May 29th, 2008 by Jim Donovan
Fred went to school, studied and got good grades, graduated and got a good job. He worked diligently, was promoted and received regular raises. He was, by all appearances, living the American Dream. So why is it that he’s struggling to make ends meet?
Fred, and many people like him, have become without realizing it, victims to run away gas prices and rising cost. They’re even being called America’s new poor by news pundits.
What happened? He thought he was happily living a middle class life, but things changed.
So what can the “Freds” among us do?
One solution is to change your thinking and realize that your income can come from any number of channels, your job being just one of them. If you understand that God is the source of everything in your life, including your income, you can then explore ways to add multiple streams of income to supplement your paycheck.
Part of the problem is that most of us were raised to be good employees and while at its core there’s nothing wrong with this, our world is changing quickly. Our once secure jobs are disappearing, as more and more US companies outsource much of their work. Whether you agree with this or not, it is here and, in many cases, necessary in order to compete globally.
Others are trimming their workforce, again in order to remain competitive and minimize costs like rising healthcare. Even the “so called” secure jobs are unable to keep pace with rising costs and, as we learned before, putting hard working people in difficult situations.
So, let’s take a look at some ways almost anyone can increase their household income starting with little or no investment or previous experience. It begins, as any change, by assessing your present financial condition and deciding what you would like to add each week, month or year. How much do you now earn and how much more would you like?
Then take responsibility for your own life, giving up blame and finger-pointing. Challenge your present beliefs about your own abilities, eliminating those that do not serve you and create new, empowering one’s.
Then, create a compelling vision that includes your new life and your new life style.
So far so good, however if all you do is visualize your dream life, not much will happen.
You have to actually do something. That “something” will be determined in large part by your abilities, desire and the amount of money that you want.
For example if you have a skill, whether it is something that you are currently using in your career or not, you can offer your services as an independent business. For example, many big firm accountants have a sideline business doing personal tax returns and more than a few graphic designers, working at newspapers and magazines, “freelance” their services to small businesses in their locale.
You can, without much initial cost or expense, begin an ebay business. Many people, numbering 150,000,000 at this time, and growing, are buying and selling on ebay.com regularly.
To me this is a “no brainer,” since it’s something that you can begin with items that are in your garage or attic and build from there. One of the great things about ebay is that you can be earning additional income within 72 hours or less.
If ebay or a personal services are not appealing to you, you may want to explore opportunities for a “service business” in your community. I’ve seen everything from home drying cleaning delivery to mobile pet services opening up, providing significant revenue to their founders.
The Internet is providing numerous opportunities, ranging from bloggers who write about a subject and receive income from Google Adsense revenue and other pay-per-click advertising, to affiliates who, by building a targeted Web site and creating a database of interested prospects, can offer a range of products. They receive a percent of the selling price from the vendor for their efforts, much in the same way a traditional retailer receives a markup on products they sell.
Others are developing information products, teaching virtually every subject, from computer software to business skills, to a pool of buyers who are hungry for information. Do you need to train your ferret? There is an information product (or several) which will teach you how, right from the comfort of your computer.
Whatever path you choose, do something. It’s time we all took charge of our financial destiny and began implementing multiple streams of income. Living paycheck to paycheck is no longer an option.
Tweet This Post
Read the rest »
May 24th, 2008 by Jim Donovan
First, I want to wish everyone in the US, celebrating the Memorial day holiday, a very happy, safe and fun filled holiday and give thanks to all the men and women serving in our Armed Forces. As a veteran myself, I can appreciate the sacrifice they are making.
With all the media attention to rising prices, I want to try to do my part to help people learn ways to stay ahead and not become one of the people skipping breakfast to save a few bucks, like the woman on the Evening News. This is crazy!
There are so many ways to add a little more to your income it’s insane for anyone to miss an important meal so they can buy gasoline.
To help you on your personal path, and to celebrate the upcoming holiday, I’m offering a 25% discount on any and all our programs with the exception of my books at Amazon. There’s no way I can do that but my audio programs and Georgia’s programs are at 25% off the already low prices until the middle of next week.
If you’ve been thinking about ordering any of these, now is the time.
I can promise you that my Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck home study program, 6 1/2 hours of information packed ideas and techniques plus a 44 page workbook, will NOT be available much longer at the current price, much less the discounted one. The price is going up, at the suggestion of my advisors, by the middle of July so if you want it, order now. I guarantee you will be glad you did.
Last but not least, my new book, “Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck” is available as both a paperback and ebook edition and, for a short while longer, you can still “name your price” for the ebook. If you’d like to learn how you can create additional income in your life, quickly and without risking everything, get this book right away.
Tweet This Post
Read the rest »
May 19th, 2008 by Jim Donovan
Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the crazy one – I ‘m ok with that. So be it. I’d rather be a little crazy than be a victim.
I keep running into people who are struggling, trying to make ends meet. All they talk about is the price of gas (as though that will make it go down). Now people are starting to look at the rising food prices. One woman in the supermarket recently commented to me, “I can’t afford to buy two muffins for $4.00″
She was pretty old and I really felt for her situation. Unfortunately, she’s part of a very large group of people in the US who believed the government when it said “Don’t worry, Social Security will take care of you.” I’m saying, “Worry! Better yet, do something about it because SS is not cutting it.”
Retired people in the US and elsewhere are finding out just what a pile of crap they’ve been fed by the establishment. They’re trying to get by on a fixed income while prices are skyrocketing all around them.
I only know of one solution – don’t be on a fixed income or, if you are, make sure it’s well above what you’ll need.
I can’t help buy think of my grandfather. He was a Deputy Inspector in the New York City Police Department. As a mater of fact, he was the youngest Lieutenant in the history of the department back then.
I didn’t understand, until years later, why he didn’t leave much to his children when he died. It was because, even though he was very well paid at his level in the NYPD, he lived so many years after retirement that the pension he had dwindled away until, at the time of his death, it was just enough to scrape by on.
As I said, maybe I’m strange but I find it quite sad and, somehow wrong that, as people age, their lifestyle diminishes. It should be the other way around.
And it can be the other way around if, and this is a big if, you commit now to creating multiple channels of income. Imagine if you added just one additional channel of income each year for five years. You’d have 5 different channels of income, bringing you additional money each month.
What could you do, right now, to start an additional channel of income to buffer you and your family?
If you’re stuck for ideas, read my new book or order the home study audio program.
Whatever you do, please do something.
If I run into you in the supermarket, I want to see you buying whatever you want:-)
Tweet This Post
Read the rest »
May 5th, 2008 by Jim Donovan
I have to admit I got the idea for this article from Georgia, my wife. She created a closet clean out exercise for women and offers it as one of her in-home services at www.TheClothesDoctor.com
This got me thinking, what about the rest of your life? What about your business?
For example, how much stuff do you have that you probably will never use? How many things are you holding onto that have outlived their usefulness? I have for example, a great JVC dual cassette recorder. It’s a wonderful piece of equipment and was quite expensive when I bought it 10 or 12 years ago, but what is the likelihood that I’ll ever use it again? Nil!
What about the vinyl CD albums that I no longer use for my audio CD programs? With everything moving to digital downloads or at least small DVD packaging, it’s unlikely that I’ll use these either. So the question is why am I hanging on to them?
What about you? What do you have stored in your attic, garage, closet, file cabinets or just lying around the house that you’ll most likely never use? Someone recently told me that the average American has $3,000 worth of merchandise that they will never use and could instead, sell on ebay.com.
Let’s apply a modified version of Georgia’s closet technique to your “stuff.”
Look at each item that you’re hanging on to and ask yourself, when was the last time you used it and what is the likelihood that you’ll use it again?
If it’s something that you are not going to use, not a family heirloom, or something with sentimental value, do one of the following:
- Sell it either on ebay or a similar online site or have a yard sale.
- Donate it and, if you want, take a tax write off.
- If it is really of no use throw it away.
If you have outdated stationery and office supplies, like the blank tri-fold brochure paper I’ll never use, you might want to give it to someone with small children, an elementary school or a nursing home. They are always in need of arts and crafts supplies.
Another benefit to doing this is that you’re creating a vacuum and, since nature abhors a vacuum, you are actually creating space for something new and better to come into your life.
Tweet This Post
Read the rest »
Tags: 
