Multiple Streams of Income for Your Resume Writing Business

I talk often about resume writers who trade "hours for dollars" -- if you're only writing resumes, you're missing out on the opportunity to create passive income and recurring revenue that can put a couple of extra dollars in your pocket each month -- or completely ease the peaks and valleys of resume writing by providing steady, ongoing income...even while you sleep.

Sounds great, huh? When some people think of multiple income streams they think of "get rich quick" schemes that do nothing but take your hard-earned money. However, there are some easy, effective ways to create multiple streams of income in the careers industry.

Ideas for More Income

• Work with multiple clients simultaneously. It's hard to maximize your income when you're working with one client at a time. After all, there is only one of you, right? But have you considered offering groups or workshops? For example, Tina Kasklak Nicolai of Resume Writers' Ink is offering a "Do-It-Yourself Resume Writing Workshop" next month. For $50, she can work with a whole roomful of folks for a couple of hours (and some of them are likely to hire her to write their resumes, once they figure out how hard it is to "Do It Yourself"). Income potential: $150-$1000.
• Set up a blog. Blogs are not only a good place to communicate with your market, but also a place to earn a bit of extra income. Find ways to monetize it. (Affiliate links, Google Adsense, links to Clickbank programs, and selling ebooks are just a few ideas.) Income potential: $5-$200/month.
• Take a part-time job. If you're just building your resume writing business, or if you're struggling to make ends meet, consider taking a part-time job -- especially one in the career services field. Your local university may have a need in their career services office for someone to work part-time. Other possibilities include: employment offices and recruiting firms, government career services, or local nonprofits that serve jobseekers (like Goodwill). It will take a balancing act to get everything done each day, but you will have that security of knowing your bills will be paid and your family taken care of until you can leave that job for good. Income potential: $500-$2000/month.
• Create a product of your own. Maybe an ebook or workbook on a topic related to the job search. (Instead of doing a "general" book, however, I recommend something more specific -- for example, resume and cover letters for the specific niche you serve, or a job search guide for your geographic area, listing major employers, job search groups, employment resources, temp agencies and recruiters, etc.). You can sell your information product on your website, blog or on another site for greater exposure. Read "Making Money Writing Ebooks" -- it's January's "Special Report" for bronze members of BeAResumeWriter.com. Income potential: $25-$500/month.
• Start a Career Membership Site. Create passive income and/or recurring revenue by providing membership programs on careers-related topics. I have an 8-day LinkedIn training program that sells for $15. Once you set it up, it runs itself! Income potential: $15-$1000/month.
• Affiliate marketing. The best thing about affiliate marketing is that the person with the product gives you all of the tools that you need to promote their product in your affiliate toolbox. This makes it easy for you to begin taking advantage of this stream of income.  And, your revenue can grow as your business grows. Possible affiliates include ResumeSpider, Allison & Taylor, and multiple products in the Clickbank Marketplace. Check out this blog post for more details about affiliate marketing. Income potential: $10-$300/month.

Are you looking to have more than one source of income? Put one or more of these ideas to work for you today!