alternative streams of revenue

[matt]

Do you have any alternative streams of revenue other than your main job/career?

Maybe it's an ebay business, or maybe you do data entry in your spare time? or you do some freelance work similar to what you do for your regular job? Maybe you just have another part time job at a local business? Or maybe you own a bunch of patents or copyrights and get money from royalties?

Personally, I do the occasional freelance design and web development in my spare time.

How have you diversified (or how do you plan to diversify) your income?

[Fryguy]

Much like yourself I do freelance web work, mainly programming. I have also dabbled in short term investing (holding a stock for < 1 yr) and P2P lending, I'd like to give the ebay store a shot and will probably start with some odds and ends around the house to see if its something that interests me and go from there.

[paulbrown]

I've been thinking more about this lately. I have been involved in doing freelance web development for some photographers and stock photography agencies, but that has sort of died down lately. I've thought about doing some cool part-time stuff, like being a doorman at the Fox Theater, or if I could find some job within walking distance of my apartment where I would only have to work a couple of hours a week, that would be nice. I've also made a tiny amount of money off of some random stock videos I posted on istockvideo, so I'm thinking about making some more of those to trickle in some more money over time without having to do any work after it's been submitted.

I'm doing fine with my current income, but I'd love to pull in some extra savings, and perhaps get it coming in regularly enough to get, say, an iPhone. I think finding a way to get some residual income is a fantastic idea, however you choose to do it.

[bob]

paul,
I have never sold images or vids to stock photography places - how much do they normally pay?

[matt]

ooh, I'd like some more info on that. That's really passive income.

[paulbrown]

It really just depends. The (very) few video clips I've sold on istockvideo.com pay about 7-9 bucks a pop (for a ~$20-$30 video). Since my videos were of candles, I haven't really expected any to sell, but come Christmas time, I'm thinking I might get a few more hits. Actually, the only reason I had those videos in the first place was because we needed some for our church, so I made them, used them at church, and then put them up on istockvideo because I figured I didn't have anything to lose by posting them.

Images are of course less of a revenue stream. As you know, Bob, I help run the www.awakeimages.com website, and we are now looking at expanding and offering our stuff in individual images and in packaged form on www.worshiphousemedia.com. They also take cut, but the exposure will draw a lot more business to our main site.

This gets me thinking, though... I should go shoot some more video loops and post them to istockvideo! If you do the same, I wish you the best of luck.

[bob]

Paul,
I forgot that was you - those images are so cool... I want to put them on my walls or something

[paulbrown]

Haha, funny you should mention that. I know you mean having physical pictures hanging from walls, but check out what this guy is doing in churches around the country: www.visualworshiper.com. He's got some amazing stuff going on with wall projection.

[bob]

wow, paul, I checked it out - that is beautiful... being a very visual person, I really dig them and think it is very cool...

[matt]

that is totally awesome, I love the projection of architectural forms onto the walls.

[Thryah]

Besides my current job the only other thing I do currently for extra money is odd maintenance jobs for a friend who owns quite a bit of rental property and other things like that. I run sound at church and a local youth ministry, and from time to time extra things pop up in the community where I can earn some money off of that as well. As soon as I turn 18 I plan on doing some freelance work for ChaCha (http://www.chacha.com) since I always have my laptop and an internet connection with me, I can do that anywhere. Selling photos and vids sounds interesting though, I'm going to have to look into that.

[matt]

Recently Anne (my wife) has been posting on craigslist advertising us as dog sitters. We have one dog and a 12x12 kennel in the back yard. We've dog sat for a couple of dogs on weekends so far and tomorrow we're taking in two dogs for a week, so that's going to be exciting.

[bob]

@Thryah
You aren't even 18 and you are already getting your finances in order!! I wasn't nearly as wise as you at that age!

@Matt
have fun with the pooper-scooper

[matt]

You know I will. Our dog is also rather dominant with other dogs so we generally have to keep her separate or keep all of the dogs under close supervision. So that adds another level of complexity but it's also a great opportunity to get her used to other dogs and train her to behave properly around them.

[nizzie]

i've been sitting and nannying for years, having grown up with 7 brothers and starting to take care of other kids when I was 11, and i have a degree in education, so that's proved to be great side income. even though i've graduated and have a full-time job, i sit on weeknights and weekends to make extra money (sometimes up to 4-5 nights a week) and that basically covers any living expense (even with some fun stuff tossed in) besides rent. that way, one paycheck a month (from my actual job) goes to rent and the other has been going completely to savings, which is turn has been/is being used to make a substantial dent in my student loans. i just paid one off completely before it was even due on 1/1/09. i find it's a good way to spend some of my free time, since i love kids and love being around families (and it helps to be around them when you're young and living by yourself), not to mention the ability to make enough to cover all utilities, food, and extras is a HUGE blessing! starting this month, i'll be using this extra income to start making big dents on my second student loan, paying off the as much of the principle as i can before the payments actually start next april. i hate debt!

[angie1206]

I know this conversation hasn't been going for a while, but I saw the link...

I have become a Quixtar IBO (the grandchild of Amway if you will). It basically gives you the ability to have an online retail store without having to stock and ship items. Some people make a lot of money at it. If you are not the best at marketing and have minimal customers, you might not make a ton, but you will be able to get a larger tax refund and who doesn't like getting back a bunch on money that was help in the goverments 0% interest savings account all year--lol.

[soulpurpose]

Hi All! I too have been involved with creating alternative/multiple streams of income thru Network Marketing! It is a great way to be flexible, learn tons and meet a lot of quality people...tax benefits are great, and you can many times will your business to your family.
I attribute much to my association with this industry, and the professionals I have been exposed to..and would highly recommend it to anyone.
I have been involved with Send Out Cards since early in the year...what an amazing thing! I love the simplicity of the business model, and the product is universal...everyone sends cards! Great income opportunity, and literally can be done anywhere you can grab a computer..or maybe even just a phone.
If you have not checked it out..feel free to visit my site..fact is, even if you have another business, this tool can be useful for you.
www.sendoutcards.com/bjecha
Take the tour, send a card...make a difference!
B

[tds0249]

Has anyone had any luck with the data entry work from home stuff? I know the majority of stuff on the internet are scams. I would love to work from home, I'm sure most everyone would. I live in a rural area and drive 40 minutes each way to work. Working from home would make a huge difference not only in my financials but also just life in general. Thanks for any help or direction you can give.

[bob]

TDS
I know there are a lot of scams out there, but the virtual assistant industry has really been growing over the last few years. There are so many people who are looking to outsource tasks to virtual assistants - since many of the tasks don't need to be in the same location... I haven't done it myself, but I think I am going to try it out and do a review on the whole thing on the blog... If you google "virtual assistants" you will find tons of companies out there...

[grandmaks]

At this point in my life, I am a Avon represenative. I am also creating an on line business, God willing.

[kygal]

Bob,

In response to your talking about the virtual assistant industry, that's something I've been investigating for a couple of months and am about ready to try my hand at it. I have a lot of office and administrative experience and want to take a couple of courses to be able to offer a wider range of things...but I have quite a bit I can offer now to start. It's a great business but again, you have to be so careful of scams these days.

Here's a little story that just happened to me. I responded to a job offer on Monster.com a couple of weeks ago for a company looking for an administrative assistant/bookkeeper. I thought I'd really found the start to my VA career when they offered me the job...but something they said struck me the wrong way so I decided to check the BBB about them. Come to find out, they're laundering money out of the U.S. by using unsuspecting people to cash their checks and send it to another destination (still within the U.S.). The BBB confirmed this for me so even on reputable job search sites, they're still preying on people. I just couldn't believe it...maybe I'm too pollyana for today's times....

It's great to be here....and a quick intro. My name's Mary, live in southern Ontario by way of Kentucky and am presently trying to get my finances in order after losing my husband a little over a year ago. A definite change of circumstances I hadn't counted on. It's great to find a good Christian blog on finances. Looking forward to meeting many on here.

Take care,

Mary

[bob]

Wow Mary,
That sounds like God was giving you a heads up - way to listen! THanks for the warning...

[lmdulara]

Besides my fulltime retail management job, I do petsitting for a friend who owns a petsitting business. Over the last year or so, I have brought in an extra 5-6K in income just doing 1/2 hour visits for my "regulars". There are similar companies everywhere & we all know that people Love their pets!
Lisa

[mhallgroup]

How do the virtual online stores work? Do you have to pay $ to register/set up?

[4jacks]

How do the virtual online stores work? Do you have to pay $ to register/set up?

There are a LOT of scams out there that either take your money and run, or work as a pyrimad scheme.
The general idea is you have a website and tell all your friends to shop on it, we set up the website and take care of all the products, and you share all the profits.

None of them work, they are all scams.

Now if YOU have a product, and you want to sell it online, by setting up your own virtual store. That is a different story. Honestly I would start, by setting up a store on ebay, selling through ebay and craigslist, you can post on craigslist all over the country. Once that brings in enough revenue where you know people want it, save up some money and find an IT tech guy to set up a website for you, with your own domain and everything. They can do that for under a $1,000.

That is not a scam, you are paying them for the service of designing yourwebsite, and hosting, etc.

[matt]

Once that brings in enough revenue where you know people want it, save up some money and find an IT tech guy to set up a website for you, with your own domain and everything. They can do that for under a $1,000.

I can do this. *hint* *wink* *nudge*

[KrozFan]

How do the virtual online stores work? Do you have to pay $ to register/set up?

Depends on what you're doing. Amazon has something they call an astore (http://astore.amazon.com/) and the way it works is you basically sell their items from your site. Checkout and shipping is handled from Amazon and you get a check for part of what you sell. There are other type of affiliate selling programs out there, but you need to have something to bring people to your site. You can't just make a site with a bunch of links and nothing else, and expect people to go there. If you have a blog or regular website about a specific topic you can sell things related to your topic and make some money.

[P31woman]

Real estate, interest income from personal loans, timber investing, business ventures, rental income both commercial and residential

[taraburner]

I have multiple streams of revenue..and not really 'one career' since I work totally for myself
and have a slew of things going on.
Currently would love to sell my 'main' business but haven't been offered an appropriate price so I keep it going until I can sell it for what it's worth.
Tara

[YFSSolopreneur]

Most alternative revenue streams do take an initial investment of time, money, resources or knowledge. My experience in this day in age is diversifying your income sources is key to financial health, wealth and freedom. For those new to the concept, I definitely recommend reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki + The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. How you develop those alternative income sources should start with what you truly love and are passionate about. I currently diversify through real-estate, eCommerce, Corporate Branding + Business Development and Writing {writing is more so an outlet to help others as I don't receive income for it}.

I recently wrote an article called, '6,692,030,277 Reasons to Start Your Business Today.' There are many naysayers that will tell you its impossible but few have baked the recipe to see if it works. Often people that discourage your success are only telling you what they cannot see for themselves -- it rarely has any basis in your own capability and strengths.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt:
"So, you may say, "I have an idea or a hobby that I love. How can I make money or why should I get started?" There are 6,692,030,277 reasons in the world why -- 204,060,000 of them exist right here in the fabulous USA (World Population Data Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators). Are you seriously going to tell me that you can't find 100 people that would be interested in something you love and or do quite well. You are fooling yourself -- literally."
------------------------------------------------------------------

I liken this to the Parable of the Talents.

You will have to give an account for how you manage the gifts, anointing, assignments and talents God gave you.
We are all given a different starting position. Some of us are born into abundance (five talents). Others are born into scarcity (one talent). But what matters isn’t what we’re given — it’s what we do with it that matters. Those who are unfaithful lose not only their reward, but their stewardship.

Resources (Talents) + Labor (Work) + Time = Success/Profit


Erica ?
Young, Fabulous & Self-Employed, Founding Editor
Website: selfemployedmavens.blogspot.com
Twitter: YFSSolopreneur

[YFSSolopreneur]

TDS
I know there are a lot of scams out there, but the virtual assistant industry has really been growing over the last few years. There are so many people who are looking to outsource tasks to virtual assistants - since many of the tasks don't need to be in the same location... I haven't done it myself, but I think I am going to try it out and do a review on the whole thing on the blog... If you google "virtual assistants" you will find tons of companies out there...

Great points. I am a huge proponent of VA's. Many entrepreneurs are fond of utilizing VA's given the virtual aspect, independent contractor status (lowers operating costs), and maximizing efficiency on tactical tasks that need immediate attention. I started out hiring many of my VA's through Elance.com. Therefore, if you are new to the field and looking to make additional income I recommend this tried and true online platform. Also, craigslist.org is a great place to locate VA leads.

Here is a great story on Entrepreneur.com about a woman who started her own VA company. It is a fast growing + profitable industry.

Article: http://www.entrepreneur.com/starting...icle71516.html


Erica ?
Young, Fabulous & Self-Employed, Founding Editor
Website: selfemployedmavens.blogspot.com
Twitter: YFSSolopreneur

[harbinger581]

Yes, I do. I work part time at an industrial supply company while I go to school and I started a home based coupon business to build and supplement my income. It's a local business here in Milwaukee so I know the CEO and it is now expanding nationwide, so I am very excited about it

[Tyler Bennett]

I have been doing a lot of research and I have a few things that I hope to make some extra money off of. I do a lot of freelance writing and this gets a few hundred dollars a month. I also just joined a site called Varolo (there is a thread about it on the Making Extra Money forum). I also just created my own self-hosted blog where I plan to eventually earn some money off of. I do really like the idea behind Varolo though because it has the potential to earn you a lot of money. If you guys want info on that just go look at my thread.

Also if you want to view my blog, it is about freelance writing and I just started it today, you can check it out at: http://tcbwriting.com/