Nearly Half of People Using Marketplace Apps Are Subsidizing the Cost of Property They Couldn’t Otherwise Afford

While Julz Maleno was putting herself through school, she worked several gig jobs to pay her bills. She did a stint as an Uber driver, but an accident left her wary of driving for a living. Then she got a job as an acupuncture assistant, but her course schedule required a job with more flexibility. That’s when Maleno realized her large property — including a vacant one-acre lot — could help her earn passive income while she finished studying.

Maleno told Business Insider that she divided the unused portion of her property into three sections and listed them as parking and long-term vehicle storage on Neighbor. Managing her listings on Neighbor only requires about 5-10 hours a month and within two years Maleno has earned $26,700 storing people’s cars, RVs, and trailers. …

Neighbor vs Airbnb vs VRBO for Owners: A Side-by-Side Comparison

It’s no secret that real estate provides many great opportunities for earning passive income. Having a rental property (or even a spare room) means potentially huge earning potential, which leaves many homeowners wondering about Airbnb vs VRBO for owners — which is the best way to earn cash using extra space in your home?

What many homeowners don’t realize is that vacation rentals and short-term stays aren’t your only option for turning a spare bedroom or finished basement into a passive income stream. In this article, we’ll compare Airbnb and VRBO, two of the most popular platforms for renting out homes and extra rooms. But we’ll also introduce Neighbor — yet another way to turn extra space into income (while giving a hand to others in your own community!). …

Best Passive Income Streams

Many of us wish we could earn a little extra cash each month. Whether through a side hustle or gig work, passive income is one of the most sought-after ways of generating extra cash flow. Why? It’s all in the name—it’s passive.

Passive income can provide the cash to cover a few bills each month, to build up your family’s emergency fund, to pay off debt, or to save for a great vacation. The only question is, which passive income stream is the best?

If you’re curious about passive income, keep reading. We’ve got all the details on what passive income is, how it works, and some of the best ways to set yourself up so you can start earning regular passive income.

…

Report: 83% of Sharing Economy App Users Feel More Connected to their Communities

The “sharing economy” as we recognize it today started to grow and take hold during the Great Recession. Any time you use a peer-to-peer technology platform to acquire, provide, or share goods or services, you’re taking part in the sharing economy. In less techy speak, that means apps like Instacart, Lyft, and Rover — technology that you use to connect with others for the purpose of sharing skills, goods, and services.

The sharing economy has been criticized, especially recently, for its lack of regulation and sometimes unfair labor practices. Much of that criticism is valid, but we don’t see it as a reason to write off the entire sharing economy — instead, we see it as an imperfect system that has the capacity to create a lot of good. In particular, it seems like these apps have the ability to connect people in new ways — we think “sharing community” might even be a more accurate name.

To that end, we surveyed 1,000 Americans about how they use sharing economy apps, their feelings about apps versus traditional services, and how these apps have affected their local economies, personal relationships, and more.

…

The 5 Best Ways to Make Money on the Road

Neighbor is a peer-to-peer storage company. Hosts can rent extra space around their house like basements, closets, garages, and RV pads to others in their community. For renters, Neighbor is 50% cheaper than traditional self storage.Traveling by RV is a great way to relax and explore the world at …

8 Essential Resources For Building a Marketplace Startup

Marketplace startups are popping up at an accelerating rate. Angel.co’s list of marketplaces numbers almost 10,000 companies around the world. Over 80 new startups joined the list in just the last month.

Often, the founders of these platforms don’t know how to begin or where to learn about building a …

Is it Possible to Live off the Sharing Economy

In the last ten years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of sharing economy companies. Some big names immediately come to mind like Airbnb and Uber. Many companies have copied the model to great success, connecting gig workers with clients for things like dog walking, grocery shopping, and …

How to Pay off a Mortgage Faster with the Shared Economy

More than any other recurring expense, people want to be rid of their house payment. So how do you pay off a mortgage faster? Most advice involves structuring a loan a certain way, or thinking through money-saving devices that make mortgage payments less painful. But what about making more …

Stay at Home Mom Jobs: Picking the Right One

For many, being a stay at home mom (or dad) is an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a common occurrence. The latest Pew Research suggests that about 1 in 5 parents stay at home with children under the age of 18. What’s more, those numbers haven’t varied in the …

The Secret of the Internet

This article was originally published in the Spring 2018 edition of Silicon Slopes Magazine.

Reading the Tea Leaves
In 1994, Jeff Bezos left his position as vice-president of a Wall St. firm to do the unthinkable: connect writers and publishers directly to their readers. No middleman. No in-house barista. No fancy displays. …

HOA: The Original Sharing Economy

The New Economy
The sharing economy has taken the world by storm over the last decade:

Airbnb, founded with an air mattress and a living room just nine short years ago, now boasts more rooms than Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Wyndham and Hyatt combined
WeWork, which provides shared office space, now sports …