Keeping income steady in a depressed economy

Let’s get one thing straight.  Stimulus package or no, it’s going to take time for the economy to get back on track.  In the time being, it’s getting more and more difficult to get a fair price for the work we do.  This isn’t a conspiracy, it’s that advertisers are feeling the crunch just as much as we are and no one wants to risk any money that they don’t have to.

If you are counting on one source of income from your online ventures you’re in for a rude awakening. The amount you earned last week will most likely be significantly larger than the amount you will earn this week. If you haven’t noticed a difference in the amount you can earn per job or per sale, you are among the lucky ones.

If you think I’m sitting in a gilded room spouting these little tidbits of information you’d be wrong. In the past three weeks I’ve had four advertisers send polite emails telling me to pull the ads and links that I had on various blogs.  Each of them was sure to tell me that it was not the performance of these ads that prompted their decision, rather it was a change in marketing focus. What they really meant is that their companies are feeling the strain as well and they can no longer afford the advertising channel that included my blogs.

I have no hard feelings.  this is business and in tough economic times businesses need to cut back. if you do paid posts, you’ve seen it in the pricing for them.  What used to pay $10.00 for a few hundred words is now paying $2.50.  It’s a trend that is going to continue in every market.  Advertisers need people to buy their products.  When people aren’t buying, they don’t have the advertising budget to pay their affiliates or freelancers as well as they used to.  In turn, those people that are dependant on these companies for income accept lower payments, which brings the overall market down.

Diversity is the key

Diverse income channels was a good idea in a strong economy.  Now that the economy is depressed it’s not just a good idea, it’s an absolute necessity.  If you’ve got all your eggs in one basket, you’re going to suffer, if you survive at all.  That’s not a remark made lightly, it’s the plain simple truth.

now is the time to get out there and find other methods of making money.  Look to affiliate sales, freelance writing assignments and alternative forms of advertising.  See if you can barter links with other sites to get your traffic up.  At the very least your CPC revenues should increase with more traffic.

Look closely at any affiliate programs you may be using.  if they aren’t bringing in money, get rid of them. now is not the time to be stubborn and wait for results.  if it’s been there a month and made no money, its dead weight that is on;y eating screen real-estate.  Liabilities cannot be tolerated when money is tight.

The time for tough decisions is here.  There is still a lot of money to be made, but only those who are willing to work very hard are going to reap thee benefit of a good income in times like these.  What the future holds is still uncertain.  For the moment it’s time to tighten your belt and live lean.  if you’ve got the right mindset you may just come out of this in a far better place than you were when it wasn’t so hard. And at the end of this we’ll all have a lot less competition, because those who don’t adapt will go under, leaving more opportunities for those who did.

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