Danielle Sulzer outlines ways her family developed multiple income streams in Episode 138
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Today I am speaking with a woman who has developed multiple income streams to fund her family’s RV travel experience and she’ll describe some of them.
Danielle Sulzer is originally from Flagstaff, Ariz. She has been traveling at a breakneck speed through the Midwest this summer with her husband, Scott, and two daughters, 13-year-old Samantha and 5-year-old Lilly. She was in Dennison, Texas, when the interview was recorded six weeks ago and has since been traveling through Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The Sulzers have the freedom to travel at will because they have developed several different revenue streams to support them on the road.
Both Danielle and Scott are certified RV inspectors. Danielle is also a registered RV technician and Scott is a certified RV tech. Together they do what’s called retail arbitrage with Amazon. Danielle also creates digital art and sells it online. They use affiliate links on all their websites to generate extra income.
She says she’s using her natural gifts and acquired skills to earn money in a fun way while trying to cultivate and embody a way of life for their kids to, hopefully, grow up and live similar happy, fulfilled lives of adventure and wonder.
The family and two dogs live in a Keystone Sprinter fifth wheel with three slides. They modified the RV for full-time living and Danielle describes some of the adjustments they made to ensure the girls have separate living space.
They bought the RV in 2019 and moved in right away while they wrapped up loose ends in Arizona, then hit the road full-time in June 2020. Marketing the RV tech and inspection business has been as easy as putting up signs in the campground they were staying and updating their location on an inspector locator website. It took all of two days to land their first paying customers.
The Sulzers are roadschooling their daughters, which is just like homeschooling except that they travel to historic places to learn things firsthand. For example, they have visited the Eisenhower Library and Museum in Texas as well as Lincoln’s family home and burial place in Illinois. Right now they are retracing the steps of Laura Ingalls Wilder by visiting her old family farm in Walnut Grove, Minn.
I had never heard of retail arbitrage, but it sounds like a fun way to make extra money by shopping for things on sale and then reselling them on Amazon and eBay. With Amazon, they simply find the deals and ship them to the company where the items are stored and shipped to the ultimate buyers.
Creating logos and doing digital photography as well as videography is a great way to make money. When families are together on vacation, that’s an ideal time to take some informal portraits when everyone is happy, relaxed and in a natural state. She can also serve business clients needing artwork by designing it from her desk inside the RV.
But, their main source of income is conducting RV inspections and fixing other people’s RVs wherever they’re traveling. They’ve also been able to make money by inspecting RVs for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The whole point of their plan is to create income streams that are relatively easy to do wherever they opt to stay for a while.
As a general rule, the Sulzers tend to stay in the same place for 14 to 20 days, then move another 300 miles or so and checkout that area. Because of the training they have completed, the family saves money by doing their own service work.
One thing they like to do as a family is seek out the best ice cream and pizza they can find in each town, especially at local mom-and-pop places. They also like to visit local city and county parks. They have found really affordable accommodations by staying at fairgrounds when the venue isn’t being used for a major event.
Danielle proves that it’s relatively easy to fund a travel dream and that you do not have to stay in the same location for months at a time just to earn money.
You can follow the Sulzer family on their adventures via their YouTube Channel. Just search for The Wandering Souls Family. You can find out more information about their company by visiting www.wheelestatervinspections.com.
Today’s show is sponsored by the Small Business RVer School. This new course from Steve Anderson, co-creator of the National RV Training Academy and National RV Inspectors Association, is designed specifically for entrepreneurs on the move and helps you build a business you can run anytime from anywhere.
The self-directed course helps you be your own boss while reducing stress and saving on taxes. Through a series of online videos, and monthly calls, you are taught the steps necessary to build and manage a successful mobile business.
Life is too short. So, choose what you want to do and when you want to do it by starting a business of your own. For more information, visit www.smallbizrver.com.
That’s all I have for this week’s show. Join me again next week for another episode when I speak with a couple who has been Workamping across the nation and even in Alaska. Thanks for listening to The Workamper Show!
