The Importance of Diversifying Your Income Streams

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How I Came to the Realisation

I thought I had won when I found an online income stream that earned me three figures every month. This was in 2008. As a teenager without a real job, that was good going. It meant I had all the money I needed for everything, so nothing else really mattered. Then that site changed their remuneration model. The old version unsustainable. They hadn't thought things through. The members rinsed the site for all it's worth, so they cut their losses, leading its members to leave too.

Back then I had a few other things going on. Surveys, market research, and a couple of get-paid-to-write gigs, but this was the one that mattered. Once they closed down, I wasn't eating as well. I tried to stick it out and push on, but they weren't paying like they used to. I wasted time by persevering; the withdrawal threshold was years away. Time to move on.

That realisation pulled me away from most survey sites, PTC and all of the low-level online earners. My time was worth most than those and I had to use it more effectively.

How I Levelled Up

Once I saw the issues with my methods, I switched things up. I read Cipher J.E.W.E.L.S.’ “Secret Money Manual” and got down to things. Even without much money to experiment with, I put a plan together of how I would put my funds to action through various means. Trialling things out is the best way to learn. I didn't have a blueprint or masses of online resources to call upon for assistance back then; just lots of wild ideas.

I did various ecommerce-related activities, in an attempt to come up in the game. eBay selling was one of them. I also sold my own crafts. I was selling innocent things, not so innocent things; anything that made money. It all helped me build my investing confidence.

Along the way, I learned how make websites, various marketing disciplines, and I made them work for me. I learned how things are done, what issues I'm likely to encounter, how I would improve the next time around, and kept things moving.

I've scrapped loads of ideas, seen many flop and others fizzle out. What I took from all of it is that the more skills I had under my belt, the more likely things would go to plan. It meant I could spread the risk over various income sources, rather than just the one big one. It also meant I was less reliant on third parties, and more on platforms that I personally own, like a blog, brand, ecommerce site, email list, or something else. (Projects are my thing).

Platforms like Amazon are really helpful to drive more sales, but it’s up to them if they want me on their platform. They can change rules as they see fit and kick sellers off, so it’s always important to have back-ups that no one else can disrupt.

How Do You Start Diversifying Your Income?

If your job is your only income stream, l urge you to make time for something else. Easy methods more everyone include freelancing on gig websites and blogging. There can be little or no start-up costs, potential salary-replacing earnings potential and the time investment is completely on your own terms.

The number one is to ensure that you pace yourself. Specialisation and mastery is essential, before our start trying to do all sorts, because you tend to spread yourself too thin otherwise. It will take you longer to earn a decent income and you’ll get frustrated quickly. I’ve been there already.

The best way to start is to actually start. Find resources that show you how many options are out there. For example, writers might not be aware of how many opportunities there are for them. For the less traditional ones our there, just look at the wild Craigslist and Fiverr gigs I’ve come across before.

How Do You Balance Everything?

Balancing things is the tough part, but it’s more important that you actually get on with things first. I’ll repeat that specialisation is vital, because it means that you’re able to figure out how to streamline things quicker. It may mean that you outsource parts of your business, so you can concentrate on something else. It may mean that you invest in something that you know will pop in the future (like cryptocurrency did over summer).

Get started and work out what you enjoy doing. Your spare time is valuable and you know this. Find your thing, stick at it, and keep building.