Diversify Your Income
A second revenue stream.
These are important words. This is an important idea. In fact, let me make those words even more relevant and meaningful.
Multiple revenue streams.
Now we’re cooking with grease! In an uncertain world, during an uncertain time in our economy, you need to hedge your bets. If your only source of income is from a single job, at a single employer, then you are not setting yourself up to be fail proof. Think about it for a minute. Let’s say your boss calls you into the office in the morning, and tells you “sorry, but we have to make some cutbacks.” Pink slip slides across the desk. A feeling of doom and gloom comes over you. Are you prepared to thank him/her, and then exit gracefully? Can you leave that office feeling like you are safe and secure for at least six months, if not years?
The only way to rid yourself of the burden of knowing you are at the mercy of your employer is to set yourself free. You just need a couple of things in place to help you make the change from total dependent to Free Human Being. You need adequate, liquid savings and you need additional sources of income.
Let’s talk about the savings first. How much money do you have in the bank? Do you have enough money to pay your rent or mortgage for six months, fuel your car for six months, and buy yourself groceries for six months? What about your utilities? Insurance payments? If you are shaking your head no, then you need to get on the stick and make a change. There are tons of great articles out there about getting on a budget, and starting a savings plan. Go check one out, and then come back here for the next bit.
If you have your savings in place, then it’s time to start getting additional income streams. There are several ways to go about this. I’m going to list a few, some of which I have no personal experience with, others that I do.
First, there are stocks out there that pay dividends. This does require that you put some money in, and the returns aren’t often glamorous, but over time you could build up a decent paycheck on dividends. The market is risky, and this isn’t your most lucrative avenue. But, it can create a stream of income.
The next item on the agenda is rental properties. Again, this stream of income requires a certain personality and certain bank account to get into. You have to purchase a property, do the work needed to make it livable, and then put renters in it. Oh, but then, if the toilet jams up - off you go to unjam it. There are management firms who will take care of this for you, but they will do so at a significant burden to your profit margin. And here I say it again; it doesn’t sound glamorous, but it is another stream of income.
How about blogging for money? Here is a not so novel idea. If you have some web savvy, this could be an avenue for you to explore. Buy yourself a domain name (<$10), get yourself some hosting (<$10/month at first), and grab a copy ofWordPress (Free!). If you can get some fundamental skills and know how in place (hint - read up on SEO , AdSense and have a good topic to focus on) you could easily turn $10-$15 a month per site in revenue. If you are crafty, skilled, and have real knowledge in a field - you can make $5k a month per site. No joke. This isn’t me,btw. I evidently am neither crafty nor skilled.
Another good trick is work at a second job. Are you a Web Designer by day? Why not be a Web Designer in the evenings as well? Are you a toaster repair man in the toaster repair shop? Guess what, you could repair a few toasters in your off time. Don’t go into looking to totally replace your day job (unless you are very, very serious about it) - but do use it as a way to generate some amount of side income.
There you go. A few ideas for you. If you have some of your own, drop me a comment! I’d love to hear from you.
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