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7 Income Stream Ideas
Top: H&M (similar) / Jeans: Levi’s / Belt: India Hicks / Earrings: India Hicks / Bracelet: India Hicks (c/o)
I
didn’t make much money at my second job, a job that moved me from Los Angeles to Phoenix. I had bought a townhome and a friend was my roommate and it helped with the mortgage on my townhome (we still own it). I had even cut up my credit card that my parents paid for that floated me after college as I got settled because I was determined to make ends meet on my own.
Making extra money has always been a thing for me – multiple streams of ways to make money just incase one area fizzled whether do to the economy or circumstances out of my control it could hold me over for a little. Or, just making extra money for something else – extras or making ends meet. If you have debt – credit card for school it could go toward paying it off!
Ways I like to use additional income is to put it toward hiring others who can help scale another business of mine. It keeps my overhead low and allows me to build another area of my business by hiring out which in return generates more income.
I thought I’d share the different ways we make income (some passive income) and perhaps this will give you some ideas for yourself!
Creative ways to make additional income
Rental property/AirBnB
We kept my first townhome in Central Phoenix and have renters since I bought our current home. This is something to consider if you purchase a second home. You could keep your current home and have your renters cover the mortgage and more, and use that additional income to either pay off the property early (pay more toward the mortgage principal) or save up for something else, helping pay the new mortgage, new car, etc.
If you don’t have another property, maybe you have a guest room or you can rent out your place during popular months like Super Bowl weekend if your city hosts and make extra cash – crash on a friend’s couch and spend some QT with them. Read this post about how to prepare your home for Airbnb and VRBO from my friends who own several vacation rentals.
Sell items on eBay or Etsy
When I worked at the newspaper magazine supplement, employees were allowed to take gifted products home (beauty, etc.) from the beauty closet if we gave a donation in exchange for them. The money was donated to an organization – so all this was OK. I researched the costs of certain makeup lines that would be $80-100 and make extra cash on eBay. I needed extra cash so I sold the makeup sent by PR to us once we were done photographing it, on eBay.
You might have items around your home that you can sell, clothing, furniture, it’s just sitting there. Or, you can buy discounted designer clothing at say, Last Chance, a discount basement, and sell it on eBay for a higher price. I heard people can make a living doing this! If you aren’t wanting to do this all the time, have a garage sale and make it all in a weekend.
Stock dividends
Investing for retirement, buy stock from companies that give a dividend return. Technology rarely gives dividends because they reinvest for their research (we’ve learned) you can use these dividends to buy more stock, or use it as extra cash for something else.
Rent your home or studio for photographers
If you have a cute home, consider listing your home on websites – similar to Airbnb. Our space is listed on Home Studio List where photographers can look for local homes they can rent hourly. I am looking to rent my studio once I get the time (because location is great). You can keep the rental space to specific rooms or just the backyard only. I have a friend who rents her farm for photoshoots! Just start sharing the news with friends and in photography and blogger groups and wait for the bookings to come. You can rent it for $100+ hourly.
Create additional businesses or a side hustle
As an entrepreneur I know markets can get saturated (photography and blogging) and the economy can impact business (like my marketing graphic design business in 2007). So I had to flow back and forth between my businesses. One slowed down so I vamped up another. I have 3 ways of income, my graphic design, photography, and blogging. It varies depending on the market but I can always market another if one area slows down. I am never idle.
If you have a full-time job, consider a side business – photography, building websites, selling items you make on Etsy, party planning, yard work, educating others, or coaching. You could also organize homes, baby sit, be an Uber driver (see this interview I did with an Uber driver on how to get started). Just start sharing with your own community and network, starting with your Facebook friends!
Sell items – evergreen content or stock products
You can sell stock images if you are a photographer on websites for extra money, create presets and sell them, or a workshop. I used to teach online for upcoming photographers and it was so enjoyable for me. You can create a teaching course that can be purchased without you having to monitor a new class every time but perhaps you are checking emails for questions or every week for any questions.
There has to be some wisdom you share or if you create content you can create it for other brands. You can be a coach to others.
Affiliate marketing (if you have a website)
As a blogger with over 1300 blog posts (wowza) there’s a lot of content I’ve created. Most aren’t visited that often because they are pretty irrelevant according to Google but for certain blog posts that have high traffic, I revisit them and insert some links that will be helpful to my user – I use Viglink and Amazon Affiliates. Everyone shops Amazon, right? I make at least $100 a month from Amazon alone. It’s nothing to brag about but it’s something, and for doing nothing – just letting the links I already added continue to live on. For clothing posts, I use ShopStyle Collective. I get paid per click instead of purchase which is how I prefer at the moment since I understand my readership and their actions when they are on my site. It’s not how I really make money since I’m not a style blogger, but I like to be a resource for my readers.
If you have a business site, or an active Facebook group, IG following, or online platform, consider a page where you recommend products. I have one here. I sure my favorite products and some are on Amazon. Not all links give me a kick back but I enjoy sharing and it’s an additional resource for visitors. Think about your most popular blog posts and go back and reedit them and add some links.
I hope some of these ideas encourage you to think outside the box when it comes to making additional income. You don’t necessarily have to be an entrepreneur to have more income – I used to build websites and logos for brands on evenings and weekends when I had a full-time corporate job. I had great job security and enjoyed making extra money and also able to really use my creativity in the way I wanted through my side hustle. Read my entrepreneurship journey here.
Suggested books that I love:
- The Millionaire Mind
- The Millionaire Next Door
- The Power of Moments
- Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
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