When someone starts their own business, they quickly learn they have to take on many hats: web designer, marketer, graphic designer, editor & proofreader, accountant, customer service... and that's besides whatever the business is actually for! Some people are blessed with the skills to do many of these well, but there's always something that you're not good at, and once the business grows past a certain point, you're going to need an extra hand.
As your business expands, you just can't do it all. That's why you need to outsource some of your work. This doesn't have to mean a team of staff or a hired assistant, though it could. But, let's start small.
Just about the smallest you can start at is hiring someone through a Fiverr gig. Fiverr is a site where people post what they are willing to do for $5 - which can range from logo & website design to copywriting to photo editing and much more. If you need a quick hand at something you're not good at, browse around Fiverr and see who you can commission. Before selecting a gig, make sure to read through the seller's feedback. If the gig is a bust, you're only out 5 bucks - but if it goes well, it's often a great deal!
I've ordered a logo design and a blog banner from Fiverr for my business - the logo was returned to me within a day, and I was pretty pleased with the results. You can't expect the moon & the stars for $5, but if you're short on cash, it's a good start and it was way better than I could have done myself.
Remember that you can't do everything yourself - other people can lighten your load, and oftentimes do it better than you could have done on your own. You don't have to spend a whole lot of money for some extra help - a little bit can go a long way. Check within your niche to see if there are people who would be willing to barter for goods or services that you can provide. That way, you get the help you need, and they get something else they want, too.
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You Can't Do it All: The Upsides of Outsourcing
December 11, 2011 advertising, blogging, how to, make money, websites
Digital Content is Perfect for Passive Income
July 20, 2011 how to, passive income, writing
Selling digital content is an ideal passive income stream. The reason is, once you've written, designed, photographed, recorded, or otherwise created your content, it's there for good and you can sell as many copies as you like. Unlike selling physical tangible objects, you have infinite stock and so long as someone wants to buy your item, they are able to.
Some examples of digital content are: eBooks, audiobooks, music albums, photographs, computer programs, smartphone apps... The list goes on. Think about what you're good at or what you enjoy doing, and try to think about what sort of digital content fits into that category. Are you a crafty person? Think about instruction manuals or patterns. For instance, I like to knit - so I sell knitting patterns for items I've designed.
If you can set up a shop front, and an automatic delivery system, you're all set. You don't really have to do anything else, and with some luck your sales will start rolling in.
But of course, you need an audience, and you need people to want to buy your product. So, you need a quality product, first and foremost. It needs to be original, interesting, or helpful - and for god's sake, don't copy someone else's work! Don't just slap something on a page, either. It may take quite some time to produce quality digital content, but once you've created it, it will always be there for you to sell. You never have to worry about taking inventory or restocking!
You may also want to do some promotion for your digital content. If you already have a blog or website readership, you already have a potential audience for your product -- so long as it's relevant. Well-placed links on your webpage layout could lead to some sales from people who were visiting your website anyway. If you've got a large web audience already, this may be all you need to do to generate enough sales for passive income.
Otherwise, you might need to expand beyond your own site. Check out websites that sell your particular flavor of digital content - be it eBooks, mp3 albums, craft patterns, whatever. These will expose your content to a much wider audience, usually for a small cut of your sales. If your content is well-presented and high-quality, it has the potential to sell well on outside websites.
Some examples of digital content are: eBooks, audiobooks, music albums, photographs, computer programs, smartphone apps... The list goes on. Think about what you're good at or what you enjoy doing, and try to think about what sort of digital content fits into that category. Are you a crafty person? Think about instruction manuals or patterns. For instance, I like to knit - so I sell knitting patterns for items I've designed.
If you can set up a shop front, and an automatic delivery system, you're all set. You don't really have to do anything else, and with some luck your sales will start rolling in.
But of course, you need an audience, and you need people to want to buy your product. So, you need a quality product, first and foremost. It needs to be original, interesting, or helpful - and for god's sake, don't copy someone else's work! Don't just slap something on a page, either. It may take quite some time to produce quality digital content, but once you've created it, it will always be there for you to sell. You never have to worry about taking inventory or restocking!
You may also want to do some promotion for your digital content. If you already have a blog or website readership, you already have a potential audience for your product -- so long as it's relevant. Well-placed links on your webpage layout could lead to some sales from people who were visiting your website anyway. If you've got a large web audience already, this may be all you need to do to generate enough sales for passive income.
Otherwise, you might need to expand beyond your own site. Check out websites that sell your particular flavor of digital content - be it eBooks, mp3 albums, craft patterns, whatever. These will expose your content to a much wider audience, usually for a small cut of your sales. If your content is well-presented and high-quality, it has the potential to sell well on outside websites.
Keeping organized as a blogger - Write your posts in advance
July 12, 2009 blogging, how to, organization, writing
The best advice I ever learned about blogging was this: Write your articles in advance. It's a lot easier to blog several times a week (or every day) when you have a big pile of drafts waiting to be polished up and posted, rather than having to pull a post out of thin air when it's time to publish.
I try to keep 2 or 3 fully-written articles on deck, between my three blogs. Besides that, I keep at least 10 fragments and dozens of one-line post ideas to further develop. The trick is to get blog posts written when you have time, so you're not rushing to write something when you need to update.
There are varying opinions on how often a blog should update - some people say as many as 20 times a day! Personally, I think a blog should update at least twice a week, with more often being better, but more than once a day is generally overkill. People aren't going to be constantly refreshing your blog for new content, and do you really think you can write 10 quality blog posts a day? Unlikely. So do your writing when you have time, and reserve those quality blog posts to publish another day.
Your organizational skills don't have to be anything fancy - just type some things up in your favorite word processor, or leave articles as unpublished drafts in your blogging software. I personally use the Yahoo Notepad that comes free with my email account. I have one file for each of my blogs, along with a general to-do list.
I start my new blog posts with ideas - just a phrase or short sentence, like "generating passive income" or "best new summer reading". I don't expand all the ideas I write down, just the good ones. I expand them paragraph by paragraph, until I have a full blog post. I like to hop from article to article, filling in ideas as my "inspiration" strikes. You can do that if you like, or you can write an entire article in one go. It all depends on your preferences, and what provokes the best writing from you.
The best way to build a valuable blog is to take blogging seriously - have fun with it, of course, but treat it as a priority. By writing your blog articles in advance, you'll always be prepared with a post even if you're busy. You never have to apologize for not updating regularly.
(By the way, that is about the most horrible thing you can post in a blog: "Sorry, this blog has been kind of dead lately"... Don't ever do it! And don't ever give yourself a reason to.)
To keep people coming back to your blog (or any kind of website), update often. And the easiest way to update often is if you've already got your posts written in advance. I can't recommend it enough!
~Joy
I try to keep 2 or 3 fully-written articles on deck, between my three blogs. Besides that, I keep at least 10 fragments and dozens of one-line post ideas to further develop. The trick is to get blog posts written when you have time, so you're not rushing to write something when you need to update.
There are varying opinions on how often a blog should update - some people say as many as 20 times a day! Personally, I think a blog should update at least twice a week, with more often being better, but more than once a day is generally overkill. People aren't going to be constantly refreshing your blog for new content, and do you really think you can write 10 quality blog posts a day? Unlikely. So do your writing when you have time, and reserve those quality blog posts to publish another day.
Your organizational skills don't have to be anything fancy - just type some things up in your favorite word processor, or leave articles as unpublished drafts in your blogging software. I personally use the Yahoo Notepad that comes free with my email account. I have one file for each of my blogs, along with a general to-do list.
I start my new blog posts with ideas - just a phrase or short sentence, like "generating passive income" or "best new summer reading". I don't expand all the ideas I write down, just the good ones. I expand them paragraph by paragraph, until I have a full blog post. I like to hop from article to article, filling in ideas as my "inspiration" strikes. You can do that if you like, or you can write an entire article in one go. It all depends on your preferences, and what provokes the best writing from you.
The best way to build a valuable blog is to take blogging seriously - have fun with it, of course, but treat it as a priority. By writing your blog articles in advance, you'll always be prepared with a post even if you're busy. You never have to apologize for not updating regularly.
(By the way, that is about the most horrible thing you can post in a blog: "Sorry, this blog has been kind of dead lately"... Don't ever do it! And don't ever give yourself a reason to.)
To keep people coming back to your blog (or any kind of website), update often. And the easiest way to update often is if you've already got your posts written in advance. I can't recommend it enough!
~Joy
Planting Money Seeds to generate Passive Income
July 8, 2009 how to, make money, passive income
No one will get rich quick making money online. Blogging is just not the key to quick easy cash. The thing is, having your own website or blog can generate something much more powerful over time than some quick money. The power of blogging lies in its ability to generate passive income.
Passive income is a great kind of income to have. As some people say, it's "making money while you sleep". Rather than being paid by the hour, you are being paid all the time for things you have already done, with little or no effort. The key to generate passive income is to plant "money seeds".
With some effort up front, you can create passive income streams that will continue for years. Even after you've moved on to a new project, these seeds that you have planted will continue to grow and bring in money. Even if it's just a small amount of money, these passive income streams will add up.
After the initial setup of your passive streams of income, there is little you have to do to keep them going. That's the beauty of the passive income. And, since you set up many small streams of passive income, if one for some reason stops generating money, you have many others to fall back on. You can continually add new programs to generate your passive income - continue to plant seeds, and you will continue to reap money.
This blog, Money Seeds, is a record of my attempt to generate multiple streams of passive income. I don't expect to get rich quick, or even get rich at all, what have I got to lose? Everything I join will be free or low-cost, and I will tell you what works and what doesn't. What is successful for me may not be successful for you, and vice versa, but I hope I can help others earn their own passive income.
I will write about the programs I am a part of, the money I make, as well as general informational articles for finding good passive income streams and improving your personal website or blog to earn passive income. I welcome your comments, thoughts, experiences, and if you are interested in writing a guest post please contact me.
Good luck in generating your own passive income! It takes time, patience, and perseverance - this is not the way to get rich quick. But in the end, perhaps it will be worth it.
~Joy
Passive income is a great kind of income to have. As some people say, it's "making money while you sleep". Rather than being paid by the hour, you are being paid all the time for things you have already done, with little or no effort. The key to generate passive income is to plant "money seeds".
With some effort up front, you can create passive income streams that will continue for years. Even after you've moved on to a new project, these seeds that you have planted will continue to grow and bring in money. Even if it's just a small amount of money, these passive income streams will add up.
After the initial setup of your passive streams of income, there is little you have to do to keep them going. That's the beauty of the passive income. And, since you set up many small streams of passive income, if one for some reason stops generating money, you have many others to fall back on. You can continually add new programs to generate your passive income - continue to plant seeds, and you will continue to reap money.
This blog, Money Seeds, is a record of my attempt to generate multiple streams of passive income. I don't expect to get rich quick, or even get rich at all, what have I got to lose? Everything I join will be free or low-cost, and I will tell you what works and what doesn't. What is successful for me may not be successful for you, and vice versa, but I hope I can help others earn their own passive income.
I will write about the programs I am a part of, the money I make, as well as general informational articles for finding good passive income streams and improving your personal website or blog to earn passive income. I welcome your comments, thoughts, experiences, and if you are interested in writing a guest post please contact me.
Good luck in generating your own passive income! It takes time, patience, and perseverance - this is not the way to get rich quick. But in the end, perhaps it will be worth it.
~Joy
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