Multiple Streams of Income - Part 2

Last week we discussed creating multiple streams of income/revenue for you and your business. And, ultimately we want to create passive streams of income. The first stage of wealth building is to create a passive income stream that will cover all your expenses. Think about this for a minute. So often I have read books on buying property, shares, assets, or paying down debt, or increasing my income; but the first step to wealth creation is creating a passive income that will cover all your expenses. When you have done this, then you are in a position to accelerate your wealth creation. Whether you work or not, all your expenses are covered.

So, how can we create passive income streams, and really what is a passive income stream. The crux of passive income stream is that you make something once that you can sell once and get paid over and over again for the one effort. Most people have a product or service that you are required to continually resale to get paid so if they don't work they don't get paid. Are you in that situation? Here are a few ideas that lead to passive income:

• Write a book, audio recording, or video recording. (Create it once, find a vehicle to sell it and get paid for the one effort over and over again.)
• Build your business around a system, and then franchise it. (The initial franchise fees and the ongoing fees are an incredible source of passive income.)
• Direct sales or network marketing. (I know this may have a bad rap, but with the right research this is a legitimate way of creating an incredible passive income for the right person.)
• Products that are consumable and need to be purchased over and over again.
• Internet businesses that resale information. (Discover a niche that is underserviced, set up a website correctly, and you can create a cash cow.)
• Membership based services.
• Build a large sales team that you override a small percentage on the production. (Key point here is that they should not be salary based because this can kill your cashflow. Let the team get the lion's share of commission, and you take a overriding percentage for the training and support you provide.)

There are so many other ways to achieve a passive income. These are just a few to spark your creative juices. I have learned over the years that this is the most crucial step in creating a stable business. I am more than happy to sit down with you, look at your business, and make some suggestions on ways you can create a passive income stream over the next 6 - 18 months. Think about it - if you do not already have this in your business, how would it feel if you knew that every expense was covered before you even started working? 

Do you think you would be more excited, productive and effective?

Create multiple streams of revenue

The weather in Grapevine is incredible after an entire summer of 100+, isn't it? I am loving it. I want share with you an important component to building a successful business, but I want to start with two questions. 

• How many income buckets do you have? Do you have 1, 2, 3 or 10? This is an incredibly important question to ask yourself.
• And, do your income buckets require active selling to generate any revenue?

It is an important component of business for you to have multiple streams of income or multiple buckets, and some of those buckets need to generate income residually. As an exercise for you to work on, I want to ask you to spend an hour over the next week brainstorming other ways you can generate income through your clients and relationships by bringing more value to them.

Next week, I will share with you several strategies to creating multiple income buckets. And, the reason this is so important is that all markets fluctuate to a certain degree. You do not want to be held hostage by one product or service. Develop multiple streams of income starting today!

The words we choose can determine our success...

Today, I want to share a powerful concept that I was studying last week. Often times the thing that holds us back the most is ourselves. We are often our greatest obstacle to success. It is so important to constantly be developing oneself as a person. Read and listen to the personal growth coaches, and that will directly impact your business. In the book, Cash in a Flash, by Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen they discuss the power of the words we speak to ourselves and out load. Do you use positive or negative words and language? The words you choose can enable or disable you. They can energize or weaken you. They can take you to great heights or keep you in dark valleys.

They shared an exercise that I have found to be very powerful. I remember we did this exercise with my soccer team when they were 11 years old. Every time one of the kids made a mistake and started to get upset at themselves another player or one of the coaches would say CANCEL. It was amazing the impact it made over the season. This exercise is very similar. I want you to really listen to what you are saying to yourself and how you are speaking. Every time you hear yourself thinking or speaking a negative thought say SWITCH. 

And, then replace it with a positive thought. I am not saying that bad things don't happen, but I am saying that there is positive and good things in almost everything.

Let me give you some examples of positive and negative words:

Happy	Sad
Strong	Weak
Optimistic	Pessimistic
Easy	Difficult
Beautiful	Ugly

As you say the words, how do they make you feel?
Finally, let me give you an example of the SWITCH exercise in practice.

a problem	a challenge
a job that I hate	a job that I don't love
he is a real jerk	he is not a nice person
I have so much credit card debt	I had too much fun using my credit cards
Now, it's time to pay the piper	Now I have to learn to be more financially savvy.
I'm stuck in a dead end job	I'm in a place where I don't have the freedom I'd like to have.

These are just a few examples of changing your language. This can have a real impact on your outlook, your business and your relationships. Do the exercise for one week, and I'd love to hear your experiences.

Committed to increasing your profits,

Jesus

Take Action Today

The greatest key to success is ACTION. We can have goals, dreams, and motivation; but it is all for naught without action. Are you taking the right action to achieve your goal? Here are some activities I encourage every business owner to take:

• Set your daily plan daily
• Review your goals daily
• Spend at least 1 1/2 hours a day marketing your company
• Batch your activities together
• Read 2 - 3 books about leadership, business, sales and marketing a month
• Set goals for your employees
• Practice your sales presentation regularly
• Establish a new marketing pillar each quarter of 2011

If you have any questions on this or any other business growth matter, don't hesitate to call or email me.

Committed to increasing your profits,

Jesus

P.S. Don't forget that if you have previously attended my Life Management Workshop that you can re-attend at no cost to you. And, if you haven't attended, I'd encourage you to book your seat for my February 10th workshop, check it out.

Two Keys To Having The Life You Deserve

There are many keys to success in life, but I have found two which embody all keys. The first is that each of us must learn to love oneself. We have all heard the following - "Don't blow your own trumpet...Don't pat yourself on the back...and so on."

Humility is very important, but what is humility? to me humility is to confidently acknowledge one's being. We also must recognize that we are very special and blessed with unique talents. We have the power to think and create. This is an amazing gift. We are God's greatest creation so if we cannot love oneself then what can we love. Also, if one doesn't love oneself, then why should someone else. And, when you love yourself, you will then know how to love someone else completely and without conditions. So. pat yourself on the back. Remind yourself that you are very special.

The second key is to know your purpose. Without this, then one would live their entire life on accident. Because if you do not know which path you want to follow, then how is one ever going to get on it.

One's life purpose needs four things:

1. Passion - Our purpose in life should be one which drives us from bed in the morning with joy and happiness. One which will give us joy to face each and every day. You will know you are in your Passion when you are juiced going to be and you hop out of bed.

2. What you want to give - In life we must always give before we can receive. It is said if you want great wealth, then you must help enough others gain wealth (this applies to everything).

3. What you want to receive - You need to know what you want. If you are only giving then you are a martyr. So, what do you want: happiness, wealth, freedom, good health, love, strong family, etc.

4. Massive action - It won't happen by itself, we need to do it. It all starts with a thought, but it doesn't happen by a thought alone. We need to act and do whatever is necessary to achieve and live our purpose.

This area of achievement and success is something I have studied for twenty years, and it is amazing how the little things can make such a difference. Also the one thing I have learned is that the science of success is something that one will study for a life time. It is essential to always read or listen to books on this subject because you will learn something every time you do.

BBI has a great course on Goal Achievement and Time Management called Life Management Systems, and I encourage you to get it. For more details go here.

Until next time,

Jesus Balderas

Entitlement vs Discipline

This subject is something that I find keeps coming up in different forums constantly. Yesterday, I heard a great sermon from my pastor on what God thinks about hard work and discipline. As a business coach, I work with businesses of all kinds and have done so for almost 17 years now. Over the years, I have noticed that so many employees have an attitude of entitlement. I have seen people believe it is their right to have a smoke break, check personal emails, read the paper, take extra time at lunch, etc. You know the drill especially if you own a business. I see it in children as well, and this is scary.

It is almost an attitude of - what are you going to do for me, and then I will let you know what I will do for you.

This is the complete opposite attitude of success. In life and business, we are given the charge to give it our all. Be disciplined, work hard, and make your own LUCK (Labor Under Correct Knowledge). We can find it in the principle of Give and You will Receive.

I find a key in life is to give it your all in every situation. Don't hold back until you see what the other party is going to do. Often times, I find when you do give it your all, the other party joins in and gives it their all. How cool is that? The alternative is that both parties hold back a little just to see.

So, my final thoughts to success is this.

1. Lose the attitude of entitlement if you have it. And, if you don't, keep it that way.

2. Research every opportunity that comes your way, but once you know it is a good deal jump in with both feet and keep giving it your all.

3. Be disciplined every day.

4. Re-focus on your goals as often as you need to so that your actions keep pace and on target for your goals.

5. Embrace and love hard work because it is good for you.

6. Truly enjoy the success that comes to you.

Each and every job that comes your way deserves your all that includes your work, your hobbies, your marriage, your children and so on. I think you get the point.

I know this post is a little raw, but it hit a nerve so I just typed and posted.

If you would like to receive more information on goal setting and time management, I would encourage you to check out our Life Management Systems.

Until next time.

Thank you for all the feedback from yesterday's email on lead generation. It was great stuff, and some of you must have been looking at today's email. In the first two classes, we are going to cover lead generation strategies and how to create effective pieces that grabs the attention of your prospects so that they are begging to buy from you.

One of the emails I received about yesterday's piece on lead generation was talking about the power of attraction marketing. Attraction marketing is a very powerful component of any marketing program, but it typically is used as a lead conversion or follow-up strategy.

In other words, you will use attraction marketing once you have a lead NOT to generate leads. A very powerful tool that every business should have is a program called Send Out Cards. This amazing tool allows you to send out custom greetings cards, postcards, and brochures (3 panel cards) all from your computer in your own handwriting. Check it out here, and you can even send out a couple of cards for free.

This is only one tool of an effective attraction or follow-up strategy. I'd like to give you 17 follow-up strategies you can implement in your business today.

1. Send Birthday Letters (Send Out Cards can do this for you automatically)

2. Make Regular “How’s Things?” Calls

3. Send Out Small Bags of Candies Or Jelly Beans (You can do this through Send Out Cards as well)

4. Give Unexpected Gifts

5. Send Christmas Messages With A Difference (Send Out Cards)

6. Send Lots of “Thank You” Letters (Send Out Cards)

7. Make “Thank You” Telephone Calls

8. Give Your Customers Recognition

9. Give Your Customers Awards

10. Hold “Top Customer” Lunches

11. Let Your Customers In On How You Do Things

12. Educate Your Customers

13. Ask Your Customers For Feedback On Your Performance

14. Become A Central Information Resource

15. Get Your Staff Involved

16. Write Your Own Ideas For Nurturing Your Customers

17. Implementing The Ideas

These ideas can increase your lead conversion dramatically. In our new coaching program, Get Results and Profits NOW, we will cover lead conversion strategies in detail with you in class 4. You won't want to miss this class. I want you to have them now, and in the fourth class we will show you how to create an automated lead conversion strategy.

Here is a summary of the six classes:

Class 1 - Lead Generation Strategies

Class 2 - Creating Lead Generation Pieces

Class 3 - Word of Mouth Marketing/Referrals - Referrals, Using Testimonials, and Networking.

Class 4 - Lead Conversion Strategies

Class 5 - Identifying your most probable client/market

Class 6 - Systems and Operations Mastery

Please check out all the details of the Get Results and Profits NOW. I have made sure that this 6 week workshop will give you the tools to profit immediately even in today's economy at a very affordable price. This workshop is priced so that if you need to get better results in your business NOW, it will be impossible for you not to snatch up one of only 20 spots available.

We are limiting each class to only 10 participants so that the classes will be highly interactive. We are offering only two classes starting on September 15th. We will also record each class so you can listen to it over and over again or catch up if you had to miss one.

To your continued profits,

Jesus Balderas

The Coach