As an entrepreneur, you are in a very unique situation in the fact that you can diversify your income streams. One of the most common fears that I hear from people before they start their own business or after they have started their own business and are getting ready to take the next step to quit their job and work on their business full-time is that, “I’m scared because there is no certainty in my income.”

While this can be a fear for some entrepreneurs, for most in online business, it shouldn’t be a worry at all. The reason for this is because it is incredibly easy to diversify your income. I have over 5 income sources all coming in at different times of the month and none of them are dependent on each other. Of course, some of these income streams are more than others, but what this diversification allows is for one of my income streams to decrease while another increases and vise-versa. I never have to worry about an income stream decreasing because I’m not working on it as long as I am working on another.

How To Diversify

Figuring out how to add an additional income stream to what you are doing can be very difficult. That being said, there are some simply steps that you can take to figure out exactly how to start diversifying your income. I’m going to break those down into two simple processes that will hopefully aid you in the process of adding another cash source to your blog, website, or general online presence.

Identifying Something Else Your Audience Wants (They Do Want More!)

Now, how does one go about diversifying their income streams? Well, it all starts with identifying what your audience wants. Whether you think your blog is perfect or not doesn’t matter, your audience is always looking for something more. This something more could be a number of things, but there are a few ways that can make gathering this data easier for you.
1) Ask your audience what they are interested in via social networks. This is a great way to poll your audience in a non-obtrusive manner. An example would be if you are looking for different ways to add an additional income stream to a blog about healthcare products, you could send out a tweet asking your audience if they would be interested in you expanding to talk about how to handle patients in the healthcare business.
2) Put a poll on your blog. Simply put a poll in the sidebar of your blog and see what kind of results you get. This method does require having a decently active blog audience, but it can be very effective. An example of what the poll could ask is, keeping with the healthcare products method, do you typically buy your healthcare products of off Amazon or another 3rd party site? This poll would help you get an idea of how much of your audience is using sites other than Amazon to buy their healthcare products, and if there is enough of a response to the 3rd party, you could diversify your income stream by giving some 3rd party affiliate options alongside Amazon Affiliate.
3) Ask your mailing list for additional information. A mailing list is a must have for any online blog, and they are a great way to get information about what your audience wants. Still keeping with the healthcare products example, you could ask your mailing list to reply to the email you sent them with the most common place they buy their healthcare products. If enough of your mailing list says they buy their products from a different vendor than you promote, it may be in your best interest to get a deal with that vendor and promote them along side the current vendor you are working with.

Find A Way To Monetize The New Area

So you have an idea of what else your audience might be looking for, but we still need to figure out a way to monetize this new area. For some, this may be easier than it will be for others. There are a few ways to do this effectively, but I am going to address the two most likely scenarios. Please note that these are not the only was to monetize your content, and if you can think of any other way that works better for you, please do it and let us know!
1) Finding affiliates in the area that your audience is interested in. If it has to do with a product that is available on Amazon, Amazon Affiliate could be a great option. That being said, don’t settle on Amazon Affiliate right away. Look around and see if you can find a website that is in the niche you are looking for that has an affiliate program. Most of the time these direct affiliate programs will pay more and have better incentives than Amazon.
2) Creating a product around the new area. This can be very scary for some entrepreneurs, and we will cover it more in-depth later. That being said, if your audience wants information in a new area, you can create a product around this area. Example products could be an ebook, a membership forum, a course on the new area, a mastermind group, ect. All of these can be pay to enter, pay to own or pay to join, and they can be a great secondary income source in addition to your current primary income stream.

After you have your first additional income stream, the second and third seem to just fall in place as you will begin looking for additional ways to monetize your blog and audience without even realizing it.

**Please note that you need to be genuine when monetizing your blog through, affiliate, AdSense, or direct advertising. Being genuine is a must for success in online business. Be sure to be honest and real with your audience anytime you promote something or add an additional monetization stream to your blog. Do not promote something if you do not enjoy it and use it yourself.