* Diversity reduces marketing and fulfillment costs.

Reflect on following ways that diversity reduces marketing and fulfillment costs:

o Many marketing costs are same (or nearly so) whether you promote one product or several. Per-item marketing expenses are reduced as each new product or service is added to your line, because each shares marketing costs with all others.

o No customer acquisition cost is involved in selling to existing customers, making such sales more profitable than initial sales.

o Processing an order for multiple items involves nearly same amount of labor costs as a single-item order.

o Per-item shipping costs are reduced when you ship a multiple- item order in same shipment.

* Diversity reduces business risk.

If you diversify your line instead of putting all your eggs in one basket, a dip in sales in one area of your business (due to seasonal variations or other reasons) will have less of an impact. You won't be totally dependent on a single income stream.

All too often, entrepreneurs that recognize value of diversity tend to promote a disconnected mixture of totally unrelated goods. However, real benefits of diversity come from expanding your line of offers around a common theme.

A Proven Way To Diversify Rapidly

I always recommend that you market at least one of your own core products or services that that you have exclusive control over. However, acquiring or developing your own products usually take time.

One way to diversify rapidly is by reselling quality products or services of other suppliers. These should be related to specific interests of your existing clients and prospects.

You could set up drop shipping arrangements with suppliers, or join affiliate programs, which are online equivalent of drop shipping, without many of usual hassles involved.

In short, once you've struck "Internet gold" with one profitable product or service, you can extract more gold from same mine shaft, so to speak, by diversifying and expanding your line of products and services around your chosen theme.

5. That distracting light that makes your screen difficult to read is actually sun, giver of life. It's okay if some of it gets on you.

6. Human warmth cannot be transmitted via ASCII text, and fondling your mouse does not replace physical contact. Have you hugged your pizza delivery guy today?

7. That sack of potatoes you call a butt once had muscles in it. The next time you're surfing procreation-related websites, try some comparative analysis.

8. Tape a picture of yourself as a teenager to your monitor. Remember skin tone? Remember your waistline? Remember when you could tie your shoes without grunting?

9. Living on a diet of Hotpockets and Pepsi is nutritional equivalent of watching a three day Baywatch marathon. Try eating something that was grown in soil, not Pyrex.

10. Crank up Elvis and SHAKE IT!