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No matter what your business is, it's never a good idea to rely on only one source of income. If that source ever starts to dwindle, you'll quickly find yourself in a difficult financial situation.
That's why, according to serial entrepreneur Tim Knox, of TimKnox.com, you need to have many streams of revenue coming in. Then, even if one stream dries up, you're still generating money from other channels. But how do you begin building additional income channels? Knox recommends several methods:
- An eBay Business
This is one of the easiest, most affordable ways for you to begin earning profits on the Internet. You can get your feet wet selling online with items lying around the house; as you gain experience, you can graduate to using drop shippers and light bulk wholesalers. Explains Knox, "EBay provides an easy entry into E-Biz. It's a consummate marketplace with massive amounts of traffic who are there primarily, not to gather information, but to buy."
- Affiliate Marketing
Essentially, you're selling someone else's product on commission. As a new seller, you might shy away from promoting another seller's items, but you need to realize how much you can boost your income just by adding affiliate goods to your lineup. Marketing downloadable merchandise is especially ideal for newcomers, because it doesn't involve stocking physical products, and tends to have extremely high profit margins.
- Creating Informational Products
This potential revenue stream can take many forms: an e-book, audio program, video or DVD, hard manual, tele-seminar, or CD. The idea is worth far more than the execution; so if creating the product is beyond your capabilities, you can find a ghost-writer or programmer to turn your idea into a consumable good.
Most people don't feel they know enough about a subject to educate anyone, but an expert is just "a person who knows a little more than the next guy." If you look hard enough, you'll find that you do know something you can create an info product about – whether it's kids, vacations, pets, or origami. You can sell your goods on eBay or your own web site, and sign affiliates to go out and sell them for you.
- Joint Ventures
A joint venture simply means coming together with another seller to promote each other's products and share the profits. For example, if you're selling an information product on eBay, you might find someone else doing the same. If their product is complementary, rather than competitive, you could promote each other's products for a 50% commission.
The real beauty of joint ventures is that you're not just selling your products, you're also building your email list. When your partners' customers buy your products, they can opt-in to your list, so you're growing your customer base.
While these are by no means the only income streams you can generate online, they'll get you off to a solid start as you grow your income to create a solid monetary position. Says Knox, "There's no such thing as job security anymore – you have to establish that security for yourself. The Internet really opens that door for folks to look at their lives and time and energies, and to find opportunities in almost everything they do."
BIOGRAPHY: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of the Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for more FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info!
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