How Many Online Income Streams is Enough??

You can have to many income streams, but you have to have one that is actually making you money.

I used to have this same problem, and now I focus on one source and that to build an email list.

When I read your post, I don't see "multiple income streams", I see multiple businesses. And these are very different things. Multiple income streams would be something like a single website using affiliate marketing and selling ad space on their website. Multiple businesses would be like running an arbitrage site, doing coaching, and creating new products. If they're all somehow linked to a single brand, I could see that working as a single business. For instance you could create new products that are upsells or loss leaders for your coaching activities. But my guess is you don't (and shouldn't!) offer coaching on your arbitrage site and your CPA campaigns aren't really related to the product your launching. In other words, you're juggling several distinct businesses.

But is that a bad thing?

One thing to consider is that growth for a successful business is often modeled using a sigmoid function or S-curve. This, of course, is an "average of averages" and may bear little resemblance with the experience of any one particular business, but in general what this means the following:

• Businesses start with very little growth.
• As they mature they hit a rapid period of exponential growth.
• Eventually this growth flattens out.

I should note that the point at which the exponential growth begins and then fades depends on a number of factors some of which you have some control over (such as how well you run your business) and some of which you don't (such as the total market size).

Here's how that applies to you: Let's assume you have a successful business and the model above applies to you. (After all, if your business is not successful, it doesn't matter how many income streams you have as they'll all trend toward zero.) Now look at all the businesses you're juggling. Where do you fall within the signmoid curve for each of them? Are you still at the bottom, waiting for the exponential growth or are you in the midst of that exponential growth? Or have you already more or less maxxed out your market?

If the latter, it may make sense to think about starting other businesses. But if you're going through exponential growth or if you're still trying to get there, I think you're making a mistake. Because of exponential growth it's usually much easier to take one business from $10,000/month to $20,000 (or whatever artibtrary figures you choose) than to keep one business humming along at $10,000/month and then grow an entirely new one to earn an additional $10,000/month.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't branch out and grow your business. For instance, Google was able to use its core search to be able transform the way internet advertising worked, both in search and through AdSense. But at least initially, they largely focused on this core technology, just applying it in different, creative ways. So if I were you, I'd think about what your "core technology" is (or more accurately your competitive advantage) and think about how to build upon that in new and creative ways rather than just starting businesses left and right in an effort to chase a few bucks here and there.