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Summary: The key to success as a creative or for anyone, is multiple income streams.
Total words: 600
Category: Small Business
Multiple Income Streams: avoiding Starving Artist Syndrome
Copyright (c) 2002 by Angela Booth
If you're a creative, chances are high that if someone is making a buck from your talents, it's not you. We writers, artists and designers aren't good negotiators. We love our work, and we're happy that someone wants to pay us for it. It takes us a while to realize that while everyone else is doing nicely from our work, we're not.
The answer to Starving Artist Syndrome is: Multiple Income Streams.
How would that work? Some ideas ----
If you're a writer, you could:
* work on a novel (your primary work and source of income) as well as
* write articles for magazines and newsletters, and
* write a children's book, and
* write greeting card material.
If you're a Web designer, you could:
* develop Web sites (your primary source of income), and
* create logos and stationery for businesses, and
* create images for greeting cards, and
* host client Web sites.
If you're a photographer, you could:
* do advertising photography (primary income source), and
* take stock photos for image libraries, and
* take glamour shots at beauty salons, and
* take photos of homes for up-market realtors.
If you're thinking: "Yes, that's great, but won't I be spreading myself too thin?" answer is yes, if you try to do all of this at once. You develop your Multiple Income Streams over time. Estimate that it will take a year to get them all happening. What these Multiple Income Streams will do for you, when you get them moving, is smooth out your work and cash flow.
When work is slow on your primary income stream, you work to market that one, but also develop another. Your goal is to have at least FOUR income streams. With four sources of cash, all four won't be going through a slump at same time. Nor will they all be equally busy at same time. You'll have enough work to keep yourself busy, and cash coming in regularly.
