Today’s episode is sponsored by a response to a troll comment I got by a guy named Ron. I unfortunately get a lot of troll comments. I delete a lot of them, but this comment wasn’t that bad – I just said “Alright whatever, Jonathan.” Jonathan commented on one of my posts about my Becoming a Brand Photographer course and said, “It seems like more photographers are teaching how to make money and that income is their main source of income. I’d like to see the portion that is actually made from shoots.” Fair point, I guess. Just because I teach photographers how to make money doesn’t mean that I can’t make money from photography. The truth of it is: I make more money in photography than I do in coaching. I would LOVE to have that switch and have my courses outweigh what we’re doing in photography. Not because I want to decrease my photography, but because that would be a freaking baller extra income! That would be amazing! That’s the goal because it’s residual and it’s not trading my time for money.
So, I responded to him. “Hi Jonathan, I actually still make way more in photography than in teaching photography. Teaching is my passion and it’s very nice to be able to do them both.” Another commenter then added, “I think teaching is a separate or additional skill set to photography. I just couldn’t make the leap into teaching. Kudos for you being able to do both!” Then Ron, who inspired this episode, said “It’s very foolish to have just one source of income. If they want to teach someone, and that someone freely wants to pay, then that is perfectly fine.” Ron made a good point here – having one source of income can be very foolish. If you want to only have one income source, that’s fine, but maybe by the end of this episode you might start thinking differently. It’s a great way to grow your business and your sales without having to add on a ton of extra physical work.
For me, I have a lot of different income sources. Like, a ton. It started in photography, and like I already said, photography is still our main source of income. But, I got to a point where I was so burnt out. My SEO strategy worked better than expected, I was getting inquires all the time, I had just had my second baby and I realized that I couldn’t do all of the things. I was physically and mentally unable to take on more work. I realized I was stuck there, or I needed to branch out and find other revenue streams that I can handle because I couldn’t do as much as I needed to in order to make the money I wanted to make.
HERE’S MY SUGGESTIONS ON WHERE/HOW TO ADD AN INCOME SOURCE:
1 – Hire an Associate
Associates are a great way to expand your workload and your ability to serve more people, as well as expand your revenue, without having to do it all yourself. There’s a lot of work that comes with that… management, team building work, costs, training, etc. Overall, the work that they can bring on themselves way outweighs the cost. I’m not only talking about photographer associates – I’ve seen this is so many different professions. Whatever you do, you can have someone do it with you!
2 – Teaching
I was asked to teach at the local technical college when I was pregnant with my second child. I taught the photography 101 class for a couple semesters. It was fun, and I loved teaching, but I was limited on the curriculum I could teach because I was teaching to a bunch of cute, retired folk to wanted to take pictures of birds, nature, etc. I couldn’t go in and teach marketing, which I was super passionate about, because these people didn’t want to be taught that. So, it was fun to develop curriculum and plan outings with them, but at the same time, it’s not where my passion was. It sparked me into teaching more things. Teaching is a great source of income. If you can do it and if you want to do it, it’s a great way to bring in more income. Now, you can teach your competitors, or you can teach your clients! For example, I had an esthetician friend who, rather than teaching other estheticians, she taught her clients about skin care, facial nights, etc. Rather than thinking outside of the box, think about what you can offer that’s already right in front of you to the clients you already have. When you teach your competitors, that’s a whole different audience. Sometimes it’s easier to stay in your realm and teach who you’re already in front of.
3 – Products
There are so many different types of products and so many ways to sell products. I have tried a couple different ones in the last few years to dip my toes into the product realm and it’s been a fun experience. You can do Dropshipping, where you don’t have to hold on to any inventory. If somebody buys that product, it dropships from the company directly to them. Another option is “print on demand”. It’s similar to dropshipping, but it’s printed right then when they order it. For example: you create a design, and when somebody buys it, it’s printed at the lab and then dropshipped from the lab directly. The possibilities are endless with products! I would start with something very simple – maybe something like Etsy.
We have so many resources to make money and do what we want to do. We can have amazing lives!
4 – Affiliate Marketing
Basically, you sell something that somebody else makes. I have affiliates for my course. If somebody wants to recommend my course, they use a link that I provide to them, and they get a percentage kicked back to them. It can be really lucrative with the right affiliates! It’s awesome! You can be an affiliate for courses and classes for somebody who is digital, for companies that sell product, you can be a part of an MLM (which is a larger scale affiliate program), etc. This is why a lot of people are influencers or marketers – because it’s a really easy way to make a little extra money on the side by sharing what you already love and use.
5 – Real Estate
Real estate is a huge market. You can buy houses, flip them, and then sell them. You can buy houses and rent them out. You can get into short-term rentals. Along with real estate, I want to also include cars! You can purchase a car and rent it out on platforms like TURO.
We live in such a cool time where there are so many different income streams to tap into! I want you to listen to the nudges you feel – those are promptings to check these things out! Really, what’s the harm in trying something that we feel inspired to do? For me, I have no regrets! There is so much learning in all these opportunities. If you’re feeling like things are slow, you want more passive income, or you’re maxed out in your initial revenue stream, then explore some other options! You can do whatever you want to do, and I am here by your side through it all!
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