Andy Hough

Should You Concentrate or Diversify your Income Sources?

June 24, 2009 by Andy Hough

I had a challenge for myself this month to do something different every day to make extra income. I haven’t been able to come up with that many different ways to make extra income but I have had some insights based on my experience so far.

Most of the things I’ve done to make extra money don’t pay much and don’t have much potential to make significant money. These things just take time away from other projects that have better prospects. For example, I already belong to a survey site so I might do an occasional survey for an extra $3 if I have extra time but I don’t think it is worth my time to pursue more survey opportunities. I only have so much time and mental energy available and it is best to spend that on projects that have better income potential.

Also I can see a possibility of getting bogged down by looking at all the different ways to make money that are out there. You might spend so much time trying to find the best way to make money that you never get started. Or you might try to develop several ways of making money at once which will probably lead to inferior results. This is because you don’t spend enough time on any one of them to improve your skills and become better. This is where the jack of all trades, master of none analogy applies. I think the better income potential would be in concentrating your efforts on just a couple of projects.

My main focus now is going to be on improving my blogs and websites. My secondary focus will be on working on my writing and selling it. This should work well since my secondary focus complements my primary focus. If I think of another income source that would fit with these two I might add it as well.

I’ll still have some other income streams that take a minimal amount of time and mental energy (i.e. interest,dividends, cashback).

Let me know what you think.

Freelance Checklist

May 19, 2022June 23, 2009 by Andy Hough

photo credit: danielbrezina.com

I was pretty amazed by the response I received to yesterday’s response. I feel like I’ve written a post just responding to all the comments. I really appreciate all the support.

In a fortuitous coincidence Trent at The Simple Dollar had a post today on “15 Things to do to Make Jumping into Freelancing/Self-Employment Financially Successful.” Let’s see how I’m doing on his list.

Learn to live on less.
I’ve been doing this for a long time and live on much less than the average American. I plan to significantly reduce my expenses below my current level in the next couple of months.

Create a budget both personal and business.
I don’t keep an actual budget. I do track all of my income and expenses and know where my money goes. I also have a target amount that I try to keep my monthly expenses under. My business expenses are minimal and should stay that way. I don’t think I’d benefit from doing a budget currently. If my circumstances change to where I think a budget would be of benefit then I’d start keeping a budget.

Build up a big emergency fund.
I have about two years of expenses in savings. I think that qualifies as a big emergency fund.

Now make it bigger.
Well, I’ll be adding a little more to it as my study money comes in. I think my emergency fund is quite big enough. If I do happen to make some surplus money though I’ll keep adding to the emergency fund.

Start reaching out to your audience and client base now.
This step is partially done. This blog counts as reaching out to my target audience but I could do more to expand its reach. Also, I need to work on reaching people on Twitter and sites other than my blog.

Eliminate as many regular bills as you can.
This is normal for me. I will be reducing my bills even further in the next couple of months.

Write a business plan.
I haven’t done this. I do need to come up with a more detailed plan but I’m not sure if I need an actual business plan for what I’m doing.

Now rewrite the business plan.
My thoughts on this are the same as my thoughts on the step above.

Find a mentor.
That could be helpful. I do get advice from my readers and other bloggers. It should seek out advice more often.

Make it easy for people to see the good stuff you can do.
I plan to make money mostly from my writing and anyone can see my writing right here.

Communicate,Communicate,Communicate.
This is one I need to do a lot of work on. I rarely tell people about my blog in real life and don’t do a lot to promote it online either. I need to change that.

Build connections with local small business/entrepreneurship groups.
I read a lot of blogs that are focused on what I want to do but I’m not involved with any local groups.

Have a place where you can focus on work – and only work.
I need to do this. I get easily distracted from my work right now.

Build your current bridges as strong as you can – and don’t burn them when you leave.
I’m not sure if I have any current bridges but anyway I won’t burn any bridges.

Practice,Practice,Practice.
I’m working on that and by its nature it is something I will always continue to work on.

Overall, I think I’m doing pretty well on this checklist. My main focus is going to be coming up with a more detailed plan of how I’m going to make my money. In addition to that I should work on my networking/communication but I’ll need to somewhat overcome my introversion to be successful at that.

Defending My Dreams

June 22, 2009 by Andy Hough

It has been a dream of mine since I was young to be a writer and to own my own business. Since I have a good amount of savings, a minimum of expenses, and some income already established I am currently going to pursue that dream. I plan to make my living from my blog and other writing. When I tell people that I intend to make my living from my online endeavors I’m generally met with a negative reaction. I’m not entirely sure why this is.

There are some who are skeptical that I can actually make enough money to support myself. It is yet to be seen whether I can actually do so but I have plenty of money to pay my expenses while I’m trying to establish myself. Since I’m paying my own bills and I’m not responsible for anybody else I don’t see that it is anyone’s concern if I want to spend some time establishing myself as a blogger/writer.

The more common criticism is that I need to be working. And by working they mean I need to have a job. It seems to many that if you don’t have a job then you are not doing anything productive. This isn’t true. Lots of work doesn’t involve having a job and you can be plenty productive outside a job as well. If I am going to be successful at this I will need to do lots of work. Some feel that time not spent at a job is wasted time. Is writing a blog post that I don’t get (directly) paid for a waste of time? Is it being productive? I don’t think it is a waste of time and I think that I’m being productive. Those who think I should get a job probably think the opposite.

I’m not letting this criticism stop me. My feeling is that most people would love to pursue their dreams if they had the opportunity but are afraid to take a chance. I may not succeed but I will not regret trying.

The Crazy Cost of Health Care

May 19, 2022June 16, 2009 by Andy Hough

photo credit: a.drian

The cost of health care seems crazy. I had some lab work done last month and for one lab test I was charged $110. My insurance company decided that a fair amount for this test was $7. My total bill of over $450 was reduced to a total of $50.50. If I wouldn’t have had health insurance I would have been ripped off. This experience makes me wonder if the lab seriously overcharging at $110 or the insurance company is seriously underpaying at $7 or both.

I think that something needs to be done to better the nation’s health care system. I’m not necessarily advocating a nationalized health insurance plan. There would be plenty of drawbacks to such a system. I’m not sure what the answer is. For now, I just plan to keep my health insurance,check out my health care costs ahead of time as much as possible, take better care of myself, and hope for the best. With luck this will keep my health care costs from getting too crazy.