Diversifying Your Revenue Streams

I have a male friend who is always looking for ways to add to his personal revenue. He will contact me at nauseum with emails, text messages and phone calls about his next great, big idea! In the beginning, I did a lot of eye-rolling and muffled sighs thinking, “I’m just not that into all these wacky ideas!” (Sorry C; I know you read my blog!) But I consider whether or not I would buy the product, and if the answer is no, I am not interested in offering it to someone else. One of C’s “wacky” ideas was software for cell phones where people can talk their texts hands-free. Well, recently the laws changed in Georgia, making it illegal text while driving…Now I am thinking that maybe I should have moved on that idea before the laws changed!

And really, is it such a bad idea to have a variety of revenue streams, particularly in this economy? Even during years of plenty, we should consider alternate ways of earning money, so when/if one stream dries up, we do not have to panic because money is flowing from another source.

Wise investors already practice diversification –stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. If you own a business, you may have already tapped into ways of providing additional services and/or products to your customers that centers around your core business. This encourages customer loyalty and repeat business. So, why not apply these same principles in our personal lives?

Diversifying your revenue streams is simply practicing risk management. Things are fluctuating, and the foundations of our economy are changing. Now is a good time to prepare for the factors outside our control. The state of the economy has many people thinking more creatively about their financial position. This requires moving outside our comfort zone. For me, it is definitely anything related to sales. I have never considered myself a sales person, per se. If I present an item and you say “No thank you” I leave it at that. I do not prod and attempt to convince you to buy something you do not want. That is because I do not want to be prodded by salespeople who insist I buy their wacky idea. But, am I the wacky one for not seeing the goldmine?

What are some of the things you are doing, or preparing to do, that will diversify your income?

"It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check once in awhile and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy." - George Horace Lorimer (1867-1937 American Editor)