Free Stuff: Business Articles - Multiple Streams of Income

Lately, I have been listing to a Nightingale Conant tape series, Multiple Streams of Income by Robert Allen. He is the same author who wrote No Money Down, a guide to real estate investing.

This tape series caught my attention because in the late 1970s I took his real estate advice and invested in a few pieces of property and made good money when I sold them. Now I highly recommend his Multiple Streams tape set if you are interested in diversifying your income sources.

The premise for Allen's information is: "Don't have all of your eggs in one basket." In other words, have money coming in from a job you might have, from investments, from real estate, and from your own business!

Having your own business can be a great way to make money but is also a great way to write off expenses such as automobiles, insurance, computers, vacations, etc. And if you aren't realizing every legal write-off then maybe you need a more aggressive accountant who can save you thousands of dollars every year!

Allen also talks about having other types of income. One of the ones that struck my fancy was the selling of information. He refers to those who sell information as "Info-preneurs" (like entrepreneurs). I sell my services as a speaker/lecturer and I also sell information and consultation time. You, too, can benefit from this. Wherever you are in your career, there are people who don't have as much experience as you do, in some aspect of the business.

You need to broaden your thinking. Think horizontally instead of vertically. An example: I teach amateur classes in my area. I've done everything from a two hour class in a country club to a multi-evening session at a community college. And everyone of these makes money. They can range from $300 for a single hour to over $1,000 for a six night class. A fallout benefit from these classes is the business that I generate from the public relations standpoint. And, I am wearing the "white hat" and being a good guy for sharing my knowledge with people who want to take better pictures of their families and on their vacations.

Still on the horizon are even more opportunities. Take this: for years I have been taking photographs of custom handmade knives. As my reputation grew among the knifemakers around the country, I began having more and more images show up in national knife magazines and publications. To date I have had over 400 of my knife photographs published. And for each job I got paid.

But now, I will sell information to these people as I am publishing a book and video tape on how to photograph knives. I will make as much or more money selling the information than I did doing the jobs.

So what are your hobbies and interests? How can you combine your knowledge of photography and your other interests to make money? Remember, you don't have to know everything to teach someone else, you just have to know more than they do!