Near-passive income: What's the deal?

So you came here thinking you were gonna sit in your computer chair, half-dressed eating cheese puffs, and make a bunch of money. Under those conditions I can guarantee you SOME income, as mentioned in the previous post, but if you want to make more money without actually getting another job or making a website/blog, then this may be the section for you.

Near-passive income can have a couple different meanings, but the one I subscribe to is that it means you can make money while doing something you already have to do. Why not earn money for doing chores? How?

If you own a home, then you know all about upkeep. Mowing, cleaning gutters, minor repairs; the list really does go on and on. I have been fortunate enough to work with my girlfriend's parents for many years now, and one thing we do when not doing electrical work is maintain their rental properties.

People really don't want to do anything. That may be judgmental, but I have seen it first hand. I have seen trees grown through chain link fences, gutters so full that grass grows in them, lawns so tall you might have to call a game warden before you start destroying some endangered species' natural habitat. Not too long ago I saw those things as a burden on our communities, but now I see them as opportunities.

Next time you mow your lawn ask if a neighbor wants theirs mowed as well. Don't scalp them on the price either, this is your chance to get them in the door. If it's a small yard, even better. Charge $10 for small yards and $20 for a lawn that takes you about an hour to cut. Do you make $20 an hour at your job?

If you clean your gutters out, go around your neighborhood and ask if someone wants you to do it to their house for $10. Let's say you mow your yard and then 2 of the $20 yards that week. The extra yards would take 2 hours, and you walk away with almost 2.5 times the minimum wage average for the same amount of work.

Another example of near-passive income would be baby sitting. I mentioned it on my site www.passivelyearn.com and I can't understate how lucrative it can be. My mother babysat 10 children in our house growing up in Florida in the 90s. There is no reason not to babysit at least 1 child if you are a stay at home parent. The cost of daycare is high, so call around to daycare centers near you and find out their rates. Then undercut them by some. Childproof areas where the kid(s) will be, seal off areas where they shouldn't be, take a CPR class at the YMCA. Build your brand.

Then, come Friday night when couples want to go out to dinner, you hang onto the rascals while they do their thing. Play with them for a while, feed them dinner, and when they go to sleep there on the couch you turn on your favorite videogame (with earphones) and get payed for that baby to sleep until the parents show up.

There are many ways to earn near-passive income, and I will be exploring them more on my site in the future. Until the next post, I leave you with this picture of what life in Kentucky is like. The 9pm opossum wrangle. Enjoy, and have a great day!

(He has his fangs out while he hangs out)