Creating multiple streams of income…

A blog post from the guys at iBlogMoney.com

Online is not the easiest thing to do, although most people believe it is, let me be the first to tell you that diversification of your income sources is very important. What else will you do when the ‘Google Slap’ catches up to you and either bans your lucrative sites or stops one of your income streams dead in it’s tracks? Yes, you can depend on organic traffic if you have done your homework and know a little SEO (search engine optimization).

However, don’t get discouraged if you are considering or just beginning your online venture. Most people think that e-commerce or starting an online store is the best way to get started, I would say, anything that will allow you the opportunity to make money without COOP (Cash Out Of Pocket) would be something worth looking into. Keep in mind that there are ways to make money with e-commerce and dropshipping without spending a dime, but then again you have affiliate marketing. One of the great things about affiliate marketing is the idea that you can participate in as many different affiliate programs as you like. It is a fine line to trot between having multiple streams of income and belonging to too many affiliate networks. Here is a look at the one correct way to go about handling this problem.

• Try to select streams of income that are niche related.

This is what we call a 1500$ USD (well, maybe euro instead) tip. It says so much with the use of so few words and can have the biggest impact on your affiliate marketing empire. Take a moment to just think about it. It is always good to have more than one affiliate network to belong to and on your site, but you don’t want to get carried away and add every affiliate offer on your site for a number of reasons. Here is the best way to go…

Add about 4 or 5 affiliate offers on your site and make them all related to your niche and possibly each other. Let’s just say that your first program of choice is Commission Junction is through a company that sells baby strollers or Dell Laptops. Now let’s say that you have written some great articles (or hired someone) on baby strollers, stroller safety, Dell laptops, now lets say it’s a passion of yours, but you want more than one stream of income. Why not sign up to an affiliate program such as Dell Home Computers and Dell Business? Why not sign up for an affiliate program that distributes baby strollers? You can always share content between sites, but then, since you already have great content written about your niche of choice to begin with, keep in mind that duplicate content is not a great thing for your SERP rankings. Want to earn more? Find companies that specialize in another niche that fits into your parent niche. The choices are endless and by relating all of your sites, you won’t have to write as much content or separate articles for each niche. You will indeed save time and hopefully make more money…

• Enjoy Your Content.

So you have found an affiliate network that suits your needs and fits your niche, so join the program already… so you can start adding relevant ads and offers to your site. Let’s say your niche of interest leaves you in the dark, but you have an interest of learning more about it… Don’t worry too much, you can make this work. You can still write interesting and informative articles and make them unique, even if it’s about a product you are not an expert on. You can always take the list route. Try flipping through the TV listings this week and jot down all the list of shows on right now or current events. People love lists. People also like to Digg and Stumble lists… hint hint… It’s very simple to make a quick top-10 or top-20 list style article and relate it to your new affiliate program. This will allow you to diversify your streams of income and add more business streams under your belt at the same time. You want your site to be unique, some people say not to use lists for every post, I would say try new things and stick with what works for you.

Creating multiple steams of income is pretty easy when you look at it. Group your products under the same umbrella to save time or add a program that you can make funny and informative lists on. Your site will benefit and you’ll have happy customers to boot!

A few affiliate networks that pay:

ClickBank
NeverBlue Ads
MoreNiche
Commission Junction
eBay Affiliate Network

For More Information on Affiliate Marketing, tips and effective tools visit iBlogMoney.com