If I could easily figure out how to make crickets chirp here, I’d do it. As of today, NO COMMENTS on my last Penny Sense post! Wow! I can’t believe that no one else wants to up their income in 2010. In fact, I believe there are many of you out there who do want to, you just didn’t tell me. So I’m gonna keep going…;-)

In line with last week’s money post, we’re talking about income. If you didn’t see the post, go read it here (and maybe comment on it?). Then get back here – we’re about to roll up our sleeves.

Have you heard of it? Multiple Streams of Income? (MSIs?) If you’re not part of the entrepreneurial world, possibly not. Funny, a business degree and all those years I spent in financial services, no one really talked about multiple streams…although we were doing it without thinking a whole lot about it. It’s one of the most profound financial concepts I’ve learned.

The basic premise is pretty simple: have multiple sources of revenue (income) coming in.

A few quick examples:

• If you’re in business (or own a business), that means diversify where your income is coming from.
• If you sell a product, can you teach someone else how to produce a product? That could be another revenue stream. Or possibly add more products to your line?
• If you service clients, can you add clients to spread the risk?
  
• If you’re a blogger, add streams…if you’re getting ad revenue, maybe consider producing a product.
• If you have a job, that just means adding in other ways to make money – over and above your regular paycheck. This could mean simply selling things on eBay, investing, or maybe even starting a side business.

The point is to have multiple sources. The more (and easily manageable) the better.

Why do this? Why diversify? It’s much like diversifying in the stock market (more on that another time). Because – money comes and goes in different areas of business, at different times, in different economic climates. If you have revenue sources in multiple areas, you can better weather financial storms, and catch some rain when it’s pouring! It’s the best way to leverage your time and resources, and increase your income.

Why don’t people do this? Too busy sitting around, thinking about how they only have a finite amount of money to deal with, maybe?

Here’s a simple exercise to help you make some progress in increasing your income and generating more sources: Make a list of your current income streams. Then commit to adding one thing to that list within the next 90 days. If that’s too much, commit to adding at least one stream to that list within the next year. Do you need ideas? (We can talk more about these in depth.) Do you have some to share? I’d love your ideas, questions, comments and feedback…I’m working on adding to my list right now. How about you?