Depression was just one of the feelings I felt at my previous job. I was also stressed out and bored. At first, I was having fun. I was doing a job I actually went to school for and I was constantly learning new things. After a few months, things changed for me very quickly. The company moved further away, creating close to an hour commute to and from. They also gained new clients which meant a heavier workload with very tight deadlines.

It got to the point where I’d step into the building and my mood would sour. Eventually I resigned and turned to freelance work. However, even then, I was still trading hours for dollars. I wasn’t creating a future for myself and my family. I don’t recommend resigning from a job like I did without anything to fall back on. I do recommend starting a part-time business while you’re still employed.

For the average person, starting a business even while employed can be expensive. It’s also difficult if you have no business experience. Yet, one business has made tons of people successful part-time and provided the training necessary to do so. It’s called network marketing.

Now before you think, “oh no, not one of those pyramid schemes!”, I suggest not being closed-minded and consider the following:

• Almost all network marketing companies have a low investment to start.
• Pyramid schemes are illegal. There are plenty of legitimate network marketing companies to choose from.
• Network marketing companies provide valuable business training and want you to succeed.
• This business model has helped people from all walks of life become financially free.
• It is a relationship business and is based around helping people.
• It can be done while you are still a full-time employee.
• You build residual income and true wealth which equals time-freedom.

Would you rather continue being depressed and working for money or would you rather start creating wealth for yourself and leave your miserable job?

Click here <- fill out the form, and let’s discuss your options. Don’t let a miserable job steal one more minute of your happiness. Visit my website and let’s get started to find out if this extraordinary opportunity is a good match for you!

Freelance work is one of the easiest ways to begin working for yourself. I have been doing it for years and in the beginning it seemed like the logical solution. I wanted to be my own boss so the transition made sense. However, after a couple of years, I realized that I just traded one job for another. Now some people absolutely love what they do so working for themselves doing what they love is a dream come true. Yet for me, I slowly began to feel the same feelings I did when I worked for someone else.

This time though, I had to do it all. I had to manage my projects, meet the deadlines, talk to the clients. One of the big advantages to working for yourself is being able to come and go as you please. Then slowly, that freedom began to go away. I’d be invited to lunch but the entire time I’d be stressing over a project that came up last minute and needed a quick turn-around. I knew things had to change because freelance work was making me stressed out and frustrated all over again.

Multiple Streams of Income Save the Day

I have had a goal to cut down on freelance work and build up my multiple streams of income. If you are a regular reader here, then you know that I enjoy making money through the use of the internet. I do so through affiliate marketing and network marketing. Both give me the freedom that I lost with freelance work. A while back, I had thoughts about taking on more freelance work. I knew deep down, it would only make me more upset. Taking on more clients meant more hassles.

When their web site is buggy, I get a call. When their hosting is acting up, I get a call. Updates, additions, deadlines — I just didn’t want to continue adding what I’m already frustrated with to my schedule. I began to change gears by placing my focus on the clients I already have and growing my affiliate and network marketing businesses.

It’s a good thing I did because even the clients I already have got hit hard by the economy. This goes to show that you shouldn’t place all of your eggs in one basket. Multiple streams of income is a wise choice for full-time employees just as well as self-employed individuals. Since I had other income to fall back on, the economic hardships my clients felt didn’t hit me as hard as they could have.

Now I am full-force into my other business models. Affiliate and network marketing offer way more benefits for me:

• Work I’ve done in the past works 24/7.
• I can come and go and not stress about deadlines.
• Income is not limited to hourly rates.
• No clients!
• You can literally make money while you sleep.
• I do everything online.

There are several ways to develop multiple streams of income besides working online. Some people choose real estate, investing, or creating several types of businesses. If you haven’t looked into other streams of income, you may want to give it some thought. Sometimes another income stream could become full-time income and get you out of the rat race sooner.

This is one of the toughest decisions to make. I know a lot of people who want to work for themselves but have no idea what to do. I start off by asking what their interests are and begin brainstorming but it doesn’t always help. Many people start off trying a ton of different things before they figure out how they want to work for themselves.

Sometimes you end up working for yourself out of necessity. For example, in my last job, I was stressing out to the point where I felt completely miserable when I stepped through the doors. I really enjoyed the people I worked with but the deadlines, the work, and commute was starting to take their toll on me. After almost 5 years of working there, I resigned.

Making that decision allowed me to begin freelancing doing the same work but now for myself, working at home, and choosing who I want to work with. So how do you decide what to do for self-employment?

Turn a Hobby into a Business

This is one of the most common ways many people become self-employed. They take what they do for fun and turn it into a business. Now that starting an online store is easier than ever, most people can get started really fast. There is also good ol’ eBay to get instant traffic and customers.

Start Out of Desperation

In some cases, some people have no choice but figure out a way to make money. It could be due to loss of a job or simply needing more income. Many times, these desperate situations lead to success because the person is forced to work hard on their own business.

Working Online Part-Time

This still remains one of my favorite ways to be self-employed. I feel anyone who already spends a lot of time online should consider making money online. Ways to do this include affiliate marketing, making money with blogs (affiliate sales, ppc, ads), and many other methods. It just seems too easy not to attempt to earn income this way.

Direct Marketing

Direct marketing better known as network marketing is one of the fastest ways for someone to start their own business. I am involved with it myself by being a Beachbody Coach and it has been an awesome experience. I earn money and truly like the products the company provides.

Turn a Personal Experience into a Business

I have one client who became very sick as a young adult. He vowed to himself that he would take his health seriously and turned to herbal medicine. He studied it and became an expert. Eventually he began creating his own herbal products and selling them. Now he has a full-time business, employees, and does something he loves which is spreading the message of health and healing.

If you’re stuck trying to figure out what type of business you want to create, take some time to yourself and discover what makes you happy. Chances are, you really can turn what you love into a business. Test what it is you want to do. A good place to do that is selling on eBay, offering samples to friends, and asking what they would change, etc. If you’re starting a service based business, offer free services to people to build up a clientele.

If you enjoy making money online, you may want to consider creating your own information products to sell. I’ve created several information products in ebook (pdf) form that I’ve used to build lists as well as to earn income. There are many reasons why I like creating information products:

Cheap to create – Mainly all it requires is your time to write them unless you outsource the writing to someone else.

No shipping – Unlike selling physical products, there is nothing physical to ship. Customers are sent a download link.

Get creative – You can be as creative as you want and include not only the ebook but videos, audio programs, and screencasts.

Sell at any price you want – You are not limited to what price you want to sell your products for. Most ebooks can sell for 3 times more than an average paperback because of the specific information and niche being targeted.

Long term business – You can brand yourself and create as many info products as you want. Your products can sell for years and years so long as you market them.

Don’t Underestimate Yourself

You may immediately think you have nothing to offer in terms of information or that there is no way anyone would buy your product. I used to be the same way but I took the chance anyway. There are lots of marketers out there that sell ebooks in niches you probably wouldn’t think make money.

Most of the time these marketers do not write these ebooks. They outsource the writing and stamp their name on it. They act as book publishers rather than experts in the particular topic. If you have information people want that helps them to solve a problem, you will make sales. When I released my recent “Quick Start Leads!” guide, I made a sale the very next day and that was from advertising on one of my blogs.

Things You Will Need to Create and Sell Info Products

Topics – You will want to research niches and the problems within those niches to get ideas for an info product. You can also put together something you are already knowledgeable in. Another quick way to create a product is to intervew an expert in the topic and create an audio program, ebook, or both.

Word Processor – Word (PC) or Pages (Mac) are good enough to do your typing in. If you don’t have access to either, Open Office is an open source productivity suite that offers word processing, spreadsheets, and more for free.

PDF Converter – I use a Mac and it comes with a free PDF creator. PC folks can purchase Adobe Acrobat or search for free PDF creators online.

Web site – It doesn’t have to be a massive web site. A single page, basic with sales copy is all you really need. This can be outsourced as well or you can find templates online that can be easily modified and uploaded to your web server. You can even use WordPress to set up a basic site.

Payment Processor – There are tons of them online but I like to use E-Junkie to sell digital products like ebooks. It works with PayPal as well as other online merchants. Rather than placing your ebook on your server (where it can be downloaded for free), E-Junkie will host it for you and take care of the payment processing and sending the file to your customers.

photo credit: di_the_huntress

I have been internet marketing for quite sometime now. I have reached many successes as well as reaching many failures. I may not make 6-figures like many of the pro’s out there but I am not disappointed with where I am. Maybe you are still struggling to be one of the folks that “make it” in internet marketing. I know where you are coming from. You research, study, and soak up every piece of information you find on blogs.

You may think the latest product launch is what will take you over the top and finally help you to find success. I know, I’ve been there and done that too.

What You May Not Realize

While you are busy studying, researching, and trying out multiple ways to make money online, you may not realize just how much you have already learned. I was the same way. I realized just how much I had learned when I started my fitness business. I wanted to get my business out there as quickly as possible.

I took what I learned about internet marketing and applied it to my business in network marketing. Network marketing techniques have usually been about face to face interaction, some cold calling, and talking with family/friends. Many network marketers are just now learning about the power of using the internet to reach out to a much larger audience.

As a struggling internet marketer, you know that it is all about multiple streams of income. You can’t place all of your eggs in one basket. If one area dries up, you need to have other areas to fill the gap. Network marketing is a great option to do this and apply what you know to get your business going. You are already ahead of most network marketers who probably don’t even know what Twitter is or how to rank a site in the search engines.

Choose Your Network Marketing Company Wisely

Not all network marketing companies are created equal. You want to promote products that you can believe in and since network marketing is more about promoting yourself, you’ll want to use the products and believe in them.

That is why the health and wellness industry was an easy choice for me. It will never run dry! People are always seeking ways to improve their health and weight loss is one of the major ways that people are after.

When I became an Independent Beachbody® Coach, I didn’t realize how much fun it would be. You see, the money is a motivating factor, but I have a passion for fitness and have fun promoting it. I use the products and the best thing is they are working for me. I am losing weight and getting into the best shape of my life. You can follow my progress on my weight loss blog.

How I Use My Internet Marketing Skills in Network Marketing

I have been receiving constant traffic to my web site since the day I launched it and it’s only growing. Here is a list of some of the internet marketing methods I have been applying thanks to what I’ve learned from trying everything else to make money online:

• Blogging – no-brainer here! Blogging brings natural search traffic.
• Social networking – Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube bring me traffic daily.
• Video – I post almost daily video blogs of my progress (traffic from YouTube as well.)
• Article marketing – Always a great way to drive traffic and it’s free.
• Email marketing – I set up an autoresponder and blog broadcast.
• PPC – I do a little pay-per-click advertising (still learning.)

Those are just some of the ways to promote but more than what most network marketers do. You see, you may feel like you are failing in internet marketing but you are succeeding more than you know. You are building up marketing skills and if you apply them to other areas, you not only create another stream of income, you may just reach the level of financial success you are striving for.

If network marketing interests you, let’s team up. I would love to have more internet marketers on my team!

Watch my video message and get in touch: New Coaches.

photo credit: lrargerich

A flagship blog is one in which you blog the most often and keep completely white hat. This means you don’t use it solely for the purposes of making money (however, they can make money in the long run.) You can use your flagship blog for various purposes. You can build your reputation on the topic that you blog about, you can also use it for advertising purposes, and for applying to affiliate programs that require a website to apply.

A blog that you choose as your flagship blog should be in a topic that you can talk about non-stop. You know the type of topic that your friends get sick of hearing about? I only recommend this because if you choose something that you’re not interested in, you will stop blogging and never really get the blog off of the ground.

Traffic Comes Naturally

The best thing about a blog that you love is that the traffic picks up naturally. People who enjoy the topic will begin to link to your blog. Over time, you are getting free, natural backlinks that the search engines love.

You Build a Brand

Branding is important if you plan on making money with your flagship blog. Just take a look at some of the most popular blogs out there. Some make tons from advertising because of their brand. They have made themselves the “goto” in their particular niche.

It’s Fun

Honestly, I have a lot of fun blogging on my flagship blogs because they are in topics that I truly have an interest in. I enjoy reading the comments and replying to them. It has to be fun or you will eventually stop.

How to Start

The best way to start is by purchasing your own domain. Don’t rely on free services. You will want to own your blog. Buy the domain and get your own hosting. You don’t want to leave your content in the hands of another company that can cancel your account for any reason. You will want complete control.

Next, you will need to blog at least 3 to 4 times per week if not more. Great flagship blogs are constantly updated. The best ones are updated every single day. This is another reason it needs to be on a topic you absolutely love.

Make Money

Yes, you can and will eventually make money from your flagship blogs if you really want to. You can charge for ads, use PPC advertising, or even sell it for a huge amount if it becomes big enough.

The key is don’t slack. Create your flagship blog with care. Use good SEO and write good stuff so that people will link back. Most of all, have fun with it and it won’t seem like a chore.