The Fuel That Drives The Ultimate Lifestyle

In a recent article (What is The Ultimate Lifestyle), I talked about the 8 core components that define "The Ultimate Lifestyle."

The first component was income streams, and the reason it was listed as #1 is because if you want to live the ultimate lifestyle (as you define it), you must:

- Have total control over your time (i.e. you're your own boss, not an employee)

- Have numerous income streams flowing, with as many of them as possible being "passive" or requiring minimal time and effort from you. To truly live the ultimate lifestyle, you must have income that flows whether you "show up for work" or not. These income streams are the "fuel" that drives The Ultimate Lifestyle.

In this article, I'm going to discuss the "Top 10" income streams you can setup. There are actually many more than 10, but we don't have we room to discuss them all here.

You may be in a position to take advantage right now of many or all of the streams I discuss, or it may take some time and effort to get one or more of them flowing. There's no hurry. Creating the ultimate lifestyle takes vision, time, planning and effort.

All the streams I discuss may not interest you or match your preferred lifestyle, and it isn't necessary to have all of them flowing at once (or at all) to live your own ultimate lifestyle. I'm just giving you food for thought.

Here are the "Top 10" best ways I've found to generate the streams of income required to truly live your ultimate lifestyle:

1. Start/Run Your Own Business

We're living at a fantastic time in history if your goal is to start your own business and create passive or "low effort" income streams from it selling products or services.

With the many benefits of the Internet, the power of direct marketing (online and offline), and the large number of top- notch contractors and third party companies you can offload the day-to-day "grunt work" to, today's entrepreneurial environment a dream come true if you know how to set things up to take maximum advantage of the many tools and resources available.

In addition, it has never been easier to set up a strong flow of income doing something you love or you're really passionate about - no matter what it is or how "obscure" it may be. Again, the Internet and direct marketing create unprecedented levels of opportunity.

Finally, there are numerous tax advantages to having your own business which enable you to put much more money in your own pocket -- if you know how to set things up and take maximum advantage of the many tools and systems available.

If you want to live your ultimate lifestyle, your own business will be at the core of it. It's my #1 choice for creating the ultimate lifestyle.

2. Royalties

If you have a specific area of expertise and you know how to turn it into a book, audio, video or multi-media course, you can get other people to manufacture it, sell it, manage all the details, and send you a royalty check for a percentage of the sales. This is a great stream of passive income and one I'm currently pursuing aggressively.

You can also generate passive royalty income from inventions or other marketable ideas of various kinds.

You make less money "per piece" when you go this route, but the fact that you don't have daily responsibility for managing the production, sales, accounting and other details has a lot of value, and if you set it up right, the products that generate royalties for you also cause people to come back into your orbit to buy and do other things that end up benefiting you in many other ways in the long run.

Do you feel this is a good idea but you don't think you have the expertise that could translate into a royalty stream? That *might* be true, but I can almost guarantee that you have expertise you don't know you have, you could easily create it by following a passion and/or create a potential royalty stream from knowledge you have or could get if you got some the right kind help.

3. Licensing Fees

This income stream is similar to the royalty stream, but has many notable differences. Licensing involves charging a fee to allow others to sell products you create (books, tapes, videos, etc.), or to use your likeness, logo or other very visible aspect of your work, business or "brand."

Licensing can also take the form of allowing others to present a seminar, workshop or talk you've designed that provides many benefits to the audiences receiving them. I have two friends, Charles and Will, who've licensed the rights to one, two and three day seminars with their material, and they receive HUGE checks every month.

Will actually has 5000 people licensed to present his one day seminar, and tens of thousands of people are getting the benefit of his work, and he's getting big checks without lifting a finger.

There are other forms of licensing, however, that don't require expertise on your part, just visibility and a "brand."

One example includes Disney who licenses their logo, the likenesses of Disney characters, etc. Another example includes Harry Potter merchandise. Another example includes the use of the Coke or Pepsi logo.

While it's true that these examples center around huge companies, there are a variety of licensing opportunities for "little guys" like you and me if you get creative and set it up right.

4. Real Estate

I've only dabbled in real estate over the years, but I'm gearing up with my wife to get very involved with Real Estate in 2004 and beyond.

Passive income streams can flow out of Real Estate in many ways, including:

Buying and then re-selling foreclosures and other "distressed" properties

Buying apartment buildings or office buildings

Buying a building for your own business use (I plan to do this in a few years)

Buying houses, renovating them, and reselling them (my stepmother does this with a good friend of mine in Los Angeles and they're *very* successful at it) Real Estate does require that someone "shows up" to do various things, but you can set it up so you aren't that "someone." That's my goal and plan with my wife.

There are many people out there who teach powerful systems for setting up passive income streams with Real Estate.

5. Investments

You can setup passive or "low effort" income streams from having cash you invest in "vehicles" that generate dividends, interest, or other forms income.

You can also generate an income stream, although it's not completely passive (but might suit your lifestyle preferences) by trading stocks, options, or commodities.

There's an art to generating income from investments.

You do not want to choose this option without exercising great caution and/or finding an advisor or partner that can do it for you.

6. Life Insurance

This is a longer term strategy and one designed more for your retirement years, but there are forms of life insurance that allow you to fund the policy in earlier years and then receive guaranteed income in later years. I'm putting a program like this in place as we speak.

7. Sale/Payout Of A Business

If you have your own business, you can sell it one day (maybe even soon) and use the cash you receive to fund your ultimate lifestyle -- and/or to pursue the other passive income streams discussed here.

My father did this. He bought a small chain of travel agencies, built it up, then sold it. He got cash at the time of sale, but also had an "earn out" that sent a strong income stream to him for 15 years. My friend randy did the same thing when he sold his business.

8. Network Marketing

Network Marketing (or "MLM") gets a bad rap from many people and in many circles, yet it's one of the best ways to create passive, or reasonably passive income streams, if you pick the right company and work the system correctly.

9. Other Partnerships

In addition to the options listed above, there are a variety of other partnerships and relationships you can create where you help other people to achieve their goals, get something they really want, or give them something to sell, and they compensate you for it.

10. Information Products

This is a subset of having your own business, but I'm breaking it out separately because it's an ultimate lifestyle creation tool you should consider even if you already have your own business right now.

When I say "information products," I mean books, tapes, courses, seminars, coaching programs, etc.

There are many people who already have a business doing something (like being a doctor, dentist, real estate broker), and through having that business, they've developed a strong expertise that can help other people in the same business enhance their success.

For example, I know one dentist who's so skilled at a particular kind of reconstructive dentistry, that other dentists flock to him and he's created additional income streams from sharing his expertise through a newsletter, seminars and "look over my shoulder" events. He generates $1 million a year from his information products business and could stop practicing dentistry at any time if he wanted to.

I know of another man who's in the lumber business who developed a revolutionary process for drying lumber faster. He started teaching that process to other people in the lumber business through just 2-3 weekend seminars a year and created a $250,000 a year income stream from it.

I know of a very successful real estate broker who created a variety of information products (courses, seminars, and coaching) to teach other real estate brokers how to use his system to make a lot more money with a lot less effort. While he's still working as a real estate broker every day, his information products business generates a huge income stream for him and he could also stop working as a broker at any time if he wanted to.

I know of a very successful carpet cleaner who is now living his ultimate lifestyle teaching other carpet cleaners how to increase their sales and profits using his unique approach.

I also know a very successful orthopedic surgeon and mortgage broker who want to stop working so hard in their chosen field and are currently seeking ways to create information products businesses to replace their current incomes while making dramatic shifts in their lifestyles.

Do you have your own business and have developed a unique expertise or approach that could be converted into an information products business?

The Next Steps ...

Depending on where you are right now in your career, you may be thinking to yourself, "This all sounds great, but I have absolutely no idea what income streams I might be able to setup or how to do it."

If that thought (or one like it) crossed your mind, stay tuned. I'll be discussing some "what to do" and "how to do it" ideas in future articles.

============================================================

Like to know more about Bob Scheinfeld?
============================================================

If you liked what you just read, you'll definitely want all the details about Bob's "7 Power Centers of Life" work.

Do you know what "The 7 Power Centers of Life" are? Are you absolutely certain that all 7 of *yours* are fully energized and aligned for maximum success? Click here to take a Guided Tour and discover all the exciting details:

http://www.7powercentersoflife.com/article3

============================================================

---

Manifest Away

The sun crept over the horizon and lodged itself above... Read More

How To Become Successful

The First step to success is to think and decide... Read More

Succeed !

Are you successful? What does that word mean to you?... Read More

Have You Planned Your New Years Revolutions?

Revolution:a sudden, radical, or complete change a fundamental change in... Read More

Success Lessons From Josey Wales

The Outlaw Josey Wales is an interesting Western that I... Read More

You are the President of Your Own Nation

Congratulations! You are the president of your own nation, and... Read More

Fantasy Versus Reality

Building wealth isn't something for the frightened, ignorant, and lost.... Read More

Dont Assume You Cant Do it, Just Because Conventional Wisdom Says you Cant

Be weary and leery when it comes to standardized tests... Read More

Healthy Wealthy Wise: Boost Your Productivity

We all strive for a 'balanced life'. Although we may... Read More

Posture Yourself for a Promotion

Sit up straight! You may recall hearing those words as... Read More

The Parable of the Touchstone

The Great Library of Alexandria once held the wisdom of... Read More

Discover Your Path to Success - Part 2

Time taken for self-analysis is so important in developing your... Read More

Top Ten Strategies For Becoming Uncommonly Successful

Here are 10 of 26 proven strategies gleaned from interviews... Read More

Informational Interviews: Tips for Success

As a work-life and career coach, I regularly work with... Read More

The Dynamics of Competitive Mentality

Life is not a competition.Not at all. Life itself is... Read More

Take Care of Yourself to Achieve Maximum Results (part 1)

All too often, we push ourselves past the limits of... Read More

Mastering The Habits Of Success

The difference between success and failure is based on behavior.... Read More

From Making a Living to Creating a Lifestyle

(excerpted from the Day That Turns Your Life Around)After having... Read More

Adaptability as a Key to Success

Do you ever stop to consider how much we change... Read More

Nice Guys Really Finish First - Really?

How can anyone with the brain of a cockroach make... Read More

What is Success and How Do We Achieve It?

To be clear about what success is must be the... Read More

10 Principles of Success

How do we define success? Webster's dictionary defines success as... Read More

What It Takes To Be A Champion

What is a champion really? Sure, all success oriented people... Read More

Success Through Short Memory

Normally a long memory is an advantage but not if... Read More

The Bulging Right Pocket

It was one of the worst periods of time in... Read More

Small But Mighty!

When most of us are asked the most important possession... Read More

Identify Those Things That Have Prevented You From Being Successful And Learn How To Avoid Them Now

Have you been struggling for years to accomplish some goals... Read More

Is Success About Money?

Success could be just about making money, but I think... Read More

Taking Responsibility

Everything you are or ever will be is completely up... Read More

Attitude Is The Key To Success

We all want success in life. We want success in... Read More

Shortest Path To Success!

Thoughts move faster than the speed of light.Expectations jump faster... Read More

What We Can Do To Guarantee Our Own Success

There are so many internet marketing schemes out there so... Read More

Ready? Go! Tweak!

Let's set the scene. You're in a packed stadium. It's... Read More