As online marketers we hear the phrase ‘multiple streams of income’ to the point that it just becomes a sound bite, like ‘passive income’ or ‘leverage’

But the fact of the matter is this…

I know quite a lot of very successful marketers. I know them from a business point of view, and I know them from a ‘who’s turn is it to get the beers in?’ point of view too

And long ago I noticed this:

Almost ALL successful people I know have multiple sources of income.

To give you an example, my income comes from selling my own products, selling other people’s products as an affiliate, from software, apps, coaching, blogging, websites, consulting, offline businesses and a few of other things

If some of the streams vanish overnight and I still have revenue from the rest

“Stating the bleedin’ obvious again Shepherd?”

Well not really because most people don’t really understand the following SINGLE fact:

Business has CHANGED.

I don’t just mean online, I mean everywhere.

Farms near my house are no longer just dairy farms or sheep farms, because if they ARE, they’ve gone under.

The farms that are thriving near my house now make their own cheese, sell free range eggs from a van, run stalls on farmer’s markets every weekend, sell plants, sell rare breed meat, breed rabbits or guinea pigs, have petting zoos and play areas for kids, offer tractor rides, livery stables and a one even has an American style diner.

They don’t ALL do all these things obviously but they almost all DO have multiple streams of income.

And so do the small independent shops in our village – websites that complement the physical shops, pottery classes, hiring out rooms to Ukulele groups, painting days for kids, outside catering, artwork commissions and hiring out display cabinets in their premises for local artists

Multiple streams of income.

Here’s another example. I have a product I sell – an ebook – that brings me around $4,000 a year. It’s an old one but the info is still very valid and I make around half a dozen sales each week from it

Could I make a living from it?

Absolutely not, but combined with the $2,000, $12,000, $30,000 and additional streams of income I have, it adds up to a pretty comfortable income.

So that ebook or plugin or PLR package of yours that ‘only’ sells a couple of copies a week and maybe brings you ‘just’ $5k a year and that doesn’t feel like you’re being successful is just the start of things.

Not everything you do has to be a stunning firework display of brilliance. You just need to make sure that your income mounts up from different sources, slowly and steadily.

It gives you security (there can’t be many people who still think that working for a single wage in a 9-5 job is secure), and it gives you flexibility.

Start with a simple ebook perhaps, then add a paid mastermind group based around it. Add a personal coaching option and maybe a plugin that automates the process and suddenly you’re earning six figures a year from four different sources.

Rinse and repeat.

I’ve over-simplified it of course, but I reckon you get what I mean.

 

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