How to Make Money With Babysitting Services: The Ultimate Guide

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Looking for how to make money with babysitting services? If yes, then you are about to find out in this post.

Many families are willing to pay a little extra for an honest and reliable babysitter, which makes babysitting a profitable side business.

Finding quality child care while parents are away can be a challenge. As a result, many parents look to sitters they believe are capable of doing the job. This is why the babysitter business is growing more and more every day.

In this article, I have listed 9 top helpful tips on how to make money with babysitting services.

So let us begin. Here are tips for earning money as a babysitter, how to advertise your services, and ideas for improving your craft.

1. Attend More Related Training

More qualifications mean premium pricing. To make more money as a babysitter, you need to learn more relevant skills like first aid and resuscitation techniques. 

Attending First Aid and CPR training and getting certificates of completion for these training is crucial to increasing your pricing. 

You can also get more relevant formal training on childcare or special needs care if you want to upgrade into a more professional role.

2. You Should Begin With People You Already Know

If you’re looking to make money with babysitting service, one of the most overlooked and effective ways to earn extra income and create success is through networking. We all know people and we can probably think of a number of contacts we could reach out to if we wanted to do business together.

Whether you’re approaching a friend who has used your service before, your attorney’s cousin, or an acquaintance at church whose kids are just the right age for you, don’t rule out people who already know you. You’ve already built a relationship with them—now it’s all about growing that relationship into one that benefits both of you.

Also try asking for referrals from peers, family, professional colleagues, and friends—those closest to us—is the most natural place to begin.

3. Properly Discuss Pay With Each Employer Before Starting

While your rates may vary from one client to the next, it is important that you properly discuss how much you will earn for your services.

Because once the negotiation is complete, very few clients will agree to a raise later on. You might need to look for a higher-paying job if you did not negotiate well from the start. 

4. Offer Babysitting Services at Gatherings and Parties

Offer your babysitting service to take the hassle out of hosting an event. All you do is ask your employers to leave their children in your care, while they enjoy themselves. This service is perfect for kids’ birthday parties, the holidays, backyard barbecues, or any other large gathering where children are present.

5. Offer to Work on Weekends and Overnight

Make some serious cash as a babysitter by offering to stay overnight with the kids or over the weekend. Most parents will appreciate this as they would most likely have busy schedules or need to attend events. 

In this situation, it is unwise to charge your usual hourly fee. It is best to discuss a fair fixed amount you will charge for your weekend or overnight service. 

SEE: Practical Ways to Make Money on Weekends Real Quick

6. Provide Babysitting Services for Children With Special Needs

Most babysitters tend to avoid children with special needs as there are difficulties associated with caring for them. It creates a high demand for babysitters who are willing to take on these jobs. Less competition for these jobs means more pay for you as a babysitter as hourly rates are higher.

Make sure that you are capable of handling the job, or go for training on care for kids with special needs before applying.

7. Offer Tutoring Services While Babysitting Them 

Making extra money through tutoring is an excellent idea. An educated sitter like you becomes an ideal choice to also serve as a tutor because you know the curriculum and can help out in areas that need improvement. 

You can also increase your earnings as a babysitter if you know a foreign language or a subject the kids would find valuable. Most parents encourage the idea of their kids learning a foreign language. Just be sure to charge for this service.

8. Offer Additional Services

A great babysitting service is being able to offer consistently high quality to clients. This often requires additional services, such as transportation, cleaning, organizing trips for the children, cooking, treating the children to ice cream, movies, etc.

Offering additional services (while keeping the core service the same) means that you are able to offer more choices to your customers. It can give your service flexibility and keep it more relevant to your clients.

9. Work During Holidays 

Babysitting is the perfect job for the holidays. With demand so high, and overwhelmed parents, you can profit from being available. You will certainly need to work overtime in the run-up to Christmas or any major holiday including bank holidays. It is a wonderful time to increase your rates and charge double.

The average family spends 30% more on babysitting services over the holidays. Do you really want to give up that kind of cash?

Things You Need to Do When Starting Your Babysitting Service

Starting a babysitting business involves a lot of work. There are local laws you must know about, advertising places you must find, and state regulations you must comply with.

The job of babysitting allows you to earn money while gaining valuable experience in child care and developing job skills. When you start your babysitting business, you should do the following things.

1. Create an Online Profile on a Babysitting Service Website

The first step to making more money as a babysitter is to start with a professional babysitting website. They are designed specifically for finding work as a babysitter, which you are doing now. It is also wise to attach a resume or CV on the website, detailing your skills and proficiency as a babysitter.

2. Consider Joining a Babysitting Agency 

Joining a babysitting agency offers the advantages of having more control over your babysitting job opportunities, as well as receiving recurring income. Some babysitting agencies require membership fees, but the membership benefits generally outweigh the costs.

Babysitting jobs can be hard to find; but, with the right combination of skills, passion, reliability, and trustworthiness there is no limit to how much money you can make as a babysitter. After all, many families see their babysitters as part of the family.

A babysitting agency is the best option if you’re serious about finding regular babysitting jobs. Usually, the agency will send you to the homes of families who live close to you and whom they think you’ll get along with.

3. Spread the Word about Your Services

Ads in local papers and shops advertising your services is a great way to get your babysitting services off the ground. However, the marketing success is online through social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn and websites that advertise babysitting services.

Be sure to outline your babysitting experience and detail your success as an expert childcarer on these sites. This way when potential clients surf through these sites or your profile, they are impressed and immediately begin inquiring about your services. Hopefully, you can convert them into paying clients.

You can also create business cards or dish out flyers at schools, playgrounds, parks, or areas where you are likely to find parents. Make sure your flyers or business card contains information that will also lead them to your website or online profile.

4. Subject Yourself to a Background Check

In many states, a criminal background check will determine if you can babysit for a family. This might seem unnecessary, but there are a few benefits. Knowing that a potential caregiver has a clean record can help parents feel at ease while they are out, knowing their children are in good hands. If you want to make money with babysitting, a background check will help you find jobs.

5. Build Up Good References to Make Money with Babysitting Services

Whether you’re applying for a new job or looking to take on more babysitting jobs, having good references can increase your chances of employment.

Having confidence in the safety of their children is critical for parents. Get references written by previous employers to reassure them (and help you).

A professional character reference could have a powerful effect on a parent’s final decision. A teacher or a former boss would be a good choice, especially someone who has known you for a long time.

Your resume also needs to show you have experience working with children. After all, every parent wants a babysitter who is dependable and bright enough to handle a child.

6. Decide How Much You Will Charge Customers

Babysitting pays between $14 and $17 per hour on average. 

Several factors should affect your fees, including how many kids you would be looking after, how long your services would be required, and their age.

You should also put into account if the kid(s) have special needs and the difficulties you might go through caring for the kid.

In most cases, fees are determined by per-child basis, fixed-rate, or hourly rate.

FAQs

Do you need a license to make money with babysitting services?

No, you do not require a license to work as a babysitter. In most regions, there is no standard babysitting license issued by the government.

However, it is always a good idea to undergo a babysitting course if you want to become a professional babysitter. Several reputable organizations offer babysitting courses, a good example is the Red Cross, which issue certificates of completion.

How much will you earn as a babysitter?

Being a babysitter can earn you up to $20 per hour. Babysitters are expected to earn an average hourly wage of $17 in 2021, according to Ziprecruiter. If you charge an average fee of $17 per hour and work 40 hours per week, you would earn $2720 per month, minus any services added like tutoring and overtime. 

What is the age requirement for offering a babysitting service?

As a babysitter, you do not need to meet any minimum age requirements legally. Even so, it is not surprising that most parents would prefer and feel more comfortable hiring an older babysitter. They feel they are better at handling difficult situations on the job because they believe they are more responsible.

If you are aged under 16, you can still become a babysitter! But this means that the parents or guardians are still responsible for their child(ren) when you are in charge thereby limiting how much money you earn.

Conclusion

Knowing that a responsible adult is watching their children makes parents and guardians feel more at ease. While you do not need to have any major experience to start babysitting, it is a great idea to spend time with younger kids so you know how they act and behave. You can use this as a way to determine if babysitting is something you can do before applying for jobs.

Additionally, If you are new to babysitting or would like to start making money with babysitting, I advise that you get some basic training and begin by offering your services to friends and family. This will help build your references and get you referred to more clients. 

Finally, if you feel the process of how to make money with babysitting services might be too challenging for you, here are other legitimate ways you can make a daily income.

I hope you found this post helpful. Thanks for reading.