The Nature of Different Income Streams

When I was at Bamboo, I worked on eight to twelve courses that would have become a part of their online academy. I left Bamboo in November… and that was it. I didn’t get anymore salary, nor benefits, nor anything. I was paid while I was there, and then when I wasn’t there anymore I wasn’t paid. That’s how a “job” works.

Contrast that to when I paused my work with Pluralsight about three years ago. Since I stopped doing courses (I have recently finished two more courses, and hope to do more), I still got paid my royalties. Even though I was gone, even though I stopped doing work for them, I still got paid.

Very different income streams, right?

Here are other scenarios:

When I was a kid, I charged $5 to mow lawns. I would mow a lawn, get paid $5, and maybe come back in a week or two. If I was organized and strategic, I could have built up a really good business each summer. I wasn’t that strategic.

I could have worked on getting a clientele, and then paying my friends $3 or $4 to mow the lawns of my clients. I wouldn’t make as much, but I could scale that pretty well. I’d shift my focus from doing the work to (a) managing the workload, and (b) getting more clients.

Both have pros and cons.

I am not anti-job. Definitely not. I think there is a level of fulfillment that you can get from a regular job that is great.

What I want you to think about, for your own income security, is how to create long-term income streams that are not dependent on you being at work, or having a job. Further, how can you create income streams based on providing value instead of just putting in the hours?

I’ve heard from people who have closed million+ dollar deals, and then got laid off. They brought considerable value to a company, but the only thanks they got was written on a pink slip. Yuck.

When I think about creating or finding or investing my time in a new revenue stream, I think about the earning potential. Lots of earning up front? Okay, that sounds good. Not much up front but potentially a lot down the road, or in a “long tail”?  That could work, too.

I’m not going to tell you what kind of income stream to pursue. But I will encourage you to think about the nature of your “investment” (even if it is “only” your time). How will this income stream contribute to your financial independence?

The other side, again, is how you spend your money… that is an important part of this. But first, focus on the nature of your income streams your are thinking of.