While using affiliate links to earn passive income is a great way to earn money, there are a few things to keep in mind. Usually internet marketing requires one to open up several accounts through various affiliates to get a good mix of products and services. Some popular affiliate accounts include Amazon Associates, Commission Junction, and Clickbank to name a few. Relationships are established through these sites between internet marketers and providers of goods and services. Once these relationships are created, the links are then placed in various online content by the internet marketer.

One downside of establishing multiple accounts with several different products and services is how to keep track of everything. Having multiple affiliate links through several partners can create a headache when you try to update or change the content of these links. Add on the fact that you may be using the same link through multiple media outlets like blogs and email - and it can easily get out of hand.

Create an Affiliate Link Journal

Keeping an affiliate link journal is one way that you can easily track where and what you are promoting. Create a simple spreadsheet or personal database with affiliate account and link information. Whenever a link is added, removed, or modified - simply make this change in your journal. This simple exercise can save a lot of time, effort, and money in the long run!

Here are a few of the data elements that should be included in your journal -

• Media Outlet - Examples: eHow, Blogs like Passive Family Income, EzineArticles, etc.
• Content Link (or where the link will be published) - Example: http://www.passivefamilyincome.com/how-to-improve-affiliate-links/
• Affiliate Account - Examples: Amazon Associates, Clickbank
• Affiliate Link - Example: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/…

There are several other fields that can be included in your journal besides what is listed above. Having this data documented can help you quickly identify your affiliate links that are working hard for you and earning income!

How do you keep track of your affiliate links?

I have been writing content on eHow for almost a year now and have seen a significant rise in monthly earnings. While I continue to publish between 20 to 25 articles each month - my earnings are growing at a double digit rate. I am very close to earning $100 per month from almost 150 published articles! If I stopped writing any content today and walked away, I am confident that I would continue to earn around $100 every month for many months to come.

I have read and been asked several questions recently about eHow. There are still many hesitant people out there not sure if eHow can bring in any significant income. I believe it can, provided you put in the upfront time and effort to publish quality content. Here are some answers to recent questions I have gotten that may help you decide if eHow is right for you -

Is eHow for Everybody?

The answer is NO. If you are looking for a get rich quick money maker - eHow is not for you! Instead, this tool is a way to publish content in a “How To” format about things you know or have researched. Researching and publishing quality content takes some time and effort upfront. The great thing about publishing this content is that once you have completed your initial work on an article - You are Done! Any income generated after that is pure passive income.

How Soon Can I Start Earning Income from eHow?

While the significant earnings from eHow usually take a few months to obtain - it is possible to earn money your very first month. So far in June, I have published 23 articles on eHow which have earned me $16.15 in the first month! Once these articles become more established and can get picked up easier in search engine results - I expect these numbers to grow significantly.

How do I Earn Income from eHow?

Nobody exactly knows the formula for how eHow pays it’s writers. What is known is that eHow pays you a portion of the advertiser earnings based on each of your specific articles - similar to a blog or website you may own. The only difference is that you share in the ad revenue with eHow.

Can I Make a Living from eHow?

While you probably could make a decent living writing content for eHow, it is not recommended to rely solely on one income source. Your income streams should be diversified and come from many different sources. Generating income from eHow can be part of that diversified portfolio.

Earning money from eHow is a great way for a stay at home parent, for example, to earn some extra income. It can also be an excellent source of passive income for those looking to add new revenue streams to their portfolio.

What are a Few Advantages of Using eHow?

• Free to open an account and publish content.
• Publish content within minutes.
• Include affiliate links for added income.
• Provides an alternative forum to write content that may not fit on your blog or website.
• Earnings can significantly grow over time with little effort.

What are Some Disadvantages of Using eHow?

• Articles can be removed if they don’t meet the eHow requirements (not such a bad thing overall).
• Must abide by the “How To” format using steps.
• Don’t have control, unlike your own blog or website.
• Potential for loss of income if the company goes under or changes guidelines unexpectedly.
• eHow is currently open only to U.S. residents.

Where Can I find more Information on eHow?

Here are a couple recommended resources you should check out for more details on eHow.

• Make Money from Home Writing for eHow
• How to Earn Passive Income on eHow.com: Maximize Your Online Earnings

Not an eHow member yet? What are you waiting for?

Disclaimer Notice - Please understand that I benefit financially from any products or services you may decide to purchase as a result of clicking on one of the links contained in this article.

All politics aside over the fight between Amazon and the state of North Carolina, there are many state residents who are impacted by this proposed tax. Anyone living here who was relying on income solely from Amazon has seen their hard work and income completely wiped out. While there are a few things state residents can do to help fight against proposed laws like this, such as petitioning, it is still very hard to control legislation and taxes in one’s favor.

The one bright side in my case is that my earnings from Amazon Associates were very small. However, if other affiliate companies follow Amazon’s lead, then I will be affected more by the affiliate tax. Will I be giving up on building my passive income streams? No! Instead of getting down and giving up, I realize that I need to press on.

Here are 3 things I have learned from the proposed affiliate tax by the state of North Carolina.

1 - Diversify

I can’t say it enough, but everyone should have a diversified set of income streams that they can rely upon for money. You shouldn’t rely solely on income from you or your spouse’s job alone to pay your bills. If you lose your job, then you don’t have any income sources to fall back on to make your monthly payments.

Just as you shouldn’t rely for income on a job, the same can be said for creating passive income. Relying on affiliate marketing, for example, as your only passive income source increases your risks of losing out on income. Affiliate marketers in North Carolina who relied only on Amazon as their income source are now finding this out the hard way.

2 - Adapt

Having the ability to adapt to changing economic climates is important for businesses and entrepreneurs. While the proposed affiliate tax for NC residents is very hard to cope with, I am not giving up. Sure, using the Amazon Affiliates program had the potential to be an incredible passive income stream for me. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that I will be able to use that tool for creating passive income streams. As a result, I will be searching hard for new ways to replace this source.

I personally feel that my business and passive income streams will become stronger over the long run as a result of this tax. If for some reason, NC decides to drop the affiliate tax from their budget - then great. If the tax goes through, then I will be sure to learn from this and move on. Either way, I plan to adapt to this setback and become stronger as a result.

3 - Flexibility

One of the biggest issues I am dealing with as a result of losing my Amazon Associates account is the hundreds of affiliate links that I have published through various sources. Most of my eHow articles contain direct affiliate links for products from Amazon. The amount of time that will be involved cleaning these links up will be significant.

Instead of simply placing affiliate links directly into eHow and other articles, I should have built these links to be more flexible. There are some tricks that I could have used that would have helped me replace these broken links. I will be highlighting these tricks in an upcoming post here on PFI.

Final Thoughts

Chances are good that the state of North Carolina will approve the affiliate tax as part of the proposed budget. There is also a good chance that other affiliate retailers will follow close behind Amazon’s lead and shut down accounts. I actually received an email from Commission Junction notifying me of the proposed tax and ways to fight it. While they didn’t specifically state my account would be terminated - it wouldn’t surprise me if it was.

Not a resident of North Carolina? You may not be completely safe as there are a few other states proposing similar affiliate taxes, so be sure to check up on what your state is up to.

Have you been impacted by the proposed North Carolina affiliate tax? What about from another state?

Do you live in North Carolina and oppose the affiliate tax? Please go sign the petition North Carolina Affiliate Tax!

What is significant about posting information about my family’s summer vacation? Well, as I continue to build passive income streams - there is nothing better than stepping away for a few days from work to come back and see you have earned income just from doing nothing! That is what passive income is all about. Working hard and devoting time upfront in order to produce income overtime with little effort.

Taking a week long vacation will allow me to rest up a bit and become motivated once again in my passive income journey. There is nothing better than coming back from some time off to see your earnings have continued to grow while you were away.

Carnivals
I participated in the following carnivals over the past week. Please check out some of the great reads from these carnivals!

• Carnival of Personal Finance #210 – Punch Out Edition - (June 22, 2009) 5 Ways to Create a Productive Work Environment from Home - hosted by Suburban Dollar.
• Festival Of Frugality- Honeymoon Destination Edition - (June 23, 2009) Micro Loan Status - hosted by Financial Highway.
• Money Hacks Carnival #70 - (June 24, 2009) 30 Healthy Reasons to Create Passive Income - hosted by Blogging Banks.

Articles I liked
Here are a couple articles I enjoyed over the past week. Please check them out and enjoy.

1 - Copyblogger - How to Turn Affiliate Marketing Disclosure Into a Selling Point

2 - Blogussion - 7 Simple Tips for Effectively Marketing Your Blog on Twitter

3 - Pat @ The Smart Passive Income Blog - How You Can Earn $880 on eHow.com While Doing Nothing for Six Months

4 - Frugal Dad - Why Everybody Needs A Side Hustle

While it is easy for anyone to paste an affiliate link on a blog or website, it doesn’t mean it will ever get clicked. It also does not guarantee that you will ever make a dime from your efforts. However, with some fundamental education and practice, earning a good income from internet marketing is possible.

I started building income streams based on using the concepts of internet marketing several months ago. While I am not even close to becoming an expert, I have earned several hundred dollars along the way. As time goes on, I am becoming more experienced in this field and have seen my earnings increase as a result.

I have included some resources, definitions, and internet marketing guides below that I have used to become educated in this field. Each of these resources and guides has helped to increase my knowledge and understanding of internet marketing, as well as my income.

What is Internet Marketing?

The basic idea of internet marketing is to market products and/or services over the internet. These products and services can be marketed through various channels including email, blogs, and wireless media to name a few. Products and services that are marketed could come from affiliate providers or items that you have created on your own.

For more recommended information on internet marketing, be sure to check out the following resources -

• Wikipedia - Online Marketing
• Court’s Internet Marketing School

Internet Marketing Guides

While I am certainly no expert on internet marketing, I have purchased many different guides and tools on the topic over the past several months. What I have found are that most of these how to guides have a lot of hype and not much useful content. However, there are 2 guides that I would recommend to anyone starting out in the internet marketing field that are worth the money.

Here are 2 internet marketing guides that I am currently using to build my passive income empire.

1. One Week Marketing - I have discussed One Week Marketing in the past here on PFI and my support for this product. This is truly a quality product that is certain to help guide you through the world of internet marketing. It is almost guaranteed that you will earn your money back on your investment in no time (probably the first month) as long as you follow the steps in this guide. PotPieGirl, the creator of One Week Marketing, is honest and is an expert in this field. If you are interested in jump starting your internet marketing career, then be sure to check out One Week Marketing. The product comes with a 60-day return guarantee - so there really isn’t much to lose!
2. ShoeMoney Internet Marketing Course - Jeremy Schoemaker of ShoeMoney has launched a Free 12 Week Internet Marketing Training Course at ShoeMoneyx.com which has an incredible amount of information in it. The FREE (yes it is absolutely free) course consists of 12 weeks of reports sent to your email box on the ins and outs of internet marketing. I honestly can’t believe this course is free! The amount of quality and useful information contained in these guides is truly incredible. Be sure to sign up for the Free 12 Week Internet Marketing Training Course soon, as it probably will only be available for a limited time!

Final Thoughts

Purchasing guides and tools do not guarantee that you will make any money. You can’t just assume that once you buy a product or service like the ones listed above, that the money will come rushing in - because it won’t! Internet marketing requires hard work and dedication. It is not a get rich quick scheme. However, if you work hard, the potential income that can be generated from internet marketing is truly amazing!

Are you currently using One Week Marketing or the ShoeMoneyx 12 week guide? I would love to know your opinions on both!

Disclaimer Notice - Please understand that I benefit financially from any products or services you may decide to purchase as a result of clicking on one of the links contained in this article.

I felt the same way when I first started earning money from my passive income streams. I wanted to hold onto that money for safe keeping. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach to building passive income and saving money - recycling your cash flow can help accelerate your income. Using your earnings to hire a virtual assistant is one option that can be used to allow your earnings to grow faster.

Instead of saving all of your passive income, think about ways you can use it as a tool to grow your earnings even more. There are many different ways that you can use existing earnings to outsource some of your work - including the ones I have detailed below.

How I am paying for my Virtual Assistant Work

I have started to use the alternative income that I am generating from multiple sources to fund my VA projects. This allows me to keep my spending under control and stick to a budget. Since I have money coming in from sources other than my full time job, I can use it to outsource work that will save me time.

Here are 3 ways that I am using passive income earnings to pay for a virtual assistant.

1. eHow - I have started earning a nice monthly income of well over $50 and soon to be over $100 from eHow. I have already used some of these earnings to hire a ghost writer to research and write a few articles for me that I didn’t have time to write on my own.
2. AdSense - I am quickly moving towards earning $50 per month in AdSense revenue. As soon as I build up enough money, I will be using these funds to hire a developer to create a new look and design for PFI. I could save some money and do this work on my own, based on my background as a developer. However, instead of spending time redesigning my site, I can devote my work towards building additional passive income streams.
3. Affiliate Marketing - I have used funds from my affiliate marketing campaigns to hire a virtual assistant to conduct and implement SEO on a niche site I own. At $4 per hour, my virtual assistant is working to establish my site in a highly profitable and competitive niche. Once again, this is something I could do on my own. However, the job would take several hours of research and effort to implement on my part.

Final Thoughts

For anyone concerned about spending money on a virtual assistant - I completely understand. After all, I felt the same way at one time. However, if you think creatively, there are ways to fund your outsourcing projects without impacting your normal budget. If you start small, and fund your projects from alternative sources of income - you can have your money working for you in order to reach your long range financial goals!

Do you use a virtual assistant? How do you fund your projects?

While hiring a virtual assistant can save you time which is important when building passive income, there are some things you need to understand before you get started. Hiring a VA does not necessarily mean that your work will automatically get completed on it’s own. Using contractors and freelancers to complete tasks requires good project management skills - especially when you are starting out. Ignoring this rule could cost you a lot of money that could have been invested elsewhere.

One of my first passive income jobs that I outsourced to an offshore freelancer taught me several things about how to properly manage a hired resource. If you choose to hire offshore resources to reduce costs, then you need to focus a lot of your attention on communication. There can be language and cultural barriers between you and your resource that you need to account for in order to have a successful outcome.

The very first lesson I learned and plan to improve upon in future jobs is setting detailed tasks. My virtual assistant was from India and had very good English skills which helped in our communication. Unfortunately, there were still some critical steps that I ignored that could have saved me some time and money. Setting detailed instructions and tasks can remove any misunderstanding between you and your VA which cuts down on wasted time and costs.

Set Detailed Tasks with your Virtual Assistant

I learned the hard way that you MUST set very detailed tasks when working with your virtual assistant on delegating work to them. Just because you understand what you are asking your VA to complete, doesn’t mean they understand the tasks the same as you. To be honest, this is not a VA’s fault and should be the responsibility of the manager of the project. You should never expect a virtual assistant, who you are paying $4 per hour, to know what you are asking unless you use very detailed instructions.

One of the very first jobs I assigned to my VA was a project on SEO research around a niche website I was looking to build. My job consisted of the following tasks -

• Research a niche topic and come up with a keyword phrase that has the potential to be profitable.
• Provide a list of additional related keywords to the topic that can be used on the niche site to increase traffic and search engine rankings.
• Include a list of possible domain names that are available that could be used with this niche topic.
• Submit some statistics including monthly searches around the niche topic and associated keywords along with information on competing websites in the same niche.

As you can probably tell by now, those are some very vague guidelines to follow. Instead of using the tasks listed above, I could have used the following detailed instructions instead for better results -

• Identify a niche topic and keyword phrase that has less than 1,000,000 competing pages in Google.
• Provide a list of 10 related keyword phrases to the identified keyword phrase in the prior step.
• Include a list of 10 possible domain names that are available and contain the keyword phrase.
• Provide monthly search statistics for the keyword phrase as well as the 10 related keywords for search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

As you can tell from the second set of tasks, they are more detailed and would have reduced any misunderstanding. After assigning the original set of tasks for the job, my VA promptly completed the tasks and sent me the information. The results were not at all what I had expected. After looking back at what I requested - I realized it was my fault. I reassigned a more detailed and specific list of tasks to my VA again and got the results I expected the second time.

Final Thoughts

Using a virtual assistant has been a big learning experience for me. Fortunately, I have been able to identify areas for improvement so that I don’t make the same mistakes again and can limit my costs. Assigning others to complete tasks for your business is what passive income is all about. Provided you can properly manage your resources to be efficient and complete their assigned tasks - your experience should be a success and your money well spent!

As you are working to build multiple forms of income, it is also important to turn them into passive income streams overtime. This will free up more of your time to devote to the creation of more and more forms of income. One way to free up more of your time and make your income streams passive is by hiring a virtual assistant to help with daily and routine tasks you may have.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A Virtual Assistant or VA is someone who can provide either administrative or technical assistance to a business, entrepreneur, or any other entity that seeks help with specific tasks. Companies and small businesses use virtual assistants for a wide range of tasks that could span from simple administrative and clerical tasks such as editing documents and replying to emails to website design and database administration.

Use a Virtual Assistant to Build Passive Income

There many ways to use the skills of a VA that can help build your passive income. Here are just a few activities that could be outsourced to a VA -

• Website Design
• Ghost Writing for a Blog
• Search Engine Optimization
• Technical Writing or Translation
• Customer Service
• Sales & Marketing
• Human Resource and Payroll Services
• Technical Support

The opportunities are endless when it comes to what a VA can help you do. Whether you are building online passive income streams or not, a virtual assistant can have something to offer your business.

Where can I find a Virtual Assistant?

There are several places that you can find a VA, most notably the Internet. Here are a few websites that specialize in connecting hard working virtual assistants with business owners needing to outsource some of their work. I have personally used the first two (ELance and oDesk) and have had positive experiences with both.

• ELance
• oDesk
• Longer Days

Hire your Virtual Assistant Today!

A virtual assistant can be a great tool to use when building passive income streams. After all, the concept of passive income is to earn a steady income while devoting minimal effort overtime. If a particular income stream requires routine maintenance, then a virtual assistant could be the answer (provided the costs are lower than the income coming in). So what are you waiting for?

Have you used a virtual assistant to build or maintain your passive income? How has your experience been?

One of the passive income streams that Dusty is working to build are sniper sites. Basically, he is working to build small niche blogs that have low competition where he can rank on the top page of search engine results for a few keywords geared towards each site. Provided he can generate positive cash flow from each of these sites, I think this is a decent way to build passive income.

Do you think building small sniper niche sites is a good way to build passive income?

Carnivals
I participated in the following carnivals over the past week. Please check out some of the great reads from these carnivals!

• Festival of Frugality #182 - Revenge of the Fallen Edition - (June 16, 2009) 3 Reasons not to Outsource Your Passive Income - hosted by Stupid Cents.
• Money Hacks Carnival #69 - The Dollar Bill Edition - (June 17, 2009) 5 Reasons to Outsource Your Passive Income - hosted by Own The Dollar.
• Carnival of Pecuniary Delights No. 12: Catch a Wave Edition - (June 18, 2009) Frugal and Freecycle Landscaping - hosted by Pecuniarities.

Articles I liked
Here are a couple articles I enjoyed over the past week. Please check them out and enjoy.

1 - Money Energy had two articles I wanted to highlight this week that were exceptional reads -

• 10 Tips From Tim Ferriss, Guy Kawazaki and Keith Ferazzi on Lifeline Relationships and Mentoring
• Automate Your Income Just Like You Would Automate Your Expenses

2 - Get Rich Slowly - Turning Garage Sale Junk Into eBay Gold

3 - My Two Dollars - How To Get Your Monthly Electric Bill Below $25

4 - Pinyo @ Moolanomy - How to Improve Your Productivity When Working From Home

One important and often overlooked reason why individuals should create passive income streams is that it can lead to a healthier lifestyle. Yes, passive income can give you the ability to live longer and healthier and enjoy life to the fullest. Why would you want to go through life always worrying about how the bills are going to get paid when you can avoid this and many other worries all together?

Building passive income can provide us with 3 essential things that can allow us to live healthier and longer lives. Sure – these 3 things can be accomplished without passive income on their own. However, it is virtually impossible to achieve all 3 together without some help. Here are 3 essential things that passive income gives us that can allow us to live healthier.

1. Money - Sure money does not buy complete happiness – but it sure helps. Regardless of your opinion, money is needed to buy certain essentials in life such as shelter, food, and clothing. Since money can buy my family and I certain things that will make our lives easier and more enjoyable, I cannot discount its importance. As long as money does not consume your every thought, it is ok to want more of it.
2. Time - This is a carryover from the first point - Money. Because passive income allows us to generate more money with little ongoing effort, we have more time in our lives. Having more time can allow us to live healthier lives.
3. Stress - The third thing that passive income provides for us is the reduction of stress in life. For example, money is one of the most stressful things for people to think about. If passive income can gives us more of it and it doesn’t consume us – we lower our stress. In addition, because we have more time now – we also lower our stress which is great for ones health!

As a result of the 3 things passive income can give us in life (money, more time, and less stress), here are 30 healthy reasons why you should create passive income. Each reason listed below is made easier to obtain because of money, time, and a reduction in stress.

1. Travel to new destinations and study different cultures around the world to build your mental knowledge.
2. Spend more time with your spouse, children, and other family members to improve the quality of life of others around you.
3. Get the recommended 7 to 8 hours sleep every evening.
4. Learn a new outdoor activity like sailing, mounting climbing, or scuba diving.
5. Start an organic garden and grow your own healthy produce.
6. Cook your own meals using fresh foods instead of eating fast food.
7. Take a daily nap!
8. Visit more museums and historical destinations to stimulate your mind.
9. Take more vacations with friends and family and enjoy life.
10. Creating passive income can prevent you from constantly driving in rush hour traffic, which reduces the chance of being in an automobile accident.
11. Make a commitment to exercise at least 30 minutes every day.
12. Exercise the brain by reading more and completing other stimulating activities.
13. Volunteer more and help out others who are less fortunate than you.
14. Eat a healthy breakfast instead of rushing off to work each morning.
15. Eat more meals that are smaller throughout the day for better digestion.
16. Smile more because you are happier.
17. Participate and become more active in your child’s school (if you have kids).
18. Read the labels on the food you eat and eliminate ingredients like hydrogenated oils and saturated fats.
19. Practice relaxation activities like Yoga.
20. Spend more time outdoors (using sunscreen of course).
21. Not having an office job can reduce the number of negative thoughts you have, thus improving your overall state of mind.
22. Having more time can allow you to reduce clutter from your life so that you are more productive and happier.
23. Less impulses to light up a cigarette if you are a smoker (i.e. less stress from not having a full time job).
24. Passive income can shelter you from economic downturns, thus removing associated stress about losing a job.
25. Hire a personal trainer and dietitian.
26. You will worry less about unimportant things in life such as business meetings and deadlines and focus more on the important things like family, health, and the environment.
27. Join a gym.
28. Pick up a new sport like golf (or play more of it if you already are a golfer).
29. Find a hobby the you really enjoy.
30. Donate more money to reputable charities so that you feel better about yourself.

I am sure this list could go up to 300 or even 3,000. The important point to take away is that building passive income can change your life for the better. It allows you to spend your life enjoying people and places instead of working through most of it just to pay the bills.

What are you waiting for? Take control of your life and live healthier by creating passive income today!

What are your reasons for building passive and alternative income streams? Do they make your life any healthier?