This week I’ll be answering your pertinent questions about The Dad Book: Where did I sleep? Which state was my favorite? How have I found dads to interview?
Tonight I’ll be your financial advisor (says the guy that has been without a “job” for 16 months… yikes).
How have I funded The Dad Book?
A Google search for “how to make money online” returns 5.6 billion results. Here were some of my favorites:
UserTesting: I can’t praise this site enough and HIGHLY recommend giving it a try if you are looking to make an extra +$50-100/week. Companies upload their beta/prototype website and ask you to provide verbal feedback about the usability and feel of the site. There are no face-to-face interactions, so no worries if you haven’t showered in 5 days and look like a bum (trust me, I know firsthand). Pays $10/test that typically take about 7 minutes to complete. During a typical week, you could qualify for 5-10 projects. I made $590 doing this.
eBay: You don’t need to be a Pawn Star to make money reselling on eBay. Spend an hour on Saturday morning thrifting or garage saling and you’ll be sure to find something for <$5 that can be sold for 10-100X what you paid for. I’ve sold everything from a 1950’s doll (creepy af and wouldn’t recommend storing in your bedroom) to a brand new Tommy Hilfiger tie. @thriftinflippin has some ideas, but there are hundreds of YouTubers that can walk you through the basics. Reezy Resells and Wades Ventures are two of my favorites. I netted $5,605 doing this.
Respondent.io: High paying focus groups conducted through Skype interviews. Average payout is $100-150/project and typically last 60 minutes. These are harder to qualify for (you’ll be lucky to get 1 for every 20 you apply for), but the high payout and easy questions make it well worth your time. I made $275 doing this.
Not all remote jobs are created equal and these are ones I would avoid:
Amazon MTurk: This is essentially a survey taking website. Companies upload thousands of tedious tasks, like entering information from receipts to spreadsheets, that don’t require brain power or time, but pay pennies on the dollar upon completion. Universities upload studies that again don’t take long to finish, but expect to receive nothing more than a couple quarters for your time and answers. I averaged about $5.75/hr doing this, so unless you despise flipping burgers, a part-time gig at McDonalds pays better. I made $40 doing this.
Rev: This is an audio transcription site, which is a fancy way of saying you type the words people speak on video. You’re paid $1/minute of FINISHED audio transcription, the key word being finished. Unless you’re juiced on Adderall or a wizard at typing, expect a minute of transcription to take about 10 minutes, putting your hourly rate below minimum wage. I made $15 doing this (roughly 3 hours of work).
There are a million other ways to make money online. Most are far more consistent and reliable than the ones I’ve listed, but if you’re looking to add some spending money to your budget, or just enough to cover your bar tab, these are ways I found reasonable for the relatively low time commitment.