Multiple Sources of Income

October 20th, 2016

Ever since I decided to leave my full-time position as a College Professor, I have been searching for ways to make money from home. I got to work building a work space in our barn and marketing my services through local networking groups. Working for myself means there are times when money comes flooding in followed by periods of idle waiting for my next client or opportunity. I know there are ways to make my money work for me.

When I heard the expression, multiple sources of income, I was imagining people who own buildings and businesses, those who own condos in gorgeous faraway places, rented most of the time, enjoyed during peak months. I keep remembering all the Monopoly games we played when I was younger where the name of the game was to gain assets and dump liabilities.

However, what I have come to understand is that multiple sources of income doesn't mean you necessarily need to buy real estate or storage facilities, own pinball machines or car washes, you can develop different streams of income based on how you make money right now. This was a revelation to me. As a matter of fact, I discovered that I was already moving in the right direction.

You might be a stay-at-home mom, reading this, thinking it doesn't apply to you but it does. Jot down the activities you do every day. Which ones do you enjoy? Are you really good at something that always impresses friends and family? You may be one of those people whose home is decorated for each season. I love having my house decorated for Christmas and Halloween, Easter and Valentine's Day but I never do it. I don't have it in me. Every year I am daunted by the idea of placing Christmas lights all around the house. I don't do it. What if you decorated other people's homes? People like me would pay you for it. Perhaps you make incredible Halloween costumes for your children or grandchildren. That is a skill. There is usually a handful of popular costumes each season. You take orders and prepare entire batches of them, selling them online or through a local school/day care. Do you spend a huge portion of your week buying groceries? There are plenty of people who are not able to get out of the house: the elderly, moms without cars, individuals recovering from an injury etc. Get other people's groceries and deliver it to their home. A lot of people hate shopping. Advertise your services in time for Christmas. Are you great at getting just the right gift for your loved ones? Apply that skill for others and get paid for it. If you are a mom, you talk to other moms and hear them complain. What are they complaining about? Is there a way to invent a product or service to make a profit by solving their problems?

If you are not a stay-at-home mom and are already employed outside the home, think about the skill set involved in your existing job. If you work as a chef, can you create individualized meals to sell to your neighbours? Is there a secret recipe that your family loves? You can sell it at a local shop. Are you a mechanic? What if you offered courses, Car Care for Dummies on the weekends? If you work as a real estate agent, write a guidebook to help regular people understand the pitfalls to avoid when buying a home. Educate people regarding what to look for during a house inspection. See your knowledge. Perhaps you organize group trips to foreign locations for people who want to invest but have no idea where to look. Regardless of what you do for a living, you can focus on the skills and figure out: 1) Who could benefit from this skill set? and, 2) How can I communicate with this target audience in a way that turns my knowledge into profit?

As I mentioned before, I am an art therapist. I offer workshops, one on one sessions, I speak about my work or its applications with various populations, I write books to use in my workshops and I am developing a digital version of my workshops. In this way, I am expanding the reach of my business by catering to different populations via a variety of mediums. You don't have to be rich to develop many streams of income, you just need to know your worth, find different ways of sharing it with others and get paid for it.

Anne Walsh
www.artsnoul.org