Why should you or I as a Christian, want
to produce multiple streams of income. Also where can you find that in
the Bible? Producing multiple streams of income is clearly spelled out
in Matthew 25:14-30 were our Lord depicts the citizens of the kingdom of
Heaven as those who received talents from our Lord. In this they have a
responsibility as good stewards to be faithful and multiply what they
have. At Live Recession Proof Now.com we see the talents as representing
your gifts your education, experience, talents, resources, passions,
hobbies, knowledge, interests and much more. Basically the talent
represents everything the Lord has trusted you with to make His name
famous. What we intend to do with this article is to show you the
various ways in which you can Glorify God with your talents.
1. Have a full-time job.
You may already have a full-time job, and if so, my recommendation is
not to quit outright. You might downsize your job, if you don’t really
need the income anymore, but it’s often smart to keep the full-time job
in some capacity just to ensure that you have that regular paycheck
coming in. You could cut back on your pay and responsibilities, though,
and work from home if possible.
2. Have a part-time job.
If you don’t have a full-time job, and don’t think getting one will
work for you, consider a part-time job. If you have valuable skills,
often a part-time job can pay good money and offer you the flexibility
you want so you can continue to freelance.
3.
Start a blog. This is an easy way to market your writing and to share
your knowledge with others. There are many bloggers that make some
decent cash from it, mostly from banner ads, which by the way adds
another revenue stream, which I will talk about more later. It can take a
while for a blog to get the desired following and make any money, as
with any business, but I think it’s worth the effort.
4. Create a product.
If you currently provide a service as a freelancer, you provide the
service once and get paid once. Then you have to provide the service
again to get paid again. However, if you can turn your service into a
product, you can do that once and get paid many times. For example, you
could create a DVD or podcast explaining how to do something (design a
web page, for example), or a workbook or other kind of instruction
manual. If you have a popular blog, you may be able to sell merchandise.
Set it up once, and collect an income stream thereafter.
5. Teach a class.
If you have valuable knowledge or skills, teaching that to others can
pay well. Teach at a community college, set up a series of seminars, or
create your own classes at your business, home or community center.
6. Offer coaching or consulting.
Instead of teaching an entire class, you can coach people one-on-one
(or in small groups) or teach them how to set something up through
consulting contracts. For example, if you do web design, you can work
with a bunch of new designers to show them how to set up their business,
buy the software, bill clients, etc. Or you might teach them how to be
better designers.
7. Start a small business.
Many of the above examples are also small businesses, of course, but
I’m talking about a more traditional type of business. One that sells a
product or service in the real world or online. You could get involved
with a few others in creating a business where you do work in the
beginning and then do very little afterward except collect checks. I
know someone who set up a vending machine business, for example, where
he made the initial outlay of cash, and then hired employees to restock
the vending machines and collect his coins. He makes a good side income
from it, and his small business loan for the initial outlay is paid off.
There are many opportunities like this to create a passive stream of
income.
8. Write a book. Write
a book once, and you’re done. It’s not always easy to get it published,
of course, but it’s not impossible. I’m writing a book right now,
actually, although I haven’t tried to sell it yet. Books can be a long
shot, but if they pay off, they can pay off big. They also help your
credentials, which help with the other items on this list.
9. Affiliate marketing.This is what I was
referring to earlier when I mentioned banner ads on your blog or
website. If you have a blog or any other kind of website, you can set up
affiliate links to different services on the web. Darren Rowse of
ProBlogger.com, for example, recently revealed that he’s made more than a
quarter of a million dollars through signing people up on the Chitika
advertising service. When someone signs up through his affiliate link,
he gets a small cut of their advertising revenue. That can add up if you
get a lot of affiliate sales, and you don’t have to do any work.
10. Have multiple clients.
If you rely on one main client, slowly start branching out to new
clients. That doesn’t mean to add a bunch of new clients willy-nilly,
but to gradually add good clients, one at a time. You need to ensure
that these clients fit with you, that you work well with them, that they
don’t give you too many headaches. If the client fits those criteria,
keep them. If not, dump them (professionally and nicely) and move on.
But aim to have a wider variety of clients as well, as you don’t want a
single unfortunate event (say the collapse of an industry) to wipe you
out too.
11. Sell an e-book.
If publishing a book in the traditional way is a long shot, publishing
an e-book is relatively easy. Many people publish them for free, but
many sell them as well. And it’s not hard to set up a website to sell an
e-book, perhaps buy some Google ads to market it, and then have a small
source of revenue from then on.
To continue reading more about Christian Entrepreneurs Online Businesses and why an Affiliate program might be right for you go to: www.liverecessionproofnow.com for more tips on Multiple Streams of Income.
