Discussion on:

Auxiliary sources of income for IT consultants

She does all the detail-oriented work, while I just spout off and take all the credit.

Mary is an awesome editor!

Scott Lowe

I definitely agree with the idea of writing books and publishing courses.

With the advent of publish on demand (Createspace/Lulu etc.) and ebooks (Kindle/Kobo/iBooks etc.) becoming an author is certainly a possibility. There is money to be made in this area, however, most IS/IT consultants will make more elsewhere. The trick is in using the book to drive new business. Send a copy of your book to prospective customers. Give it to newspapers and radio stations. It can turn you into a percieved expert and help build your business. (Be warned there are downsides to the strategy).

Recording courses for web distribution or even as a physical product also work well. Sadly they actually can be sold for more than a book can. And the effort is roughly the same. (Recording a course is easier than most people think).

Just don't jump into the business without learning it first.

Glen Ford
However, you do need to remember that both these strategies are businesses and need to be treated as businesses. Even if they don't pay for themselves directly.

I find being a volunteer a great way to build skills and experience in areas that you want to shore up.

Great article. Just a couple of problems: 1) There is no Theresa Andrews living in Lommel, Belgium and 2) Profit Boost Institute is a scam

When I was at Aon Group, I agreed to teach an A+ class at West Nyack Boces. I would spend a full day in the city, commute home, grab a KFC dinner (this was before my hospital visit) and then spend another 3 hours teaching computers and FAR from tiring, it was alot of fun. I would find a laserjet printer on the street, bring it into class and have the students tear it apart and put it back together again. Computers? Found on the street, bring it in and do forensics. I loved it.

Seminars at the library were also a kick but you have to have good presentation skills. I found a free-flow method worked best, and would actively invite audience partiticpation whenever someone had a question. Paid a bit of money too.

I contacted the local College, though, and found that they only accept teachers with Master's Degrees. Their loss.

Over the years, I've made a fair percentage of my income from ancillary activities of IT that aren't themselves IT. Very often, people you are working for are looking for other things that you show competence at, and would much rather hire someone they know reliable than someone they don't.

Over the years, I've done project management (not related to IT), marketing, photography, video, bookkeeping, and countless other tasks.

first, I agree 100% with John about just showing up - if you've got dead time, the best thing you can do is call on existing clients. Make up a special deal for the month - my personal favorites are buying some off-lease notebooks from a remarketing (we use Pat at www.sdiusa.net) and using that as a reason to call on "cold" customers. I.e. "Hey, we just got a few great deals on some laptops that came off a corporate lease and I was thinking about you guys so I wanted to see if you could use an extra machine right now? They're not new, but they're in good shape and just $355, and I only have three of them available.". That sort of thing.

I also agree with Glen's comments about e-books, in fact with my new company we created an e-book that other IT consultants can just download & add their name & logo as co-author. It's available here: www.tripletech.biz/downloads/toptechtrends-coauthor.zip, feel free to help yourself. It's good on it's own, but it's also designed to help introduce customers to our new online training options through bigger-brains.com, so it works best if you're a bigger-brains reseller, but that's free and easy to sign up.

Chip
Computer Troubleshooters of Anderson: www.ct-anderson.com
Bigger Brains: www.bigger-brains.com

How about creating digital recordings of LP's, cassettes, vcr's, etc. There's not much investment except for time, and we all know how to allow for that!

Rather than bust your balls trying to generate more work, why not simply make the most of your expenses against the tax you pay? Just did a quick search for an expenses guide and there's loads of stuff you can claim for, from heating your own apartment (if it's your place of work) to all sorts of luxury items - provided you can demonstrate it's for work.

I might invest...er..I mean 'claim' for that lovely new hifi system on my expenses as a source of "necessary entertainment" in my work place

Excellent article. Hats off chip. I think the take-away here is to showcase your knowledge in every avenue possible. I have a concept I apply which is the flower and the bee model.
Be the flower that stands out the most and all the bees come to you.