Element 3: Planting

Continuing our series about what gardening has to do with online business, today we will look at planting!

Obviously, in order to see results in a garden, you have to plant some seeds. I also planted bulbs, which are bigger! A nice garden has a variety of plants. Some are flowers, others are shrubs, and if you like to eat the fruits of your labor, some fruits and vegetables are nice, too!

In my family, I like to plant from seeds, and I prefer to plant flowers. My husband, however, is more of a vegetable gardener (specializing in tomatoes and basil), and likes to start with seedlings that are already started.

This reminds me of the importance of being involved in more than one program. This is also called multiple streams of income. Multiple streams helps keep us from having all of our eggs in one basket. If you pour all of your time and energy into one plant, and it dies anyway, you have no garden. In the same way, you do not want to pour all of your time and energy into one program, only to find yourself flat BROKE next week because the company closed its doors!

As for the seeds and bulbs analogy, I look at it like free and programs with some cost. Free programs are great because, hey, isn't free money awesome?! They do, much like seeds, however, take longer to see results. Participating in some low cost businesses will get you seeing results from your referrals a little bit faster. Just be sure not to take on more than you are willing to risk while you wait for it to grow.

I mentioned that I prefer to plant seeds or bulbs and my husband likes to plant seedlings that are already established. In the internet business world, I think of this as being involved with companies that have been around a long time (for me, that's GDI and Avon), versus brand new companies (EZE2x2, Little Guy Wealth System, and others).

In the overall picture, whether we're talking about bulbs versus seeds or seeds versus established seedlings, the point is to diversify. Stick with well established companies for your "seedlings," but don't be afraid to throw down some seeds (newer, free), and bulbs (newer, low cost programs).