Income quadrants

Author of Rich Dad Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki has a simple genius, being the ability to explain ideas in a way that anyone can understand, including the various potential sources of income or profit – depicted in a quadrant – and in turn how these translate into your personal financial statements.

Unless you’re an executive employee generating leverage from large bonuses & share options or incentives, the greatest rewards tend to be in the business ownership & investment quadrants.

This is partly because of the additional leverage that can be deployed in these sectors of the quadrant, while because businesses & investment add value and create employment, they can attract a more favourable tax treatment too.

Streams of income

It’s difficult for most employees to visualise reducing their reliance on employment income, but in the information age it can be done.

Most consumers can make immediate headway by reducing expenses, clearing & then eschewing bad debt, and increasing passive income through investing in income-generating assets.

With the world more connected than ever before, it’s also arguably easier than it’s ever been to create additional income, initially through a ‘side hustle’, which might evolve in time to become a successful business venture.

6 simple steps to create an online income stream

(i) Identify your passion or expertise – what are you passionate about? And what do you know more about than anyone else? The Zulu Principle, as coined by British author Jim Slater, holds that in time you can become a leading authority in one carefully researched field;

(ii) Build a website – I use WordPress and Blogger, but there are many others. Since first impressions can last, it’s worth investing some time and energy in making your website visually appealing and a user-friendly experience;

(iii) Share useful content – get started, and don’t procrastinate. Some stuff works and some doesn’t, so don’t give up too easily, and resolve to learn as you go;

(iv) Build a fanbase – amassing a following through social media channels & forums takes time and a commitment to quality. Writing a free e-book is a great way to build a mailing list;

(v) Create a product – use the hedgehog concept to discover your economic engine, and what information or expertise people will pay you for.

I prefer to give away 99 per cent of my content for free, aiming for it to be better than most people’s paid content, and then I have a few higher value products – but there are many ways to skin a cat;

(vi) Overcome your fear of selling – it doesn’t come naturally to most of us, but there are a great many resources that can help you to learn how to develop the skill of making sales.

There are a string of valuable links embedded throughout this blog post, so follow them through, and then it’s up to you – go forth, & multiply your income!