Ways to diversify your income

- Now we're getting to the fun part. Let's talk about some of the specific ways that you can diversify your income. This is by no means an exhaustive list. You'll find that, by the way, in the exercise files. But this lesson should help you get your creative juices flowing as you ponder possibilities. Here are six primary categories for income diversification. First, investing. This is something that most people understand and plenty participate in. There are a lot of things that you can invest in from your traditional stocks, real estate, and gold to more unusual investments like sneakers, farmland, or fine wine. Next, consulting or offering a service. This could be work you already do professionally that you offer on a freelance basis, or it could be a passion that you turn into an income stream, like working as a wedding photographer or a home stager. Instead of offering a service, you could sell digital or physical products. This is an incredibly broad category. You could sell tangible things like cars, clothing, and collectibles, or digital products like eBooks, apps or audio files. A fourth category for income diversification is teaching, either in person or online. In person, this could be a long-term position at a university or a corporate training role, or it might be a periodic gig, like offering a workshop or doing occasional math tutoring. Next category, rental income. One of the pieces in your portfolio might be renting out a room in your house, a vacation property, your car, an extra parking spot, or even your swimming pool. The great thing is that there are now apps for every one of those things, and more. So if you have property to share, you have an opportunity to generate income. And the last category that I'll touch on is influencer or affiliate marketing. They're different, but you can be both at the same time. Influencer marketing is when a company pays you to promote their products or their brand. Most influencers are content marketers who regularly post on a certain topic and have built up a large audience over time. Affiliate marketing is where a company offers you a commission when you send people to them and they buy something. For instance, I'm an affiliate for the job board FlexJobs. If someone visits my website, clicks on a FlexJobs link and orders a membership, I will earn a small commission. So as you can see, you've got a lot of possibilities, and in the next chapter, I'm going to help you analyze them so that the portfolio that you build is distinctly you.