Before we get too late in the month, let's find out how my friends juggle it all. I asked them this.

“The holidays are such a busy time of year, so it got me thinking about balance.

Between shopping, decorating, business… family – how did you handle it all? Got tips for my readers?”

I think you'll find the answers this week interesting and helpful.

Jason Fladlien of Wishy Washy Guru (<-You know you gotta click that one) says:

For this busy time of the year… I actually get more done believe it or not. Because everyone else takes a break, they are not lined up to speak to me or need my time as much… plus with the family off of work they have more free time

I like to focus more on internal stuff and preparing for next year instead of going external marketing. But December is a great time to launch products because most people don't do it…

Jeanette S. Cates, PhD of Plan Your Online Business says:

Balance between business and personal lives is a challenge at any time of the year – but particularly during the holiday season. I've found that I prefer shopping late in the evening, after I've finished “work” for the day and had dinner with my husband. The stores are less crowded at that time of day and that's a high energy time for me. Other people are in bed at midnight as I'm closing down the stores!

I'm also doing most of my first round shopping online. As a family we “post” our Christmas lists on Thanksgiving day, so it makes it easy to pick out things you know people will like. Since we encourage everyone to be specific in what they want, they sometimes even include the store and catalog number! So right now my living room is piled with boxes of gifts to be wrapped (my husband's job – did I mention delegation?)

For my business, I preschedule blog posts and tweets. Plus my assistant tweets reminders on things several times per week. I also preschedule email broadcasts (to coincide with the blog posts and other announcements). I try to work a couple hours a day, generally in the morning, so I have the rest of the day “off” for personal fun. After all, we're working this business to have more personal freedom. NOW is the time that pays off!

Starting around the 20th of December, my assistant will only check the help desk once a day and go through email once a day. On Christmas we don't turn on a computer (except for video games with the grandkids!). Then the “quiet week” between Christmas and New Years I'll crank back up full-time. It's a GREAT time of year to get things done!

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts says:

I don't believe in balance in the sense that many people talk about it. Sure, you can forecast a perfect balanced schedule, but life doesn't usually fit into your expectations. Rather I believe in having well considered priorities and making choices based on them.

For this empty nest season of my life, I get to be my main concern quite a lot and I'm taking advantage of it. I focus a lot of time on my self care, going to the gym, eating right, etc.

My family is always a priority. I have a whole day every week set aside to be available to them. My calendar booking tool won't let you set up an appointment on that day. I have breakfast or lunch with my step-dad and I'm free to visit other older relatives.

These loved ones are precious and I've no guarantee that they'll be there for me to visit next year or the year after that – so they've got to be a priority now.

As far as the holidays go, I've played it very low key up to now. Not a lot of shopping, definitely not spending a lot of money. My gift to others this year is my time and undivided attention – and home made goodies of course. Future holiday seasons may not be so laid back so I'll take advantage of this one for sure!

Kevin Riley of  Blogpreneur Training says:

Fortunately, I live in Osaka, Japan, where we aren't affected by the whole Christmas madness. However, the commercial aspect of Christmas has been making inroads over here in the last few years.

Rieko and I only buy one present each for each other – just something small that we know the other person will enjoy. In this way, there's no pressure to get some big gift, just for the sake of giving a big gift. I'm very happy to be away from that whole gift exchanging thing, and just buying each other a little treat. It really frees up Christmas for just enjoying the season. BTW, this year, I bought Rieko a DVD of a season of Friends, which she loves (Shhh. Don't tell her.)

As for decorating, we only put up a tiny tree and a handful of decorations. When I say tiny, I mean tiny– about 18 inches tall. Next week, we'll make a gingerbread house, which rounds out our decorations and also gives us something to nibble on.

Tips for you? Keep it simple. Focus on just having an enjoyable time with your family. Take stress out of the equation and you can have so much more fun this Christmas. Rather than big presents, give your family your time.

Tiffany Lambert of  Work Life Balance says:

Balance is a tough one for me, but I handle everything so I must be doing something right!

For me, what works best is an all day work schedule. Some people prefer to have a set business time, but I feel less stressed if I have the luxury of starting and stopping work in between other tasks that need to get done.

Some days nothing much gets done. The Thursday before Christmas, I spent the first part of the day at my younger kids’ school participating in school events – and then brought them home for my oldest son to watch while I went and did more shopping for six hours.

How did I manage work that day?

My iPhone. I approved and responded to blog posts while standing in those long, grueling lines at the mall. I answered emails when I got back in my car between stores. If I don’t stay on top of things, then it gets out of control and becomes overwhelming to me.

Doing a blog reply here and an email reply there is easily doable.

Regardless, the key is not to beat yourself up if something doesn’t get done – whether that’s part of your home life or business world.

Guilt is debilitating, and you have to enjoy the fact that flexibility is what this career is all about. No one tells you what to do or WHEN to do it. If you need to push work aside until 8 PM because you’d like to enjoy decorating the Christmas tree, then do it! Those are precious family moments and no amount of work or productivity can replace that.

I will say that balance is much more achievable when you have residual income streams that work for you when you need time off for other things. If you're always working as a service provider, then every second you spend not working is a boulder of stress on your shoulders.

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

This is the most wonderful time of the year… and the most stressful, too.

In addition to all of the craziness that I already have, my daughter is in the annual production of Christmas on the Coast, here in town. So, I'm in the dressing room under the stage by the pit – and my hubby is doing props for an entire week. But, she loves it – so it's worth it.

By the way, if you're in Pensacola, come see the show.

So here are some things that I do to try to keep myself mostly sane this week.

1. Cut me some slack, Jack.

I try really hard to cut myself  a break during the holiday season, and just flat out do what I can and not stress too much over what is left undone.

2. Take Advantage of Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime is truly one of the best inventions on earth. I can order pretty much anything and get it shipped anywhere in the USA in 2 days for free. This means that even if I don't start my holiday shopping until mid month, I'll be fine.

3. Presell a New and Exciting Course.

I'll be teaching a Passive Income Course in January with my friend Melissa Ingold. So, we started preselling it this month.

That gives four big benefits:

• I get to finish the year strong,
• My affiliates have a way to easily earn some quick money promoting something NEW that people will love,
• My students get the tax break of paying by the end of the year (and also a discount for buying during the launch), and
• We all get to start the next year with a fun and exciting project to look forward to.

4. Embrace Routine, but Call it Tradition.

I've read that some of the most successful people on earth have a very limited closet of clothes. Like they buy the same darned thing so they don't have to waste valuable brain power on such menial tasks as deciding which socks to wear.

I've realized that I do much better if I do the same.

For instance, this Christmas, I won't be searching Pinterest for a  new and fun way to make mashed potatoes. I'll use the same recipe that I've used every year for the last 10 years.

Now that's not to say I don't LOVE Pinterest and enjoy trying new things, but with everything else going on, now is not the time for me to be messing around with new stuff. You follow?

So, I'll be making my SAME spinach dip that I make every year, my same mashed potatoes, my same green bean casserole, and the same old can of wiggly cranberries out of the can.

Now, my husband and kiddos are totally free to come up with whatever dishes and desserts they want to eat.  But, as for me, the one who is responsible for all the holiday shopping, plus the business, plus the kids school and staying on top of everything? I have to just let myself have the “tradition” of knowing exactly what I have in front of me for Christmas dinner.

5. As for Business – Follow the Money.

I encourage my coaching clients to do this and I'll encourage you, too. KNOW where your money is coming from and focus on that, especially in times of added stress.

• If you make your money from publishing a new Kindle book – then do that.
• If you mail your lists daily and that's where the majority of your income comes from, then by golly, don't be messing with a webinar this month.
• However, if you know you can run one webinar with a trusted partner, make enough for the whole month and then be done with work – then do that.

Of course, the above also applies to where you're investing your outsourcing dollars. Put them where you'll get the highest ROI.

6. Planners Profit.

PLAN out the rest of the month now, if you haven't already. In writing. You know, with a paper and pen and a calendar of some sort – so you know what you've got to do and how much time you need to accomplish it.

7. Your VA has a Life.

Understand that your helpers have a life, too. Make sure you're setting them up so they have a happy holidays, too. Do this by planning ahead, posting your hours on your customer support site, and being extra careful of the timing of new promotions and coupons – so there isn't a glitch on the 24th of December that puts everyone in a panic.

8. Take Care of You!

The extra holiday stress can bring your immune system down. Take care of yourself so you're not spending Christmas morning with a thermometer in your mouth instead of a piece of pie.

9. Remember the Routine? Recycle, too.

I post the SAME blog posts this time every year with minor edits.

For instance, you'll see these posted here nearly ever year since 2008:

• Blogging Calendar
• Save on Taxes

Streamline and make your life easier – by hitting that ‘copy post' button on your blog and reworking your eagerly anticipated Annual Posts. (Remember Tradition is a good thing.) Or as my friend, Sean Platt said in a presentation that I heard him give. “Become a habit”. I hope and pray that my audience looks forward to these annual posts and anticipates them each year.

10. Don't forget to Spend.

Spend some extra money in your business by the end of the year for tax breaks, but I meant something different.

SPEND time with the ones who you love. Put down that blasted phone (unless you're taking pictures with it) – and experience the moments that you are blessed with. Work can wait and it will be there when you get home.

11. Have your Priorities Straight. 

I always tell my coaching clients this:

Remember, it's freaking ONLINE BUSINESS. We're not the ones flying the heart to the transplant. We are web publishers, social media managers, authors, coaches, and bloggers. The world CAN wait to hear back from us in 99% of the cases. But you only get one shot at Christmas 2013 – so enjoy it!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. This is a great opportunity to tell you about Tiffany's new product. Check out Work Life Balance to get a good butt-kicking about making sure you keep your priorities in line

This week I asked our panel of experts the same thing I asked last year and the year before …

“If you made more money this year than last year, your quarterly taxes probably won't be enough to cover what you owe (since you'll owe more), assuming everything else in your life remains the same. (Unless you added a deduction like a baby to your family or something…)

Quick explanation (with totally hypothetical  numbers):

• Let's say that you made $30,000 in 2011. Your quarterly taxes that you pay in 2012 might be then set at $2000 every 3 months. ($8000 for the year)
• Now, what if you made $60,000 in 2012 – and you're only paying $2000 every 3 months, then come April, you may have a day of reckoning. (You will have paid $8000, but then may owe as much as another $8000 for taxes on the added income.)
  

So, you'll owe a chunk of money in April.

At the end of the Year, because I've been fortunate enough that my income has grown every year, I Normally End up Making Several Large Purchases in Order to Decrease my Taxable Income for Next Year.

Do you have ways you reduce your taxable income? If so, what kinds of things do you purchase?”

I think you'll find the answers this week interesting and helpful in your business tax planning and preparations.

** Note: Contact YOUR CPA/Financial Adviser before making any decisions. The following people are not professionals in regard to tax laws.

Jeanette S. Cates, PhD of Plan Your Online Business says:

Actually I AM an accountant! That was my Bachelors' degree. My first business was a bookkeeping and tax service that I “invented” so I could write off my first computer. Happily, I sold that business for a nice profit 3 years later. But taxes remain a hobby for me.

Okay, if you're still reading (and not laughing at that “taxes as a hobby” comment), the secret to tax savings is timing. You don't necessarily WANT to reduce your taxes this year. If you're new in the business, it's likely that you'll make more next year and need more deductions. Likewise, there's a good chance that tax rates are going up, if the government has anything to say about it. So again, you may want to defer those expenditures until January.

But if you do want a deduction this year, here are a few easy ones –

• Office supplies (stock up!)
• Phones and tablets, if used more than 50% for business
• Contractors and employees (pay before the end of the year – they'll love it
• and you get the deduction)
• Affiliate payments (pay them at the end of December for sales to that point.
• Welcome money for them – deduction for you).
• Donations – always in season!

Kevin Riley of  Blogpreneur Training says:

Since I live in Japan, I'm dealing with a tax system that differs quite a bit from what I dealt with in North America. However, some of the following advice (especially, to keep all your receipts) probably applies in all countries.

One benefit we enjoy in Japan is the no-limit entertainment expenses deduction. Due to our culture of entertaining prospects and customers, the Japanese tax system does not limit you on how much you can deduct for entertainment. Therefore, any time I go drinking, eating, or otherwise spending money in a fun way, I ask for an official receipt (ryoushushou). Find out what you can deduct, and make it a habit to always save your receipts.

Since my office is in my home, I also can deduct a percentage of all home expenses from my income tax. This means that I can deduct a percentage of rent, water, electricity, and grounds maintenance fees. This is a deduction I also enjoyed in Canada, so look into it for where you live. This can make a huge difference in the amount of tax you pay.

Jason Fladlien of Wishy Washy Guru (<-You know you gotta click that one) says:

It took me a long time to realize leasing a car – at least for my business and my perspective – was actually a better deal than buying a car… I was always raised that leasing was dumb and it's true if you can't set it up to be a business deduction… but if you do it right with your accountant's guidance, it might actually be worthwhile for you to consider…

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Hey guys! I posted about this topic two years ago and last year, and had my friend, who is a financial adviser help, too.

So, I'll resurrect that blog post because it contains some really good tips.

Here it is…

If you made significantly more money with your online business this year than you did last year, CONGRATULATIONS! That's wonderful news.

However, next year at tax time you might not think so — if you've got to come up with an extra $17,000 to fork over in April like I did this year.

Basically, it comes down to how much money you made (which is the overall amount that you took in minus expenses). That’s what we’re taxed on.

Last year, in December, I purchased approximately $5000 in advertising and paid my affiliates early and prepaid some subscriptions in order to lessen my income. (The expenses get subtracted from my income so my overall income would be less — therefore less taxable income.)

So, since advertising is an expense, I choose to spend money on it, knowing that it’ll pay me back (and then some) the following year.

As to how much is the right amount for you to spend… you’d have to run those numbers with your CPA/Accountant. Normally I spend a bunch in December, then we run the numbers again in January to see how much I should put into my SEP (which is like a 401K) to give me the best tax breaks in April.

WARNING!!!! Don’t go spending money you don’t have on things that you don’t NEED. You’re still spending money.

However, if you plan to buy things anyway.. or have a birthday coming in February like I do and want to treat yourself to some business items, then buying early can be a smart move – especially if you're planning for growth for next year.

For instance, I do some consulting for high level marketers on their affiliate programs — and I've gotten more than my regular amount of requests this month — probably because they're planning for next year. So, why not have them prepay and save on their taxes?

Now, I’m not a tax adviser (nor a doctor nor a lawyer), but I do know a CFP & CPA who I asked for advice.  So, here she is Kristine McKinley in an interview I did with her and posted in 2008:

Kristine McKinley says…

You definitely have the right idea. If your business income is up this year, then you want to do some year-end tax planning to try to reduce your taxable income for the year.

You basically have two options: you can defer income into the next year, or accelerate expenses into this year.

If you’re not sure how to do that, here are some tips to reduce your taxable income:

Defer income:

if you are self employed, one way to reduce your taxable income is to defer income. You can do this by holding off on billing clients until after 12/31. Or if you were planning a teleclass or a big product or service launch at the end of the year, you could hold off until January.

Accelerate expenses:

– Software: I know I’ll need tax software in the next month or so, so I can choose to purchase it in 2008 if I want to accelerate my expenses, or if I think my 2009 income will be higher, I can wait until Jan 1 to buy my software

– Supplies: same concept; any supplies I know I will need for tax season I’m going to buy now to reduce my 2008 income.

– Furniture and equipment: do you need a new computer, an external hard drive for backup purposes, a new chair for your desk?

– Web hosting or domain renewals: do you have any domains that will be expiring soon? Renew them now instead of waiting until they expire.

– Office supplies, shipping supplies, computer supplies: basically stock up on any supplies that you use on a regular basis in your business before the year is over

– Continuing education or classes to improve your business: if you are required to take continuing education, or if you just want to take some classes to help you improve your business, signup and pay for the class before the end of the year so you can deduct it on your 2008 taxes.

– Membership sites: if you’ve been sitting on the fence about joining any membership programs (Shelancers for example), signup before Jan 1 so you can deduct the fees on your current year tax return. Even better, if they offer a lifetime membership fee, choose that option to save money and to take an even larger deduction on your tax return.

– Do you need any work done by web designers, VAs, or other independent contractors? Consider prepaying them for work that you expect them to do in the next 30-60 days. Don’t forget to send them a 1099 if you pay them $600 or more during the year.

– Affiliates: do you usually pay your affiliates on the 5th of the month? Consider sending them their December commissions on 12/31 instead of waiting until Jan 5th.

– Donate to charity: while donations to charity won’t reduce your business income, they will reduce your total income, so consider donating cash, services or goods to your favorite charity before the end of the year

Basically, any expenses that you expect to incur in the next few months that can be accelerated into 2008 will help reduce your taxes for 2008.

One other strategy that every self employed person should consider is funding your retirement account. However, you have a little more time for this strategy as the deadline for most retirement contributions (to IRAs, Roth IRAs, Simple IRAs, etc.) is April 15.

Here are my recommendations for some items you might purchase (based upon my favorite things)…

They are also products that I personally use in my online business.

For when you’re on the go.

• Kindle or Nook – Read and learn on the go.
• mp3 Player – More Learning on the road. (Be sure to load up my podcast.)
• Cell Phone.
• Headset for your Cell Phone. I love my headset. I can use my cell as an mp3 player while I walk the dogs (and still feel good about having my phone on me).
• iPad. I keep mine in my purse. It’s so much easier than carrying around a laptop.
• Good books – just in case you get trapped on a Deserted Island.
• Comfy office chair or a Lazy Boy Recliner for your office.
• Noise Cancellation Headphones. (I have some. They’re weird.)

Software.

• Camtasia
• SnagIt
• Photoshop
• GotoWebinar

• Premium WordPress plugins
• Premium WordPress Themes
• Hire someone to redesign your blog

Stuff for your Office.

• Desk Pad Calendar. For scheduling and staying organized.
• Day Clock – in case you lose track of time, really badly!
• Demotivators. (You probably saw those in my home office.)
• Big freaking White Board. Did you see mine in my office video?
• Space heater. Again… brrrrr….

Camera & Microphones.

• Video camera for video marketing.
• Headset with Microphone. For recording tutorials and webinars on your PC.

PLR!

• PLR Articles Because you can always use more articles for your blog.

Promo Stuff

• Personalized Twitter T-shirt
• Cool Business Cards. Zazzle has really cool “skinny” & “chubby” sized cards.

Courses to Learn Cool Stuff From.

• NAMS Membership
• Easy Link Love.
• MomMasterminds Annual Membership. This is a great program for Moms and I recommend it for anyone looking for assistance in their online business.

Travel

• Luggage for traveling to cool Internet Marketing conferences to hang out with me.
• Ticket to NAMS for February.
• Airline tickets

Business Tools

• Autoresponder – if you’ve been putting off this purchase, now’s the time.
• Shopping Cart – Switch to an annual plan and pay for a year in advance.
• Get Organized with your Outsourcing – organize all of your helpers.
• Roboform – to be more efficient in 2011

Hire Help

• Hire a Virtual Assistant or Virtual Assistant to write press releases, articles, sales pages, or design graphics for you.
• Also, you can go to the Warrior Forum and check out their Special Offers section to find great deals on advertising and copywriting.

Get a Coach

• Hire a coach or consultant to come into your business and tweak/refine it to make you more money.

** Most of the stuff above is tax deductible.

And, of course, you can hire Kristine to help you with your financial planning (which is another way to spend a bit of cash). She said:

Hope this helps! If you need more ideas I’ve got several posts on my blog about year end tax planning. Here’s my site: http://www.beacon-advisor.com/

Keep more of your money instead of handing it to Uncle Sam.

Best of luck.
Nicole

If you've missed past Expert Briefs, you can click on the undies to see them all –>

This week we asked our panel of experts something a little different to get ideas for thinking creatively in your business.

“What's a unique way you make money – something that most people might not think of or think that you would do?”

Here are their responses.

Rachel Rofe of How To Get Every Book You Write Onto The First Page Of Kindle says:

Well, I recently outed myself to my list, but I created a site back in 2006 or 2007 that shows people how they can marry Russian women. I learned a whole lot about Russian culture while making that site!

Another unique way to make money has been with my blog. Sometimes I make blog posts that are informational but also include some of my products, like this one which is a detailed explanation about how to publish a book.

I then add an affiliate link to the post into my affiliate center. That makes it so that affiliates can get an affiliate link to send traffic to that individual blog post.

Basically, affiliates get paid to share great content. A lot of times, leads come to my site and end up staying for a while. They often buy my other products.

And since my affiliate program pays out lifetime commissions, affiliates can send people to a FREE blog post, but get paid for years to come on anything their leads buy.

It's a great win-win-win. Affiliates can share great content AND get paid for it, customers GET great content, and I get more exposure to my blog.

Note from Nik. I do love having the ability to share Rachel's blog posts like the one above with an affiliate link. It's great content and it has profit potential. Two things I love.

Terry Dean of Internet Lifestyle Cheat Sheets says:

Good question. I make money all the normal ways: product sales, coaching, services, Kindle, and many affiliate programs. But here's a method a lot of people might not have thought about. I have business partners in a couple of other countries that translate and sell my products to their audiences.

For example, I have a business partner in Russia who translates my products into Russian including even republishing my physical book into Russian. It's their business. They do the work and pay me a royalty fee on everything they sell that's mine.

I also do a webinar for them around quarterly. They supply a translator and we do a content rich webinar that sells one of the partner products at the end.

This is a fun way to expand your publishing business into other markets and languages while adding almost no additional work for your business (the webinars are usually ones I've done for my own audience and the partner handles the translation of them).

How do you get deals like this? Once you build a name in your market, you may get approached by them. Or it can also be as simple as sending an email to your own list letting them know you're interested in this kind of arrangement. Most of the people who would want to do this with you would already be on your list as one of your current fans.

If you're fluent in another language, this also becomes a potential business idea for you – republishing someone else's work into another language. You'll find most markets are less competitive than the English version.

Note from Nik. Terry's so smart. I've thought about paying to have some of my books translated, but never considered the model he has where he just sits back and collects royalties. It's totally hands-off. And, pretty brilliant.

Connie Ragen Green of Affiliate Marketing Secrets Explained says:

I had to think about this question, because my business tends to overlap with my personal life these days. One unique way that I've made money several times now is by helping my friends to ‘market' their high school age kids so that they are more attractive to the colleges.

This started a couple of years ago when my friend's daughter was told by a school guidance counselor that she would most likely not be accepted by the colleges of her choice because the only thing in her favor was her grades. She was a shy, introverted girl who had never joined clubs or become involved with other activities at school. She was an accomplished pianist, loved soccer, and excelled in mathematics.

We set up a blog for her so that she could share her thoughts and ideas with the world. Being able to communicate from behind a computer made it much easier for her. We also set up a YouTube channel where she could post videos of herself playing the piano. She began to blog about the school's soccer team, analyzing each game and giving tips for what they could do to improve. She also blogged about math, sharing tips and strategies for some difficult concepts. Finally, I had her connect with three ‘influencers' at her school, asking them to tell others about what she was doing online.

The results were fast, fun, and fantastic! She was asked by the music department to join them for specific performances; the math department asked her to help with some after school tutoring, and the soccer coach asked her to come in as a strategist for the season. Her gifts and talents were being noticed and acknowledged.

And, yes, she was accepted by all five colleges she applied to, and she is now a freshman at the University of Texas in Austin.

Note from Nik. Great idea from Connie. And I'm betting whatever she charged, the parents thought it was a steal considering the results they got.

Shannon Cherry of Learn How I Get *Paid* to Attend Events says:

I have several ‘sneaky' ways to add more money to my bottom line. But the most profitable to date has been getting sponsors to pay me to do my marketing.

I've been using sponsors to underwrite everything lately.

• Sponsors pay for me to attend events. I have sponsors pay for travel, lodging, meals, outfits and even gifts to give out whether I am speaking or not.
• Sponsors have paid for me to blog on my own blog, Mommy-Inc.com.
• Sponsors are paying for some of my renovations in my house because I am blogging about it.

(Yes, that means you do NOT have to have your own live event to get sponsored!)

In the past few years, I've earned more than $170,000 just in sponsorships alone.

How does it work?

If I am reaching a particular target market, I find a company who wants a connection to that target market. Then I make that connection for them, by simply using the marketing I am already doing, and they pay me.

Sponsorship marketing is still in its infancy, so now is the time to add this to your revenue mix. If you have a direct connection to a particular market, take the extra step now and get companies to pay you to market to them. If done right, you can be paid for years to come.

You can learn Shannon's system here: Learn How I Get Paid to Attend Events

Note from Nik. Shannon has been talking about these sponsorships that she gets for a few years now, and every time she does, my jaw drops. It's like magic to me. Seriously, amazing stuff. I need new flooring in my house. Hmmm… maybe I should think about this.

Mark Mason from the Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast says:

Well, here is something really different — a non-traditional answer for you. One of the best “unique” ways to make money that I have found is to help people without asking for anything. In other words, helping people absolutely for free and often without being asked.

For example, I just noticed that a guy was having trouble on facebook installing a plug-in in wordpress. I made him a quick YouTube video and sent it to him. Probably saved him hours (maybe more). He was stunned and amazed that I took the time to help. And that is important — I did it to help him. But there are a three good things that might happen.

One — he will almost certainly say thanks. That might seem like a small thing, but I have found selfishly that gratitude and praise from others adds fuel to my fire. I love that feeling of knowing I helped someone and hearing them gushing about what a big deal it was to them. Just makes me happy — selfish, but true.

Two — He will tell people about it. Brand and reputation is everything online. ‘Nuff said.

Three — And he and his friends (and his friends friends) might buy stuff from me someday. Maybe. All just because I helped without being asked. Notice that the money is the last thing. That's important. You need to be satisfied that helping people is enough. Then the money will come.

“You can get everything you want in life by helping enough other people get what they want.” — Zig Ziglar

Note from Nik. True. I find that the saying “the more you do, the luckier you get” holds true.  However, and I'm sure Mark would agree, doing nice things repeatedly without selling won't cut it either. I give all the time, and I have learned over the years that not everyone is wired to reciprocate. If you're hoping that they'll figure it out, it can eat away at the relationship. So, you do also have to be asking for things in return.

But, giving from a place of goodness and not needing or asking for anything in return is sure a great feeling, too. Hmmm… I'm thinking this needs to be a separate blog post. Watch for that.

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

My surprising income stream probably comes from my little blog network. I run ten blogs on a variety of home and family topics and I earn income in quite a few ways there.

First, it's part of an ‘ad network' that pays a tiny amount per ad impression. Two ad impressions are served for every page view so that tiny amount adds up pretty well over a month.

Second, the network earns a nice amount of ‘pay for placement' advertising income as well. This income fluctuates quite a bit, some months I may see only a couple hundred and others months I'll see close to a grand. If I would intentionally promote sponsorship, I'm sure I'd have more steady income from that – I just can't make myself do that. I'd love to work with a partner on that, it has so much potential!

There are some non-financial benefits too. Naturally we get a lot of product reviews offers as well and I'm very choosy about what we accept. I'm not in the habit of doing free PR for anyone but if it's a great product that I'd want anyways or can use as a gift for one of my nieces or nephews – I'll go for it.

Everything else I do online has to be so targeted, so specific! The blog network is all about sheer magnitude of all kinds of content and traffic so it's very different animal for me to manage. I have created it to run as independently as possible. All of the new content is created by my blogging interns and I have a VA who manages email inquiries.

Note from Nik. I love Kelly's blog networks. And the fact that they've evolved and changed over time has been cool to watch.

Jason Fladlien of WP Secure Pro says:

Nobody really sees this, but we license whole or parts of the code for our software… sometimes directly to others marketers in our niche, but also to marketers outside of our niche.

A lot of software developers don't understand that their code has a lot of value – and when faced with the option of developing parts of all of software from scratch or paying someone a few grand to hand over it already done – well obviously a lot of people would happily pay you $2,000.

That's why it baffles me that people on the Warrior Forum sell software for like $10 or $20 a pop. The bigger picture is that it behooves us all to think in terms of ASSETS, not products or services. A product IS an asset, but an asset doesn't JUST have to be a product.

What are ways you can take your current ASSETS and leverage them outside of their normal function? That's a profitable thought exercise to have

-> Check out Jason's course to make sure your WordPress blogs are safe and secure here:  WP Secure Pro

Note from Nik. As I've said in the past, Jason is freaky smart. The way I understand this is – he is saying that he sells rights to his software (or pieces and parts of it) – similar to Resale or PLR rights, but with software instead of content. Not only is he selling to his direct competition, but he's also finding other markets of people who may be interested, as well. Smart. Smart. Smart.

One of the products that I bought from Jason and have listened to many times is this one: Six Figure Baby. Check that out. I love it.

Susanne Myers of  Daily Affiliate Tasks says:

I’m an affiliate marketer and make money in a variety of niches. Some are larger than others. Today I want to share one of my smallest niches with you – a tomato cookbook. Toward the end of the summer I noticed that there were tomatoes everywhere. The store, the farmers market and of course my own kitchen counter. Neighbors would drop off buckets full of these delicious red fruits (yes, they are fruits) and I had to get creative in what to make with them and how to preserve them.

One weekend, I sat down and wrote a kindle cookbook all about cooking tomatoes. It includes salads, soups and the like but also more exotic dishes like tomato jam and tomato pie. I formatted it for Amazon Kindle and uploaded it to the Amazon Kindle Store. It’s been selling like hotcakes. The past few weeks sales started to slow down as tomatoes are no longer in season, but I’m sure I’ll continue to sell a few copies each week over the winter, and really see sales pick back up early next summer.

The Tomato Cookbook

The beauty of this money making method is that it’s completely passive. I wrote and uploaded the book and I’m done. Amazon takes care of orders, fulfillment, customer service emails and even some of the marketing. I can just jump in and do a little extra promoting as time allows. Other than that I’m just cashing the checks Amazon sends my way.

Note from Nik. I love this example, because this is a highly highly targeted niche Kindle book on a topic that most would  never think of. So, rather than writing a big long Kindle book, you might want to grab each chapter of it and put it up on Kindle separately.

Bob Jenkins of How to Use Mindmaps to Organize Your Business says:

As a business coach and marketing teacher, the bulk of my income comes from private and group coaching programs and teaching online courses and virtual workshops.

But what most people don’t know is my long history making a healthy chunk of change from selling a weird product online: beef jerky.

It’s kind of a funny, random story.

Back when I was still a full time history teacher with dreams of making money online, I tried a little bit of everything in the network marketing world. Dental plans, diet cleansing products, video email, even a premium social network.

At the time (this is back at the end of 2005), the Million Dollar Homepage was successfully launched by Alex Tew in England. He sold 10×10 pixel blocks for $100 each – and he sold out for the full $1 million dollars!

Seeing an opportunity (i.e., a squirrel), I bought the pixel ad script from the German company that designed his and launched PixYourBiz.com to give network marketers a unique advertising opportunity. That site generated a couple thousand dollars, but the fad ran its course and I let the site die and its registration expire.

However, I had placed Google Adsense on the site for additional monetization which would prove fortunate. Not because I made much from Google Adsense – hardly! But because one day (this is January, 2006), while I was tweaking the back end settings for PixYourBiz, I noticed an ad that read: “Beef Jerky Goes MLM”. Even though I wasn’t an experienced jerky connoisseur, I was intrigued.

After clicking the ad (you’re really not supposed to do that on your own sites, by the way!), I was introduced to an online direct sales company, Jerky Direct. After a quick review, I jumped on the easy $12/month online store and waited for my 2 bags of jerky to arrive.

I loved every bite of that first bag, and have enjoyed a pair of bags of beef, buffalo, or turkey jerky every month for the last 6 years. The best part has been that I haven’t had to pay for my online store or the bags of jerky since it’s generated a lot more revenue for me.

Here’s how that happened…

I created a page on a brand new (at the time) social content site (Squidoo) to advertise the product and business opportunity – “Where Can I Find The Best Beef Jerky Without Putting 10-Syllable Chemicals Direct Into My Body?” I also bought a good domain name (Jerky.ws). My “lens” quickly hit the top 100 on Squidoo, and I saw sales of jerky coming in. On Google, it didn’t take long for my lens to appear on the first page of the search results for “best beef jerky” and similar keywords.

The real boost came when the New York Times printed its first article on Squidoo in April, 2006: A Home Where Bloggers Can Plumb Those Obscure Passions. The author, Bob Tedeschi, used my lens as the initial angle in the story. Within a day, my lens was #1 on Squidoo.com and remained there for over a week. With an active link from the NYTimes.com, Google rewarded me with the #1 result on its search engine. The lens stayed in the top 3 for well over 3 years. Today, the lens is on page 2, still sending me traffic.

With my passion for coaching business owners, I’ve never actively promoted my online jerky store other than the Squidoo lens and a casual mention, since it makes for a fun story. And now you know another weird, unique way to make money online.

Note from Nik. I'm glad you shared a physical product, Bob. That's a cool twist compared to the other answers.

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Well, goodness. I've had several odd businesses in the past, but this is a hard question – simply because I'm pretty transparent about my businesses to begin with.

I'm going to share two methods, today.

Niche Sites.

You may not know this but I have several niche sites still that bring in passive income month after month after month. A few of them, I haven't touched in years – which is a mistake on my part. But they still bring in money. So, that goes to show that quality over quantity worked in 2006 and it still works now.

Is that an unusual way to make money? Not really. But it may be unusual when you think about me.

The niches? Well, I'm glad you asked.

Four of my favorite niche sites are about:

• Romance in a Marriage
• Fun Exercise DVDs
• Kids Crafts
• Cooking

How to I Make Money with those Sites?

Through a few ways.

• Affiliate Marketing. I get checks from Fredricks of Hollywood for the romance one – and all kinds of other places.
• Google Adsense. Yes, still. My deposits aren't nearly as big as they were a few years ago, but I'm also not really doing anything to earn it, so I'm happy with the amount that I am getting.
• Selling my own niche products. I don't do this nearly as much as I used to, but I'm about to get back into more niche product creation again. This time, on the Kindle rather than selling the products as an ebook.

And, because I've successfully created my niche sites, I then spun off a series of Kindle books about a few of them.

So that's one odd revenue stream that you may not have known about.

What else?

Monetizing Affiliate Communications.

Another revenue stream that I have in place that may be considered “unusual” is in monetizing my affiliate program.

I don't “sell” to my affiliates. However, I will include a PS. when mailing them about a new affiliate tool or new product or promo of mine.

The PS might say something like this:

Want to make more money with my Affiliate Program?

I recommend that you check out these two courses to boost your profits:

• Daily Affiliate Tasks is really good, especially if you're struggling with overwhelm.

• If you're just getting started, then this is the training that I would suggest: Affiliate Sales Domination as it starts from the absolute beginning.

I have lists of affiliates. Those affiliates need training to be successful. Therefore, I see a win-win scenario.

How about you?

What are some unusual ways that you make money?

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. Be sure to click on the links of my friends to learn more about them. That’s how I get them to come back.) 

If you've missed past Expert Briefs, you can click on the undies to see them all –>

Big News! I just finished writing my new book that will, hopefully, be published soon. (WOO HOO!)

Because I've been thinking about books 24/7, it reminded me that I haven't asked my friend what they're reading lately.

Therefore, we're revisiting a popular Expert Briefs topic this week …

What are you reading?

Here are their replies. You can click on any cover to check out that book.

(Also, be sure to check out more about each of my friends. That's how I get them to come back.) 

Rachel Rofe of How To Get Every Book You Write Onto The First Page Of Kindle says:

I'm always in the middle of a few books. Right now I'm reading through three books which are all EXTREMELY great.

#1 is The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives That Make You Feel Alive by Brendon Burchard. This is a phenomenal book that fills me with energy every time I read it.

#2 is Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success by Napoleon Hill. I'm re-reading it as it's one of my Top 3 books and just amazing.

#3 is The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. One of my subscribers insisted I read this and I'm so glad he did. I started reading it in Hawaii and couldn't put it down! I love it.

Lain Ehmann of Business Love Potion says:

I'm reading a ton of stuff!

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries

Just finished

No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent: The No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Getting Really Rich by Dan Kennedy. He's always thought-provoking.

And the kids and I are reading “Paddington Goes Abroad” at bedtime.

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts says:

I am reading The Power of Story: Change Your Story, Change Your Destiny in Business and in Life by Jim Loehr.

A couple years back I got a lot out of another book from Jim, The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. I pre-ordered The Power of Story as soon as I heard about it. It's not a business book but it has a lot to do with helping you be more successful in business as well as life.

It's about the story we tell ourselves and others about us. Most of us are telling a terrible story that isn't even based in truth. It's not a light read, he's asking me to truly evaluate what I have to say about myself. I'm convinced though that it will be worth it – I've already noticed how I'm not so quick to make reference to some ‘reasons' for this or that.

Imagine dropping all of your story crutches and standing on your own two feet instead of your own two feet plus the 50 or so good reasons that you haven't been able to succeed so far. Life gives us a lot of reasons to fail but it doesn't have to be part of my story – especially when I'm the one who gets to tell it from now on.

David Perdew of NAMS says:

Oh, I’m reading so much always. I usually have 4-6 books going at once in different genres…and since I have them all on my Kindle Fire, I can read as my mood suits me.

Self-Help –

Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One by Dr. Joe Dispenza. I LOVE this book. It makes so much sense to me. If you’re like me, you do things over and over that may cause a feeling of unease or physical pain in your stomach some times. It can be something as small as sneaking a candy bar when I’m trying to improve my blood sugar count. I have a visceral reaction to the things I no longer want to do, but have become rooted habits in my daily life. This book is really helping me see how to change those things by describing the exact process that goes on in your brain and body.

Make A Killing On Kindle (Without Blogging, Facebook Or Twitter). The Guerilla Marketer's Guide To Selling Ebooks On Amazon by Michael Alvear. The author is a successful Kindle publisher and publishing coach. He provides a lot of examples for great Kindle publishing strategies as well as some specific techniques. Many of them are basic, but I need those too.

Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising: How to Access 600 Million Customers in 10 Minutes by Perry Marshall and Thomas Meloche. Perry was THE leading expert in Google advertising techniques with his previous book 10 years ago. And now, he’s focusing on Facebook. Just starting this, but can’t wait to learn what Perry’s teaching.

Imperfect: An Improbable Life by Jim Abbott and Tim Brown. If you’re a baseball fan, you know who Jim Abbott is. He was a pitcher in the 80’s and 90’s who happened to be one-handed. Not only did he play in the major leagues with a very respectable career, but despite all odds, he was a gold medal Olympian who pitched a no-hitter in the majors.

And because I’m at the beach in Florida while writing this, I’m reading Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen. He’s one of my favorite trash novelists who can turn murder and mayhem into some of the strangest and funniest situations you’ll ever read, and it’s all set in the pink flamingo world of corrupt land developers, crooked cops, crazy ex-governors, and strippers with hearts of gold.

Connie Ragen Green of Affiliate Marketing Secrets Explained says:

I'm reading The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative by Stephen Denning. I have used storytelling to build up my business in a very short period of time, and it's my goal to learn more about this topic as I strive to become a leader in my field. This book presents the idea of using your stories to build a powerful business in a clear and concise way.

Shannon Cherry of Get Free Business Help (ie. How to Get Interns) says:

I'm in the midst of rebranding my business, so a lot of what I'm reading has to do with it. Here are my selections on my Kindle right now:

1)The Story Factor (2nd Revised Edition): Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through the Art of Storytelling – I like telling stories to make certain points, but have never actively done so. This book is pretty good so far at explaining the why of storytelling… I am hoping to get to how it works from a marketing standpoint soon!

2)The secret weapon of a master direct response online copywriter: How to position your brand for success, based on the research of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung – I just did some archetype work with my pal Danielle Miller, to help me with my brand. Now I want to take it one step closer to how to write based on my own archetypes (Hero, Ruler and Creator). It should be fun, especially when I incorporate it with my story telling.

I'm currently reading the Steve Jobs biography (again) – mainly for insight into their software development process since we run our own software company

Besides that, I'm reading Evernote For Dummies off and on a bit each day. To me, Evernote is going to be one of the next big communication channels, so I'm trying to wrap my head around it now.

Daniel Hall of Procrastinators Guide To Authorship Complete Training says:

I'm currently reading

The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

and

Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

ooh. I'm definitely going to have to check out several of those books.

Here's what I'm reading.

1. The 10X Rule.

I just dug the 10x Rule out again. The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure I didn't finish reading it before, because every time I started a chapter, I got so motivated that I would put the book down and go WORK. That's not a bad thing.

I'm also reading this book by my friend, Aileen Bennett. It's full of doodles. She's a girl after my own heart. Even if you  have no intention of learning more about your presentation skills, still go check this out at Amazon and do the “Look inside” feature -> Notes on Shining: Tips to improve your presentation skills It's pretty darned clever.

It's Your Turn to Shine.

Please let me know what are you currently reading. Would you recommend it?

I appreciate you much.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

Recommended.

Here are some of the books that my friends recommended the last time I asked this question, which was last year.