Is your business sustainable?

One of the most rewarding elements of having an online business is the opportunity to communicate with men and women around the globe. There are a number of ways this can be done:

Simple email messages
Ezines
Teleseminars
Blogging
Social marketing
Information products – one of my personal favorites

Information products serve a number of purposes with some of the greatest benefits being building credibility, expert status, and revenues.

Ever since I created my first information product back in the mid-nineties, it’s been so exciting to create something once and watch revenues come in more than once. It was in 2009 when I really understood the power of product creation; this is when everything in my life changed in an instant. My world had turned upside down with a single phone call and for the first time in fifteen-plus years of owning my business I chose to cancel several teleseminars, interviews, and client mentoring sessions and to postpone my various online events for an indefinite period of time. In a matter of four weeks I went from having two parents, a viable business, and not much that concerned me to my father passing away and me becoming one of the primary caretakers for my mother. I had no idea how long I would be caring for my mom, and I didn’t much care. All I cared about was being able to answer a special calling and keeping my business running.

It didn’t take long to recognize how important all the products I had created up to that point would be in generating revenue during this difficult time. I also recognized that as long as I had my computer and an internet connection, I could continue to create products for my market.

Even when my mother fell ill and ended up in the hospital for weeks and months on end, I was able to create products by her bedside. Had I not had this flexibility, one of two things would have occurred. One, my business would have suffered financially and my personal and professional responsibilities would have also suffered. Two, I could not have been there for my mother as much as I was able to be.

I directly attribute my ability to make the best choices for me and my family to having created several information products. I was not at the mercy of “dollars for hours.”

If your business is not set up to give you the flexibility you choose and need, determine what information products you can create and take them to market as soon as possible. When your business is set up so that you are not trading dollars for hours 100 percent of the time, you have the flexibility you need to address unexpected situations and the freedom to make the choices in times of personal crisis or when you need to take time off. You can create this sustainability through multiple streams of revenue.