Turning Passive Income Streams Into Raging River
 

Let's say you have several good ideas for creating some passive income streams. Let's say even though you haven't fully tested the ideas yet, you know the ideas are reasonably good because you're part of the target markets involved and you've seen other members of those target markets asking questions that led you to come up with those ideas in the first place.

Now. Let's say that you also have some active income streams, (job, business, whatever), that you must attend to as well. Let's say that you need to maintain those active income streams until you get the passive income streams flowing. (Translation: You have to eat. *g*) And let's say that those active income streams consume your time. A lot of it. Those streams consume so much time because those streams involve time intensive operations, (such as developing software *g*). So much so that you really have nothing or almost nothing left timewise to devote to developing your passive streams.

(Note: I'm using some of Mike Ross' suggestions to subcontract out some of the development.)

The questions:

1. How do you manage your active income streams to allow time to develop your passive income streams? Or do you not manage your active streams? Do you just sleep less? *g* Remember too that most of us also need to give time to our families, communities, churches, etc. How do you make all of this work?

2. How do you find the get and up and go when it feels like it got up and went? *g* IOW, after you've given all you've got to your active income streams, how do you have anything left to give to your passive income streams?

Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"

Time Is On Your Side
 

> The questions:

> 1. How do you manage your active income
> streams to allow time to develop your
> passive income streams? Or do you not manage
> your active streams? Do you just sleep less?
> *g* Remember too that most of us also need
> to give time to our families, communities,
> churches, etc. How do you make all of this
> work?

Sleeping less is one option. However, there's usually more time to be found if you look hard enough.

Do you spend time in front of the All Knowing Eye (TV)? Is that time spent watching Jerry Springer or Murphy Brown (How many Murphy Browns does it take to change a light bulb? SHUT UP And Just Do It!) or some other trivial thing? Do you really need to know what the weather will be like tomorrow? Do you really need to see the nightly horror movie (news)? What do you do during your lunch break? Do you have a RDO? Is reading the newspaper from cover to cover a necessary item?

Basically, if it does not add to your goal, or is not a necessary step in its accomplishment, then it's an unnecessary thing and should be let go.

Deciding what is and isn't important to the accomplishment of your goal can be a tough decision. I mean, what if you stop reading the newspaper and find out later that the first issue you didn't read contained a little tiny bit of info. that could have aided you? You'd feel like kicking yourself.

What mode of transport is used to get to your active income workplace? Walk? Then take the car.

Read an online newspaper instead of spending time at the news stand.

Are other non-family members taking up your time? Do you feel obligated to these people? Drop them. Tell them you're too busy.

Clean your slate of as much time-wasting actions as possible. You'll probably find yourself with a couple of extra hours a day.

> 2. How do you find the get and up and go
> when it feels like it got up and went? *g*
> IOW, after you've given all you've got to
> your active income streams, how do you have
> anything left to give to your passive income
> streams?

I'll leave this one to Jeff Lynn...

Hold on tight to your dream
Hold on tight to your dream
When you see your ship go sailing
When you feel your heart is breaking
Hold tight to your dream.

It's a long time to be gone
Time just rolls on and on
When you need a shoulder to cry on
When you get so sick of trying
Just hold tight to your dream

[CHORUS:]
When you get so down that you can't get up
And you want so much but you're all out of luck
When you're so downhearted and misunderstood
Just over & over & over you could

Accroches-toi a ton rêve (roughly translated: hold on tight (cling) to your dream)
Accroches-toi a ton rêve
Quand tu vois ton bateau partir (roughly translated: When you see your boat leaving)
Quand tu sents ton coeur se briser (roughly translated: When you feel your heart is breaking)
Accroches-toi a ton rêve.

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Hold on tight to your dream
Hold on tight to your dream
When you see the shadows falling
When you hear that cold wind calling
Hold on tight to your dream.

Oh, yeah
Hold on tight to your dream
Yeah, hold on tight...
To your dream.

Michael Ross.

Re: Turning Passive Income Streams Into Raging River
 

Rick,

Chances are, this message won’t help you.

I’ve set up passive income a few times now. I don’t see how what I’ve done can possibly be applied outside an MLM operation. But maybe I’m blind to it. And if you can figure a way to use this technique in your situation, the payoff to you will be enormous. Anyway, I’ll tell you and show you and maybe something will click.

Some history first:

In 1993, I started having some success with a classified ad selling an audiotape I recorded. When I filled tape orders, I included information (which I wrote myself) on an MLM nutritional product which I offered. And I got a steady stream of $100 product orders.

I never recruited anyone for the business, just sold the product. A few months go by. I get a call from one of my customers. He realizes this is an MLM deal and asks if he can “participate” in my advertising. I tell him I just have the one classified ad, and if he wants to run it someplace else, he can. The rest of the conversation goes like this:

“Why don’t you run a full-page ad?”

“You kidding me? No way I could afford that.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

“Oh.”

It was a scary thought, because I didn’t want to be responsible if Mike lost his money. But eventually another caller suggested something similar, so I got them both to put up half the cost of the ad. And it worked. It worked because the ad worked, and Mike & Doc made a good profit on the products sold, and I got an override on each purchase … AT NO EXPENSE TO ME!!

This episode led to a lot of income over the next several years and, ultimately, to my situation a couple weeks ago. Which was …

I had in mind a new full-page ad to run in a national monthly publication. Cost to run the ad: $4,000. It’s new, so of course, it’s a test. And to keep risk as low as possible, I decided to offer participation to 16 individuals @ $250 each.

I figured it might take a couple weeks to get the 16. I emailed 20 of my contacts. Only five of them responded immediately & positively. And within 24 hours, those 5 had found the other 11, and the ad was fully subscribed. I was amazed.

And the way they did it was to call their contacts and lean heavily on urgency: “There are only 11 slots left. You need to decide now.” And as the number of slots decreased, the urgency increased, and the pace of subscriptions quickened.

And now, some of those people I’ve never even spoken to have contacted their friends and gotten them to send checks for the NEXT round of advertising which we haven’t even definitely scheduled yet ... just to be sure they're in on it!

What it boils down to for me is, it’s another way … maybe the most profitable way … to sell your own writing.

If you have some way others can profit from your products, and if you have successful advertising to sell your products, then you can get others to pay for your advertising … but it seems there almost must be an MLM aspect to it for your advertisers to be able to also sell your advertising.

But if you have others selling your advertising and making a profit from it, you’ve got a stream of passive income that’s pretty tough to kill.

If you’d like to see the full-page ad we’ll be testing nationally (and if our first test works, then USA Today is next), click on the link below.

Richard Dennis




“Six Years After The Pain, My Wife Has Forgiven Me!”

Turning ANY Income Streams Into Raging River
 

> 1. How do you manage your active income
> streams to allow time to develop your
> passive income streams? Or do you not manage
> your active streams? Do you just sleep less?
> *g* Remember too that most of us also need
> to give time to our families, communities,
> churches, etc. How do you make all of this
> work?

> 2. How do you find the get and up and go
> when it feels like it got up and went? *g*
> IOW, after you've given all you've got to
> your active income streams, how do you have
> anything left to give to your passive income
> streams?

This post doesn't have anything to do about passive or active income streams. It has to do with getting what you want. There is always a price tag associated with it. If you're not willing to pay the price and lack the motivation you might as well give up.

If you don't want to give up... then you have to find something that would motivate you.

Do you just sleep less? *g* Remember too that most of us also need to give time to our families, communities, churches, etc. How do you make all of this work?

It involves stepping outside your "comfort zone" and sacrificing some of the things you are pre-occupied with that are not making you money.

Let's face it Rick. You already know this. You have been around long enough. You don't need me to tell you "how to" because you already know "how to."

You said "most of us also need" -- in most cases we WANT those things; we don't NEED those things.

Look, I know what I am talking about. My wife and I are still going to marriage counseling. For the last year before I became a web developer full time, I was working 12 hour shifts for my employer, often six days a week and working the web in my spare time. I got so bogged down that I was only able to sleep 3-4 hours a night, the rest of the time I was working.

My primary family dis-owned me, my immediate family "kicked me out" and my friends left me. It was hard. Especially being separated from my family and my little girl. But I was motivated to do this regardless.

I wasn't going to talk about what motivated me to pay this price. What motivates each one of is different as we are all unique. But I'm sure some of you who are reading this will think I must be the biggest jerk alive for being willing to pay such a high price.

Five years ago I developed a sinus problem. I was working with chemicals and in a dusty environment. It got so bad I was on antibiotics all the time. The pain became unbearable and I finally had to have laser surgery done. This resulted in a temporary fix but because my work environment had not changed, the problem returned. Before I left my job there were days I would get home and was unable to do anything but lay on the bed in so much pain and my head swimming so bad, that I would lose the concept of time passing. When the pain subsided enough for me to pick my head up, I could look at the clock and see that an hour and a half had passed. I would have no idea how long these episodes would last; they just seemed endless.

My pain motivated me. I also realized that because I wasn't trained for anything else, to go to work at something completely unrelated would mean such a drop in pay, that my family would lose everything we had worked so hard to achieve. I vowed I would not let that happen.

Pain is a powerful motivator. It's EASY to step outside your "comfort zone" when you're not comfortable.

Phil came to me before I left my job. Everyone knew (small company) that I was making some good cash "on the side." He said "I know you've started your own business and are making money doing what you want to do. You're an inspiration to me. There is something I would like to do and I was wondering if you could give me some tips how I could go about it."

"Sure, Phil... what is it you would like to do and what are you doing right now to work towards it?"

"I'd like to be a singer. But I just moved here from Toronto and I don't know anyone. Plus, after working here all day, all I want to do is have a couple of beers and fall asleep in front of the TV."

I said, "Well, perhaps you don't want it bad enough Phil."

So when you say:"How do you find the get and up and go when it feels like it got up and went?"

...I got to ask "How bad do you want it?"

Best Regards, Steve MacLellan




Get The Newsletter Now!

Enlightening train of thought....
 

> . It has to
> do with getting what you want. There is
> always a price tag associated with it. If
> you're not willing to pay the price and lack
> the motivation you might as well give up.

Steve don't you find people go through stages
in life when they find something they want,
and pay the price? I find people, prices and
wants change.

What motivates each
> one of is different

thanks for mentioning this steve because I've
found for some people it's motivating to
read horation alger stories and for others it's
motivating to have a mentor to guide them along
and show them the ropes.

> But I'm sure some of you who are reading
> this will think I must be the biggest jerk
> alive for being willing to pay such a high
> price.

It really doesn't matter what others think...I'm
finding there is always two sides to every story,
and "none" of us know what happens behind closed
doors, so who am I to judge..

> Pain is a powerful motivator. It's EASY to
> step outside your "comfort zone"
> when you're not comfortable.

It's worked for me several times...once I
sprained an ankle...it was the beginning of
walking more....when I found out I had a brain
tumor it was the beginning of taking better
care of my health. Often people need something
to get them going...and that's ok..but we have
to be honest with ourselves...Sometimes we say
we don't know what to do when that is not the
issue at all...

. You're an
> inspiration to me. There is something I
> would like to do and I was wondering if you
> could give me some tips how I could go about
> it."

> "Sure, Phil... what is it you would
> like to do and what are you doing right now
> to work towards it?"

> "I'd like to be a singer. But I just
> moved here from Toronto and I don't know
> anyone.

The excuses start...the issue wasn't really
being a singer but something deeper

> I said, "Well, perhaps you don't want
> it bad enough Phil."

> So when you say:"How do you find the
> get and up and go when it feels like it got
> up and went?"

> ...I got to ask "How bad do you want
> it?"

Or what is the "real problem"?
sometimes people have difficulties returning
to "SQUARE ONE"

Thanks steve for this train of thought because
it gave me some more things to think about...
And it touched on something. I've been thinking
I don't know what I want to do when first I
need to be real honest with myself as to the'
things "i want" which might not be as tangible
as things...
sometimes we think things and money are the
things which will bring us happiness when actually
we might want something intangible such as
respect, freedom, independence etc...

One of the things which attracted me to this
forum is an opportunity to find out what intangibles really motivate people and to watch
people grow as they explore doing things they
love...

Re: Time Is On Your Side
 

Mike wrote -

> Do you spend time in front of the All Knowing Eye (TV)?

Not much actually. I might have it on while working on projects but I don't pay much attention to it. It's usually a ballgame that my sons are watching.

>Is that time spent watching Jerry Springer or Murphy Brown (How many Murphy Browns does it take to change a light bulb? SHUT UP And Just Do It!) or some other trivial thing? Do you really need to know what the weather will be like tomorrow?

> Do you really need to see the nightly horror
> movie (news)?

I usually watch the 11:00 pm news when I go to bed. Many nights I miss it though because I'm busy working on projects.

Wasting time with TV has never been much of an issue for me.

>What do you do during your lnch break?

I usually work on projects.

>Do you have a RDO?

An RDO? Is that one of the new e-readers? No.

>Is reading the newspaper from cover to cover a necessary item?

Nope. I usually only read a few sections from Sunday's paper and often not even that.

> What mode of transport is used to get to
> your active income workplace? Walk? Then
> take the car.

Bus. And I usually work on projects while riding. I've got over 600 e-mails in my inbox because I've been devoting most of my time to project work. (No Gordon. Your last e-mail is *not* languishing in there somewhere. *g*)

> Read an online newspaper instead of spending
> time at the news stand.

Not an issue. Seldom go there.

> Are other non-family members taking up your >time? Do you feel obligated to these people?
> Drop them. Tell them you're too busy.

Not really. Well, I do devote several hours a week to various activities with my church. That's not something I'm willing to cut out though because to me, that's as essential as getting the income streams flowing.

> Clean your slate of as much time-wasting
> actions as possible. You'll probably find
> yourself with a couple of extra hours a day.

I do agree with this in general but I would be surprised to find an additional two hours a day in my case.

Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"

Re: Turning Passive Income Streams Into Raging River
 

Richard -

> Chances are, this message won’t help you.

Well, it did and it didn't. Your concepts *can* be applied in some measure outside MLM. Those concepts are what a lot of affiliate programs are founded on. I may well offer an affiliate program once the products are done and selling well. But that's the issue. Getting the passive products done and feeding the bulldog at the same time. *g*

On some of your other points. I followed your link to your test ad.

1. I'm very much a student of marketing. While I'm not an MLM'er for many of the reasons you mentioned in your ad, I'm willing to learn from anyone who knows what they're talking about. It seems you know what you're talking about from this post and from what I've heard and seen elsewhere.

2. I didn't know you were the brains behind "Dead Doctors." Even though I'm not an MLM'er, I do know that "Dead Doctors" did very well.

3. I very much identified with your story about quitting the "rat race" and how it affected your family. I think mine has just begun to forgive me for some of what happened as a result of my business misadventures a few years ago. Plus we're just starting to get back some financial stability. That's why I want these income streams in place. I want to plant the money seeds and let them grow like Robert Allen suggests. I don't want to worry about them if one of the streams dries up. I want another one to immediately take its place.

3. A tiny constructive criticism about your test ad. I was reading along identifying very much with your story, (even though I'm not an MLM'er *g*), and all of sudden I hit a bump. Here's the text I tripped over.

(I surrounded your text with the =============.)

=================================================
So YOU need to be a product of your product, and so do your recruits. If your product doesn’t create passion, you won’t have a business for long, either.
=================================================

You had transitioned nicely into the "product for your product" section. That's when I hit the bump.
I could see no logical segue from the "product for your product" section into the RQ section. Maybe it was intentional on your part but it was a bit confusing to me. *g*

=================================================
Fighting A “Marriage-Killer”

Retire Quickly publishes an online course by a Chartered Financial Consultant, teaching business & personal finance management. Is it a product to get passionate about? You bet!

What’s more important? Taking the best Vitamin C … or avoiding money stress in business & personal life? Financial stress is the #1 marriage killer in America. Get the finances healthy & the family will be more healthy, too.
=================================================

Thanks for giving me some things to think about.

Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"

Re: Turning ANY Income Streams Into Raging River
 

Steve wrote -

(Please read the entire post because as you'll see, my thought process developed as I wrote. *g*)

> If you don't want to give up... then you
> have to find something that would motivate
> you.

Huh? I never send anything about giving up or being motivated. Maybe I didn't explain myself clearly so I'll try again. I work full time writing software 8 - 12 hours a day depending on what's happening with the project. So what? I'm sure plenty of other people on this board do similar things. Then I work another 2 - 4 hours per night, (depending on what time I get home), on "custom" software projects. From these "side" projects I earn fairly decent additional income. Writing software is time consuming. You probably know that. I'm sure designing web sites is similar. I've only done one and I'm having it redone by someone else. *g* Yup. I don't want to invest the time in redoing it. That's where I am. Here's where I want to be. I want to move away from the time intensive "custom" software so to do that I want to get passive income in place. There are only so many hours in the day and there are certain things I'm *not* willing to give up one of them being my family. (I already give up far too much time with them as it is but we've agreed that *some* time must be sacrificed to get to where we want to be.) The issue is finding the time to develop the "passive" products. It has nothing to do with the motivation.

> Do you just sleep less? *g* Remember too
> that most of us also need to give time to
> our families, communities, churches, etc.
> How do you make all of this work? It
> involves stepping outside your "comfort
> zone" and sacrificing some of the
> things you are pre-occupied with that are
> not making you money.

Well, maybe the difference between us is I'm not willing to give up everything like you apparently did. (That doesn't make either one of us bad. Just different.) Your statement "things you are pre-occupied with that are not making you money" got to me a bit. Everything is not about money. At least not to me. No. I don't have all I want. If I did, we wouldn't be having this discussion. But if you're miserable when you get there and there's no one to share it with, what was the point?

> Let's face it Rick. You already know this.
> You have been around long enough. You don't
> need me to tell you "how to"
> because you already know "how to."

Yes. I have been around awhile. And yes. I do know "how to". But my point in asking was to find out how others did it. You gave up A LOT. Fine. Maybe I'm crazy but I believe I can still get what I want and still maintain the relationships I cherish. I don't think it has to be all or nothing.

> You said "most of us also need" --
> in most cases we WANT those things; we don't
> NEED those things.

I disagree with that too. Try living for a few years with no human contact and see how long your survive. There have been studies where babies died because of the lack of human contact. So... do I NEED those things? Yes. Because they fill an important psychological need. Do I WANT them also? Yes. They fulfill me as a person. Is that "touchy feely"? Somewhat. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age. *g*

> I wasn't going to talk about what motivated
> me to pay this price. What motivates each
> one of is different as we are all unique.
> But I'm sure some of you who are reading
> this will think I must be the biggest jerk
> alive for being willing to pay such a high
> price.

Nope. I don't think you're a jerk. Besides, it doesn't matter what I think. At least not about that. What matters is that you did it for your own reasons. And that you did it. You paid the price you thought was necessary. Was it worth it? Only you can answer that. I've paid some dues as well. Was the price I paid worth it? Well, some of what I'm currently doing would not have been possible had I not gone through those experiences.

> ...I got to ask "How bad do you want
> it?"

While I still say this is not about motivation, your closing statement has helped me focus on one thing. How bad *do* I want it? What boundaries should I put in place to getting there? Am I willing to spend a certain amount of time each day even if it means getting up a little earlier or going to bed a little later? What *is* the price I need to pay to accomplish this?

Even your post irritated me a bit at the beginning, thanks for pushing a bit. It made me think. I'm going to think about it some more.

Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"

Re: Thanks, Rick. I smoothed the transition. (DNO)
 

> Richard -

> Well, it did and it didn't. Your concepts
> *can* be applied in some measure outside
> MLM. Those concepts are what a lot of
> affiliate programs are founded on. I may
> well offer an affiliate program once the
> products are done and selling well. But
> that's the issue. Getting the passive
> products done and feeding the bulldog at the
> same time. *g*

> On some of your other points. I followed
> your link to your test ad.

> 1. I'm very much a student of marketing.
> While I'm not an MLM'er for many of the
> reasons you mentioned in your ad, I'm
> willing to learn from anyone who knows what
> they're talking about. It seems you know
> what you're talking about from this post and
> from what I've heard and seen elsewhere.

> 2. I didn't know you were the brains behind
> "Dead Doctors." Even though I'm
> not an MLM'er, I do know that "Dead
> Doctors" did very well.

> 3. I very much identified with your story
> about quitting the "rat race" and
> how it affected your family. I think mine
> has just begun to forgive me for some of
> what happened as a result of my business
> misadventures a few years ago. Plus we're
> just starting to get back some financial
> stability. That's why I want these income
> streams in place. I want to plant the money
> seeds and let them grow like Robert Allen
> suggests. I don't want to worry about them
> if one of the streams dries up. I want
> another one to immediately take its place.

> 3. A tiny constructive criticism about your
> test ad. I was reading along identifying
> very much with your story, (even though I'm
> not an MLM'er *g*), and all of sudden I hit
> a bump. Here's the text I tripped over.

> (I surrounded your text with the
> =============.)

>
> =================================================
> So YOU need to be a product of your product,
> and so do your recruits. If your product
> doesn’t create passion, you won’t have a
> business for long, either.
>
> =================================================

> You had transitioned nicely into the
> "product for your product"
> section. That's when I hit the bump.
> I could see no logical segue from the
> "product for your product" section
> into the RQ section. Maybe it was
> intentional on your part but it was a bit
> confusing to me. *g*

>
> =================================================
> Fighting A “Marriage-Killer”

> Retire Quickly publishes an online course by
> a Chartered Financial Consultant, teaching
> business & personal finance management.
> Is it a product to get passionate about? You
> bet!

> What’s more important? Taking the best
> Vitamin C … or avoiding money stress in
> business & personal life? Financial
> stress is the #1 marriage killer in America.
> Get the finances healthy & the family
> will be more healthy, too.
>
> =================================================

> Thanks for giving me some things to think
> about.

> Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"

finding more time...
 

> Let's say you have several good ideas for
> creating some passive income streams.

are these ideas in your head? or in a journal?
or on notecards? on a tape recording?...I find
you can save a lot of time if you have some
type of system to either record, take notes on
3x5's ...you'll have to find either a voice
recognition tool or notetaking method that is
quick and fast. Then hire someone else to
edit and translate into a saleable product such
as an audio tape etc. ...after that possibly
hire or jv with someone else to dropship it.

I've always kept journals...that works for me.
You can always go back and pull out things from
it and put together a book , booklet etc....
now I know others who tape record while doing
something else...

In your case if you can find the time...mindmap
if there is any time in the day when you can
get your ideas out of head in a format from which
someone else can transcribe etc.

If there is absolutely no time...then perhaps
you'll have to wait until you get a block of
time( mini vacation) or 1 day sabbatical from
everything and just concentrate on getting every
thing down on paper or notecards or recordings.

Don't overlook Ghostwriters in some cases.
When you don't have the time you give up some
money and pay someone else for their time.
Sometimes we need to look at why we don't want
to pay someone else for their time.
Mary Kay( no I don't sell cosmetics anymore but
I did and made quite a bit) one of the most
successful entrepreuners always encouraged people
to hire household help....

and people would scream: "where do I get the
money?"...she said...that's the point...If you
hire the maid first you'll have time to work
to earn the money and pay the maid and even make
extra money for yourself....

you have to find the things in life which can
be delegated and which does not take away from
the quality of your life and relationships.

another example....rush limbaugh's weight loss...
He spent a lot of time fixing meals, thinking
about meals etc...It was only when he hired a
cook he had more time, less stress and voila
natural weight loss.

I have family members who were domestics and
heard the numerous stories about the amount of
time the wealthy had for family and making money because someone else took care of the details.

Delegate,Delegate....
often time issues are manifestations of deeper
issues with Trust and confidence in other people.
Think about this. It's often hard to admit you
might want to do everything yourself because you
don't think others are capable of doing a better
job.

Hope some of these ideas are helpful or at
least give you something to look at...