Is it good to have multiple streams of income?

[Dien Rice]

I was reading through one of Gordon's early posts... actually, one I had saved from a very early forum (from the late 1990s, believe it or not)...

It was about making multiple streams of income...

When you think about it, most people have essentially one stream of income - from their job...

Though, having multiple streams of income is becoming more common, as people add "side hustles" and so on...

Is having multiple streams of income a good idea? Or is it better to just focus on one?

I'm a believer in multiple streams of income...

Does wanting multiple streams of income make me some kind of kook?

During the pandemic, one of my streams of income dried up, due to circumstances beyond my control. It caused some difficulty, but... Because I had multiple streams of income, we "survived"... (That income stream which had dried up, is now back...)

The point is that having multiple streams of income gives you more security...

If one income stream dries up, you have others still going... So your income will not drop down to zero!

Also, there's a greater chance that one of your income streams will get great growth!

You can think of it as having more than one ticket to the lottery... With more than one ticket, your chance of winning increases...

And the happy giddiness that comes from it!

Of course, there's a limit. The best way is to get your income streams to the point where you don't have to spend too much time operating each one...

You don't want to carry the burden of a pack mule!

Maybe we can talk about that at a future time...

Best wishes!

Dien

[GordonJ]

Keeping the income coming in, and why these strategies have withstood the test of time.

OK, call it consulting, conferring, giving advice...but I believe we all have a consultant living inside of us, and that can be a pretty nice income stream.

Today, you can't go a minute online without bumping into some sort of a COACH, and coaching the coaches has become big business. One I avoid, although I probably have more to offer than most. But it isn't about money, that is a relative easy thing to bring into your life. GIVE what you got.

But the consultant is one income stream, and it is many folks' main income (job/business), a little part time side hustle has served me well, and every once in awhile, I'll do these tiny 100 dollar deals, or a DFY 499 things, I still do SOME offline consulting, why let 50 years of know how go to waste??

Chatteling. Buying and selling. 52 years ago I saw a line outside of a pawn shop, some military groups shipping out to Vietnam from Hawaii...and found a gold mine with buying and selling.

Today, I don't do much low end chatteling, I prefer at least 300 dollar profit per deal, which usually takes less than 15 minutes.

And the idea of doing eBay, with packing, shipping and the TIME spent doing it...NO, no thanks, plenty of local chattel still on Craigslist, Facebook market place and Facebook groups, locally over 50,000 members in the top few buy and sell facebook groups in my area.

So, no matter what else you do, and I have harped on this for decades now, you have TWO income streams at your ready anytime you choose to execute them and turn on the spigots.

1) Offer YOU; knowledge, skills, experience...for some EZ moolah.

2) Chattel. Buy low over here, sell higher over there.

They have withstood the tests of TIME.

And having a few TOLL positions doesn't hurt any either.

Gordon

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

I was reading through one of Gordon's early posts... actually, one I had saved from a very early forum (from the late 1990s, believe it or not)...

It was about making multiple streams of income...

When you think about it, most people have essentially one stream of income - from their job...

Though, having multiple streams of income is becoming more common, as people add "side hustles" and so on...

Is having multiple streams of income a good idea? Or is it better to just focus on one?

I'm a believer in multiple streams of income...

Does wanting multiple streams of income make me some kind of kook?

During the pandemic, one of my streams of income dried up, due to circumstances beyond my control. It caused some difficulty, but... Because I had multiple streams of income, we "survived"... (That income stream which had dried up, is now back...)

The point is that having multiple streams of income gives you more security...

If one income stream dries up, you have others still going... So your income will not drop down to zero!

Also, there's a greater chance that one of your income streams will get great growth!

You can think of it as having more than one ticket to the lottery... With more than one ticket, your chance of winning increases...

And the happy giddiness that comes from it!

Of course, there's a limit. The best way is to get your income streams to the point where you don't have to spend too much time operating each one...

You don't want to carry the burden of a pack mule!

Maybe we can talk about that at a future time...

Best wishes!

Dien

[GordonJ]

The IEA, always gives me a giggle.

How independent are the Entrepreneurs who join an organization? Well, I get it, understand the sharing of ideas, the community of it all...but really, if you want to be totally INDEPENDENT, don't join the clubs.

Anyhow, once upon a time, I created my own position, Independent Marketing Appraiser, you'll find it somewhere in the archives.

This was at a time when small brick and mortar businesses had to daily chase away the flies of marketing; radio, TV, newspaper, magazine, bill boards, fliers, circulars, yearbooks...and YELLOW PAGE salespeople, at one time they held a monopoly on the YP, then competition came in, and then the Internet and so long YP.

I just got off a chat conference with a marketer I like, Abbey Woodcock, who has opened a brick and mortar (passion project) cheese shop in upstate NY.

She informed us, the pesty bugs of marketing still fly into her shop almost daily, only now Instagram has replaced the YP or social media, or web site builders, or some leftover print ad guys...still pitching the momma and poppa on getting more customers. Her very good advice is if, IF you are going to be offering marketing services to brick and mortar, offer a DONE FOR YOU service, because they just don't have time.

So, a little history lesson here: Why I chose to call myself INDEPENDENT MARKETING APPRAISER 30 years ago and the benefits of doing so....


See, when Ms YP, or Mr. Beacon Journal, or Miss Channel 5 walked in their doors, they had ONE thing to offer, THEIR WAY of marketing.

I, on the other hand, had NOTHING to sell them. I did not enter with a product to sell, so unlike all the others, I was immediately different.

What I did offer was a FREE marketing appraisial, to audit their current budget and their customer acquisition cost, and see if there was some way to reduce the cost and increase the profit margins on an affordable or cost effective way. Often there was, but sometimes not.

What Abbey told us today, reflects similar pitches from 50 years ago, and what most pitches don't account for, and what most marketers get wrong is, they think the biz owner isn't interested in or must be educated about the value of marketing.

They get it, just don't have the time to DO it, SO, there is today, an opportunity for those 3 of you left in the world, who are not afraid to walk in the front door of a business, or call the owner before of after their shop hours...and present then with a FREE MARKETING AUDIT. How can anyone know what a business needs next, if they don't know what the biz is doing now?

Anyhow, I and my associates have sold every type of marketing/advertising that is out there, and although it may still be the number one thing most small business people want and need (more or higher paying customers), there is NOT a one size fits all, but if you are working today, you can offer a multiple of services, like creating video (reels) for their social media accounts, like Instagram and Twitter, Tik-Tok, or even Facebook.

YOU can be an independent appraiser, and when you do, then, you can join my newly formed IA ASSociation, when you pay your dues, you get my newsletter as a bonus.

Gordon

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Keeping the income coming in, and why these strategies have withstood the test of time.

OK, call it consulting, conferring, giving advice...but I believe we all have a consultant living inside of us, and that can be a pretty nice income stream.

Today, you can't go a minute online without bumping into some sort of a COACH, and coaching the coaches has become big business. One I avoid, although I probably have more to offer than most. But it isn't about money, that is a relative easy thing to bring into your life. GIVE what you got.

But the consultant is one income stream, and it is many folks' main income (job/business), a little part time side hustle has served me well, and every once in awhile, I'll do these tiny 100 dollar deals, or a DFY 499 things, I still do SOME offline consulting, why let 50 years of know how go to waste??

Chatteling. Buying and selling. 52 years ago I saw a line outside of a pawn shop, some military groups shipping out to Vietnam from Hawaii...and found a gold mine with buying and selling.

Today, I don't do much low end chatteling, I prefer at least 300 dollar profit per deal, which usually takes less than 15 minutes.

And the idea of doing eBay, with packing, shipping and the TIME spent doing it...NO, no thanks, plenty of local chattel still on Craigslist, Facebook market place and Facebook groups, locally over 50,000 members in the top few buy and sell facebook groups in my area.

So, no matter what else you do, and I have harped on this for decades now, you have TWO income streams at your ready anytime you choose to execute them and turn on the spigots.

1) Offer YOU; knowledge, skills, experience...for some EZ moolah.

2) Chattel. Buy low over here, sell higher over there.

They have withstood the tests of TIME.

And having a few TOLL positions doesn't hurt any either.

Gordon

[Dien Rice]

Hi Gordon,

Originally Posted by GordonJ

1) Offer YOU; knowledge, skills, experience...for some EZ moolah.

2) Chattel. Buy low over here, sell higher over there.

They have withstood the tests of TIME.

And having a few TOLL positions doesn't hurt any either.

This is a great way to think about it...

Category 1 includes both services (like marketing services, or even starting a dog-walking service), and also your own produced info-products)...

Category 2 is anything which is "buy here, sell there with a markup" (including retail stores)...

You can also combine the two... e.g. buy a car, fix it up (skill), sell it for a profit... Or even buy people's skilled services, and resell them (this is essentially what many agencies do)...

To do well, it still helps to know how to sell...

I've learned a lot from you on this (Gordon), as well as from others in this forum...

As I say... if you won't listen to me, listen to Gordon...

Best wishes,

Dien

[Dien Rice]

Hi Gordon,

Originally Posted by GordonJ

The IEA, always gives me a giggle.

How independent are the Entrepreneurs who join an organization? Well, I get it, understand the sharing of ideas, the community of it all...but really, if you want to be totally INDEPENDENT, don't join the clubs.

This reminds me of that Steve Martin joke (back in his stand-up days in the 1970s)...

Steve Martin: Now let's repeat the non-conformists' oath:

I promise to be different!

(Audience repeats)

I promise to be unique!

(Audience repeats)

I promise not to repeat things other people say! Good!

(Audience breaks down in laughter)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTwV3vG73cU

Also... I love your Independent Marketing Appraiser approach to business!

Splendid stuff... Thank you for sharing!

Anyhow, once upon a time, I created my own position, Independent Marketing Appraiser, you'll find it somewhere in the archives.

This was at a time when small brick and mortar businesses had to daily chase away the flies of marketing; radio, TV, newspaper, magazine, bill boards, fliers, circulars, yearbooks...and YELLOW PAGE salespeople, at one time they held a monopoly on the YP, then competition came in, and then the Internet and so long YP.

I just got off a chat conference with a marketer I like, Abbey Woodcock, who has opened a brick and mortar (passion project) cheese shop in upstate NY.

She informed us, the pesty bugs of marketing still fly into her shop almost daily, only now Instagram has replaced the YP or social media, or web site builders, or some leftover print ad guys...still pitching the momma and poppa on getting more customers. Her very good advice is if, IF you are going to be offering marketing services to brick and mortar, offer a DONE FOR YOU service, because they just don't have time.

So, a little history lesson here: Why I chose to call myself INDEPENDENT MARKETING APPRAISER 30 years ago and the benefits of doing so....


See, when Ms YP, or Mr. Beacon Journal, or Miss Channel 5 walked in their doors, they had ONE thing to offer, THEIR WAY of marketing.

I, on the other hand, had NOTHING to sell them. I did not enter with a product to sell, so unlike all the others, I was immediately different.

What I did offer was a FREE marketing appraisial, to audit their current budget and their customer acquisition cost, and see if there was some way to reduce the cost and increase the profit margins on an affordable or cost effective way. Often there was, but sometimes not.

What Abbey told us today, reflects similar pitches from 50 years ago, and what most pitches don't account for, and what most marketers get wrong is, they think the biz owner isn't interested in or must be educated about the value of marketing.

They get it, just don't have the time to DO it, SO, there is today, an opportunity for those 3 of you left in the world, who are not afraid to walk in the front door of a business, or call the owner before of after their shop hours...and present then with a FREE MARKETING AUDIT. How can anyone know what a business needs next, if they don't know what the biz is doing now?

Anyhow, I and my associates have sold every type of marketing/advertising that is out there, and although it may still be the number one thing most small business people want and need (more or higher paying customers), there is NOT a one size fits all, but if you are working today, you can offer a multiple of services, like creating video (reels) for their social media accounts, like Instagram and Twitter, Tik-Tok, or even Facebook.

YOU can be an independent appraiser, and when you do, then, you can join my newly formed IA ASSociation, when you pay your dues, you get my newsletter as a bonus.

Gordon