Multiple Streams of Income - A Life Changing Idea

Multiple Streams of Income was a revolutionary book by Robert G. Allen that has influenced countless numbers of people to venture out to make a lot of money for themselves. This is a book that has also changed the way I think about life, work and business.

The conventional view for most people was to go to school, get a job and invest in a retirement place. That was what the normal person did and that's what was expected. The idea of a single stream of income was also what was taught to us as we were growing up in our schools and our families.

The idea was to get a good education, then grow up and get a job. It worked and currently works for many people to earn a livable wage. But it traditionally has not worked for those who want a better living for themselves and their families.

Additionally, we were taught that high income came to only those with special talents and abilities and that the average person should and could expect a lower standard of living. Multiple Streams of Income blasted this all too common view out of the water and taught us that even an average person with a bit of knowledge can venture out to make an above average income.

Many successful entrepreneurs have credited this book as the beginning point of their journey to success in making money with multiple streams of income. I was recently listening to a podcast in which they were interviewing a successful online entrepreneur who had a background in art who made money online selling video and DVD's his drawing workshops. He attributed his starting point with reading Multiple Streams of Income.

Even the ones who don't credit this book use the principles found here to become wealthy. Those who start successful businesses start to venture out to new markets or create new product lines or start more businesses. Those are all examples of multiple streams of income.

Large successful corporations do this too. Coca-Cola is looking to get into every market in the world, from the US to Canada to Zimbabwe to India. Each of those markets are streams of income.

Not only do companies do it with markets but they also do it with new lines of products and services. Each product line and service is a stream of income for these companies. Multiple Streams of Income have taken this concept and has made it accessible to the average person, empowering them with the knowledge that they can do it too.

Whether it's starting a home based business or doing contract work for several companies or trying to make money online with websites, blogs and writing articles, the principles of having a multiple stream of income can help anyone create enough streams of income to add up to a significant amount.

The concept of having multiple streams of income is an age old business principle of the wealthy. It's the average person that is satisfied with a single source of income in a 9-5 job. Most people who are wealthy have multiple streams of income coming from many different avenues.

Lawyers work as lawyers but often have other investments like real estate and business ventures. Politicians routinely have other businesses they run while they are in Congress or the State Legislature. Most city council members, especially in smaller towns, usually do it part time.

A Change In Perspective

This book gave me a brand new perspective than just looking for that one job that would take care of me financially. And it opened up my mind to what the possibilities can be and gave me the freedom to be creative in my approach to my streams of income.

Long story short, to give you a sense of where Multiple Streams of Income have led me. In the last 2 years, I've had at least 7 different sources of income. In one year I had 5 1099's from different companies that I have contracted for.

My goal this year is to focus on passive and residual sources of income so that I would be building something that lasts instead of one off projects. Without this book, I'm sure I would have eventually come to the same place, but I can say for sure that the concepts in Multiple Streams of Income is what got me started on the road to build my portfolio of multiple income sources.

Multiple Streams of Passive Income for 2010

The places I'm looking for passive income is from writing on places like Hubpages and Associated Content. I'll also be building an Amazon Store selling Multiple Streams of Income books and other products. I've started to make a little money in all these areas which tells me there is potential here.

At the very least, all I have to do to increase me passive income from these ventures is to repeat what I've been doing that brings in income as well as hone my skills to get more bang for my work online. As I engage, both has already occurred and I'm sure both will continue to occur in the next year.

I'm very excited about all this because I have an entire lifetime ahead of me to make use of and learn more about some of the sources of income that is available online for those who are willing to do the hard work.