How Much do YOU Charge Per Hour? Avoid the Question by Setting up Passive Income Streams

If you work with clients, at some point in your career,you've probably been asked, "What's your hourly rate?" or "How much do you charge per hour?"

Now, you and I both know this question isn't totallyrelevant, even if you provide services like I do. Because itdoesn't really matter how much I charge per hour. What theclient really wants to know is, "How much is this going tocost me?"

But they don't want to pay some astronomical hourly fee,either. They want to feel like you put some effort intotheir work.

So what you really need to know is, "How much is it worth tothis client to have this problem solved?"

Sure, I could quote an hourly rate. But usually I don't.They'd be shocked. Because I've been doing what I do forabout 30 years, so I can often write a brochure in "recordtime," which wouldn't pay me enough to stay in business.

So I don't charge an hourly rate. I charge for my "smarts"-- my knowledge and experience. And if the project rate iswithin the client's budget, they're willing to pay it.

But how'd you like to get out of the piecework businessaltogether? I know I would!

That's why lots of people take the risk of commissionedsales. That is, they sell something and then get paid acommission--no salary. And some programs, like Mary Kay,are two-tier commissioned sales--meaning you get commissionson what YOU sell AND you get commissions on what your"downline" sales force sells.

So you and your underlings go out and beat the pavement,looking for new and returning customers to sell makeup to.You also keep your eye out for more sales reps who want tojoin your team, too. You'd never think of advertising yourproduct in the newspaper, would you? No, because Mary Kay isdirect sales.

Well, the online world of marketing has taken this a littlefarther. It's called affiliate sales.

Some programs pay one-tier and some pay two-tiercommissions. It's basically the same as Mary Kay. But what'sdifferent is that usually you're being paid for "electrons"instead of makeup.

Someone writes an ebook that you decide to sell for themthrough your website. You put it up in your store, and thenyou forget it. Every once in awhile, someone buys it and youget a commission. Maybe you've recruited others through youraffiliate link to sell the same product. They put it up ontheir website and make sales. You get a commission everytime you sell the product AND every time your downlineaffiliate sells the product.

AND you have the option to advertise the product using pay-per-click campaigns on Google and Overture (and otherplaces). You write such a good ad that tons of people clickon it and visit your website. Because you have such aterrific sales page for the product, let's say that half thepeople buy it when they visit.

Now you're cookin'!

You also improve your search engine rankings--meaning youdo all the right things and every time someone searches onyour keywords, you come up on the FIRST PAGE of searchresults. So more people visit your website.

And while they're there, they might buy something or not.Or, they might see a Google ad that interests them and clickoff to someone else's site.

You got it! You make money on that, too! And after awhile,your website becomes your product.

Now you want to add more revenue streams to your business(firing every difficult client you have and replacing thatrevenue with something else...wouldn't that be great?!!?).So you write your own ebooks or nifty little softwareproduct that you can sell the same way you sell otherpeople's electronic products, as well as through an ezine. But this time YOU KEEP ALL THE MONEY. Because it's your product.

Unless, of course, you recruit affiliates to sell yourproduct for you. And who wouldn't? It gets your product outto LOTS more people. So you have to pay them 40% of thesales price. What does it cost you? Zip. Zero. Nada. It'sjust electrons.

You did all the work up front, so you can collect the moneyover and over and over as sales are made.

THAT'S PASSIVE INC0ME!

Lois Carter Fay, APR, is a 30-year veteran in the P.R. and marketing field. She now produces three marketing ezines, Brainy Tidbits, Brainy Flash, and Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs. All are free.

Visit http://www.MarketingIdeaShop.com or http://www.WomenMarketing.com to subscribe and claim your free special report.