One of the great things about the web is that things change so
quickly - this allows new marketers to take advantage of novel
trends and new developments. On the other hand of course, if
you don't respond quickly to new market conditions, your
business - and income - can be adversely affected.
That's why you need to have multiple streams of income - so
that if your current top earner disappears off Google's radar
or one of your many competitors introduces a new product that
wipes the floor with your best offering, you have other income
streams to fall back on.
It's just like buying stocks and shares - you want to have a
diverse portfolio to avoid any sudden spikes and glitches in
the market. Or put it another way - don't put all your eggs in
one basket.
That's all well and good, but just where are you going to find
these multiple streams of income? Sometimes it can be difficult
to find even one business opportunity that's worth investing
your time, energy and money in. The first logical place to look
is the market.
It's not always easy to get hold of hard facts and figures when
it comes to marketing and often, when you do get some, they are
well out of date. However, the figures below show the UK market
percentages of directly sold goods for 2000, a year when the
total spend in this area was $2 billion. These figures are
sourced from the UK Direct Selling Association and make
interesting reading.
Services 32%
(telecoms, utilities)
Personal 26%
(cosmetics, fragrances, skincare.)
Family 17%
(Books, toys, games, business aids .)
Household 14%
(Security, water treatment, electrical.)
Wellness 7%
(Nutritional, diet plans, supplements)
Food 4%
(Frozen & other)
The size of the market may vary, and the relative positions may
change - but the top five above will probably be able to provide
consistently good income streams. The obvious omission from the
above list would be online gaming, which is a relatively new
phenomenon.
So how do you get started? Simple, just pick one of the areas
and do some background research. Remember to use a logical
approach when evaluating your options - the key areas to look
at are; the company; the pay plan; the product; the level of
admin; the sales methods available and the cost - both start up
and running.
If this is your first business then try to start off with an
opportunity that will provide you with residual income.
Concentrate on only one business at a time. Work this until you
get it to an acceptable level where it is growing without too
much time input on your part. It doesn't need to be making
thousands of dollars every month - it's easier to arrange for 5
businesses to return $1000 each than it is to arrange that a
single business will return $5000 a month (the law of
diminishing returns).
When you are achieving consistent growth month on month, pick a
business opportunity in a different sector and repeat the
process. Then do it again - and again. Aim for at least 3 and
preferably 5 solid businesses. Try to have at least 40% of your
income as residual income - this is your baseline.
It will probably take at least 6 months, and possibly more, to
get each business to the steady growth phase, but it's well
worth the effort. This will provide you with a diverse income
which will be stable and highly unlikely to be severely
impacted by changes in market conditions.
If an opportunity arises in one particular area you can focus
on that for a period of time in order to maximise your profits.
And if there is a downturn in an area you can always use the
income from the other sectors to weather the storm.
And when you eventually have your multiple income streams
online and they're all working well - always be on the lookout
for any new opportunities to add to your business portfolio.
You can never have too much of a good thing.
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Hamish Hayward
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