Make More Money, Even in Bad Times

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

People have a lot of debt these days. And they’re worried about losing their jobs. There are lots of practical tips out there these days for consolidating loans, reducing spending and so on. I consider that to be only one side of the equation. And I don’t know about you but it sounds pretty painful to cut back on healthy foods in favor of cheaper junk food, selling your home, and other restrictions.

You rarely see anyone talking about how to make more money, especially when times are tough. I think this is a fatal mindset. You need to be taking action at all times. As I mention in my ebook, you need to find a niche market. This is probably the number one thing you can do to increase your rates. Getting higher rates is also a matter of psychology - how you feel about yourself - that comes across in discussions and interviews.

Another area you might want to consider if you have a full-time job is to start an internet business. These can be started fairly cheaply these days. It’s a good idea to test your idea first, but creating a small basic offering and test it with some Google adwords for example. I’ve seen many people invest their life savings into an idea they’re passionate about and end up broke.

My advice is to create some information products like an e-book or better yet a membership site. If you don’t have any specialized knowledge (most of us do) such as a hobby or job skill, you can find someone who does and partner with them. They provide the content and you set up and run the site for them. If you don’t have any technical knowledge drop me a line and I’ll send you some pointers. I’m looking at setting up a new site to help people like you set up their own membership site step by step. Most of it isn’t that technical, there’s no software to install for example. And you can work on this on the side. At a minimum it can help pay off some of your debt, and best case you can quit your day job and work on it full time!

Take Advantage of Your Knowledge and Skills by Teaching Online

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

In this blog, I’ve been trying to show you how you can gain freedom. Freedom to choose your own path, to work when and where you want and so on. I can’t think of anything more satisfying than to be able to work at home, in any city, with global clients. This removes many of the usual worries (no jobs in my city, recession in my country) by providing diversification (as you would do with your investments). As I mentioned I’ve been working remotely for many months, but I’ve recently come across some exciting news for those of you that have some sort of expertise to share with the world (and almost everyone does).

At Teaching Sells (of which I’m a member), they show you how to teach online and get paid for it. From figuring out your content and how to structure it, to marketing and building the site. The idea is to set up a paid monthly subscription site, but instead of a regular website you create an ‘Interactive Learning Environment’ using all sorts of multimedia. This creates a community of learners around your topic and provides a constant revenue stream for you.

I’m setting one of these sites up for another of my passions, teaching guitar. What can you teach to others while gaining the freedom you want?