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Guest post by: Marianne Craig Become an Author

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Painting Your Own Rainbow – Creating multiple income streams


I once met an entrepreneur who had ten different income streams including a number of passive ones. A passive income stream means you make money while you sleep. In other words you create a product which is sold for you by a shop or website.This entrepreneur wrote books and articles which were sold and published in the traditional way, he self-published other books, he ran workshops, offered one-to-one tutoring, he did training for different companies, he was a professional key-note speaker, he recorded his talks and sold the CDs from his web sites and at conferences along with his publications, he offered consultancy and he created ecourses which were delivered as automatic weekly downloads……….phew!

The beauty of having so many income streams is that you are not dependent on one income alone to earn your living. If several of them don't work out it's not a problem. Moreover you can spread the risk and aim to make a living from the spread rather than from one source. The other great thing is that you can leverage your successes. This entrepreneur gave a talk but didn't leave it at that. He leveraged this opportunity by recording his speech and selling it to many more people than were present at his original talk. I know of another entrepreneur with a number of creative businesses including her own photography business and photo-based products such as calendars which she sells online. One successful photograph can be leveraged many times over.

I like the idea of a portfolio career - where you do several things which reflect your personality and fulfil you. A portfolio career can, for example, mean combining a part time job with a start-up business, a course, voluntary work or child-care. Or you can run a portfolio of several businesses giving you a number of income streams. The term “portfolio career” was coined by writer and broadcaster Charles Handy in the 1990s and acknowledges the changes in society and in the job market: fewer jobs for life, more people wanting greater variety in work and education in their adult lives, changing gender roles, more people seeking fulfilling lives.

Linked to the idea of a portfolio career is this notion of multiple income streams where your income comes from a number of sources. I myself have a number of income streams. My core business is one-to-one business and career coaching. I have a second company through which I offer training in career coaching and I am an assessor for a coach training company. I also freelance as an associate for a couple of executive coaching companies. In addition I have several passive income streams. For example I have written an ebook called So You Want to Become Coach which I sell from one of my websites.

The 21st century is a wonderful time to think about your career or business as a creative endeavour. The idea of multiple income streams means you can think differently about how you earn and how much you want to earn. The key is you get to decide the shape of your life and work. You can focus on your strengths and have variety and fulfilment in your life. Thinking creatively about your time and your earning power and getting clear about your personal values means you can focus on what is really important to you. That might mean your main focus is on work but it might also be spending time with your kids, music, creative arts, saving the planet or contributing in other ways as a volunteer. The Internet and the growth of entrepreneurialism, especially among women, young people and retired people, means that the time is right to play to your strengths and create a career and business as varied and interesting as you are. Get the colours out and start painting that rainbow!

Marianne Craig MCC
ICF Master Credentialed Coach
Career and Business Coach
w. www.coachlifeandcareer.com
e: coach@coachlifeandcareer.com
Tel:+ 44 (0) 1273 563 518

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