Freelance Writing: Creating Multiple Income Streams

One of the big benefits of the writing life is that you can build up multiple income streams over time.

Your income streams can consist of many different endeavors.

For example, you may be working with:

* clients under contract;

* ebooks which you’re writing for yourself and others;

* websites and blogs you’ve created on which you sell affiliate products;

* in addition, you may also be teaching.

Each of these income streams flows money into your PayPal account. Some income streams ask that you trade hours for dollars.

All writers start off this way.

Someone hires them to write, they write the project, and they’re paid for the project. They’re paid for their time.

However, you should stop trading hours for dollars as soon as possible.

I’ve always said this, and you’ll hear it from me over and over again. However, you should also be aware that when you’re first starting out as a writer, trading hours for dollars is brilliant. You’re being paid to learn.

In Sell Your Writing Online NOW (SYWON), I ask the members to work on the outsourcing sites when they first start out.

The big benefit of these sites is not the projects which you win, nor is it the money which you make. You’re learning what sells, and how to work with others. Until you know how this works, deep down in your bones, you may create products to sell, but you won’t be able to do it effectively. You don’t have enough experience.

Therefore, if you’re very new writer, and you’ve never worked with clients, get work on the outsourcing sites first. As I said, you’re being paid to learn — do NOT take this lightly.

When you’ve done that learning however, it’s time to stop trading hours for dollars…

Creating your own products can be challenging. Many writers are averse to risk. They feel that when they create their own products, such as ebooks, or websites, they’re not sure that they’ll make money.

They want a sure thing. They want to write and get paid. That’s fine, but please realize there will always be a ceiling on your income as long as you keep trading hours for dollars.

Taking a minor risk and creating your own products is much less risky than trading hours for dollars for years.

You need to create assets.

From my own point of view, I consider trading hours for dollars to be very risky indeed. The hours I spend working with clients are hours that I’ll never get back.

That said, it’s necessary. If I stopped working with clients, I wouldn’t know what was happening in the marketplace. I wouldn’t be able to tell you about what clients need right now.

Build up your income streams over time

Building your own income streams takes time.

Often writers tell me that they have “no time” to create additional income streams. My answer to that is that you never have time. I don’t have time either. But I do it anyway. I’m sure you have the occasional 10 minutes here and there throughout the day. You can use those 10 minutes to create a page of an ebook. You don’t need hours and hours of time. Use what you have.

I urge you to consider that you’ll never have time, but you can create income streams anyway.

Your income streams are residual income. This means that you’ll be paid for writing that you do today for years to come.

When working with some of my personal coaching students, it always pleases me when they create an ebook or another information product which is selling, and selling well.

They’re stunned and disbelieving. It’s as if they believe that although others can sell information products and can create great residual income streams, it’s somehow not possible for them. They need to make money themselves, before they can see that they’re no different from anyone else, and they can make money in this way–and what’s more it’s very, very easy.

Have you checked out “Words into Cash: Write and Sell Your Ebook in Just 8 Hours”?

This program is a wonderful way of building up your own income streams. Creating your own ebook can take at eight hours or less. It’s very easy to do, and no matter how little time you have, you can start building your own residual income streams today.