How to get out of debt, step 7:
Do an alternate income source "brainstorm" to find ways to increase income.
Previous: 6. Determine how much money you will need to get out of debt.
7. Do an alternate income source "brainstorm" to find ways to increase extra income.
Ingredients: a knowledge of your property, your skills, your imagination.
There are lots of ways to earn extra income online. There are three basic ways to go:
The first model is the Ebay/online store route. You sign up and can sell your things in a full store setup. Another extra income source is called affiliate marketing, and it works great if you have a website with decent traffic or a large email list. This is where you sell other people or companies stuff. Try out the major affiliate networks and see the amazing amount of products and services available to you. F'rinstance, if you have a site about music, you can affiliate with online music providers and earn money when someone clicks the link you put on your site and registers. Here is a link to LinkShare, one of the leading affiliate networks. Sign up with them and explore many ways to generate potentially unlimited online extra income. Earn money with LinkShare merchants. Another affiliate network for more extra income is Shareasale. Sign up with them too, it's free and you will find lots of merchants to gain money from by posting links to their products. Learn how they can increase your sales, develop your brand, and generate interest in your site. Site Build It is a FANTASTIC resource if you're looking for a complete system. No need for fancy coding skills, and completely customiseable. They not only help you get a great site, but show you how to make it an effective sales powerhouse. Click here to get going today.
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This stage uses the practice of brainstorming. Brainstorming is simply writing down any possible idea, no matter how far-fetched or ridiculous it may seem. Out of 25 ideas, one or two will probably be brilliant. There are many ways to increase income. It may be as simple as doing extra hours at work, renting out an extra room, doing babysitting work on the side. It may be as complicated as opening a part-time business or selling off some property you may own.
Knowing your situation, your assets, your limitations, write down any possible alternate income source to get that needed extra income. There are some things to beware of. First and foremost, get rich quick schemes. There are a zillion plans out there that promise you $5,000 a day for doing basically nothing. If you have ever seen magazines such as Home Business or Entrepreneur, you know the types of advertisements they carry. You can be sure that for 99 out of a hundred people who sign on to these plans, they will get exactly nothing from them. The people making that $5,000 a day are the people who publish those advertisements. You'll increase income, alright - theirs! Do not waste your time, and certainly not your money. You have a better chance at Saratoga! Saratoga is also not to be on your list, unless you're going to be running an ice cream stand there. I know this is obvious, but it needs to be said.
Another thing to beware of is a rash decision to change careers. If you do not have a job, you certainly do need to find one. But if you do have one, and you think you should be doing something else for greater income, be careful. You don't want to lose a job unless you know for certain you have a better one lined up. Even more, the pressure of being in debt can affect your judgment, so be careful before doing something of a permanent nature.
One other area to be considered for extra income is that of monies that are owed to you. Think of redeeming bonds, collecting debts owed to you, class action lawsuits that you may be party to and so forth.
Next: 8. Decide which alternate income source to add for extra income.