Income Streams

It might be possible to start a big business, use lots of leverage, and have enormous profits in not too long a time.

Maybe.

But, if you're like me, it's just not your style. I really, really do not feel comfortable quitting my job, taking up a huge business loan (if I can even get one), finding investors, employing people, and so on. I probably wouldn't even be able to sleep at night, knowing it just might go the way the hen kicks, as we say in Norway (I really don't know why we say that, I'm guessing it means it goes backwards, which would be bad...)

So instead of finding one big, scary way of making an enormous pile of dough, I'm looking for several, low-profile, low-risk, steadily earning streams of income.

And you know what? They are actually out there. I guess I just wasn't looking before.

Let us say you build a system that makes you $200 every month. That's like an extra vacation a year. Or you use it to make extra payments on your house, so you'll get rid of your loan quicker.

My first project is like that. It gives me something around $200 a month, sometimes more, sometimes less, but it is pretty steady. The key point here, however, is not how much I make, but that I make this money without working. Yes, I don't do anything, and every month money is transferred directly into my account. Sounds too good to be true?

Well, it isn't too good to be true. This wasn't free money. I did a lot of research, and then a lot of work that drew on that research, and only then was I able to do it.

This was my first project like that, and I can tell you about it later, if you like. But imagine if you not only made on project like that, but ten. And then imagine that your projects where ten times more successful than mine.

Is it possible? What do you think? Hm, that would be $20,000 a month. Could you retire on $20,000 a month? I know I could.

My guess is that the more income streams you are able to create, the easier it gets. Creating income streams is a skill like anything else.

Of course, if you have creative talent, you might be able to sell your stuff. If you enjoy writing, both fiction and non-fiction should be possible to sell... and would create passive income.

If you compose a jingle they play on the radio...
If you write a computer program you can sell it again and again...

These examples are not for everybody, sure, but they have something very important in common. They use leverage in some way or another... some way of duplicating the work you've done. You only have to write a book once, and then you can sell it again and again. And a song can be played again and again. And a computer program... well, enough repitition.

When other people handle the transactions, sell your books, play your jingle, you in effect have a system that works for you, so that you can go do something else. This is important. I'd rather have lots of system making me a little bit money each, without me doing anything, than having an income stream where I had to work all the time. Why? Because then I could spend my time creating yet another system.

I'll be talking more about both leverage and income streams later, but for now I think this is enough.

Remember that money really has no intrinsic worth!

Love,
Sten, Oslo, Dec. 13th 2004