Multiple Streams of Income

Once you have set up a single website, done some advertising to drive some traffic to it, and are beginning to see the fruits of your labors, it is time to look at diversifying. Diversifying basically means not putting all of your eggs in one basket. So, if you are selling other people's products on your existing website (affiliate marketing) by linking to another website so that you aren't handling the customer service, billing, etc., it's time to think about what else you would like to do on the internet to make some cash.

Some of your options include:

• an eBay business using dropshippers (so that you don't have to carry inventory)
• building another website on hostGator, for example, carrying Clickbank products
• listbuilding, and affiliate marketing, or pushing traffic to your own websites
• buying resale rights to eBooks, and selling them on your own website
• an eBay business selling hobby items, things around your house, or lot purchases from a liquidator
• building your own website on hostGator selling affiliate items which you've learned are excellent, and just collecting commissions from those sales
• research and become an affiliate of companies in industries which are rapidly growing, and post those links on a website that you put together
• and many, many more options to make money on the internet, just look around!

A few things mentioned in the points above that may need a little explanation include:

1. Droppshippers - these are companies which allow you to enter your customers' sales directly into their order systems, and will ship the items directly to your customers. It allows you to plan your sourcing up front, and not carry any inventory
2. hostGator - this is my favorite web hosting service, as it is cheap, allows you to buy a domain name (your website name), and easily set up your website all in one place
3. Clickbank - sells 10,000 or more products, all in electronic form, ranging from how to train a dog to the latest software that will teach you how to advertise more efficiently on Google. It's a fantastic source for products that are in demand, and they take care of the "shipping", billing, etc., and pay you a commission twice per month
4. listbuilding - compiling a list of "opt-in" consumers who want your emails on a specific topic, so that you can market to them, either affiliate marketing or clicking to your website
5. affiliate marketing - marketing someone else's products so that you collect commissions
6. pushing traffic - sending interested consumers

Now that you have a few more ideas for multiple streams of income, you may be wondering why you need so many streams of income. What may have seemed a super money-making idea to you may not pan out at all, or may take a much longer time to gin up than you expected. If you have multiple streams of income, they will come online at different rates, and will average out to a healthy income, rather than a single income which may be only a tiny trickle. It will also give you a better chance to hit one out of the park, so to speak.

One last comment: there are many companies who will offer to put together a website for you, an expensive advertising campaign, and many other "perks". I have not yet found one who can beat good research finding a great company to represent as an affiliate (which is what many of these companies do when you peel back the onion), basic web design on hostgator, and simple advertising using either Yahoo, Google, or MIVA. Most of these companies will offer a very bare-bones website to be set up for $199.95 (which you could do for $19.96 on hostgator), then will want to sell you an advertising package for the first three months for $1,900 - $4,900 (this varies a great deal depending on industry but you can always do it cheaper yourself), so my word to the wise is: research what you're buying before you buy it!