you have any skills, knowledge, or craftspeople would be willing to pay to learn? If so, platforms like Udemy and Skillshare can be your next best source for generating extra cash. The hard part is creating the course content. Once you’ve overcome the hurdle of putting the course together, you can continually generate sales on autopilot without any additional effort.
6. Become a Social Media Influencer
This might only be some people’s cup of tea, but if you already have a large audience online, you can leverage your popularity for some big bucks.
Companies pay social media influencers to market their products. Making extra thousands via influencer marketing is an added benefit if your already busy life includes driving engagement on social media.
If you’re just getting started, consider being a podcaster, YouTuber, thought leader, advocate, or other popular role that will quickly amass a following.
7. Freelance Your Skills
Many freelancing platforms are accessible on smartphones. These platforms allow users to advertise their skill sets and get job offers from clients. Upwork and Fiverr provide opportunities for all professional services, from administration, marketing, and programming to simple tasks like surveys and questionnaires.
8. Monetize Your Assets
If you have valuable vehicles, equipment, software, patents, or franchises, you can sell, rent, or license them in exchange for money. You can sell physical items or rent them out. If you have a patent you’re willing to trade or license for money, you can cash out big with the right buyer. You can also license intellectual properties for royalty payments.
9. Start a Blog
While starting a blog is not a get-rich-quick scheme, it can generate constant revenue once you monetize it. You can write personal blogs or outsource the writing if that’s not your strength. Choose a niche you find exciting and captures a lot of attention. You can start your blog with ready-made website templates from WordPress.
10. Resell on Amazon
Reselling on Amazon is a popular online arbitrage business, and you can start with your smartphone. All you have to do is find profitable inventory and resell it using your Amazon seller account. You’re ready to go once you know how the system works.
11. Sign Up on Ride-Sharing Apps
If you enjoy driving, you can use your free time to earn extra money on ride-sharing apps like Uber or Lyft. You can choose your work hours and decide where you want to be based.
12. Get Paid for Surveys and Micro Tasks
While the payouts are humble, surveys, transcriptions, app testing, and other online microtasks can earn you a few dollars. Some popular sites to explore include Amazon Mechanical Turk and Microworkers.
13. Sell Handmade Goods
If you’re a skilled craftsman, you’d make a good living selling your creations on apps like Etsy and Shopify. You can showcase your art and designs on the app directly from your phone. Whether you’re into furniture, wall decor, paintings, artwork, ceramics, or jewelry, you can reach your ideal audience using these trading platforms.
14. Self-Publish with Amazon Kindle Publishing
If you’re up for it, publishing ebooks and prints on Amazon KDP can be an excellent business venture. Amazon offers up to 60% and 70% royalties on print book and eBook sales, respectively. With free publishing and a global marketplace, Amazon KDP is worth considering.
15. Start an Online Consulting Service
Starting an online consulting service is not a walk in the park – you need to establish your online presence, run strategic marketing campaigns, and deliver high-quality service that makes your clients return and even refer you to friends and colleagues.
However, securing new clients becomes more manageable once your consulting business gains traction. You can quickly execute most of your activities directly on your smartphone while on the go.
Balancing Finances and Family
Whether you’re an employee, businessperson, or stay-at-home dad, parenting duties can feel overwhelming sometimes—especially financial responsibilities. These side hustles can help you earn extra income to support one or two things in your home, but remember to take a break now and then to avoid burnout and minimize stress.
